Joseph Biggerstaff, born 1808 (son of Sarah Eakins and Samuel Biggerstaff--Sarah was a sister to George, John, Thomas, and Samuel Eakins--all born in NC) operated a store one mile south of the village of Sunshine, NC. On the 28th day of april, 1865, a band of robbers came through. They stopped at the home of Joseph's brother, Samuel. Not finding any money, they set fire to the beds and put coals on the quilt that several women were working on. The bandits went to the nearby field where John Waters was plowing. They had him take his horse from the plow and go with them to the home of Joe Biggerstaff. Joseph had quite a sum of money at his home. They robbed him of all but $400.00 in gold that he tossed out the window. The robbers went to the dining table to count the money. Joe grabbed the axe and killed on of them; they turned, shot and killed Joe and John Waters. My grandfather, A.P. Hollifield and 84-year-old Ben Jenkins went there that night to stay because everyone else was afriad to leave their families. A.P. rode to Pea Ridge to warn the people to be on alert for the robbers. while he was gone the bandits came back and told Ben Jenkins that if they did not give their comrade a decent burial they would burn every house within five miles. He was buried within fifty yeards of where Sundhine Church now stands. The night after they buried him, two doctors in the area gave Bynum DePriest fifty cents and a quart of whishkey to dig him up and cut his head off. Crittenden Hollifield, me father, who was five years old, rode behind his father on a horse to the Joseph Biggerstaff home. He saw the three dead men laying on the floor. It was a sight he never forgot. A part of the Joe Biggerstaff home stood until 1921 when it was destoyed by fire. the blood stains were on the floor until it burned. Sourse: The Heritage of Rutherford County NC, Volume I, 1984 Published by the Genealogical society of Old Tryone County Incorporated in cooperation with The History Division, Hunter Publishing Co Winston-Salem, NC This story was e-mailed to me by jon Graehl and used with his permission. The source is given at the end of the story. Jon's wife is a descendant of Benjamin Biggerstaff, a brother of the Joseph mentioned in the story. Joseph and Benjamin were children of Samuel Biggerstaff and Sarah (Sally) Eakins, the daughter of Joseph Eakins and Isabella Walkcup Eakins. George, Thomas, John and Sam (sons of Joseph and Isabella) came into KY in the early 1800's. John and George came to Henderson Co. Joseph and Isabell are my ggg aunt. Helen Keusch