Posted on: Avery Co. NC Query Forum Reply Here: http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/gc/USA/NC/Avery/10502 Surname: Perkins, Carver, Richardson, Puckett ------------------------- My name is Debra Barnett, nee Perkins. My grandfather, Arthur Perkins was from Avery County,NC. He was a descendant of Joshua Perkins, and it is only through family lore I know anything at all about the Cranberry mines. We were always told that Joshua and his brother, whose name escapes me, came to Avery County from somewhere in TN. It was likely the Shell Creek area since my some of my Perkins relatives hailed from that area. Joshua and brother were, reportedly, on the run from the law due to either assault or murder. They found the vein of ore, and according to the law of the era if they set up a hammer mill and worked it for a year they were entitled to a certain amount of the surrounding land. After that I have no idea what happened to either brother. My father, Arthur Jr., was born in WV, and raised in Avery county where he still has a number of relatives. My grandfather, Arthur Sr., lived in the Avery county area until he moved to TN in the late '40s, and on to KY where he lived until his death in '87 at the age of 93. There was a book published locally that detailed the Cranberry mine, and a search of the Avery County Library would be the place to start looking for it.