The Frankie Foundation
Frankie Stewart was a young, beautiful girl from Anson County, NC. She moved with her family to Deaton Bend, near Bakersville, NC. Here she met and fell in love with Charlie Silver, who was a hunter and trapper - tall, handsome, and popular with the ladies. Charlie and Frankie were married in 1829, when both were about 17 years old.
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They moved into an isolated cabin just over the mountain from Charlie's parents on the Toe River in November, 1830. The two had a daughterr named Nancy. Charlie was frequently away from home, leaving Frankie alone with their baby daughter for long periods of time. Whether he was hunting or seeing other women is open to question. |
At Christmas in 1831, Charlie did not return home. His family began to worry about him. They searched the river and covered mountainsides but did not find Charlie. A neighbor noticed a stump-hole beside the cabin spring. Charlie's family suspected that Frankie had killed her husband with an axe, chopped up his body, and burned him in the fireplace. The county sheriff in Morganton, North Carolina, charged Frankie with murder.
Frankie was tried and found guilty of the crime of murder. Her family helped her in an escape attempt, but she was recaptured. Frankie was hanged July 12, 1833. Her family buried her near Morganton.
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