I write southern historical fiction, local history, and I've written a devotional book. The two novels I'm writing are set in Virginia and the Carolinas in the 1760s. My weekly blog started out to follow my journey as a writer and a reader, but in 2025 it has been greatly expanded to include current events and politics in the United States as I see our democracy under attack from within. The political science major in me cannot sit idly by and remain silent.
Once-a-week, since November 25, I have blogged about a different story from my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories.
The sixth story in the book is “Whom Can We Trust? A Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence Short Story.”
Tradition tells us that Archibald and Maggie Sellers McCurdy built their log cabin in what is now Cabarrus County, North Carolina, in 1773. At that time, Cabarrus had not yet been formed out of the eastern part of old Mecklenburg County. Their house was on the National Register of Historic Places until vandals burned it down a few years ago. Sadly, I never did see the house, but I have seen photographs of it and detailed floor plans and exterior drawings have been preserved.
Archibald McCurdy’s gravestone at Spears Graveyard of Rocky Ri er Presbyterian Church, Cabarrus County, North Carolina
Those drawings and photographs made it easy for me to imagine the McCurdys’ lives. Theirs are names I’ve heard all my life. Archibald was a foot solider in the militia during the Revolutionary War. Maggie was a patriot in her own right, as she earned the name “She-Devil” by the British and Tories. I explain a couple of her feats in the Author’s Note at the end of “Whom Can We Trust?”
Marker placed at Archibald McCurdy’s grave by the Daughters of the American Revolution
The story is set in May 1775 at the time of the signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. I was inspired by a story I’ve heard all my life about what Archibald McCurdy did on the day that document was signed.
You can find the paperback at Second Look Books in Harrisburg, NC, or ask for it at your local independent bookstore. Bookstores can order it from IngramSpark.
The fictional character I’m introducing to you today is George. He is a slave in South Carolina in the mid-1700s in the third story in Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, “To Run of Not to Run.”
When you meet George, he is a young boy. He and his father, who was born in Senegal, have just been sold and are being taken from Camden to the Waxhaws.
Photo by Asso Myron on Unsplash
Here’s an excerpt from when George and his father are in the back of a wagon being taken to their new living situation in the Waxhaws:
“George sensed his father was tiring of his questions, so he shut his eyes tight and tried to turn off his mind. But the harder he tried not to think, the more questions flooded his head. The ones that kept crowding out all the others were ones he knew not to ask because he was afraid his papa did not know the answers. When will we see Mama again? When are we going to be free?“
You will follow George as he has a lot to learn and grows up fast. His new master’s son is about his age. Therein forms a dynamic that will ultimately be further developed in the historical novels I am planning and writing.
Remember George. He is a character who grew out of my imagination and has never let me go. I don’t think he will let you forget him either.
Getting into the skin, brain, and soul of a young boy with black skin who is living as a slave in America in the mid-1700s allowed me to stretch my imagination in ways that my other fictional characters did not.
Where to purchase Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories
You can find my new short story collection on Amazon in e-book and paperback. You can find the paperback at Second Look Books in Harrisburg, NC, or ask for it at your local independent bookstore.
Hurricane Helene Recovery Update
I haven’t offered a Hurricane Helene recovery update since my November 3 blog post.
As of Friday, December 5, 25 roads in North Carolina were still closed due to Hurricane Helene’s wind, flooding, and landslides on September 26, 2024. That is a decrease of six roads since a month ago. There are three U.S. highways, two State highways, and 20 state roads closed more than 14 months after the hurricane.
In Tennessee… as of Tuesday, December 2, U.S. 321in Elk Mills, in the Watauga Lake area, is officially reopened since being heavily damaged by the hurricane.
Sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina will remain closed until at least next fall, and I-40 at the Tennessee line will continue to be just two lanes at 35 miles-per-hour for a couple more years while five miles of the highway are being rebuilt in the Pigeon River Gorge.
The following success story was cut and pasted from a U.S. Forest Service – National Forests in North Carolina Facebook post on December 3, 2025: “Two decades ago, after Hurricane Frances and Ivan, our ecosystems team saw how erosion could unravel an entire ecosystem. Brady Dodd, hydrologist for the National Forests in North Carolina, developed and executed a plan to reshape eroded riverbanks, plant riparian flood resistant species and add erosion prevention structures. After Helene arrived, the banks held, and the water ran clear due to the work that had been done years prior. This story serves as a model to our forests as we continue to build resilience into each of our Helene recovery projects.”
We’ve gone from fall leaf season to snow ski season in western North Carolina since my last update. Be aware that you might run into a detour, and you can’t drive the full length of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
If you visit, please drop by Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville and Highland Books in Brevard. Tell them I sent you. They sell my books!
I don’t know whether American students still learn about Nathan Hale. I’ve heard that students are now taught that U.S. History began when George Washington became President.
I hope that is an urban myth. If a child isn’t taught that there was an American Revolution, a Revolutionary War, and why those came about, it will not mean anything to them to know that George Washington was our first President.
In case you need a refresher about who Nathan Hale was, I’ll give a brief summary.
Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale was born in Connecticut in 1755. He graduated from Yale University in 1773 and became a teacher. He joined a Connecticut regiment in 1775 and was commissioned as a captain the next year.
Hale went behind enemy lines on Long Island during the siege of New York. Deemed guilty of spying, he was captured on September 21, 1776. He was hanged by the British in Manhattan on September 22, 1776.
He was barely 21 years old! I did not realize he was that young until I was doing some research to write today’s blog post.
Things were not going well for the Americans, so leaders used Nathan Hale’s hanging as a rallying cry.
Hale has often been quoted as saying, “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country,” but there is no proof that he uttered those words. British Captain Frederick Macenzie, who witnessed the hanging, wrote in his diary that Hale’s last words were, “it is the duty of every good officer to obey any orders given him by his commander-in-chief.”
Hurricane Helene Update, 51.5 weeks after the disaster
As of Friday, 38 roads in North Carolina were still closed due to Hurricane Helene. That count included five US highways, two state highways, and 31 state roads.
Interstate 40 is, of course, still just two lanes, 35 miles-per-hour.
Don’t hesitate to travel to western North Carolina. Just be aware that there are still spotty road closures. The area needs tourists to support all the small businesses struggling to recover from this September 26, 2024, natural disaster. Eat at a diner instead of a fast-food chain restaurant. Make sure the souvenir you buy was handmade by a local artisan and not mass-produced by a large corporation.
A Note in Closing
I’m pleased to announce the publication of I Need The Light! Companion Journal and Diary to go along with I Need The Light! 26 Weekly Devotionals to Help You Through Winter. Both books are available on Amazon.
We are living in strange times. Pay attention to what is happening. Ignore the attacks on free speech at your own peril.
Along the lines of yesterday’s blog post, today I’m writing about the lack of a separation of church and state in public education in Oklahoma.
My concern is that once one of the 50 states in our country gets away with the eroding of the separation of church and state, other states with such leanings take note and follow suit.
The separation of church and state is in the very foundation of our country. My sister and I came across a blatant example of how things were in colonial Virginia while we were doing genealogical research.
One of our ancestors was in and out of jail in Virginia in the early 1700s for such things as “playing cards on the Sabbath.” What hit us in the face, though, was that every time he was put in jail for playing cards on the Sabbath, abusing a judge, or not paying his court fine, his fine was that he had to give the Church of England so many pounds of tobacco.
That was the law in colonial days, and it one of the root causes of the American Revolution.
It is no surprise, then, that the first clause in our Bill of Rights – the first clause in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
Ryan Walters in Oklahoma
Oklahoma School Superintendent Ryan Walters said on Friday that his state will no longer give statewide reading and math tests. Each school district will be left to choose what tests to give its students.
So much for trying to have a statewide standard in education.
Walters has been a controversial person as he set out from the beginning to disrupt education in Oklahoma. He made a name for himself by requiring every classroom to be equipped with a Bible with very specific criteria.
Only two Bibles on the market met those criteria: Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A. Bible” (endorsed by Donald Trump, who gets a commission for copies sold) and “We The People Bible” endorsed by Donald Trump, Jr. Greenwood’s Bible sells for $60 and Trump, Jr.’s Bible sells for a mere $90. Walters asked for bids to buy 55,000 of them. (Jesus must be so proud of both of them… er… all three of these men.
Last November, Walters emailed school superintendents across Oklahoma to announce that the State had purchased 500 “God Bless the U.S.A.” Bibles and required that students be shown a prerecorded video of the announcement. That video of Walters included his making accusations against his political opponents and then he transitioned into a prayer for “Trump’s [campaign] Team” and praying against Trump’s opponents. As State School Superintendent, Walters has no power to dictate curriculum.
What are Ryan Walters’ qualifications to be a state school superintendent?
He is a Republican.
He supports the book-banning organization Moms for Liberty.
He requested that teachers show their students a video of him praying for Donald Trump.
He lashes out against “woke ideology.”
He has accused teachers of trying to indoctrinate students.
He labeled the Oklahoma Education Association is a “terrorist organization.”
He says the separation of church and state is a liberal “myth.”
He claims the “left-wing media” hates the Bible.
The Oklahoma Education Association
Take a look at the “Vision, Mission, and Values” of the Oklahoma Education Association on the teachers’ organization website (https://okea.org/about-oea/) and tell me what indicates it is a “terrorist organization.”
Questionable ethics
Speaking at a town hall, Walters responded to, “How does the Tulsa Race Massacre not fall under your definition of critical race theory?” by saying, “Let’s not tie it to the skin color and say that the skin color determined that.”
In May 2022, it was reported by newspapers in Oklahoma that even while working as the state’s Secretary of Education, Walters stayed on as the executive director of Every Kid Counts Oklahoma, a nonprofit organization that was somehow able to pay Walters $120,000 per year. The organization was/is funded by national school privatization proponents and charter school expansion advocates including the Walton Family Foundation and a group funded by Charles Koch.
It seems like an oxymoron for an advocate for the privatization of public schools to hold the office of Secretary of Education for a state. (North Carolina dodged that bullet in the November 2024 election.)
After successfully campaigning for reelection as State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2022, Walters was fined for 14 violations of Oklahoma political campaign finance ethics rules.
Conclusion
Standardized tests in the United States have been under attack for years. I am not personally qualified to say the tests are good or bad. I believe all such educational resources should be up for constant scrutiny to elevate the education of the children in the United States; however, to just eliminate the testing does not seem to be a good answer.
Leaving curriculum selection and testing up to each little school district is a recipe for disaster. Look at the individuals on your local school board. What are their qualifications for making such decisions?
It’s past time for Americans to start paying more attention to the names on a ballot and not just to those running for President. Government begins on the local level. I caution you against voting for anyone just because they seem to be “a good person.”
There are a lot of Rayn Walters-types running for office in the United States, so be careful who you vote for.
There are lots of wolves walking around in sheep’s clothing.
Today is the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. It predated the national Declaration of Independence by more than a year.
A recreation of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.
In case it sounds familiar, I have blogged about the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on or near May 20th several times in the more than ten years I’ve been blogging.
My immigrant ancestors were among the Scottish Presbyterian pioneers who settled old Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Years of discontent in the American colonies were piled on top of the anti-British Crown feelings they brought with them across the Atlantic.
Weary of unfair taxes imposed by the Crown and the discrimination they were subjected to as Presbyterians slowly brought the settlers to the boiling point. An example of the persecution these Presbyterians felt were the Vestry and Marriage Acts of 1769. Those acts fined Presbyterian ministers who dared to conduct marriage ceremonies. Only Anglican marriages were recognized by the government.
On May 20, 1775, the citizens of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina declared themselves to be free and independent of the rule of Great Britain. It was a sober and sobering declaration not entered into lightly. Those American patriots meant business, and they knew the risks they were taking.
Archibald McCurdy, an elder in Rocky River Presbyterian Church, heard the document read from the steps of the log courthouse in Charlotte. When he got home, he and his wife, Maggie, listed everyone they knew of who could be trusted in the coming fight for American independence.
No original copies of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence survive today. The local copy was lost in a house fire at the home of one of the signers. The copy taken to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia by Captain James Jack on horseback was also lost. Later, signers of the document recreated it from memory.
Nevertheless, those of us who were raised on stories of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence and the brave souls who risked their lives to sign it know that the document was real. The blood of the American patriots still flows in our veins and their spirit of freedom still beats in our hearts.
Hurricane Helene Update
As of last Friday, 54 roads in North Carolina were still closed due to Hurricane Helene. That count included five US highways, four state highways, and 45 state roads. That’s a decrease of one state highway and one state road since the week before.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a good book to read.
Remember the people of Ukraine and western North Carolina. Their situations are quite different, but the people in both places are stressed and weary.
My blog today is about my favorite local history story. It was 254 years ago last Friday – May 2, 1771, that a group of teenage boys and young men from Rocky River Presbyterian Church in present-day Cabarrus County, North Carolina, decided to blow up a shipment of King George III’s gunpowder.
The Regulator Movement in Rowan and Alamance counties to our north was reaching a boiling point in April 1771. Word reached the settlement of Scottish immigrants at Rocky River that a shipment of gunpowder was coming from Charleston, South Carolina to Charlotte and on to Salisbury, North Carolina. That gunpowder was destined to be used to put down the Regulators.
The Regulator Movement never took hold in present-day Cabarrus County (which was part of Mecklenburg County), but there was a strong and growing anti-Royal government sentiment here. Destruction of that gunpowder shipment would be detrimental to the government.
Nine teenage boys and young men from Rocky River decided to take matters into their own hands. They found out the munitions wagon train of three wagons would camp for the night of May 2 at the muster grounds near or along the Great Wagon Road in what is now Concord, North Carolina.
They blackened their faces to disguise themselves and sworn an oath on a Bible that they would never tell what they were about to do and would never reveal the names of the participants. They set out for the militia muster grounds some nine miles away and surprised the teamsters and guards. They had no desire to harm those men, so they led them and their animals to a safe distance away.
The gunpowder and blankets were gathered into a pile, and a train of gunpowder was laid. James White, Jr., fired his pistol into the trail of gunpowder. The resulting explosion was heard some nine miles away in the vicinity of Rocky River Presbyterian Church. Some people thought it was thunder, while others thought it was an earthquake.
Photo by Vernon Raineil Cenzon on Unsplash
The nine perpetrators made their way home, cleaned themselves up, and said nothing about their overnight adventure.
The Battle of Alamance took place on May 6, 1771, and the Regulator Movement was effectively put down by the royal government. Governor William Tryon proclaimed on May 17, 1771, that he would pardon the rebels if they would turn themselves in by May 21.
That deadline was extended until May 30. Some of the perpetrators headed for Hillsborough to turn themselves in, but they were warned along the way that it was a trick. Governor Tryon planned to have them hanged. Some returned to the cane brakes of Reedy Creek, not far from the church, while others fled to Virginia and Georgia.
In a trail which began on May 30, 1771, twelve Regulators were found guilty of high treason. Six were hanged.
Perhaps news of that trial reached Rocky River or maybe half-brothers James Ashmore and Joshua Hadley simply feared that one of the other gunpowder perpetrators would disclose their identities. For whatever reason, Ashmore and Hadley went independently to tell Colonel Moses Alexander what they knew. Imagine their surprise when they ran into each other on Colonel Alexander’s front porch!
James Ashmore pushed his way into the Colonel’s house and told him he was ready to talk. He was taken to Charlotte on June 22, 1771, where he gave a sworn deposition before Thomas Polk, a Mecklenburg County Justice of the Peace.
Ashmore revealed the names of the other eight young men who had conspired and carried out the attack. The search for the men began in earnest. Several of them narrowly escaped capture, and their stories and more details of the progression of the case through the colony’s royal government at included in my book, Harrisburg, Did You Know? Cabarrus History, Book 1, which is available from Amazon in e-book and paperback and at Second Look Books in Harrisburg, NC.
William Tryon became Governor of New York and Josiah Martin was appointed Governor of North Carolina. Twenty-nine “inhabitants of Rocky River & Coddle Creek Settlement” (including my great-great-great-great-grandfather) signed a petition asking Governor Martin to pardon the perpetrators, but the request was denied.
Photo by Kate Remmer on Unsplash
For nearly a year, the women of Rocky River Presbyterian Church provided food and clothing for the perpetrators who hid in the cane brakes along Reedy Creek. Rev. Hezekiah James Balch prayed openly for the young men’s safety from the church’s pulpit. Their identities remained a well-kept secret.
The young men were fugitives until independence was declared. After the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was issued on May 20, 1775, followed by the Mecklenburg Resolves eleven days later, all county citizens were considered to be in rebellion.
Back to the present
Yesterday was “May Meeting” at my home church, Rocky River Presbyterian in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. It wasn’t a “meeting.” It was more like an annual homecoming. It dates back to 1757. It is held on the first Sunday in May. The 11:00 a.m. worship service includes The Lord’s Supper/communion.
After the worship service, we all gather around a long wire “table” for Dinner in the Grove except on the occasional year now like yesterday when it rains or has poured rain all night and we have to eat inside the fellowship hall. Everyone brings their best and favorite homemade dishes and it is the biggest feast you can imagine.
Imaging May Meeting 1771
The more I study and contemplate the blowing up of the King’s munitions wagon train by members of Rocky River Presbyterian Church on May 2, 1771, the more I try to travel back in my mind’s eye to May Meeting 1771.
Everyone for miles around knew that the King’s gunpowder had been blown up on Thursday night. Everyone probably had a pretty good idea who among them had participated in the act of civil disobedience.
I imagine the hushed conversations under the large oak, scalybark hickory, red cedar, and poplar trees in the former church grove a couple of miles from our present sanctuary where the congregation met in a log church.
Local people were, no doubt, coming to grips with which side they were going to attach their allegiances in the inevitable coming war. Most, as it turned out, would choose to be patriots. After all, they had left Scotland and some had left Ireland in search of a better life, and they were pretty sure the King of England was not offering them a better life. He was placing more and more taxes and tariffs on them.
On Sunday, May 5, 1771, I imagine individual men carefully approached one or two men they knew they could trust and then they made quiet comments about the gunpowder explosion while they roughed the hair on the heads of their little boys who were too young to know the gravity of the situation.
I imagine many of the individual women did the same with their trusted friends while they small daughters clung to their long skirts.
And I’m sure the teenagers huddled in their usual groups and talked about what had happened on Thursday night. There was, no doubt, speculation about which of their friends had taken part in the attack.
I can imagine them quietly calling the roll, so to speak, and speculating about why Robert Davis was not at church that day. Or why were Ben Cochran and Bob Caruthers in serious conversation away from the crowd? Had they taken part? How much trouble were they really in? What was going to happen to the boys and young men who were guilty? How would they be punished?
Hurricane Helene Update
As of Friday, 56 roads in North Carolina were still closed due to Hurricane Helene. That count included four US highways, four state highways, and 48 state roads.
“’These grants will go a long way in helping western North Carolina’s beloved small business owners keep their doors open after Helene,’” said Governor Josh Stein. “’But the volume of unfunded applications makes it crystal clear – more help is desperately needed. I’m ready to work with the legislature to deliver support for small businesses that power our mountain economy.’”
After being closed for seven months, Morse Park at Lake Lure, NC partially reopened last weekend. The 720-acre lake itself remains drained as storm debris, silt and sediment are still being removed.
The village of Chimney Rock, NC was nearly wiped off the face of the earth by Hurricane Helene. It had been hoped that the town and Chimney Rock State Park would open by Memorial Day, but that’s not going to be possible. The security checkpoint will continue until further notice. You must have a pass to enter and travel through the village on the temporary road. NCDOT is working on a temporary bridge in the village to help restore access to the state park. The park has not announced a reopening date. The notice I read last Wednesday night from the Village indicated that construction of a new US-64/US-74A/NC-9 has begun.
Until my next blog post
Get a good book to read.
Don’t forget the good people of Ukraine, Myanmar, and western North Carolina.
Today is the 251st anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. If you’re like me, you will be surprised to read just how much tea ended up in Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773.
Photo by Tiffany Chan on Unsplash
A little background
Great Britain was in debt in the 1760s, so Parliament passed a succession of acts to inflict taxes on the American colonists to generate money for the British coffers.
Photo by Andrik Langfield on Unsplash
My ancestors in Scotland had been subjected to the Hearth Tax in the 1690s, so they were no strangers to the lengths Parliament would take to ring money out of its subjects. (In the 1690s in Scotland a person had to pay a tax “if smoke rose from their chimney.” Hence, it was called the Hearth Tax.) Forgive me if I’m not completely objective in writing about the Boston Tea Party.
The Stamp Act in 1765 began what became a domino effect until by the early 1770s the colonists were in an uproar over “taxation without representation.” Britain maintained that the taxes were fair exchange for the mother country’s fighting wars such as the French and Indian War to protect the colonists. (Actually, I think they were fighting to keep control over the thirteen colonies, but I digress.)
The “Boston Massacre” occurred on March 5, 1770 because residents did not appreciate the presence of British soldiers on their streets.
In other words, one thing led to another.
Fast forward to December 1773
On December 15, 1773, Dartmouth, a ship operated by the East India Company (a British company) was moored in Boston Harbor. It was known that the ship was laden with tea from China. Brits and British immigrants loved (and still love!) their tea. They were drinking more than one million pounds of tea every year, so the Tea Tax was a lucrative money-maker for Great Britain.
The colonists were no dummies. They started smuggling tea in from The Netherlands. In fact, did you know that John Hancock and Samuel Adams were in on it? (I don’t remember ever being taught that in school.)
Things were going well until the price of Dutch tea increased to the point that it was no cheaper than the tea being brought in by Great Britain with the tax included in the equation.
It was not just out of the goodness of their hearts or their dislike for taxation without representation that John Hancock and Samuel Adams objected to the tax on tea.
John Hancock had inherited his uncle’s shipping business. Samuel Adams was a provocateur. As a leader in the Sons of Liberty organization, he was more than a rabble-rouser; he was a serious political theorist. It was people like Adams who encouraged moderates to resist the British taxes. One source I read indicated that Adams might have helped plan the Boston Tea Party.
The Sons of Liberty protested the arrival of the East India Company’s ship, Dartmouth. It was soon joined by ships Beaver and Eleanor at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston Harbor. The tea they carried was from China, but the shipping costs and taxes would go to Great Britain.
A meeting was held at the Old South Meeting House where a vote decided that the ships would not be unloaded and the cargo would not be stored, sold, or used. When Governor Thomas Hutchison ordered the tea tariff to be paid and the tea to be unloaded, local residents refused to comply.
On the night of December 16, 1773, men disguised as Native Americans boarded the three ships and threw 342 chests of tea into the water. (My apologies to the Native Americans. It’s sad that more than once in the American Revolution the white guys chose to disguise themselves as Indians. It happened right here in Cabarrus County in 1771.)
Meanwhile, back in Boston… the men hacked into the chests to ensure the tea would mix with the water once thrown overboard. It took more than 100 men almost three hours to do the deed. More than 90,000 pounds of tea was dumped in Boston Harbor that night!
The moral of the story: Tariffs don’t always turn out the way politicians think they will. Just sayin’.
Hurricane Helene Update
Just to give you an idea about the recovery situation 81 days after the storm hit western NC…
Roads: Interstate 40 is still closed near the TN line. As of Friday, of the 1,329 roads that were closed in September due to Hurricane Helene, 189 remain closed. That’s down from 270 from a week ago!
Blue Ridge Parkway: There is still no estimated date for all the parkway in NC to be reopened.
Housing: Temporary housing from FEMA continues to arrive so displaced people can move out of hotels. The Amish continue to build tiny houses for the people who cannot yet move back into their homes. Individuals and companies have donated RVs and campers for the people needing housing. With more than 125,000 homes damaged or destroyed, the recovery will take years.
Lake Lure: The US Army Corps of Engineers, AshBritt Environmental, and local contractors continue to remove debris from the lake. A Colonel with the Army Corps of Engineers indicated on Saturday that their work will take more than six additional months. More than 17,143 cubic yards of debris have been removed from the lake, over 15,900 cubic yards of debris have been removed from the right-of-way, and more than 9,680 tons of sediment and silt have been removed from the town of Lake Lure. When all storm debris has been removed from the lake, sediment removal will begin.
Old Orchard Creek General Store: After being severely damaged by the flood, the Old Orchard Creek General Store reopened on Saturday! It is a landmark in the small town of Lansing in Ashe County, NC. Look for their website, and find them on Facebook and Instagram.
Help of all kinds has poured into western North Carolina from all over the United States. Thank you!
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a good book to read.
If you haven’t already done so, please visit https://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com and subscribe to my weekly email newsletter. You’ll receive a free downloadable copy of my historical short story, “Slip Sliding Away.”
Treasure your time with friends and family.
Remember the people of Ukraine and western North Carolina.
There are so many battles and skirmishes that were fought during the American Revolution that most of us have never heard of!
The blowing up of the King’s shipment of munitions in present-day Cabarrus County, North Carolina in May 1771 comes to mind. But that event has been blogged about here in Mays of the past and will, no doubt, show up on my blog in future May posts.
The little-known battle I blog about today is the Battle of Great Bridge which took place 249 years ago today in Virginia.
I’d never heard of it until I happened upon it in The American Book of Days, Fourth Edition, by Stephen G. Christianson. The day that reference book was weeded from the public library’s collection and sold for almost nothing was a profitable day for me. I have relied on this book for many of my #OnThisDay blog post ideas. I still question the wisdom of the library staff deciding this was not a useful book, but the public’s loss was my gain. But I digress.
Let’s move on now to the importance of the Battle of Great Bridge and some information about the free black man who displayed heroics in the battle.
Fearing a rebellion, Virginia’s Royal Governor, John Murray, the Earl of Dunmore, ordered the seizure of the gunpowder stored in Williamsburg. Word spread quickly and militias converged on the town. Lord Dunmore fled to Norfolk.
Great Bridge spanned the Elizabeth River, was the primary approach to Norfolk, and was surrounded by the Great Dismal Swamp. The swamp greatly limited accessibility to Norfolk.
Lord Dunmore ordered the construction of a stockade on the north side of the Great Bridge. Patriots grouped on the south side. Skirmishes ensued for days leading up to the battle.
Battle of Great Bridge
Although the Battle of Great Bridge lasted only a half hour on December 9, 1775, it was the first Patriot victory in the Revolutionary War.
It is said that this battle forced Lord Dunmore to leave Virginia along with his soldiers.
Four days after the battle, the Virginia Convention adopted a statement of independence.
Photo from a reenactment (obviously!) by British soldiers
Waves of British soldiers bore down on the Patriots. According to the website of the battle’s museum, https://gbbattlefield.org/learn-the-history, the patriots were joined by reinforcements and ordered to hold their fire until the British were within 50 yards.
Billy Flora
The website states, “It is historically significant to note that the last among the Patriots to retreat was Billy Flora, a free black man. Before retreating into the Patriot breastwork, he ran back to take up a plank of the bridge amid a shower of musket balls to slow the British advance.”
The significance of the Battle of Great Bridge
The museum’s website also states, “In winning the battle of Great Bridge on December 9, 1775, the Patriots effectively denied the British Norfolk, the finest seaport between New York and Charleston.”
How different the war might have unfolded if the British had captured the port at Norfolk!
Hurricane Helene Update on Western North Carolina
Just to give you an idea about the recovery situation 74 days after the storm hit western NC…
Roads: Interstate 40 is still closed near the TN line. As of Friday, of the 1,329 roads that were closed in September due to Hurricane Helene, 270 remain closed. In fact, that’s four more than indicated in last week’s NC Department of Transportation report. (Perhaps I miscalculated the total last week.)
Blue Ridge Parkway: There is still no estimated date for all the parkway in NC to be reopened.
A fresh fir Christmas Wreath from Avery County, NC: I was going to repeat the information I shared last week about a Christmas tree farm in western North Carolina, in case you missed my last blog post. I wanted you to have a chance to order a wreath or a tabletop Christmas tree from the Avery Family’s Trinity Tree Company in Newland, NC. HOWEVER… I have some great news! They have received so many orders they’ve had to shut down their online store! I’m so glad to get to end this week’s Hurricane Helene update on a good note!
The wreath my sister and I ordered was delivered nine days ago. It’s beautiful and smells great!
Here’s our wreath…
Our fir Christmas wreath from the Avery Family’s Trinity Tree Company, Newland, NC
(If you wish to still support the Avery Family as they are just two months into their years of recovering the family farm and business since they lost 60,000 trees to the hurricane, you can “order” a virtual tree or make a recovery gift on their website: https://www.averychristmastrees.com/. It takes about 15 years to grow a Christmas tree, so it will be long time before this family farm is back on its feet.
Since my last blog post
I continue to work on the devotional book and the historical novel I’m writing. I’m still adjusting to trying to post something on Instagram every day but Sundays. The world of social media is challenging and consumes more of my time than I’d like.
Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash
Until my next blog post
Read something uplighting or enlightening every chance you get. Support your local public library and your local independent bookstore, if you’re fortunate enough to have either one.
It depends on how technical you want to be, and – like they say about real estate – it might depend on location, location, location.
Photo from Bookbrush.com
Dates of various events
In school we learned that it ended on October 19, 1781 with British General Charles Cornwallis’ surrender to General George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia.
We also learned that the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783.
The treaty had to be ratified by Congress. That happened on January 14, 1784.
I never gave any thought about the logistics of the departure of British troops. Do you know when that happened?
November 25, 1783. It was 241 years ago today that the last British troops left the United States of America via New York City.
In school we tended to study the battles of the American Revolution but not the day in and day out of the war. New York City was occupied by British troops from September 1776 until November 25, 1783. That’s more than seven years! With the outcome of the war in question until 1781, those years of British occupation must have been nerve wracking for residents.
After the last of the British troops left, George Washington received a hero’s welcome in New York City. Four months later, the city was declared the capital of the new nation. It remained the capital until Philadelphia was chosen in 1790.
How would you answer?
If asked when the American Revolutionary War ended, which date would you think of?
October 19, 1781 – Cornwallis’ surrender
September 3, 1783 – Signing of the Treaty of Paris
November 25, 1783 – Departure of last British troops from the US
January 14, 1784 – Ratification of the Treaty of Paris by the US Congress
Location, location, location
I imagine most citizens considered the war over when Cornwallis surrendered, but the residents of New York City probably did not consider it over until the last of the British troops left.
This isn’t a quiz. It’s just something to think about.
Hurricane Helene Update on Western North Carolina
Just to give you an idea about the recovery situation 60 days after the storm hit western NC…
Roads: Of the 1,329 road closures due to Hurricane Helene, 1,076 are fully open as of Saturday. Interstate 40 is still closed near the TN line. It is hoped that two lanes – a lane for each direction – can be opened by January 1. It is my understanding that this will not be open for commercial traffic. Prior to Hurricane Helene, this nine-mile stretch of I-40 carried more than 7,600, trucks per day and more than 26,000 total vehicles per day.
Water system in Asheville: The City of Asheville Water Resources serves about 160,000 people in Buncombe and Henderson counties. The Boil Water Notice was lifted last Monday! That is huge!
Public School Systems: All the affected counties continue to struggle with bus routes due to so many road closures.
Baxter International in Marion: I mentioned weeks ago that this facility that makes 60% of the IVs used in the US was completely shut down by the flooding. They’re finally back in business! The first shipment of product left the business last Monday, and they hope to be back to full operation by the end of the year.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have at least one good book to read this week – and the time to read it.
Take time for friends and family. Brace yourself for Thanksgiving, if members of your family come from different political persuasions. Wouldn’t it be nice if politics could be put aside for just one day?
Remember the people of Ukraine; western NC; and Valencia, Spain.
On July 8, 1775, the Second Continental Congress adopted the so-called Olive Branch Petition as sort of a last-ditch effort to avoid war with Great Britain. It was written by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania. He hoped against hope that America would not break with its mother country.
Photo by Shahan Khan on Unsplash
The petition’s words were couched in language meant to convince King George III that the colonies did not want to break away but that Britain’s actions had forced her “still faithful Colonists” to arm themselves in self-defense. It mentions the “distress” the very thought of such a break was causing the colonists.
The petition ended with, “That your Majesty may enjoy long and prosperous reign, and that your descendants may govern your Dominions with honour to themselves and happiness to their subjects, is our sincere prayer.”
Photo by Donovan Reeves on Unsplash
This was just a scant three months after American militiamen had fought British troops at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. Colonists’ beef was primarily with Parliament. There was still hope among same of them that King George surely wanted only the best for his subjects – even those across the Atlantic.
On September 8, 1775, Richard Penn and Authur Lee, representing the Continental Congress, traveled to England to present the petition to King George III. But King George refused to accept the petition.
Photo by Mark Stuckey on Unsplash
When word came to the colonies that the king had refused to even receive the petition, the tide turned and the colonists realized the king did not have their best interest at heart.
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