Writer of Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry and Master Photographer
Michael K. Brantley has been awarded an Archie K. Davis Fellowship for 2019-20 to help fund research on his latest book project about an overlooked eastern North Carolina historical figure from the 19th Century. Brantley’s second book is due out next spring from the University of Nebraska Press/Potomac Books. Galvanized: The Odyssey of a…
What’s known as Nash County today began as part of Albemarle County in 1670. Later, it became known as Chowan, and Bertie was formed out of Chowan in 1722. Edgecombe was sliced off of Bertie in 1741. In 1777, Nash was formed out of Edgecombe. There were six townships in the county that haven’t been…
This originally appeared in The Nashville Graphic By Michael K. Brantley Look, I don’t care what you call it. You can tell me about Gregorians and and equinoxes and solstices, or whatever you want, but when the temperature hits 90 with regularity, it is summer. If it makes you feel better to…
By Michael K. Brantley There are many various stories about an Indian trading path that ran through the heart of Eastern North Carolina in the early 1700s. It is sometimes referred to as the Green Path or Green’s Path. Historians not only seem unable to agree on its exact location, but even disagree on the…
I’m pretty excited to have my first poems published. I had a group accepted for publication at a journal several years ago (Circa), but the journal ceased operations before they made onto the web and in print. You can view my poems here.
By Michael K. Brantley I couldn’t get everything about eastern North Carolina into the story that makes up my forthcoming book about the Civil War in the area (Spring 2020). The research trail could have gone on for another decade and been incomplete. One thing I’ve run across is information about the Confederate hospital in…
By Michael K. Brantley You may have heard an old folk or bluegrass song about “Poor Naomi Wise,” or it may have sounded like ‘Omi Wise or ‘Nomi Wise, but however it was put out, it was about the same lady — Naomi Wise, who was murdered in 1808 in Randolph County, North Carolina. Wise,…
Many fans of Catcher in the Rye would have liked to have seen more from author J.D. Salinger. Much like Harper Lee and To Kill A Mockingbird, there just isn’t much out there by these reclusive authors. However, Salinger’s son and widow are “going as fast as we freaking can” to gather his work and…
By Michael K. Brantley Today, Stanhope is a brief, pass through community on N.C. Highway 97. It is an interesting place and the home of a beautiful old church, as well as a firehouse, a high school, and some old homes. The community was a stop on the Raleigh to Tarboro stagecoach line. It was…
By Michael K. Brantley Of course, the Gold Rush of the 19th century is always associated with western locations, usually California. However, from 1804-1828, all the domestic gold coined at the United States Mint came from North Carolina. Gold was first discovered in North Carolina in 1799 when Conrad Reed found a 17-pound nugget in…