Writer of Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry and Master Photographer
Martha McFarlane McGee Bell was a tough woman, up for any challenge, and that prepared her for some heroics during the American Revolution. She married Colonel John McGee, a British officer who came to settle in Orange County, North Carolina in the 1750s. He established a grist mill, store, and farm. Martha was well known…
James Iredell Waddell wreaked havoc on the United States Navy during the Civil War — and after, mostly because he refused to believe reports that the conflict had ended. He also took his Confederate ship around the world — literally — the only CSA naval officer to do so. And a large part of Waddell’s…
[Note: This originally appeared in The Soapbox, Michael’s weekly column in The Nashville Graphic. Photo by Ben Finch.] I remember getting my first pack of baseball cards at Bass Brothers store in Momeyer, a pack of 1975 Topps. I was hoping to get a Jim “Catfish” Hunter, who was about the only player…
When he was 45 years old, Stephen Lee moved from Charleston, S.C. to Asheville, N.C. where he started a school for boys. He had attended the College of Charleston and West Point before starting his law practice with his father. He married his first cousin, Caroline Lee, in 1824 and they had fifteen children. Caroline…
[Note: This was one of my favorite columns by legendary North Carolina writer Dennis Rogers. It originally appeared in the News & Observer, and later in Rogers’ book, It’s Bad News When the Bartender Cries. This is a summary of the story.] Lonnie Roberts owned a good mule and now it was dead and he…
Most people probably think politics is uglier than it has ever been these days. However, history is full of stories of physical fights and assaults related to politics, even on the floor of Congress. In North Carolina, one of the southeast’s last duels took place in Wilmington among two prominent citizens, Dr. William Crawford Willkings…
James H. Jones was a born as a free man in Wake County in 1831. His father died when he was an infant, and Jones learned brick masonry and plastering. In the 1850s, he started hiring himself out as a servant and waiter. When Union troops threatened Richmond in the summer of 1862, Varina Howell…
The Civil War ended this month 156 years ago. The final days wound down in North Carolina, so I’m sharing a passage from Galvanized in today’s blog: “When Sherman entered North Carolina, he ordered restraint from the men, unlike the devastation that had been wreaked on the rest of the South. Fayetteville, home of the…
Like many people, I’ve always been fascinated with pirate stories. The TV series “Black Sails” has been fascinating with its mix of fact and fiction, but we no longer have the movie service that shows it. In that show, there are several pirates of fame, even North Carolina’s own Blackbeard. But one of the main…
I always wanted a Swiss Army knife when I was growing up. It was a pretty handy tool and eventually that dream came true. While it was handy, I never thought about the Swiss Army being fearsome. I was wrong on that one. It’s been said that man-for-man, the Swiss Army is one of the…