Christmas during the American Civil War (1861-1865) was celebrated by the North and the South. Officially it didn’t become a national holiday until June 1870 when President Grant made it so, an attempt to unite the North and the South after the war. The War effort just didn’t take time off during Christmas season, not by a long shot. In fact, in 1862...
Read MoreA Change of Underwear
The fall season is always my favorite time of the year. It’s not too hot or cold down here in beautiful N.C. The only thing I don’t like about the fall season is raking leaves. But wait, I just heard over the news that you should leave the leaves on your yard to help build up the soil. What a blessing!!! One of my favorite things to do in the fall is go to...
Read MoreWhiskey Willie
Moonshining began very early in American history, shortly after the Revolution. The U.S. found itself struggling to pay for the expense of fighting a long war. The solution was to place a federal tax on liquors and spirits (don’t that just sound like our government today). Well those folks won’t gonna put up with that new whiskey tax, no-sir-re. They just...
Read MoreThe Hanging of Frankie Silver
Frances Stewart Silver was born in 1814, the daughter of Isaiah and Barbara Stewart. She was raised along a big bend in the Toe River around Morgantown (Morganton) N.C. She was one of several children, including her brothers Jackson, Joe, and Blackstone. Frankie, as she was called, grew into a beautiful girl and enjoyed her life in the foothills of the...
Read MoreThe Green Lizard
It goes without saying Americans love their pick-up trucks. Being a true and tried southern redneck kind of guy I had rather have a truck instead of a car. Why just look at the things you can do with a truck that you can’t do with a car. My first truck was a 1953 Ford F-100. Won’t long after I got married I thought I needed a new truck which happened to be...
Read MoreFarming Season is Winding Down
“Farming Season is winding down” was a term my Granddaddy used a lot in September and the first of October every year. You see he was a small tobacco farmer from the Sandhills of Richmond Co. Like so many other farmers in the fifties and sixties, tobacco was granddaddy’s cash crop. The infamous Boll Weevil and low prices per pound had ravished King Cotton...
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