Theresa Jensen Lacey - Amazing North Carolina: Fascinating Facts, Entertaining Tales, Bizarre Happenings, and Historical Oddities about the Tarheel State

Amazing
North Carolina

Fascinating Facts, Entertaining Tales,
Bizarre Happenings, and
Historical Oddities from the Tarheel State

T. Jensen Lacey

Rutledge Hill Press
Nashville, Tennessee

A Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
www.ThomasNelson.com

Copyright 2003 by T. Jensen Lacey.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without prior permission of the publisher.

Published by Rutledge Hill Press, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, Tennessee 37214.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lacey, T. Jensen (Theresa Jensen), 1955
Amazing North Carolina : fascinating facts, entertaining tales, bizarre happenings, and historical oddities from the Tarheel State / T. Jensen Lacey.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-55853-965-4 (pbk.)
1. North CarolinaMiscellanea. 2. North CarolinaHistoryMiscellanea.
I. Title.
F254.6 .L33 2003
975.6dc21

2002153074

Printed in the United States of America

03 04 05 06 07 5 4 3 2 1

To every Tarheelby birth or by heart

CONTENTS

From the magnificent Blue Ridge mountains to the pristine beaches of the east, North Carolina is full of beauty in its land and in its people. The Tarheel State boasts some of historys most fascinating and determined individuals and was the birthplace of some of mankinds greatest achievements. It was this determination that first powered flight on the shores of Kitty Hawk.

In Amazing North Carolina, T. Jensen Lacey captures stories and facts that help paint a colorful picture of life in the Old North State.

Governor Mike Easley

After writing my latest in what I call my Amazing America series, I have to admit Ive fallen in love with yet another state. That place is called North Carolina. From her breathtaking mountains to her crystalline shores and all places in between, the Tarheel State is full of wonders. In researching for this book, I discovered fascinating stories and incredible tales, and also had the great fortune of meeting some of the friendliest people on earth.

Whether they were famous, infamous, or just regular folks, the people of North Carolina that I met caused me to realize that they are what make the state great. If you live within its borders, youre lucky. If you havent visited yet, youre missing out on a state that makes the United States a wonderful place.

Even if you are a long-time resident of North Carolina, you are sure to read some tale within these pages that will reveal a fascinating tidbit you didnt know. Read on and discover why North Carolina is a state of endless mystery, beauty, and charm.

No project is ever completed by one single individual, and the same goes for Amazing North Carolina. Here are just some of the amazing people I would like to thank for their contributions, patience with my questions, photographs, or expertise, or for just putting me in touch with the right person. Besides the hundred or so people who were helpful in myriad ways, special thanks go to the following: Governor Mike Easley for writing the foreword; Greer Beaty and Bill Teague of the North Carolina Department of Commerce for all their help; James and Martha Pearl Villas, cookbook authors and North Carolina personalities, for their bereavement recipes; Kathleen Mosher and Barbara ONeil for the Biltmore House story; Linda Ball and Randy Schumacher with the North Carolina Film Commission in Raleigh; Laura Chase with the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau; Albemarles Christine Dwyer for the many interesting tidbits and photos she shared; Jaime Amoroso, botanist with the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, for information on the Venus flytrap; Lance Holland of Fontana Village and Fontana Dam for help and hospitality; Lloyd Childers for information on the history of the Corolla wild horses; Patrick Glynn of Wireless Flash News Service for researching more than fifteen years worth of amazing stories related to the Tarheel State; John and Diane Fitzgerald for their hospitality and recipe for the corn they let me try (unforgettable, both); Steve Anderson and Cheryl Oakes of the Forest History Society in Durham for the photos and stories relating to the lumber industry and history of forestry in the state; John Joyner at the Charles B. Aycock Historic Site for the story on the education governor; Tom Melton in Bostic for his story on Abe Lincolns Tarheel roots; Bob Huggett and Horatio Beck for some great coastal stories; Sallie Anderson in Yanceyville for the stories on the hanging cell, the unsolved murder of Chicken Stephens, and the accidental invention of bright-leaf tobacco; Tarheel author Ralph Grizzle for his encouragement; Erica Derr, administrator of Our State North Carolina magazine, for the myriad ways she helped in my research; Captain Skippy Winners and Doug Medlin for their stories of the blockade runners and the sunken vessels off the coast, and Cathy Medlin for her hospitality; author Thomas Fairley and Jean Beasley for information on sea-turtle rescues; historian Max Williams of Cullowhee for his railroad expertise and checking the convict burial-site tale; Dawn Frazier of the Topsail Island Chamber of Commerce for her help and hospitality; Kim Rupard, group tour coordinator of Grandfather Mountain, Inc., for information and photos of Mildred the Bears cubs; Dave Moore and Connie Mason of the Queen Annes Revenge Project and of the North Carolina Maritime Museum for their help with related stories, and the tale of the Chanteymen; Jackie Bolden of the Folkmoot Festival for her help and photos; in Raleigh, Parker Call for the walking tour and LeRae Umfleet for the Cherry Bounce story; Steven Case, Jason Tomberlin, Debbi Blake, Melissa McGee, Ron Vestal, Jo Ann Wiliford, Alice Cotten, and especially Stephen Massengill of the North Carolina State Archives and History office for information, assistance, photos, and for not calling me a pest when I was; Officer Frank Etheridge for the tour and stories of the North Carolina Supreme Court Justices; sports writer Jim Sumner for his help on the sports chapter, and for looking it over for me; James Moore, Esq., for reading and checking the final version of the entire text from the point of view of a fourteenth-generation Tarheel; Jacksonville historian Kim Kimball for his stories; Shannon Leissner of Pittsboro for the story on the Carnivore Preservation Trust; Shelagh Donaldson of Salisbury for an exceptional job of providing all kinds of stories and tidbits; Greensboros McArthur Davis for the story of the Woolworths sit-ins and the update; Karen Reynolds, playwright and historian, for reading the story about Tom (Dooley) Dula; Paul Becker and David Olson at Riverside Cemetery in Asheville for digging up many great cemetery stories for me; Smithfields Billie Stevens for her expertise on and photo of Ava Gardner; Marilyn Howarth for those great seafood recipes and for the story and photo of her grandmother, the legend behind Mrs. Calabash; Doug and Donna Bennett at the Aerie in New Bern and Al and Catherine Blalock of Cameron House in Raleigh for their recipes, stories, and hospitality; Brian Burgess of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation, a-ho (Cherokee for thank you) for information on stories relating to the Principal People; and Wolf Furstenau and Paul Becker for Civil War tales.