A Vengeful Hermit of North Carolina: Fact or Fiction?

From Groom to Recluse to Murderer

John Armstrong became a hermit in 1838, at the age of 22, on what was supposed to be his wedding day. The story goes that he was born near Wilmington, NC, and was the only son of a well-to-do farmer. For two years, he courted a young woman named Carrie Scott, the daughter of a farmer from Virginia who purchased land adjoining his father’s farm.

Armstrong, wearing his wedding suit, was riding to the Scott house with some friends when they were met by a servant who told them that Miss Carrie had been married at seven o’clock that morning to a northern gentleman named Samuel Opdyke, and the couple had already departed, headed north in a carriage.

As you might imagine, this news stopped the young man in his tracks. He sat on his horse, speechless, looking around at his party of wellwishers. Without saying a word, he spurred his horse and rode off into the distance, leaving the group of wedding guests there on the road. They never saw him again. A search was conducted but they did not find Armstrong. Years passed, and the prevailing belief was that the stricken young man had died by suicide.

Also in 1838, Samuel Morse demonstrated his telegraph system for the first time in Morristown, NJ. The Cherokee Nation was forcibly relocated from North Carolina to the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). The coronation of 19-year-old Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom took place at Westminster Abbey in London.

Armstrong’s father and mother died, and an uncle took charge of the farm. Unknown to his family, Armstrong had built a cabin and taken up residence deep in a swamp. After the events of his wedding day, he decided to avoid all contact with humanity in general and women in particular.

The Hermit’s Revenge

A quarter century passed, and then war and circumstance brought about a reunion of sorts between two men who had never met. A Union officer separated from his men and pursued by Confederate cavalry plunged headlong into the swamp. The man became disoriented and wandered aimlessly deeper and deeper into the marsh until he came face to face with the hermit, armed with a shotgun.

Here’s how the exchange between the two men went, according to a July 5, 1886 article in the Philadelphia Times:

“Hullo, stranger, who be you?”
“A soldier who has lost his way,” replied the officer, seeing that concealment of his position was impossible.
“Not one o’ us, I guess?” queried the man. “No, I’m an officer in the Federal Army.” “Wall, stranger, I’m no killer, though I’m mighty strong agin thar Yankees. What might yer name be?”
“Samuel Opdyke.”

The man started back and cocked his gun, Opdyke, Opdyke, the scoundrel who married Carrie Scott and destroyed my happiness.”
“I did marry Carrie Scott, married her because I loved her. But who are you that you should get so excited over the matter?”

“Me, me, why, I’m John Armstrong, who courted that ‘ar gal, and she vowed she loved me better than anything else in the world. But she deceived me; her heart was hollow; she was false to me, and I have my revenge.” And he raised his gun and pulled the trigger. Captain Samuel Opdyke fell dead at his feet.

In relating this, the old man—for he himself told the story—became terribly agitated and rubbed his hands in apparent fiendish exultation. “Ah!” said he, “that were a moment of sweet revenge.”

Another quarter-century passed before the hermit was accidentally discovered by a party of hunters, to whom he told the tale of his fatal encounter with his rival. They reported that Armstrong was still vigorous for his age; his hair and long, flowing beard were white as snow; and he walked erect “with an elastic, buoyant step.”

The article ends by telling us that the hermit has never seen a railroad car or steamboat, knows comparatively little of the incidents going on in the outside world, is a constant reader of religious and scientific works, and is an ardent student of natural history.

Based on a True Story?

This brings us to the question, Is this a true story? Can this be a true story? Well, as I’m sure you’ve already noticed, the story has a few problems. Let’s examine a few of the larger issues, including the source, the wedding, the paperwork, the chance encounter, and the lack of witnesses.
The Source: The story appears to be completely based on a letter received by the Philadelphia Times from an unnamed correspondent in New Bern, NC. As any good journalist will tell you, single-source stories are perilous.

The Wedding: In the 1800s, the ceremony was usually held at the home of the bride and took place around noon. Generally, it was a short affair with an exchange of vows, a celebratory feast, and dancing afterward. It is a bit of a stretch to believe that Carrie’s parents, who would remain living in the community, and the minister would have signed off on an early morning groom substitution and high-speed carriage getaway.

Paperwork: Even in 1838, couples were required to obtain a license or publish the banns in church for three Sundays. Banns were notices posted on church doors announcing the couple’s intention to marry. If there were no objections, then the couple could proceed. If a couple married without a license or banns, the prospective groom had to take out a bond in the county where the bride lived. Finally, it seems unlikely that Armstrong would have just taken the servant’s word for it and not gone to the Scott residence to check.

The Chance Encounter: There’s so much that has to happen here. Opdyke has to join the Union Army. He would have been in his mid-40s when the war broke out and appeared to be a man of means, so he could have probably avoided serving if that was his desire. Then he has to be part of the campaign in the New Bern-Wilmington area. Finally, he has to be separated from his entire command, chased into the swamp, and blunder into Armstrong. This requires a Jenga tower of propositions to fall in line like dominoes.

Lack of Witnesses: Our only proof of Captain Samuel Opdyke’s violent death is the admission by Armstrong. We have no other witnesses, no bodies, and no physical evidence. Armstrong, living alone for 25 years, might have simply imagined that he slew his rival. On a darker note, he may have killed someone else and then decided it was Opdyke. Both are more likely than the story. I found three Samuel Opdykes who served in the Union Army on the National Park Service’s Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database. Two had a rank in and rank out of Private. The third had a rank in of Private and a rank out of Wagoner.

In Circulation for More than 60 Years

The Philadelphia Times article became quite popular and was reprinted in multiple newspapers throughout the United States in 1886–1887. It was published as far north as the Burlington, Vermont, Clipper and as far south as the Palatka, Florida, Daily News. It made it to the Yonkers, New York, Statesman in the east and the Wichita Weekly Beacon in the west. More than a dozen papers in the Carolinas ran the story.

Then an article titled “Some Noted Hermits” was printed on June 11, 1893, in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. It told the story of about a dozen hermits, including John Armstrong of North Carolina. The story made the claim that “a northern gentleman” visited Armstrong a few months ago and “found the hermit still hale and vigorous, despite his 76 years.” The claim of the visit by an unnamed northern gentleman seems dubious because there is no information in the 1893 article that isn’t in the 1886 article, and many of the phrases are word for word the same as in the earlier report.

The Wilmington, N.C., Messenger republished only the Armstrong portion of the Globe-Democrat article, and the story made the rounds again. This time a half dozen papers in North and South Carolina printed the tale. The Raleigh News and Observer ran the story in one form or another in 1886, 1929, and 1948. I don’t know how they missed it in 1893; someone was asleep at the wheel. The 1948 version states that Samuel and Carrie were en route to Philadelphia and not just going vaguely to “the north.”

John Armstrong’s story is also chronicled in Marlin Bressi’s 2015 book: Hairy Men in Caves: True Stories of America’s Most Colorful Hermits.

On the BRTC recluse to misanthrope (hermit hatchet) scale, I’m going to rate John Armstrong a 2 out of 5. He was reported to have killed a man in cold blood and was said to be antisocial and adverse to interacting with or speaking about women.

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Sources:

Bressi, Marlin. 2015. Hairy Men in Caves: True Stories of America’s Most Colorful Hermits. Mechanicsburg, PA: Sunbury Press. A Lesson in Karma, Pages 90-92.

Philadelphia Times, Philadelphia, PA, Monday, July 05, 1886, Page 1, “Why He Became a Hermit”

News and Observer, Raleigh, NC, Thursday, July 15, 1886, Page 1, “A Carolina Recluse”

Globe-Democrat, St. Louis, Missouri, Sunday, June 11, 1893, Page 5, “Some Noted Hermits”

Wilmington Messenger, Wilmington, NC, Friday, June 16, 1893, Page 4, “A Strange Romance”

News and Observer, Raleigh, NC, Friday, August 02, 1929, Page 4, “Looking Both Ways by Jonathan Daniels: Revenge is Sweet”

News and Observer, Raleigh, NC, Sunday, October 10, 1948, Page 50, “Jilted, He Turned Hermit”