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 […]
A Vengeful Hermit of North Carolina: Fact or Fiction? Read More »
Tar Heel revenue agent bamboozles bootleggers and talks his way into the movies. This book is more or less a biography of the legendary Garland Bunting, an officer with the Halifax County A.B.C. Board for more than 30 years. The North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission controls the sale, transport, manufacture, and consumption of alcohol
Moonshine: A Life in Pursuit of White Liquor by Alec Wilkinson Read More »
On December 9, 1921, John W. Oliver, a farmer, mail carrier, and Primitive Baptist preacher in Cades Cove, Tennessee, had finished supper and was getting ready for bed when he looked out the window and discovered his barn was on fire. There were five horses in there. Oliver swiftly rescued three of the horses from
Moonshiner’s December 1921 Cades Cove Crime Spree Read More »
Pocket watches date back to the 16th century. Early watches, or “pocket clocks,” only had an hour hand; the minute hand came along in the early 17th century. The second hand didn’t become common until the 18th century. Technical advances continued, and in the 1820s, watches using the lever escapement became accurate to within a
Pocket Watches that Made History Read More »
An unknown NC moonshiner became the subject of books, manhunts, and buckshot battles. “Major” Lewis Redmond had many titles: moonshiner, bootlegger, killer, and most impressively, King of the Moonshiners. Playwright Gary Carden may have given Redmond his most colorful moniker, the Prince of Dark Corners, which is the title of his play based on the
How Lewis Redmond Became the Moonshine King of the Carolinas Read More »
A disastrous break-in and shoot-out in a small town leads to a daring escape attempt from “The Rock.” John “Paul” Scott shocked prison authorities and perhaps the entire world on Sunday, December 16, 1962, when he became as Rich Jordan writing for the San Francisco Examiner put it “the only man known for certain to
Kentucky Bank Robber Becomes First Alcatraz Inmate to Reach Shore Read More »
