Someone wrote me a couple of days ago and asked what I thought of the idea of Abe Lincoln being born in North Carolina. I for one would really like to see the DNA testing - just to settle the matter. The idea of a Tar Heel birth for Lincoln has received some recent media attention. Check here for an article at IndyStar.com However, the idea is not new. I recall, back when I was doing some research for the 37th NCT book, that there was something about Lincoln in a local history book, maybe a history of Rutherford County, published maybe back in 1930s. Sorry that I can not be more specific about where I saw the information. I thought it interesting at the time, but I made no notes.
Drew at Civil War Books and Authors has a review of The Civil War Ends: Greensboro, April 1865. Check it out. I’ll be on my way to Wilson on Friday, and I plan to stop and get a copy of the book.
Yesterday, I finished submitting the information and illustrations for the Civil War Trail markers in Avery County. I think we hit upon three: the Blalocks at Grandfather Mountain; the Banner House in Banner Elk; and, the Cranberry Iron mines in Cranberry. I could never get in touch with the right folks who owned the property for a marker about Col. Palmer (58th NCT), whose house was burnt during Kirk’s 1864 raid.
Lastly, next week, I’ll be in Burlington on Tuesday night, and Albermarle on Thursday night, speaking and signing books. On Saturday, May 10, our local SCV Camp with be holding a service on the grounds of the Yancey County Court House at 9:00 am in the morning, and then a candlelight memorial service in the old Bakersville Cemetery in Mitchell County that evening.
I think you may have run across "Western North Carolina, A History from 1730 to 1913." by John Preston Arthur. This was first published in 1914. The Overmountain Press, in Johnson City, TN, reprinted the book in 1996. Most of what Arthur recorded was from Cathey's book on the Lincoln-NC legend which came out in 1899.
ReplyDelete