The Life of Angus Chavers, a Confederate POW

         
Angus Chavers and his wife Melissa
The Life of Angus Chavers, a Confederate POW

Dr. Dean Chavers

March 12, 2013

Most of the Lumbees who fought in the Civil War were in the Confederate Army. A second smaller group of them enlisted and fought in the Union Army, which meant they could possibly face their own brothers in battle. A third group was shanghaied or hijacked to work on the batteries and breastworks (temporary fortifications) around Fort Fisher near Wilmington; they were largely treated as slaves, and were assigned to do the rough work of construction. Many of them died at Fort Fisher from diseases caused by bad water and mosquitos.

A fourth group were local boys and men who refused to be conscripted to work on the breastworks, doing the work of slaves to build barriers to keep the Union soldiers out. Henry Berry Lowrie and some of his brothers refused to be enlisted; they knew they would be in the mud, dirt, and mosquitoes building breastworks; since they refused to work on the breastworks, they were cast out and labeled as outlaws by the Robeson County, North Carolina authorities.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/03/12/life-angus-chavers-confederate-pow-147909

This blog is © History Chasers
Click here to view all recent Lost Colony Research Group Blog posts

Jockey's Ridge; Where Sand Meets Sky

Hat Tip: Dixie Burrus Browning

The Outer Banks’ Jockey’s Ridge, the East Coast’s largest sand dune, is a force of nature that never stops changing and never ceases to envelop those in its path.

Every year, the dunes grew. With each nor’easter, wind carried sand from the beach. The sand swirled around Bodie Island and Nags Head and piled on top of already existing piles.

In 1838, the first hotel was built in the area, right among these dunes. The owner thought the structure would stand against the sand. The trees and shrubs would protect his building.

By 1850, the hotel was leaving shovels in each room, an amenity like soaps and shampoos, so guests could scoop out the sand. The wind blew the sand into small mountains behind the hotel. Like a cake in the oven, the dunes kept rising. The sand crept to the roof. And eventually, with the winds flinging the particles about in surges, the sand billowed over the hotel in a grand wave.

There was nothing visible but a great, living dune.

Cont. here:

http://www.ourstate.com/jockeys-ridge/

This blog is © History Chasers
Click here to view all recent Lost Colony Research Group Blog posts

Pope to Visit Nearby Island of Ocracoke

Pope to Visit Ocracoke

• 
 
• 

Monday, April 1, 2013 - 02:16ANDREW STERN

The "Popemobile." It's cooler than your golf cart.

The island is a stop on the Pope's first U.S. tour.

Exciting news from the Vatican this week as papal spokesman Cardinal Jose-Maria Antonio Bruschetta de los Santos announced the itinerary for Pope Francis’s first visit to the United States, scheduled for late summer. The itinerary includes stops in Philadelphia, Washington, Ocracoke, Atlanta, and Miami.

It is unclear whether the Pope plans to brave highway 12, ride one of the long ferries, or simply take the papal hovercraft. An aide sought to assure the public that he will make it one way or the other, “even if he has to walk on water.”

Pope Francis will become just the third pontiff to visit Ocracoke. Boniface V was shipwrecked here in 621, while Blessed John Paul II came to participate in the fishing tournament in 1998, winning third place. Cardinal Santos noted that the Pontiff shares several affinities with the people of Ocracoke – he speaks Latin with an accent that makes it very hard for others to understand him, he has thirty-seven cats that wander the apostolic palace, and he loves to ride around the Vatican in his golf cart. The Cardinal explained that the visit to the island is partly pastoral, but that the Pope is mostly interested in “getting south of the stress line for a bit.” 

In the spirit of ecumenism, the Methodist and Assembly of God churches are planning a potluck in the Pope’s honor. They were hoping to have it at the community center, but that’s already been booked by the quilting circle. The Current will let you know as soon as a new venue is found.  

In anticipation of his visit, Pope Francis has already weighed in on some of the issues facing Ocracoke. Speaking to a delegation of American cardinals yesterday, he declared that restrictions on beach driving are, “An affront against human dignity which cries to heaven for redress.” Later, he used his weekly radio address to denounce the proposed ferry rate increases as “Total b.s.” 

Additional details here: CLICK HERE!!!


http://tinyurl.com/d27caoj

Happy April Fool's Day!!!

This blog is © History Chasers
Click here to view all recent Lost Colony Research Group Blog posts