13 Facts About the 13 Colonies-- Part 2

Again, go to the site for more information.

7.  New Hampshire offered parcels of land in exchange  for one ear of corn each year.  (Sounds like a deal to me.)

8.  Georgia was founded as a new haven for debtors and impoverished people.

9.  New York became  the first target of British trade restrictions -- for exporting fur hats.

10.  South Carolina benefited from the demand for blue dye.

11.  North Carolina was sold back to the British Crown.

12.  Rhode Island played a big role in the slave trade.  (By 1775, slaves made up 11.5% of its population.)

13.  Delaware really wasn't  formed until 1776.

--CootCol

Adm. David W. Bagley

From Find A Grave.

ADM DAVID WORTH BAGLEY

BIRTH:  8 Jan 1883, Raleigh, North Carolina

DEATH:  24 May 1960, San Diego, California

BURIAL:  Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia

His military years spanned World War I and World War II.  He served in command positions  in the Pacific Theater during WW II.

He was the brother of Ensign Worth Bagley, the only Navy officer killed in action during the Spanish-American War.

Admiral David W. Bagley-- Part 2: Quite the Varied Naval Career

He was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, on January 8, 1883, and attended North Carolina State College for two years before entering the United States Naval Academy in 1900 and graduating February  4, 1904.  He went to sea on the USS Missouri (BB-11).

In 1905, Passed Midshipman Bagley was transferred to the  Asiatic Fleet and assigned to the gunboat USS Concord and later to the USS  West Virginia (ACR-5).  He was commissioned an ensign while on the Concord.  In 1908, he reported to the USS Rhode Island (BB-17) of the Atlantic Fleet and made the  voyage around the world as part of the Great White Fleet

In April 1909, he left the Rhode Island and spent a year with the General Electric Company in New York for a year of instruction.  After this came service on the staffs of the Atlantic and Asiatic fleets.  In 1914, he was a lieutenant on the USS Michigan (BB-27) in the Atlantic Fleet.

He got his first command in September 1915 when he took over the USS Drayton (DD-23).

--Cooter

Admiral David W. Bagley, USN (Commander of the USS Jacob Jones)-- Part 1: From a Naval Family

He was the commander of the USS Jacob Jones  (DD-61) which was sunk by a German U-boat in World War I.  I have been writing about this ship in the last several blogs.  The wreck of this ship has just recently been found.

From Wikipedia.

DAVID WORTH BAGLEY

(January 8, 1883 to May 24, 1960)

Was an admiral in the U.S. Navy during World War II.  (I will be writing about him in this blog and not my World War II one because of his command of the Jacob Jones.)

He was the brother of Ensign Worth Bagley, the only  United States Navy officer killed in action during the Spanish-American War and the father of admirals  David H. Bagley and Worth H. Bagley.  So this is another one of those big-time Navy families.

His father, William Henry Bagley, was a Confederate officer from North Carolina.

Looks like I'll have to do some more RoadTrippin' Through History with this family.

--Cooter

William Arthur Snow-- Part 2: World War I Service and Engineering

World War I:  Engineer with American Expeditionary  Force and wounded.

1926-1930:  District engineer at Wilmington, North Carolina.

1930: Major and living in Harnett,  North Carolina.

1930-1935:   District and division engineer in St. Louis, Missouri.

Lieutenant Colonel:   September 25, 1940.

Died at Washington, D.C..

April Events of the American Revolution: Paul Revere's Ride and Battles of Lexington and Concord

From the American Battlefield Trust April 2022 calendar.

APRIL 12, 1776

**  Halifax Resolves, North Carolina.  First colony to authorize its delegates to vote for independence.

APRIL 18, 1775

**  Revere and Dawes ride.

APRIL 19, 1775

**  Battles of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts

APRIL 19, 1782

**  Netherlands recognizes American independence

APRIL  27, 1777

**  Battle of Ridgefield, Connecticut

APRIL 25, 1781

**  The Battle of Hobkirk's Hill, South Carolina

--Cooter

March Events in American Revolution: Battle of Brier Creek, Boston Massacre, Battle of Guilford Courthouse, 'Give Me Liberty or ....'

From the American Battlefield Trust.

MARCH 3, 1779

**  Battle of Brier Creek, Georgia

MARCH 5, 1770

**  Boston Massacre

MARCH 15, 1781

**  Battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina.

MARCH 22, 1765

**  Stamp Act.  Tax on paper goods and legal documents.

MARCH 23, 1775

**  Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech, Richmond, Virginia.

MARCH 29, 1780

**  Siege of Charleston, South Carolina, begins.

--Cooter

The National Honor Flight Origin

The whole Honor Flight idea originated with Earl Morris, a physician assistant with the Veterans Administration in Springfield, Ohio,  and Jeff Miller from Henderson, North Carolina, the son of a World War II veteran.  They did this in 2004, soon after the World War II Memorial was opened in Washington, D.C..

The first Honor Flight took place in May 2005 and took off from Springfield, Ohio, and flew World War II veterans to the memorial that was built in their honor.

The idea soon spread and hubs were added.  Honor Flight Chicago has become one of the largest hubs.

--Cooter

Hurricane Florence Floods Moores Creek National Battlefield

The recent Hurricane Florence has caused flooding at the Moores Creek National Battlefield near Wilmington, North Carolina.

It flooded Patriots Hall, but the park visitor center and administration buildings are still above the floodwaters.

The park will remain closed until further notice.

--DaCoot

Claude R. Pfaff-- Part 6: Carolina Beach During World War II

Often during World War II, the Pfaff family ended up sharing their small cottage at Carolina Beach, "The Lullaby" with a family of strangers.  because of the shortage of housing in Wilmington area, property owners were required to rent out their houses in order to provide the families of the enlisted men due to ship out soon a place to spend a week at the beach before they separated.

Only office space was exempt, so Atha designated one room as an office.

--Cooter

Claude R. Pfaff-- Part 4: A Carolina Beach Connection

In the 1920s, when he was working for the Realty Bond Real Estate Company, the firm would send its salesmen on vacation to Carolina Beach so that they would come back and tell their customers how wonderful the beach was, and hopefully sell more lots at Carolina Beach.

Throughout his years of living in Winston-Salem, Mr. Pfaff most enjoyed going to Carolina Beach for the fall fishing season.  His friend Ellis Freeman taught him how to fish, and Ellis' wife Annie, taught him how to cook what he caught.

In 1927, the Carolina Beach Hotel stood across from where Claude and Atha were staying, and one evening, while they were sitting on the porch of their place, they watched waiters and employees carrying out linens, silverware and other valuables from the hotel.  The next night the hotel "mysteriously" burned to the ground.

In the early 1930s, Claude built a cottage near Carolina Beach Lake as a birthday present to Atha, who named it "The Lullaby" for the choruses of frogs that sang around it at night.

--Cooter

World War I the Subject of the January Federal Point Historic Preservation Society

From the January Newsletter.

January Meeting, Monday, Jan. 16, 2017.

All meetings held at 7:30 p.m.., at the Federal Point History Center at 1121-A North Lake Park Boulevard, adjacent to the Carolina Beach, N.C., Town Hall.

The speaker was Jan Davidson, historian at the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science in Wilmington.  She discussed World War I and New Hanover County's role in the fight.  She concentrated on the impact on men and women and the items her museum has from them.

She has been at the Cape Fear Museum for 11 years and has been involved in a wide variety of research projects.  Lately she has been working on the history of World War I because of its upcoming centennial anniversary for the United States' involvement.

She has a PhD and has previously worked at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

I was lucky enough to attend this presentation.

--DaCoot

The Name Tarheel Has A Connection to the American Revolution

Today, I wrote about the American Revolution connection to the name of the University of North Carolina's Tarheels name in my Down Da Road I Go Blog.

To see what it was, click on the Down Da Road I Go site on the Blogs I Follow area to the right.

--DaTarCootheel

North Carolina's Order of the Long Leaf Pine

From Wikipedia.

I mentioned this group in my post.from Friday, March 3.

This honor was created in 1964 and recipients have given extraordinary service to the State of North Carolina.

There is a long list of recipients.

Some of the names I recognize:

Dale Earnhardt
Danny Glover
Jeff Gordon
Billy Graham
Andy Griffith
Charles Kuralt
Richard Petty
Oprah Winfrey
James Worthy

--Cooter

Beyond the Sticky Stuff-- Part 2: Bluegrass and Murrow

3.  BLUEGRASS & EVERGREENS:

Sometimes the pines inspire the pitch. too.  Earl Scruggs sang "In the Pines,"  a haunting Southern Appalachian folk song, which he picked up from Bill Monroe when they played together as the groundbreaking group The Bluegrass Boys.


4.  HOMEGROWN CELEBRITY--

Edward R. Murrow knew all about pitches and pine.  The North Carolina boy pitched his way to stardom as a television journalist.

And, his namesake park --  Edward R. Murrow Park in Washington, D.C. -- is home to Scotch and white pines.  But somehow, he was never inducted into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.

Order of the Long Leaf Pine?

--DaCoot

Beyond the Sticky Stuff-- Part 1: Baseball and Spirituals

From the March 2015 Our State magazine, North Carolina by Andrew Kenney.

BATTER UP:  Baseball has pitch and tar alike.  Some batters think tar helps hit a pitch and apply pine tar, which is more viscous than pine pitch, on their bat to improve grip.

Some pitchers use it on their hands, too (retired major league pitcher Gaylord Perry, a Williamston, N.C., native, is said to have kept some under his cap, but that is not against the rules).

SHAPES FOR SINGING:  Up among the pines of Haywood County, they are focused on a different sort of pitch: the musical kind.

Lake Junalaska is the site of one of the largest annual gatherings of shape-note singers --  a variety of white spiritual written so that shapes replace the heads of musical notes, making it easier to read the scale.

--Cooter

Longleaf Legacy-- Part 2: Country's Naval Stores Leader in the 1800s

Throughout the 1800s, North Carolina accounted for up to 96 percent of the nation's "naval stores."    And, that was not to mention the lumber used to build ships and factories.

But, because of overharvesting and changes in the ecosystem, that is mostly gone now.  The area covered by longleaf pines shrank from 90 million acres in the southeast to less than 2 million by 2000.

Of this, perhaps 500 acres in North Carolina is still considered virgin.

--Cooter

Longleaf Legacy-- Part 1: North Carolina's Longleaf Pines

From the March 2015 Our State magazine by Andrew Kenney.

When the first European explorers arrived on North Carolina's shores, they found towering longleaf pine trees standing at more than 100 feet tall and promising a plentiful resource in the wooden ship seafaring age.

Two captains told Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584 that these trees "could supply the English Navy with enough tar and pitch to make our Queen the ruler of the seas."  This was a big reason he went ahead with what would become his famous "Lost Colony."

 They were referring to pine tar, the viscous fluid that leaks from heated pine, used to secure masts and sails.  They also were talking about pitch, the boiled tar which could be heated and painted on the bottom of boats for waterproofing.

Along with the wood of these trees, it helped foster a backwoods industry and turned North Carolina into the home of the Tar Heels.

And, that nickname stuck, just as it did on the shoes and feet of poor workers who "stepped" in it.

Tar Me Up, Scottie.  --Cooter

N.C. Shrimp Was a Really Big Deal-- Part 2: Using the "Try" Net

Any good shrimper knows that it is best to go for the sea bottoms that the little jumping jacks prefer.  This may be mud, clay, sand or shell.  Usually, shrimpers will throw out the "try" net, which is smaller and more easily handled than the big net.  If the quantity of shrimp brought up then is big enough, then the main net goes out.  Then begins the long, slow drag along the ocean floor.

The trawl then gets heavily weighed down with not only shrimp but small fish and all sots of sea life like conchs to starfish as well as other stuff..  A power winch is used to haul it in where the contents are unceremoniously dumped out on the stern deck and the process of sorting the shrimp out begins.

Most shrimp boats bring their catch in in iced-holds.  Shrimp heads are either taken off on the boat or on shore because spoilage occurs faster if they are left on.  The bigger the shrimp, the fewer  there are in a pound and the higher the price.

--Cooter

Finch's Restaurant in Raleigh, N.C., Relocating

From the June 18, 2016, Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer "After seven decades Finch's must relocate" by Sarah Nagem.

The restaurant opened during the 1940s on Peace Street in downtown Raleigh and the building will be demolished when the state rebuilds the Capital Boulevard bridge.

And, they have many, many very loyal customers, but this fall, it will be serving its last breakfasts from this location.

Howard Finch opened it in the 1940s when Raleigh had fewer than 50,000 people, about one-ninth of its current population.  It has changed owners several times over the years, but still a place where the waitress will call you "hon."

Nothing about the place is fancy.

Since 1945.  Located at 401 W. Peace Street.  Open 6 a.m. to 3 p.m..

Blueberry Pancakes!!  --DaBlueCoot