Burgwin-Wright Presents...

Latest Episodes:

S2E8: Cape Fear Legends & Lore: A Colonial Con Artist Mar 09, 2023

Show notes

Do you think you could spot a con artist in the Colonial era? It might have been harder than you think in the days before lightning-fast technology.

In 1771, Sarah Wilson was certainly counting on it when she impersonated a member of King George III's family in the American Colonies. She traveled through Wilmington and New Bern in her march south, scamming unsuspecting colonists who jumped at the surprise opportunity to host royalty. But what do we really know about this Colonial con woman? And how did her scheme fall apart?

Joining the episode is Matt Arthur, a former staff member at Tryon Palace in New Bern and currently the professional development manager with the American Association for State and Local History.

Be sure to come grab your copy of Louis T. Moore's "Stories Old and New of the Cape Fear Region," on which this season is based, in the Burgwin-Wright House gift shop today!

This podcast is sponsored by Durable Restoration Company.

For more information about the Burgwin-Wright House and to learn how to support the house, visit BurgwinWrightHouse.com.

Cover art design by Rachel Ross.

Support the podcast and donate!: https://www.burgwinwrighthouse.com/donate1

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2E7: Cape Fear Legends & Lore: The Midnight Ride of Polly Slocumb Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

The Battle of Moores Creek Bridge is a storied moment in American history, but many people learn about the lesser-known battle through the heroic feat of a woman who didn’t fight in it. Polly Slocumb is said to have rode her horse into the night of February 26, 1776 to save her husband from dying in the battle after dreaming of his demise.

Her legend is iconic, but it’s also littered with details that don’t line up with fact. Who was Polly Slocumb and can we chase down her legend 200 years later? Joining the episode is Chris E. Fonvielle Jr, a local historian and author of books such as “More Curious Tales from Old Wilmington and the Lower Cape Fear,” which features a chapter on Polly’s story.

Be sure to come grab your copy of Louis T. Moore's "Stories Old and New of the Cape Fear Region," on which this season is based, in the Burgwin-Wright House gift shop today!

This podcast is sponsored by Durable Restoration Company.

For more information about the Burgwin-Wright House and to learn how to support the house, visit BurgwinWrightHouse.com.

Cover art design by Rachel Ross.

Support the podcast and donate!: https://www.burgwinwrighthouse.com/donate1

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2E6: Cape Fear Legends & Lore: A Duel of Passion Feb 02, 2023

Show notes

In Colonial America, a duel at ten paces could defend something the law couldn't – a man's honor. But history doesn't look fondly on those who chose to serve justice with a bullet.

Especially in the case of two young men in the British Navy in 1765, who fought a vicious and bloody duel at Brunswick Town over a woman – during a moment of growing unrest for the Cape Fear. Joining the episode to talk about the Simpson/Whitehurst duel is Jim McKee, the manager of Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site in Winnabow.

Be sure to come grab your copy of Louis T. Moore's "Stories Old and New of the Cape Fear Region," on which this season is based, in the Burgwin-Wright House gift shop today!

This podcast is sponsored by Durable Restoration Company.

For more information about the Burgwin-Wright House and to learn how to support the house, visit BurgwinWrightHouse.com.

Cover art design by Rachel Ross.

Support the podcast and donate!: https://www.burgwinwrighthouse.com/donate1

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2E5: Cape Fear Legends & Lore: The Old Dram Tree Jan 19, 2023

Show notes

When it comes to icons of the Cape Fear, few stand as sturdy as the Old Dram Tree. Although it has long since been lost to progress, the story of the Dram Tree is one that charts the entire developed history of the Wilmington area.

The bald cypress tree served as a "a grim sentinel," as it has been called, for mariners traveling the Cape Fear River all the way back to the pre-Colonial period. But how did it get its name and what happened to it? This episode, we are joined by Jack Fryar, a local historian and publisher of Dram Tree Books, to talk about the facts and fate of the Old Dram Tree.

Be sure to come grab your copy of Louis T. Moore's "Stories Old and New of the Cape Fear Region," on which this season is based, in the Burgwin-Wright House gift shop today!

This podcast is sponsored by Durable Restoration Company.

For more information about the Burgwin-Wright House and to learn how to support the house, visit BurgwinWrightHouse.com.

Cover art design by Rachel Ross.

Support the podcast and donate!: https://www.burgwinwrighthouse.com/donate1

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2E4: Cape Fear Legends & Lore: What Lies Beneath Wilmington Jan 05, 2023

Show notes

Have you heard of the tunnels underneath Wilmington, where pirates supposedly smuggled their treasure and slaves escaped on the Underground Railroad?

Perhaps the most enduring legend in Wilmington's history is ripe with salacious and fictitious stories, the passages under the city have a far more practical and not-so-flashy origin. On this week's episode, we dispel some of the legends that wind through the tunnels and ponder why they are so popular (and potentially dangerous) centuries later. Joining the episode is Jon Schleier, executive director of the Public Archaeology Corps, which excavated one of the passages named Rock Spring in 2017.

Be sure to come grab your copy of Louis T. Moore's "Stories Old and New of the Cape Fear Region," on which this season is based, in the Burgwin-Wright House gift shop today!

This podcast is sponsored by Durable Restoration Company.

For more information about the Burgwin-Wright House and to learn how to support the house, visit BurgwinWrightHouse.com.

Cover art design by Rachel Ross.

Support the podcast and donate!: https://www.burgwinwrighthouse.com/donate1

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2E3: Cape Fear Legends & Lore: A John Canoe Christmas Dec 08, 2022

Show notes

What did Christmas look like for the enslaved people of Colonial Wilmington? While no holiday celebration was guaranteed, the port city's streets were often a stage granted to enslaved communities for a display of their culture known as John Kuners or John Canoe.

With the help of special guest Dr. Tara White, an assistant professor of history at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, this episode looks at why slave owners allowed these traditions to take place and how the enslaved used them to assert their individuality and power within an institution that didn’t give them much of either. In the episode, we explore why the holidays were a time of negotiation between slave and enslaver, and how the John Canoe celebrations became so associated with Wilmington.

Be sure to come grab your copy of Louis T. Moore's "Stories Old and New of the Cape Fear Region," on which this new season is based, in the Burgwin-Wright House gift shop today!

This podcast is sponsored by Durable Restoration Company.

For more information about the Burgwin-Wright House and to learn how to support the house, visit BurgwinWrightHouse.com.

Cover art design by Rachel Ross.

Support the podcast and donate!: https://www.burgwinwrighthouse.com/donate1

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2E2: Cape Fear Legends & Lore: Wilmington in the Time of Cornwallis Nov 22, 2022

Show notes

The new season, "Burgwin-Wright Presents... Cape Fear Legends & Lore," begins with a story right in our backyard – the myth of Cornwallis Headquarters in Wilmington.

During the American Revolution, did Lord Cornwallis, commander of the British army, stay at the Burgwin-Wright House will he was in Wilmington in 1781? The house has been known for centuries as "Cornwallis Headquarters," but is it true? We explore the fact and fiction of the legend with guest Bert Dunkerly, historian and author of such books as "Redcoats on the Cape Fear."

Be sure to come grab your copy of Louis T. Moore's "Stories Old and New of the Cape Fear Region," on which this new season is based, in the Burgwin-Wright House gift shop today!

This podcast is sponsored by Durable Restoration Company.

For more information about the Burgwin-Wright House and to learn how to support the house, visit BurgwinWrightHouse.com.

Cover art design by Rachel Ross.

Support the podcast and donate!: https://www.burgwinwrighthouse.com/donate1

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2E1: Cape Fear Legends & Lore: Prologue Nov 10, 2022

Show notes

For the new season of "Burgwin-Wright Presents...," we are cracking open the chapters of Louis T. Moore's "Stories Old and New of the Cape Fear Region" for a season titled "Cape Fear Legends & Lore."

First published in 1956, the seminal local history book is a collection of legends and traditions that have defined the Cape Fear region since the Colonial period. Each episode this season, we will revisit a chapter in Moore's book to examine what's fact and what's fiction.

Before we launch the new season on Nov. 22, we wanted to introduce our listeners to Louis and why we are doing this season in this special Prologue episode.

New episodes of "Cape Fear Legends & Lore" will premiere every other week through the spring of 2023. We hope you'll join us for this new journey through local history, guided by the work of one of its greatest storytellers.

Louis T. Moore biographical information courtesy of LouisTMoore.com by Susan Taylor Block.

This podcast is sponsored by Durable Restoration Company.

For more information about the Burgwin-Wright House and to learn how to support the house, visit BurgwinWrightHouse.com.

Cover art design by Rachel Ross.

Support the podcast and donate!: https://www.burgwinwrighthouse.com/donate1

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S1E11: Outlander in the Cape Fear: A Highlander Haunting Oct 19, 2022

Show notes

"Burgwin-Wright Presents... Outlander in the Cape Fear" explores the history of Colonial North Carolina through its depiction in the book and TV series "Outlander."

For this special Halloween episode, host Hunter Ingram reads a compelling and chilling ghost story written in 1898 by noted Cape Fear historian James Sprunt entitled "A Colonial Apparition." Pulling from the true history of Scottish Highlanders who immigrated to North Carolina in the Colonial period, the story tells of the Steamer Wilmington's snowy encounter with the supposed ghosts of two Highlanders killed along the Cape Fear River during the Revolutionary War.

Initially read before The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of North Carolina (NSCDA-NC) in 1898, this special reading was coordinated by the Burgwin-Wright House, which is owned and operated by the NSCDA-NC.

This podcast is produced by Burgwin-Wright House and Gardens, Wilmington's largest and oldest historic site. For more information about the Burgwin-Wright House and to learn how to support the house, visit BurgwinWrightHouse.com.

Cover art design by Rachel Ross.

Support the podcast and donate!: https://www.burgwinwrighthouse.com/donate1

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S1E10: Outlander in the Cape Fear: King George and Broadswords May 05, 2022

Show notes

"Burgwin-Wright Presents... Outlander in the Cape Fear" explores the history of Colonial North Carolina through its depiction in the book and TV series "Outlander."

On this week's season finale, we look to the future of the "Outlander" story with a visit to Moores Creek National Battlefield, the site of an early American Revolution battle defined by the involvement and sacrifice of Scottish Highlanders on the Loyalist side. How did the Scottish brand of war translate to the American fight for freedom? And how did the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge forever change North Carolina history?

This week's guest is Jason Howell, park historian and historic weapons supervisor for Moores Creek National Battlefield in Currie, NC.

This podcast is produced by Burgwin-Wright House and Gardens, Wilmington's largest and oldest historic site. For more information about the Burgwin-Wright House, visit BurgwinWrightHouse.com.

Cover art design by Rachel Ross.

Support the podcast and donate!: https://www.burgwinwrighthouse.com/donate1

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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