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When Holdne took office as provisional governor of North Carolina in June, 1865, the task he faced would have dismayed a less energetic man. Government in the state was utterly disorganized; all offices were vacant. The state was without money and…

Lewis Bitting Banner was born in 1805 in Surry County, North Carolina. In 1856, Lewis B. Banner, his wife Nancy Meadow Flipping, and their seven children moved to Watauga County, North Carolina where their eighth child was born. He bought two…

John Willis Ellis was a North Carolina lawyer, legislator, judge, and Democratic governor. Born in Rowan County in 1820, he was a son of a Planter. Ellis graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1841, and served as a lawyer, until he was…

Although he was not a native of North Carolina, Major John H. Gee was a prominent figure in North Carolina during the Civil War era. Specifically, John Gee was the commanding officer for the Confederate Prison in Salisbury NC. Gee was born in…

Thomas Clingman is often overlooked in the history of the Civil War yet he played an extremely crucial role in the political realm in the years prior to 1861. Clingman was Southern through and through yet secession was not on his agenda. He…

William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) was a major-general in the Union Army during the Civil War. Sherman gained success in the Western Theater and oversaw the Military Division of the Mississippi after Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to the head of…

Zebulon Baird Vance was born in Western North Carolina in 1831 to a middle class family. After high school, Vance continued his education at the University of North Carolina where he pursued a degree in law. Vance slowly worked his way up in North…

Thomas Ruffin was born in Virginia in November of 1787, and moved to North Carolina early in his life. He attended Princeton University and later studied law in Rockingham County and eventually passed the bar in 1808. After practicing law for a few…

Vance’s Proclamation. The “Hideous Mark” to be fixed on Cowards and Traitors to the Confederacy. THE FRIENDS OF THE UNION TO BE MADE INFAMOUS Woe to the Men who Refuse to Fight for the South. THE FATHER OR THE BROTHER WHO HARBORS OR…

Nat Turner (1800-1831) was a slave from Southampton, Virginia, which is located twenty miles from the North Carolina boarder. His slave rebellion on August 21st, 1831, created mass fear and rumors of slave insurrections throughout North Carolina,…