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"Cape Fear Sketches" is a 214 page handwritten manuscript created in the 1850s, bound in a time-worn cover. It contains 22 compositions written by an anonymous Wilmington, N.C., author.
"Cape Fear Sketches" is a 214 page handwritten manuscript created in the 1850s, bound in a time-worn cover. It contains 22 compositions written by an anonymous Wilmington, N.C., author.
Its contents include a wide variety of literary types, including travel accounts, oral histories of the American Revolution and the War of 1812, character sketches of local personages, tall tales, even a book review.
Its contents include a wide variety of literary types, including travel accounts, oral histories of the American Revolution and the War of 1812, character sketches of local personages, tall tales, even a book review.
I happened upon a copy of the manuscript in the Southern Historical Collection of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and became fascinated with it. Its stories and descriptions are vivid and memorable, its author a very accomplished and engaging writer.
I happened upon a copy of the manuscript in the Southern Historical Collection of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and became fascinated with it. Its stories and descriptions are vivid and memorable, its author a very accomplished and engaging writer.
I was intrigued by the question of its authorship, and later by the fact that the original manuscript had found its way into the Benjamin Franklin Perry Collection of the Alabama Archives in Montgomery.
I was intrigued by the question of its authorship, and later by the fact that the original manuscript had found its way into the Benjamin Franklin Perry Collection of the Alabama Archives in Montgomery.
My edition of John D. Jones' "Cape Fear Sketches" is available for purchase. Please use this CFS_Order_Form.pdf.
My edition of John D. Jones' "Cape Fear Sketches" is available for purchase. Please use this CFS_Order_Form.pdf.
Evidence points to John D. Jones (ca 1789-1854) as the author of "Cape Fear Sketches." I wrote the papers reproduced below as I researched the question of the manuscript's author.
Evidence points to John D. Jones (ca 1789-1854) as the author of "Cape Fear Sketches." I wrote the papers reproduced below as I researched the question of the manuscript's author.
I used "Cape Fear Sketches" as source material in three papers written while enrolled in North Carolina State University's Public History program.
I used "Cape Fear Sketches" as source material in three papers written while enrolled in North Carolina State University's Public History program.
"Travel on the Cape Fear River in the Colonial Period" reported first-person accounts of how the river would have appeared to ante-bellum travelers. My eponymous ancestor worked as a raftsman on the river during the 1780s. "Cape Fear Sketches" introduced readers to Jim Paget, a Northeast Cape Fear River turpentine raftsman.
"Travel on the Cape Fear River in the Colonial Period" reported first-person accounts of how the river would have appeared to ante-bellum travelers. My eponymous ancestor worked as a raftsman on the river during the 1780s. "Cape Fear Sketches" introduced readers to Jim Paget, a Northeast Cape Fear River turpentine raftsman.
"Snake Bake the Hoe Cake" involved a search for the historical Jim Paget; and also first proposed John D. Jones as the likely author of "Cape Fear Sketches."
"Snake Bake the Hoe Cake" involved a search for the historical Jim Paget; and also first proposed John D. Jones as the likely author of "Cape Fear Sketches."
"Revolutionary Reminiscences" presented annotated texts of the sections of "Cape Fear Sketches" that addressed Wilmington's occupation by British troops in 1781.
"Revolutionary Reminiscences" presented annotated texts of the sections of "Cape Fear Sketches" that addressed Wilmington's occupation by British troops in 1781.
Travel on the Cape Fear.pdfSnake Bake de Hoe Cake.pdfRevolutionary Reminiscences.pdfReport abuse