Randolph County is proud to have a tradition of storytelling. The first settlers to move into the county brought their own Scotch-Irish and German heritage with them. As they lived and worked in the county, they began to make up stories about themselves and the new land. Many of the stories they told were about things they had done or people that they knew. When the work was done in the evenings, children gathered around the fire and listened to stories that their parents and grandparents told.
The stories in this book are some of the stories that were told a long time ago. Some are about people who have acted bravely in the face of danger and have become heroes. Some are about places in the county that are like no other places in the state. Some are stories that have been invented just for fun. All of the stories have one thing in common — they are unique to Randolph County.
There are hundreds of stories about Randolph County that have never been written. Ask your parents and grandparents to tell you stories about when they were growing up. Ask them to tell you stories that their parents and grandparents told them. Listen to them very carefully. They will tell you more about history than you could ever read in a history book. They will tell you about yourself and the special county in which you live. Try to write some of the stories down and save them so that your children can enjoy them. Make up some stories of your own about things that you have done. Years from now they will be history too. Look all around you for stories — you will find a rich supply of them wherever you go in Randolph County.
Contents
- Dan Tucker, 1
The true story of one of Randolph County’s most famous men - Dan Tucker Comes to Town, 3
What just might have happened to Johnstonville - The Silver Tree, 10
Randolph County’s greatest swindle - Fine Horses
How a couraqeous man started a tradition in Randolph county . 13 - The Man at the Bridge, 20
A haunting story of a mysterious old man - Martha Bell, 25
Randolph County’s first liberated woman - Indians and the White-Haired Man, 30
Fantasy, tall tale, ghost story and adventure all wrapped up in one story - Why Main Street Isn’t, 50
The bustling city of Asheboro in 1889 - The Story of Naomi Wise and Jonathan Lewis, 54
The ballad of the tragic lovers of Randleman
Source
Presnell, Barbara. Dan Tucker and other Randolph County Heroes in Folklore. Randolph, North Carolina : Randolph Arts Guild, 1979.