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This is the story of a region at once representative and unique in the history of Southern culture, which was from its earliest colonial beginnings a focus of strength, intellect, and proud individuality.
Warren County, North Carolina, heart of the Roanoke Region, early built for grace and vigor. It bred people who were great in the affairs of the state and the nation. Resolutely it fought for freedom from England, was a harbor of antebellum grace and vigor, sent its sons into the forefront of Civil War battles, weathered Reconstruction's woes, and strove to sustain its ancient tradition of greatness while keeping step with modernity in the world.
Here are remembered the beginnings in a primitive wilderness, the pioneer region that grew into a rich empire of luxury and intellectualism, the county that weathered disasters and won deserved rewards. The events of its life as a locality, with the men and women who created those events, are here retold. Warren County's special record of mannered culture and robust folkways, its parade of hunters, builders, scholars, statesmen, soldiers, belles and beaux, wits and merrymakers, its progress and change as noted in five different centuries, are set forth from authentic sources.
About the author
Manly Wade Wellman (1903 - 1986) was an American writer. While his science fiction and fantasy stories appeared in such pulps as Astounding Stories, Startling Stories, Unknown and Strange Stories, Wellman is best remembered as one of the most popular contributors to the legendary Weird Tales and for his fantasy and horror stories set in the Appalachian Mountains, which draw on the native folklore of that region. Karl Edward Wagner referred to him as "the dean of fantasy writers." Wellman also wrote in a wide variety of other genres, including historical fiction, detective fiction, western fiction, juvenile fiction and non-fiction. Wellman was a long-time resident of North Carolina. He received many awards, including the World Fantasy Award and Edgar Allan Poe Award. In 2013, the North Carolina Speculative Fiction Foundation inaugurated an award named after him to honor other North Carolina authors of science fiction and fantasy. Three of Wellman's most famous recurring protagonists are John, a.k.a. John the Balladeer, a.k.a. "Silver John", a wandering backwoods minstrel with a silver-stringed guitar, the elderly "occult detective" Judge Pursuivant and John Thunstone, also an occult investigator.
Summary
This is the story of a region at once representative and unique in the history of Southern culture, which was from its earliest colonial beginnings a focus of strength, intellect, and proud individuality. Warren County, North Carolina, heart of the Roanoke Region, early built for grace and vigour. It bred people who were great in the affairs of the state and the nation.
