Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History

Whistler’s Mother, North Carolina Native

On September 27, 1804, Anna McNeill Whistler was born in Wilmington. McNeill was made famous in the renowned painting, “Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist’s Mother,” commonly known as “Whistler’s Mother.”

Scalded to Death by the Steam: The Wreck of the Old 97

On September 27, 1903, arguably the most famous train wreck in U.S. history, the wreck of the old 97, occurred in Danville, Va. The mail train was in route to Spencer in Rowan County.

A Pirate’s Life Was His, Stede Bonnet’s

On September 27, 1718, Colonel William Rhett captured the so-called “Gentleman Pirate” Stede Bonnet, after a six-hour battle near the mouth of the Cape Fear River.

The Battle of Charlotte

On September 26, 1780, British troops under the command of Lord Charles Cornwallis clashed with Patriot militia led by William R. Davie in Charlotte.

Longstanding Lions Club Commitment to the Blind

North Carol

Governor and Congressman Gabriel Holmes, Ally of John C. Calhoun

On September 26, 1829, Governor Gabriel Holmes died suddenly while serving a term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Adelaide Fries and the Moravian Archives

On September 26, 1911, Forsyth County native Adelaide Fries was appointed Archivist of the Southern Province of the Moravian Church.

The Route to Kings Mountain

September 25, 1780, the “Over Mountain Men” met along the Watauga River before heading along the Yellow Mountain Road over the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Greensboro-Born Doctor Pioneers “Tommy John Surgery,” Saves Baseball Careers

On September 25, 1974, Greensboro native Frank Jobe, an orthopedist for the Los Angeles Dodgers, replaced pitcher Tommy John’s torn medial collateral ligament in his pitching arm with a tendon from his wrist.

Graham Barden, Congressional Education and Labor Chair

Barden, circa 1939-49.