24 minute read
HISTORY
The Day President George Washington Met Local War Hero William Gause, Jr.
A fictional account of an actual meeting that took place in what is now Ocean Isle Beach in 1791.
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STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY ED BECKLEY
TThe mosquitoes were already making themselves pests on the Gause rice and turpentine plantation in late April 1791. William Gause Jr. spent the day checking the crops in his empire along the ocean, thousands of acres on the barrier island and mainland, at the southern-most coast of North Carolina. At age 46 and missing a leg from a battle in the American Revolution, it’s a wonder Gause could mount his horse and stay saddled all those hours. Finally returning to his magnificent manor house on Gause Landing Road, he plopped sweaty and heavy into his favorite porch rocker,
The site of the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge in Pender County, in which William Gause Jr. fought on February 27, 1776.
unstrapped his wooden peg-leg and rubbed his soreness with a sigh. Then swigging a pint of tepid sweet tea, he melted into a deep afternoon nap.
Gause’s thoughts before rolling into sleep always turned to the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge, 15 years earlier, up in Currie, Pender County. The Tories in Fayetteville had marched toward Wilmington to rendezvous with loyalists and an expeditionary force led by British General Lord Cornwallis. They intended to steal and hold the port of Brunswick for Great Britain and restore royal control over the colony. The Patriots found out about it and surprised about 1,600 Scottish Highlanders at the bridge, at least 150 of whom were broad swordsmen.
Patriot Col. John Ashe Sr. led the Volunteer Independent Rangers into the fray. It was the last-ever Highland Broadsword charge anywhere in the world, as the separatists sent them running and surrendering, notching the first victory of the Revolutionary War. It was a day for great celebration, but Private Gause was in no condition for it. When he regained consciousness, he was missing part of his leg. From then on, he could never get to sleep without recalling the surgeon’s knife, the mind-bending pain and blood loss, endless pus, infection and fever. Most soldiers died of amputation though, so he was grateful to God to have survived. Being a religious man, Gause also appreciated that God works in mysterious ways. Doctors sometimes used turpentine to stop bleeding wounds back then, and Gause was a purveyor of the substance. The product of his labor may have ultimately saved his life.
There was one other, incredibly special thought Gause had before drifting off that day. He was extremely excited to think about what would happen tomorrow morning. The first President of the United States, George Washington, would be visiting him at the manor, and he and his wife would be hosting the commander-in-chief for breakfast.
Washington was almost two years into his term as president and committed to visiting all 13 of the original colonies. Having started in the nation’s capital, Philadelphia, he was already several weeks into his southern tour, making his way on horseback and carriage. He felt he could be a better president if he met with the American people and understood the will of them. He was also on a mission to “sell” the new government and fledgling U.S. Constitution. He wanted some feedback on how well the citizens were
accepting them. He had never been to the Carolinas and Georgia and was probably as excited to be received as his hosts were to welcome him. He captured each day’s events in a diary.
On April 24 Washington wrote that the road from Newbern to Wilmington passed through the most barren country he ever beheld. Wilmington gave him a huge reception, and he breakfasted on April 26 at Col. Ben Smith’s Belvedere Plantation — his first of three stops in Brunswick County. Smith had been an aide-de-camp for Washington in New York, so it must have been a grand reunion. He would later serve as North Carolina’s governor.
The president had an itinerary, but he couldn’t follow it very well because the roads were rough, bumpy and sometimes muddy. And there weren’t maps containing many of the country roads down south. As for provisions, they were always sketchy for his eight-man and 11-horse entourage. Washington had to rely on the locals to recommend directions and places to eat and sleep. Certainly, Smith would have recommended to his friend that he must stop at the Gause residence down the road — but not just for the hospitality he’d receive.
Gause wasn’t just a wounded war hero and major county businessman. He also was a statesman who stood loud and proud for the colony’s independence from Britain. Washington must have beamed with pride upon learning of Gause’s leadership and credentials.
After spending the night of the 26th at the Russ Plantation a bit south of Belvedere, the president arose hours before sun-up to accommodate a 14-mile detour to visit Gause at the coastline. He decided he would veer off the King’s Highway and find the country road Gause had carved around the swamps and long-leaf pine forests to move his products to and from Brick Landing and the state’s interior.
At last, Washington arrived at Gause Landing Road, lined with massive, towering, centuries-old live oaks, adorned with waterfalls of Spanish moss. From atop his steed, Prescott, his heart must have leaped at the sight of the two-story heartwood manor, pitched on a bluff overlooking Gause’s saltwater channel and the crashing waves of the Atlantic beyond.
With a late breakfast served, the Gause family and the president and his associates may have sat down to the president’s favorite morning meal: corncake, honey and tea, perhaps with a rack of roasted rockfish to remember the Gauses by. Or maybe just a hard-boiled egg and a shot of good whiskey. Bellies satisfied, Gause directed his guest through the salt marsh, mushy but passable on foot at low tide, to Gause’s beach. This would be the president’s first opportunity to see the southern Atlantic Ocean, and he must have been thrilled about a refreshing dip in the fragrant salt surf. Washington unfastened his breeches and leaped headlong into the waves, retaining his calves-length white underwear shirt (and his modesty),
Janelle Gore, who lives on Gause Landing Road along the Intracoastal Waterway, points to the place near the tree where Washington likely walked to the ocean to swim.
accompanied by his faithful greyhound, Cornwallis, bobbing and frolicking at his side.
Mixing business with pleasure, Washington wasted no time. “William, I want to thank you and ask for your help,” he declared. “I honor you, sir, for your strength, hardiness, courage and fortitude in the face of the enemy. Your war-wound is a marker of your patriotic service.
“But even more-so, I commend you for your representation in the North Carolina House of Commons, the Provincial Congress and the Safety Committee. In addition, your judicial prowess as a justice is well regarded and has been made known to me.
“I am grateful always, as well, for your vote in the legislature representing Brunswick County in favor of adopting the United States Constitution.”
Back at the manor, Washington propped his wet underwear on the old live oak nearest the house, where the main trunk split into two, and continued his accolades. Gause’s turpentine, tar and pitch were urgently needed by the new nation to build and maintain ships for the nation’s military needs. The tar and pitch sealed the sails, wood and seams and kept the ships afloat. The president knew Gause stopped exporting those items to England during the war, and the family sacrificed a great amount of revenue. But Washington assured him the new American navy would count on Gause for those products now and in the future, and he encouraged him to continue his patriotic good work. Gause humbly accepted the president’s praise and committed the rest of his life to serving the nation in this manner. And at that, Washington rounded up his associates, mounted Prescott and continued southbound. Gause and his family waved goodbye to President George Washington and stood watch as his cream-white carriage, embellished with the Washington family coat of arms, made it up the hill on Gause Landing Road and out of sight.
Gause kept his promise to his dying day in 1801. And to this day, the hundreds-of-years-old “George Washington Tree” still stands where the heartwood manor once did, on the bluff overlooking the saltwater creek and majestic sea. One can still envision the long white shirt of the president of the United States, tucked in its crook, waiting to dry.
Author ’s notes: The preceding article is a fictitious re-creation of the actual breakfast visit of President George Washington with William Gause Jr. in Ocean Isle Beach. Gause’s credentials in the story are factual, and his war wound is a matter of record. There is no note of Gause losing his leg at Moore’s Creek Bridge. However, a park historian said records are scant for the battle, and they only know about ten percent of what happened there. Overlaying Revolutionary War reports about Gause and his commanding officer Col. John Ashe Sr., it does not seem likely Gause could have lost his leg in battle anywhere else. Deeper research may find a different result.
The old King’s Highway is today’s Highway 17. Gause Landing Road today is still a corridor of moss-covered live oaks, leading to what is now the Intracoastal Waterway.
Wooden prosthetics existed in those days, and Revolutionary War veterans of means used them, but we do not know for sure if Gause did. It is family lore that the president took a swim that day. Washington did know how to swim, and it saved his life in the French & Indian War.
Washington’s laudatory comments in the story are plausible but completely fictitious. Any paintings or illustrations of Gause’s likeness may have gone up in flames when the house burned down — reportedly in the 1900s or when a Union gunboat opened fire on it in the War Between the States. I hope you enjoyed the re-creation.
iddle
ME THIS
Bluegrass pioneer and fiddle champion Curtis Lee, a resident of Carolina Shores with his wife, Ruth, is still heating up crowds with his fast fiddling.
BY ASHLEY DANIELS
ive-time national fiddle champion Curtis Lee hasn’t slowed down his handiwork on the strings – even in his late 80s.
I recently stopped him long enough to talk to him, along with his wife, Ruth, over the phone from their home in Carolina Shores to find out what first sparked the song in his heart and tune from his bow.
Born and raised in Carson, Virginia, Lee first picked up a guitar from a local music store when he was 6 years old.
“Then, when his brother went into the service, he took over his brother’s fiddle and started messing around with it and playing it,” says Ruth, who Lee humbly insisted on answering my questions because she has a “better phone voice.”
Lee’s Uncle Alan, who was in a band at the time, took him under his wing and taught him how to play the guitar and fiddle. He’d go on to also play mandolin, banjo and steel guitar.
Lee entered his first fiddle competition in Richmond, Virginia, at 16 years old, won it over 50 to 100 fiddlers, and just kept playing on. He played on the road with the legendary
Curtis Lee plays at the North Carolina State Fair Folk Festival each year and awards the Curtis Lee Trophy to up-and-coming musicians. Opposite page: Lee has performed with notable acts like Mac Wiseman Band (top right) and banjo player J. D. Crowe on the banjo (bottom right).
bluegrass singer Mac Wiseman up and down the East Coast and into Canada. He remembers traveling in a Mercury station wagon in the 1960s with the band inside and the upright bass strapped onto the roof. When he wasn’t on the road, he’d work day jobs and, by night, play a variety of venues.
“He considers his musical talent a gift from God; he does not read music,” Ruth says. “He plays everything by ear. … He’s very versatile, as far as playing music.”
Lee and the band would also play package shows with the likes of Jimmy Dickens and Grandpa Jones and many more — and he shared the stage with country star Patsy Cline, backing her up.
“One of the highlights, he says, is that she sat on his lap,” Ruth says.
Ruth, originally from Decatur,
Lee plays multiple instrument and Ruth plays the keyboard, and they’ve been performing together for 25 years.
Indiana, came into Lee’s life in the 1980s, she says, ironically (or suitably) at the North Carolina State Fair, where she happened to be one of the judges for the dancers in competition. Turns out he made quite the impression on and off-stage.
“Well, I did tell him that first year that his fiddle squeaked too much,” Ruth says with a laugh.
Lee continues to play at the North Carolina State Fair Folk Festival each year. About five years ago, he began awarding the Curtis Lee Trophy to “individual instrumentalists to recognize the talent of up-and-coming musicians.”
He has been honored by the International Bluegrass Association Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky, where his name is on a plaque listing Bluegrass Music’s First Generation. The museum also recognizes Lee as one of the Pioneers of Bluegrass. He is a member of the Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame, earning the state fiddling competition there four times, and the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Trophy at the North Carolina Folk Festival at the annual state fair. Ruth also took home the same trophy.
The Lees began performing as a duo 25 years ago. Ruth plays the keyboard, while Curtis takes over on the fiddle, but she also has an impressive dance background. She is a former president of the National Clogging and Hoedown Council, and has danced, taught and judged clogging classes and clogging competitions across the United States and England. The two play locally at The Courtyard at Duplin Winery in Rose Hill and North Myrtle Beach, covering a blend of popular songs in a number of genres, from Johnny Cash’s “Orange Blossom Special” (his personal favorite) to “Faded Love,” to classic rock tunes by CCR to gospel songs to “The Fifty Year Ago Waltz” by Hank Thompson.
“That’s a very pretty song,” Ruth says. “He does a beautiful job on it.”
His advice for future fiddlers?
“He says that it’s probably a good idea to start with classical training when you’re young,” says Ruth, “to go through some kind of learning method first, where you learn your violin positions and everything. And then if you become interested in bluegrass or country, then you can go from there.”
Sound like music to your ears?
To check on potential upcoming gigs at either Duplin Winery location, where the Lees often play, visit duplinwinery.com.
At Never Ever Boards in Oak Island, selling skateboards, paddleboards and surfboards helps owner Matt Troetti give back to the community.
BY KATHY BLAKE PHOTOGRAPHY BY REGINA LYNN
ear the east end of Oak Island Drive, a block before the road angles toward Caswell Beach and the sea, a small, unpretentious store has become the go-to for skateboarders, paddleboarders and surfers. Never Ever Boards, a 1,000-square-foot stockpile of equipment, attire and accessories, draws its name from Peter Pan’s Never Toretto Land, and surf and skate enthusiasts’ condition of being, well, never ever bored.
The young entrepreneur who owns the place, Matt Troetti, says his largest skating customer cluster is in the 13 to 17 age range. Or adults who gift-shop for that age range.
“Our biggest customer is entry-level, where people are starting out skating, so we show them what kind of wheels work best, and ask if they’re looking for the street or to skate at the (skate) park, so we help educate them,” Troetti says. “We have parents and grandparents who come in looking for birthday gifts, and we just have to take them where they’re at. It’s kind of an experience that can be a little overwhelming at first. We help with their decisions and show them the best options.”
Troetti, 27, isn’t a pro skateboarder. He won’t be seen flying up ramps to back flip in the stratosphere before landing upright on an 8-inch-wide sliver of polyurethane-coated maple plywood. “I can cruise pretty well, though,” he says. “When I first started, I got a Walmart board, and that discouraged me. So I got a longboard, and when it comes to tricks, I’m kind of forced to get better at it. I’ve done a ton of research, and I know what I’m talking about. We’ll probably have workshops in the future, with someone
far better than I am, who can teach foundational steps.”
Running a skateboard, surfboard and paddleboard shop wasn’t Troetti’s first career choice. After graduation from South Brunswick High School in 2011, he attended Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte to pursue a culinary career in hospitality and business management. But, he says, “The beach was calling my name.” His family has been on Oak Island since he was a third-grader. He’d learned a bit in college about running a company and says he knew he could run an online business from anywhere. “I had some experience working from home and working independently, so I thought why not just do it myself?” he says.
He started Never Ever Boards online and will mark three years in business in May 2021. The retail store, in a former produce mart, is like a studio that guides customers’ attention through the displays.
“It’s not cluttered, which is good,” Troetti says. “Things are placed in a pretty good arrangement. It’s like
walking into an art gallery. All of the boards are on full display. The design someone picks is a reflection of their personality, so I wanted to make sure they could really see the designs.”
Troetti’s main brand, his favorite, is Element. “It’s the brand I grew up with,” he says. “It’s an outdoorsy brand that doesn’t scream ‘skate’ but it’s rugged, and a little classy,” he says. He sells their t-shirts and other products as well.
Troetti likes to do good in the community and give back where he can. He is coordinating with the Town of Oak Island to rebuild the town’s Kevin Bell Skatepark on SE 49th Street, which was damaged in August 2020 when a 9.5-foot storm surge during a lunar high tide flattened dunes, damaged homes and pushed piles of sand and debris three blocks inland. As many as 50 skaters a day skated at the park before the damage. Troetti is raising money through donations, raffles and auctions to help rebuild.
He donates to the Oak Island Beach Preservation Society, contributes to a cause that brings clean drinking water to developing countries and promotes companies that do good for the planet. At Never Ever Boards he sells a product called Sand Straw, a reusable drinking straw, whose manufacturer donates 10 percent of proceeds to help endangered wildlife.
In summer, when the island’s population increases significantly, paddleboards are Never Ever Boards’ biggest seller. In 2020 he noticed a customer shift, with more visitors working here remotely during COVID-19 and many considering moving here as a permanent option.
“In the last six months, the majority of people in the store have said, ‘Hey, we came down here during the pandemic, and rented for several months, and now we’re going to move here.’ And some have actually moved,” he says. “So, I’m thinking we’re soon going to have our busiest season.”
He also sees the potential for skateboarding to become more popular, now that skateboarding is an Olympic sport.
Troetti hasn’t forsaken his culinary training, however. He’s already planning a side gig, thanks to his time at Johnson & Wales.
“It’s funny, because my senior project was on how to open a successful restaurant and still have a passion for cooking, so I plan to open a food truck here soon,” he says. “A lot of food trucks want to bounce, but if people see you in the same place a few times, and you market it on social media, they’re going to come. So I’ll do my own.”
In the meantime, Troetti is thankful for his customers and his success in selling boards. “I’ve done well at my business, and I can only thank God for that,” he says.
Want to go?
Never Ever Boards
8813 E. Oak Island Drive, Oak Island (910) 933-6111 nevereverboards.com
Fired Up for Glass
At Mystical Reflections in Calabash, Judy Rodriguez, Lisa Bason and Felecia Blair practice the art of stained glass and share their passion with others.
BY BETH A. KLAHRE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRENT GALLANT
FFelecia Blair and mother-daughter pair Judy Rodriguez and Lisa Bason are as vibrant and artistic as the stained-glass artwork they produce at Mystical Reflections, their stained-glass shop in Calabash.
Originally just a hobby for the three glass enthusiasts, Mystical Reflections has grown into a professional stained-glass art studio, glasssupplies shop and artist gallery named Gallery 17. Blair, Bason and Rodriguez have all become crazily obsessed with stained glass in the six
Felicia Blair, left, and Lisa Bason are co-owners of Mystical Reflections along with Judy Rodriguez.
years they have owned the Calabash location. Artists of all ages and all skill levels come here to learn and practice the intricate process of creating traditional stained glass and trendy fused-glass art.
Rodriguez is the first person you meet when entering the shop. She started experimenting with stained glass in 2004 as a retirement hobby.
“My first project was an angel,” she says. “After taking that class I was hooked. It’s amazing to me that I could take a pattern and glass and turn it into something so beautiful. Each of my projects is special to me.”
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Bason, who originally had absolutely no interest in stained glass, is the resident creative design artist. She attended Alamance Community College in Graham, North Carolina, learning commercial art design. Now she admits she’s caught the stainedglass bug, too.
“I get such joy out of creating a piece of stained-glass art,” Bason says. “It’s my Zen. When I’m busy on a project, I become lost in the process and lose all track of time.”
At the studio, Bason helps customers transform their ideas into art.
Lisa Bason is the resident creative design artist.
“I am inspired by my clients’ visions,” she says. “Sometimes they know exactly what they want and sometimes they only have an idea. It can be an abstract piece or something more specific.”
Since the piece of art will eventually hang in the client’s home, Bason ensures that it makes the client happy.
Blair is responsible for marketing and public relations. She too has become obsessed with the artform and uses stainedglass projects as a way to relax from her full-time corporate job.
Stained glass refers to colored glass and the art created from it. Blair explains it in simple terms: “It’s the glass seen in church windows and in sun catchers.” There is considerable symbolism behind the colors and patterns in stained glass. Blair adds, “Stained glass is a very old, almost lost art. It’s magical watching a piece of square glass change into something like a delightful hummingbird. The multiple pieces eventually fit together, just like a puzzle.”
There are multiple steps to creating stained glass art. It starts with choosing a pattern, picking colored or iridescent glass, tracing the pattern onto the glass and cutting out the pieces. Next comes grinding the rough edges so the pieces fit tightly together, wrapping in copper foil and covering with flux, soldering, polishing with patina and then final polishing.
“It takes a lot of practice to make a beautiful bead of solder,” Blair says. “And polishing can sometimes take an hour to achieve polished perfection.”
Fused glass, while similar to stained glass, does not require as much cutting of the glass and is more versatile. Blair says,
“A round disk can end up as a truly functional piece like a plate or a bowl.”
Blair is currently experimenting with enamel painting, a combination of glass and paint that requires kiln firing. The shop has two kilns that reach more than 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit. Blair is designing sea life pendants. “Giving these pendants as gifts is immortality,” she says. “They can be handed down many times. I get a good, deep feeling from doing this type of piece.”
In January 2020 the artists moved to a new location, growing their studio from 1,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet.
“We started to get calls from people at the beach on vacation who wanted to take a stained-glass class,” Blair says. “But our space was too small. We were actually turning down business. Classes became a way to expand our business.”
The new location accommodates beginner, intermediate and advanced workshops in stained glass, lead glass, fused glass and mosaics. Beginners start with a project with three to five pieces. After two beginner classes, students are ready for intermediate work with either more curves or a larger piece.
The larger space also accommodates a supply store that carries all the tools necessary to get started, including grinders, glasscutters and soldering irons. And glass, of course, which comes in freight shipments of 50 pieces weighing an astonishing 500 to 700 pounds. The store offers art supplies and gift cards, both in-store and online.
Gallery 17 sells stained- and fused-glass art, jewelry, baskets,
Mystical Reflections has a full line of stained and fused glass supplies and offers instructional classes for those that wish to learn to make these artforms.
poured acrylic art, photography, folk art and pottery from more than 20 artists as well as pieces from each of the three owners.
“If you want a unique, locally crafted gift, we are the hidden gem,” Blair says.
She adds that the gallery has a small-town feel and is the place for artists to meet other artists and for customers to interact with artists. “We greet everyone,” she says. “Our customers are not just customers. We treat everyone like family.”
It’s easy to understand why Blair becomes emotional when she talks about Mystical Reflections during COVID-19.
“We appreciate the community’s business,” she says. “Without it, we would not be here. The generosity of strangers as well as our repeat customers is overwhelming.”
Smaller classes with social distancing, masks and cleaning protocols throughout the spacious facility have enabled workshops, Gallery 17 and the supply shop to continue to operate during the pandemic.
Blair concludes, “Come visit us. Take a class. Come see what it’s all about. You just might get fired up for glass.”
Want to go?
Mystical Reflections
225 Koolabrew Drive NW, Calabash (910) 575-3503 firedup4glass.com
