Myth Busters: Unpacking North Carolina Legends

Connecting the Docs: True Stories from the Old North State

This week on Connecting the Docs, host John Horan welcomes Reference archivist Katherine Crickmore, former Digitization Archivist Chauna Carr, and Records Description Unit head Joshua Hager to investigate the validity of popular North Carolina legends.

First, Katie tackles the mysterious disappearance of Theodosia Burr, daughter of American Vice President Aaron Burr. Leaving South Carolina by boat to visit her father in New York, Theodosia was never seen or heard from again. She is said to have been abducted by pirates off the coast of the Outer Banks, but is that true? Next, Chauna unpacks the tale of Betsy Dowdy, a sixteen-year-old girl whose ride from Currituck County to inform military officers during the American Revolution rivals that of Paul Revere! However, with little evidence to back this up, did the ride really happen? Finally, Josh tells the story of the infamous Peter Stuart/Stewart Ney, who has long been tied to the Marshal Michel Ney, Napoleon Bonaparte’s right-hand man during the French Revolution. Did Marshal Ney fake his death and move to Davidson, North Carolina?

Join us as we use primary sources from the State Archives of North Carolina to see if these are myths that need to be busted!

Collections Used for Research

Theodosia Burr

David Stick Papers, PC.5001 Box 167. Research Material, 1990s-2006. Theodosia Burr, 1990s.

Pool, Bettie Freshwater. “The Nag’s Head Picture of Theodosia Burr.” The North Carolina Booklet 9, no. 2, October 1909.

Pool Family Papers, PC.5328. Box 1

West, Harry C. “The Mysterious Portrait of Theodosia Burr.” The North Carolina Folklore Journal 22, no. 3, August 1974.

Betsy Dowdy

McBride, Ransom. “Revolutionary War Service Records and Settlements.” North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal 9, no. 4, November 1983.

Moore, Carole. “Betsy’s Wild Ride.” Our State Magazine 74, no. 10, March 2007.

Seay, Majel Ivey. “Betsy Dowdy’s Ride.” The State Magazine 4, no. 47, April 1937.

State Agency Finding Aid: State Treasurer's and Comptroller's, 1731-ca. 1940.

Peter Stuart Ney

Johnson, Mark. “The Plot Thickens: Did DNA Settle a Centuries-Old Conspiracy?” Davidson College, September 18, 2023. https://www.davidson.edu/news/2023/09/18/plot-thickens-did-dna-settle-centuries-old-conspiracy.

Lyman C. Draper Collection, 1743-1906. MF-P.10.1

Peter Stewart Ney Papers, PC.800.

Whisenant, David. “French Researchers Conclude That Napoleon’s Famed Marshal Ney Is Not the Peter Stuart Ney Buried in Rowan Co. Church Cemetery.” WBTV3, September 9, 2023. https://www.wbtv.com/2023/09/09/french-researchers-conclude-that-napoleons-famed-marshal-ney-is-not-peter-stuart-ney-buried-rowan-co-church-cemetery/.