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HeardTell Blog

Leonora T. Jackson–Early Asheville School Teacher Was Born a Slave

Lenora T. Jackson 1859-1950 Leonora Tecumseh Jackson died in Asheville in 1950 at the age of 91. Her brief obituary mentioned the schools where she had taught and simply stated that she was “a teacher of 62 years.” Leonora was born in 1859 in Halifax County to Caroline Garrett and Andrew Jackson. She had two
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Update on Arden: Some Notes on Enslaved Labor in Buncombe County

We’re posting an addendum to our Instagram post on Arden thanks to the really insightful question posed by local writer Ami Worthen (@amiwhoa) in the comments. Our original post read, “The painting featured depicts “Struan” a home built in the Arden area in 1847 by Alexander Robertson, a wealthy rice planter from South Carolina who
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52 Weeks, 52 Communities: Alexander

Situated along the French Broad between Weaverville and Leicester is Alexander. The unincorporated community has a storied history connected directly to tourism, the Buncombe Turnpike, and the Zebulon Vance’s older brother, Robert. Today, Alexander remains one of the most rural sections of the county, characterized by steep terrain on either side of the French Broad
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52 Weeks, 52 Communities : Albemarle Park

There is nothing like a memoir to learn the history of a place, and the Albemarle community is lucky that the children (of which there were 10) of William and Mary Wadley Raoul wrote about their family and the development of Albemarle. The Family of Raoul: A Memoir by Mary Raoul Millis, contains Mary’s writing
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Asheville Black Family History and Stephens-Lee High School Graduates

Are any of these people your relatives?   Former graduates of Stephens-Lee High School, educational achievements and biographical information. We felt very fortunate to find these photographs, as well as the information regarding when these early graduates of Stephens-Lee completed their studies. The further information about their later educational attainments and what the were doing
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52 Weeks, 52 Communities: A Journey Through Buncombe County

Buncombe County has historically been one of the largest counties in North Carolina (Currently we rank number 19 of 100 in land area). In its earliest days, the county was nicknamed “The State of Buncombe” because its borders encompassed an enormous portion of western North Carolina straight to the Tennessee line (and for a short
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