tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67444099600845451.post5362992681140469209..comments2023-09-24T09:38:11.111-07:00Comments on Wandering through the NC Piedmont: The Robber's DenMark Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04481176278686923107noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67444099600845451.post-7908991375109214322009-03-23T06:47:00.000-07:002009-03-23T06:47:00.000-07:00No, not the hill near Meadowmont where the Biz Sch...No, not the hill near Meadowmont where the Biz Sch. conference center is. That was the home of Kit Barbee, not Hardy Morgan. I think Hardy Morgan's lands were closer to University Mall and therefore the hill in question is the one where Paul Green's old house is.Mark Chiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04481176278686923107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67444099600845451.post-51351881278017697162009-03-23T06:41:00.000-07:002009-03-23T06:41:00.000-07:00"in a very thick copse of wood near his old master..."in a very thick copse of wood near his old master's residence"<BR/><BR/>So where did Hardy Morgan live? It could be the hill that the Greenwood neighborhood sits on or possibly the hill that the Business School's conference center is on.Mark Chiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04481176278686923107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67444099600845451.post-63881184604620481022009-03-23T06:37:00.000-07:002009-03-23T06:37:00.000-07:00I searched the two different indexes of the Hillsb...I searched the two different indexes of the Hillsborough Recorder and came up empty handed on trying to locate more on Tom Morgan and the Robber's Den.<BR/><BR/>However recently I noted that this incident is also described a second time by Battle on page 31 of the 1907 edition of his History:<BR/><BR/>"One of [Hardy Morgan's] slaves, Tom, having been bought by a trader who designed to carry him to the Southwest for sale, ran away and for several years had two hiding places, one a cave on Morgan's Creek and the other in a very thick copse of wood near his old master's residence, under the lee of overhanging rocks. Rough boards leaning against the rocks made a dismal shelter from the rain. Under them was a showmaker;s bench and a pile of leaves for his couch. He lived partly by robbery, partly by food brought by his mother, whose cabin was near, but on the opposite side of the hill. There seemed to be little desire to molest him until he began to break into the stores of the village in search for meat. Thena posse was summoned for his capture. Marching through the forest at regular intervals - a process known as 'beating the woods' - the men aroused him from his lair, and, on his refusal to stop when commanded, he was shot in the legs, captured and then sent south for sale. I have never seen the cave on Morgan's Creek but visited the den in the woods the day after his capture. I remember the shoemaker's bench and the fragments of leather, the scattered bones, relics of his solitary meals, and my young mind was shocked inexpressibly at the resemblance of poor Tom's habitation to the lair of a wild beast."Mark Chiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04481176278686923107noreply@blogger.com