Henry Berry Lowrie Country

[The Folks @ TanneryWhistle.com]

Right now, I am reading "No Other Place on Earth" by a lady named Humpheries (sp). I think Neal is reading it, too. It deals with one of my favorite topics, the Lumbees, and their mysterious origins. I've been a fan of the Henry Berry Lowrie tale, a mixture of fact and legend, since the time I was in college and had a drama instructor that required us to read a collection of "folk dramas" including "The Shuffletown Outlaws" and "The Last of the Loweries." Anybody interested in this subject? It is lots of fun. When I worked in Raleigh, I used to visit Pembroke and listen to Adolf Dial hold forth about the popular theory that the Lumbees were the direct descendants of the Lost Colony. He was very impressive, especially when he alternately read the names in the phone book in Lumberton and the names of the original Lost Colony settlers. I've just started the book, but I'm hooked. It is surprisingly well-written and I'm already hooked.
Gary

[The Folks @ TanneryWhistle.com]

Well, I finished the book and reviewed it for the Smoky Mountain News. In the final analysis, I had mixed feelings about it. Seems like any time an author takes on a novel based on a character that is part true and part legend, there are problems. Probably the best thing about the book is the atmosphere. Humpherys did a marvelous job of capturing Shuffletown in the 1860's right down to the smell of turpentine and the sound of a swamp at night. In actual fact, the book is more about the women of Shuffletown and the desperate straits that they found themselves in when the men either fled to the swamp with Lowrie or went off to join either the Union or Confederate forces (the place was fair well divided between the two). Something that was worse than either was the Home Guard which drafted Lumbees into a kind of slave work force down in Wilmington (the Lumbees were unacceptable in the Confederate army). Lots of good history and a wonderful public execution of a Lowrie gang member complete with oratory and hymn singing. The thing that I didn't get a clear image of was Henry Berry Lowrie. Maybe that is the way it is always going to be. No one knows what happened to him. Humphrey's decides he esaped and fled to California and somehow, that resolution is both disappointing and unlikely.
Gary

[SimpleLife]

This here thread is the reason I joined this Forum, but to my dismay there is no recent activity :c( Hmm but I will put my 2 cents in anyway.

The said:

Right now, I am reading "No Other Place on Earth" by a lady named Humpheries (sp). I think Neal is reading it, too. It deals with one of my favorite topics, the Lumbees, and their mysterious origins. I've been a fan of the Henry Berry Lowrie tale, a mixture of fact and legend, since the time I was in college and had a drama instructor that required us to read a collection of "folk dramas" including "The Shuffletown Outlaws" and "The Last of the Loweries." Anybody interested in this subject? I've just started the book, but I'm hooked. It is surprisingly well-written and I'm already hooked.
Gary

I wasn’t fortunate enough to learn about Henry Berry at college.

I read “Nowhere Else on earth” about a year ago and I too could not put it down. I automatically loved Josephine Humphries style of writing and also found myself falling in love with the mysterious Henry Berry Lowery. That was the first time I had ever heard of Henry Berry, and I had no clue this book was based on true events/persons/town etc. I finished the book in 2 days, and even started reading it again but after finishing it the second time I read the very last pages, which were questions to J. Humphries (like a mini interview). In that interview she talked about the struggles of “Scuffletown” and her meetin’s with Henderson Oxendine’s relatives. I was saddened that this book was based on true events. But I got online and looked into the life of Henry Berry Lowery and found there were other books on this great person (well in my opinion he was great no matter if part myth, legend, lie whatever) I found 2 books based on his life: To Die Game and my all time favorite book “The Swamp Outlaw: The Civil War Story of Henry Berry Lowery and His North Carolina Indian Raiders by DAVID BALL”. The Swamp Outlaw will make you laugh, cry, and unfortunately upset. I highly recommend this book by DAVID BALL. He writes this book from a “male perspective”, so one (me) can get a sense of how Henry and his gang theoretically lived. It is a great read. Hopefully there will be some responses on this topic as I am highly fascinated with Henry Berry Lowery and “Scuffletown”. More writings, stories, folktales, etc will be greatly treasured. Thanks.

“The Only Land I Know: A History of the Lumbee Indians (The Iroqouis and Their Neighbors)” by Adolph Dial is also a great read about the Lumbee’s and Henry Berry

Roni Mae

[Gary Carden]

Dear Roni Mae,

I got depressed because no one ever showed up to talk on this forum, so I sorta hung it up. This is my first visit back in six or seven months. Lo, there are some people here! If you come back, please email me at: [e-mail] and I will gladly return.

Incidentally, I knew Adolf Dial and used to go by Pembroke College and talk to him when I was working for the Lumbees as a grants writer. I also attended "Strike at the Wind" which was a poor excuse for a drama about Henry Berry Lowrie. He deserves better.
Gary

[Gary Carden]

Dear Roni Mae,

I got depressed because no one ever showed up to talk on this forum, so I sorta hung it up. This is my first visit back in six or seven months. Lo, there are some people here! If you come back, please email me at: [e-mail] and I will gladly return.

Incidentally, I knew Adolf Dial and used to go by Pembroke College and talk to him when I was working for the Lumbees as a grants writer. I also attended "Strike at the Wind" which was a poor excuse for a drama about Henry Berry Lowrie. He deserves better.
Gary

[SimpleLife]

Welcome back Gary :c)

Thanks for responding.

You met Mr. Adolf Dial. What was he like if I may ask? Did he tell you stories of Lumberton, the Lowery Gang, or Henry? Is there any known pictures (not paintings or drawings) of the Gang, family, or “Scuffletown”? If I’m not mistaken I believe Mr. Dial wrote in his book that Henry Berry accidentally shot himself cleaning out one of his rifles, Did Mr. Dial really believe that, did he ever speak of it? In my opinion Henry was too familiar with firearms and couldn’t have accidentally shot himself. Did you ever come across any other stories, or hearsay about Henrys death/disappearance? I would love to hear some. I hope I am not pestering you on this topic. Unfortunately right now I am on the west coast so this tale of HENRY BERRY LOWERY is new to me and my curiosity is greater then what the Internet is giving me. I want to someday visit Robeson County when my budget says it’s okay to, so stories and tales will have to do for now ;c)

Strike at the wind: I read that there was a play over there in N.C. about the Lowery Gang and was upset that I couldn’t attend it but now that I know it’s a disappointment I won’t be so upset about missing it. ;c) I also read that there is a small budget movie about Henry Berry I believe it is called “Through Native Eyes” ever see it. Oh how I wish I could get my hands on that movie. :c|

Well anyway thanks again for the response and hopefully I’m not too much of a pest :c)

Roni Mae

[bj berry]

Thank you for letting me know about the books. I will look for "No Other Place on Earth" and start there. I am related to the Berry side of Henry Berry Lowery's family tree. I have grown up in Oregon (first generation out here) and never knew much about him. Do you know any books that tell about his older people? I am especially interested in Richard Berry (my direct ancestor). Thank you for starting this forum. From a lost grandchild, bj
P.S. Just incase I loose this address to this forum after a while, you can reach me directly at [e-mail] Just be sure to put Henry Berry Lowrey in the subject line so I don't think it's junk mail and delete it before I get to read it.
Thank you again! bj

[SimpleLife]

Welcome BJ. Berry

The book you are referring to is called “Nowhere else on earth”. But I think you should start with “The Swamp Outlaw” by DAVID BALL, it is a better first read in my opinion :c) Don’t get me wrong “Nowhere else on Earth” is a great book but “The Swamp Outlaw” is much more mesmerizing. (Yup that’s right I said mesmerizing) ;c)

BJ. Berry:
Were you told any stories about Henry Berry Lowry? Sorry I’m being a busybody again…my apologies

Hopefully Gary C. comes back to answer our questions. He advised anyone with questions to e-mail him directly but I do not want to pester him at his personal e-mail address…(I’m a chicken noodle I guess)…and he wouldn’t know how to get rid of me ;c)

Roni Mae

[Gary Carden]

Well, here I is!

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but my first encounter with Herry Berry Lowrie was in some old folk plays that were written by Prof Kock's students in Chapel Hill, circa 1940's. There were two one-acts,
"The Shuffle-town Outlaws" and "The Last of the Lowries." When I worked for the Commission of Indian Affairs in Raleigh a few years back, I went to see the outdoor drama, "Strike At The Wind" in Pembroke.
Bad drama, great story.

About Adolf Dial. He was that rare thing, a courtly gentleman, and he would stand in the hall at Pembroke and expound on his passionate belief that the Lumbees were the direct descendants of the Lost Colony." I especially remember him reading the Lumbee phone book as proof that the names were the same as the original people in the Virginia Dare settlement.
Gary Carden

[Sylvia Lowery]

To find out more about Henry b Lowery try to visit the lumbee tribe website. www.lumbeetribe.com Thanks........Sylvia Lowery

[danette]

Hi everyone. New to the site. Just a little info on Henry Berry Lowery.
I am the 9th generation of the Lowery family. Here is our lineage:
(1)James Lowery (l) married Pricilla Berry. They migrated to Robeson County from Va. Their child (2)James Lowery (li) married Sarah Kersey. Their child (3)William Lowery married Elizabeth Locklear. Their child (4)Allen Lowery married Mary Polly Cumbo. Their child (5)Calvin Lowery married Mariah Sampson (Calvin and Henry Berry are brothers! This makes me the G-G-G-niece of Henry Berry.). Their child (6)Susan Lowery married Luther Oxendine (Luther and Susan donated the land that Oxendine Elementary School, church and Robeson County Cemetery sit on. Located on Oxendine Elementary Road in Maxton, NC). Their child (7)Nancy Oxendine married Earl Hunt. Their child (8)Welbert Hunt married Janice Ogle. Their child (9)Danette Hunt (this is me). I have 3 sons and they make the (10th) generation in line to the original James Lowery and Pricilla Berry family of Robeson County, NC.

I remember my grandmother Nancy (Oxendine) Hunt talking about a "Uncle Henry Berry," but I do not remember much. She passed away before I realized who she was talking about. How I wished I had listened to her stories better!

Anyway, just thought I would share all of this with y'all. Keep reading and I hope you enjoy the stories.

[carolinian]

I have lived in NC my entire life. I've seen a lot of country and I've been through Lumberton plenty of times. Lumbees are nothing but mutants, seriously. I don't mean for that to sound racist or anything, but you wouldn't understand unless you've seen them in real life. They are the result of Native Americans, caucasians, and black people having sex in a secluded colony. But there was a lot of inbreeding (they all have one of six last names (Locklears, Oxendines, Chavises, etc)) and they all smoked and drank in this colony, inluding during pregnancy if it was a woman. They have yellow skin and look like no other race you've ever seen.

They are also more violent than any other people I've ever seen. My buddy was going to UNCP on a football scholarship and several other buddies and I went up to Pembroke for his Orientation. So we started driving around and wound up at the Robeson County Prison. We went in there and asked to take a tour and they actually let us (we didn't think they'd let us). I swear on my life that half of the people in there had the last name 'Locklear' or 'Chavis.' I know because on the door of each cell it showed the inmate's full name.

I always go through Lumberton on the way to the beach from Charlotte and when I was about 16, I had a knife pulled on me by a damn Lumbee in a Convenient store just for looking at the guy. The Lumbee clerk didn't do shit about it. Lumbees are violent and dangerous. In some parts of Lumberton, they don't even use American money; they use the trade system (ex. 4 ears of corn for 10 potatoes).

You'd do good not to go anywhere near these people. They are yellow, mutated, weird, freaks. None of them have real jobs, they just live off their land.

[turing]

Perhaps it's because people around them are so stuffed to the brim with absolutely retarded prejudice that so many of them end up in trouble? Perhaps it's because it's obvious behind your racist, piggy, retarded eyes that you're sitting there in judgment that people pull knives on you?

The idea that there's an ethnic group which, in parts, honors their heritage by not falling into the structure of having a 'real job' and instead trade with their neighbors in no way reflects poorly - instead, it simply makes you look like a fucking yokel who can't wrap his head around anything that he wasn't force fed in school.

I've never seen anyone among those who call themselves Lumbee who could be described as yellow at all, and the idea that mixing races makes people weird mutants has to be the stupidest shit that I have read in quite some time, which is impressive considering that this is the internet. Perhaps you should spend five or ten minutes around people of Lumbee heritage without your head welded into your ass; I'd imagine it'd do wonders for your perspective.

[airborne19d]

Southeastern NC isnt the same place it used to be when HBL was alive. History is clouded by people who were afraid. Its already extremely difficult to filter out truth with so many egos and antagonists at the steering wheel of information. I grew up in the swamps of NC. My home sits on the edge of a creek that flows right by the grave of someone who thought keeping the peace was done by discrimination and intimidation. Everything this man accomplished and influenced was made possible and more convenient by money and the benefit of being a white male in the 1800's. My grandpa and my dad told me a long time ago that this man was in our bloodline, kinda like an uncle with 4 or 5 greats tacked on to it. He had a recognized name in history..... but mostly for getting capped by HBL walking across a millpond dam. From what I have learned about him over the years he was askin for trouble from the Loweries long before his number came up. Im sure he would rather be more remembered as an aristocrat who was a fearless hunter and maybe even a powerful political influence. I wonder if him knowing his fate would be so quick and easy for a Lumbee to hand down could have somehow sparked a change in his thinking. I think he felt invincible by his reputation, status in the community, and certain people he rubbed elbows with. He was killed right after being aquitted and released by the authorities of some pretty violent actions towards other human beings by a judge who justified his purposes. We dont allow law enforcement or any public defending official to use his self-created judgment and actions to enforce peace and order like that anymore. I credit that to people who have figured out what to do with history.....learn from it and be the badass who shook the foundation of humanity by protecting our history. One day it will be the story about us. From someone as harmless as an ignorant blogger who got beat up alot to someone who really knows how to hurt people, they all are a part of what will be remembered. History is too old and tattered to wear on your chest like some spoon fed college kid showin off his new silk shirt in the club. Appreciating and learning from history is different than invoking and trying to react to it like the people who actually experienced it. There are families in these old traditional counties that have worked so hard for what they have and its sad when somebody not familiar with other areas makes their way to Wilmington thru HWY 74-76 to go buy their "cooler than u clothes" and they are so bored with the ride that they just want to pick on farmers, fisherman, Bricklayers, Ditchdiggers, Church goers, Plant workers, Hog Farmers, Construction Workers, and anybody that seems to be different. People around here long ago taught themselves to be content with far less than what the people in BIGGER CITIES seem to require because saving your money was the only investment most could afford to do. Ive never stopped learning about the people that founded and shaped the area I love so much. Im just a white skinned country boy that grew up on the same dirt road as Kings, Browns, Grahams, Bellamys, Jacobs, Nixons, Spauldings, Youngs, Howards, Redwines, Chestnutts, Moores, Woodles, Loves, Bushs, Byrds, Longs, Carrolls, Hinyards, Shipmans, Bollingers, Petersons, Bullocks, Flynns, Heaths, Sykes, Ellis, Lanes, Shaws, Snowdens, Troys, Cromarties, Fowlers, Hargroves, Campbells, Burns, Bridgers, Porters, Medlins, Llyods, Bordeauxs, Malpass, Smiths, Grice, Jacksons, Whites, Werehans, Gaylords, Taylors, Simpsons, Rawls, Russ, Brills, Neals, Waddells, Pridgens, Johnsons, Wootens, Purvis, Cooks, Potters, Marshalls, Huffams, Squires, Freemans, Corbins, Daniels, Harris, Mitchells, and dont forget the Oxendines, Lowries/Lowerys, Locklears, Hunts, McNairs, Applewhites, McLeans, Wards, Suggs, Clewis, Bullards and Dawsons...oh well cant name them all. Someone should tell all the critics that the towns are small but the people are large and we inhabit every county in this state. I dont dare say to anyone that I am even certain that Im just a white boy. My roots trace back to scoth-irish and some French. But my families have been in North Carolina since the sixteen hundreds and more so in Brunswick, Columbus, Sampson,Robeson, Pender,and Cumberland counties since the early 1800s. Should I just be nieve and assume that Im just a European? I really dont care, but I cant just assume that the Campbells that I was related to arent the same family as other races of Campbells in Columbus County can I? What I am proud of is the stories of how all of these families helped each other through the depression and the World Wars, Hurricane Hazel, lifetimes of honest and noble struggles that would not have succeeded had it not been for their neighbor of whatever color or mix. If its so obvious for people to point out the mix of diverse people then why cant they see how awesome we are for not going back where we have already been. LA had race riots in the 90s, The skinhead groups are way more mouthy out west nowdays, I have friends from NY that tell me High Schools are so racially divided its actually a security issue for the kids. Even in 1992 when Columbus County merged 4 schools into two all we found out was how much of our families already knew each other. My Dad, and just about everybody elses Dad worked for the Paper Mill or the Saw Mill, or even the Logging companies that worked for the mill. There are mean people everywhere but there hasnt been a scuffle town around here since we settled down from a Civil War. Most of the people around here make it what it is, and that is a place where life can be hard work but the good people have always made it just a little bit easier to live and enjoy going barefoot every now and then.

[loveslumbees]

I just found this page by accident and
I was outraged about the boy who had so many negative things to say about Lumberton and Lumbees.! Come stay a while move here find out how many educated Lumbees are around or how many Lumbees have served and lost their lives in war. You should not degrade the whole race on one visit who is to say you did no provoke what happened to you. I have the prettiest little Lumbee girl you have ever seen who is smart and very polite. What if we were to bash your race for the fun of it how would you like it. I am a white lady There is bad in all races not only Lumbees Look up UNCP and notice the faculty seee how many Lumees there are. Visit LRDA.com and learn about their herritage before you gp bashing them .