The back story of how the 249-year-old sketch was discovered could be as interesting as the piece itself.

The rectangular drawing of a revolutionary war
brigade out of North Carolina was created in Pennsylvania.

Looking at it now, the sketch looks significant
sitting behind museum glass. But just three years ago, it was considered a
novel antique store find, hanging on a collector’s wall.

Historian Matthew Skic said he was in collector, Judith Hernstadt’s New York home when she happened to show him a sketch she’d picked up at an antique store in the 1970s.

“I look on the wall, she points it out, and my jaw is on the floor with what I was seeing, and this small sketch on paper. The ink and the paper struck me as this looks like it’s from the 18th century, from the 1700s. I was looking at the scene, seeing soldiers, a wagon, horses, and it looked like a military scene, and an army on the move,” Skic said.

Skic oversees collections at the Museum of the
American Revolution and immediately noticed the figure in a fringed hunting
shirt, commonly worn by soldiers in George Washington’s Army. He got permission to remove the framed sketch from the wall and saw a faint inscription.

“It said, ‘An exact representation of a wagon belonging to
the North Carolina brigade of Continental troops, which passed through Phila,’ and then the mat had cut off the rest of the inscription,” he recalled.

What he had discovered was one of only a dozen known eye-witness accounts of George Washington’s Army. An eye-witness account is considered something captured in the moment, not commissioned or created after an event.

“We didn’t have a camera. There’s no record of what, what they looked like, action scenes,” said Ansley Herring Wegner, who runs the state’s historical
research and publications.

She spoke to the rarity of finding an eye-witness account of Washington’s troops.

“Well, George Washington had just recently said, ‘Do not
allow camp followers on the carts, because it really slows everything down. It gums up the works.’ Well, North Carolina, ‘You can’t tell us what to do,’ so they’re there on the cart, and there’s wounded soldiers on the back,” Herring Wegner said.

Immediately after the discovery, Skic went to work. He found headlines from August 1777 when
the brigade marched through Philadelphia and traced the route they took. Then, he
researched skilled artists in town at the time and landed on Pierre Eugene du
Simitiere.

“So I studied his handwriting among his papers at the
Library Company in Philadelphia, and [found it] matches his handwriting,” he said.

Whether many Americans know it or not, we are familiar with du Simitiere’s work. It was his idea in an application to design the U.S. Seal that gave us our national motto.

“His design was ultimately rejected, but one of the
elements of his design for that seal, which he submitted in 1776 was the motto, e pluribus unum, which we still use today. That’s the motto of the United
States; Out of many, one.

The sketch was on display at the Capitol for
one day. However, the conditions were not favorable for a long-term stay. Visitors can see it when it goes to the North Carolina Museum of Art from
May 20 to Aug. 1.

The original owner, Judith Hernstadt, has donated the sketch to the Museum of the American Revolution. The presentation of the sketch at the Capitol building is part of North Carolina’s celebration of America’s 250th. Learn more about the sketch at the state’s website for the country’s milestone.

A North Carolina couple accused of luring hordes of vultures to their home and unleashing chaos on neighbors for years is being hauled to court by fed-up town officials desperate to end the feathered frenzy.

The Town of Hillsborough slapped residents Kenneth and Linda Ostrand with a civil petition, seeking a court order to shut down their relentless bird-feeding habit, blamed for allegedly drawing dozens of winged scavengers to their home and terrorizing their small town for the past two years.

“They’re a little spooky to be frank,” concerned neighbor Holden Richards told WTVD.

“Everybody thinks they’re ugly and stuff but they’re not good neighbors. They have sharp talons, so they’re not great animals to have perching on your house. I watched them pick tiles off my neighbor’s roof and I found tiles from my roof in my front yard, so I have a feeling that’s exactly where they came from.”

The bird-brained couple is accused of leaving out food scraps for vultures, allegedly reeling in the feathered predators that have swarmed and roosted near their house, leaving foul-smelling droppings on neighbors’ homes and vehicles and causing widespread property damage deemed a risk to public safety.

The complaint, filed in March, also claims the twisted pair named the birds of prey – with eerie photos submitted to the court showing dozens of vultures circling their Queens Street home, the outlet reported.

“I’m pretty sure that every one of my neighbors has probably called,” Richards said, pointing to a flood of complaints made to town officials since May 2024.

The Ostrands reportedly filed a motion to dismiss the town’s case last month, denying the accusations.

Linda Ostrand, a longtime wildlife rescuer, told WTVD she is being unfairly targeted by her community and claimed the circling creatures were already an issue before she moved into the neighborhood.

“It’s sort of, it’s ridiculous, is what it is,” Linda said, noting the town changed an ordinance after the initial wave of complaints to ban wildlife feeding beyond standard feeders.

“If people didn’t have vultures around here you would hear them screaming bloody murder about the town not cleaning up the animals that have been hit by cars, because that’s what they do, they are nature’s garbage disposal,” she continued.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, tell the vultures that this is a no-feed zone. I just don’t know.”

No court date has reportedly been scheduled for the couple’s fight with the town.

MARION, N.C. (WLOS) — The City of Marion is tightening water restrictions as drought conditions persist across western North Carolina, prompting local businesses to prepare for possible impacts on daily operations.

The drought monitor released on Thursday, May 14, shows that extreme drought now covers 90% of western North Carolina.

ASHEVILLE IS MORE THAN 7 INCHES BELOW AVERAGE RAINFALL THIS YEAR, DATA SHOWS

As the region continues moving into a hotter and drier pattern, the City of Marion officials announced Stage Two water shortage restrictions less than a month after issuing a Stage One Water Advisory.

Businesses in Marion said the quick escalation is raising concerns about what could come next if drought conditions persist.

“They put us in stage one at the end of April and already it’s not through, it’s not the end of May and they’re already putting us in stage two,” said Barbara Brown, owner of Bruce’s.

Under the Stage Two restrictions, watering lawns, gardens and golf courses will be prohibited. Washing cars, filling residential swimming pools and serving water in restaurants except upon request will not be allowed.

Brown said her restaurant is already taking steps to conserve water.

“We check the bathrooms often to make sure people have turned the water off because we have found from time to time, people leave them running,” she added.

She said she worries stronger restrictions could eventually force businesses to make bigger operational changes.

“I’m concerned that eventually we might have to go to paper plates, paper cups, silverware,” Brown said.

Other businesses are also considering adjustments.

Kat Garner, a tattoo artist at Blue Ridge Tattoo, said water shortages could affect how the shop operates day to day.

LEADERS URGE WATER CONSERVATION AS DROUGHT DEEPENS ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

“We would definitely be reduced to using distilled water for everything, which would become harder if everyone’s buying it out, so that would definitely make things a little bit more difficult,” Garner said.

The Stage Two water restrictions are set to begin Friday, May 15, at 8 a.m. and will last until further notice.