New Bern VOL. 6 • NO. 12 • OCTOBER 2020 Your guide to businesses & events in downtown & beyond MumFeast! 2020 page 8 CONTENTS 8 MumFeast! 10 This Month in New Bern History 16 Colyer: From Artist to Missionary 20 Michaelé Rose Watson 22 All Hallows’ Eve at Tryon Palace 24 Cocktail of the Month 28 Music Events 32 Map 32 Advertiser Directory 40 An Interview with Brandy Baxter 44 Art Events 50 More Events 60 Oriental New Bern VOL. 6 • NO. 12 • OCTOBER 2020 EDITORIAL DEADLINE for the NOVEMBER 2020 issue is October 10th. Email articles, events & photos to Buying Gold, [email protected] Silver, Platinum TO ADVERTISE Christine Farver • 252.626.5812 & Rare Coins [email protected] or Matt Farver • 252.626.7870 [email protected] New Bern Magazine is a free publication distributed at select locations in Craven and Pamlico Hours: counties. Entire contents, maps, advertisements and graphic design elements copyright 2020 Wed-Sat • 11am-5pm Inspired Publishing. Reproduction is strictly prohibited without the publisher’s consent. Subscribe to receive the magazine each 252-633-0615 month. Visit NewBernMagazine.com to 244 Middle Street subscribe today! FIND US ON: 4 NEW BERN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 CONTENTS OCTOBER 2020 NEW BERN MAGAZINE 5 6 NEW BERN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 233 Middle St. | New Bern 252.631.5140 By Appointment Cappy Phalen Photography OCTOBER 2020 NEW BERN MAGAZINE 7 233 Middle St. | New Bern 252.631.5140 By Appointment Band LineUp Friday, October 2 Jim Kohler - 7-8:30pm Saturday, October 3 Justin Castellano - 1-2:30pm Bridge Atlantic - 3-4:30pm Tommy Duzan - 5-6:30pm Uncle Hatley’s Good Time Family Fun Band - 7-8:30pm Friday, October 9 Photo by Bear City Impact Jim Kohler - 7-8:30pm Enjoy ‘Feasting in the Streets’ in Saturday, October 10 Downtown New Bern during MumFeast! Justin Castellano - 1-2:30pm Bridge Atlantic - 3-4:30pm Weekends in October Tommy Duzan - 5-6:30pm Joe Brown - 7-8:30pm • Held on Middle, Pollock and Craven Street • Streets close at 5pm on Fridays and remain Friday, October 16 closed through 10pm Saturdays The Joe Baes Project - 7-8:30pm • Restaurants provide “Feasting in the Streets” Saturday, October 17 • Stores will have sidewalk and street displays Justin Castellano - 1-2:30pm • 6-8 artisans will be safely positioned in the Bridge Atlantic - 3-4:30pm streets each weekend Tommy Duzan - 5-6:30pm • Local live music to enjoy outside Jim Kohler - 7-8:30pm • Mum arch and maze will be in Union Point Park. Friday, October 23 • Downtown streets decorated with mums The Joe Baes Project - 7-8:30pm • Selection of “festival-style” food on the corner of South Front and Craven each weekend. Curbside Saturday, October 24 pickup available. Check the MumFest Facebook Justin Castellano - 1-2:30pm page each week for menus and ordering instructions River Ramblers - 3-4:30pm Tommy Duzan - 5-6:30pm • Face masks and social distancing are recommended Bridge Atlantic - 7-8:30pm • Hand sanitizer stations Title Sponsor will be provided by Friday, October 30 Jim Kohler - 7-8:30pm Saturday, October 31 Justin Castellano - 1-2:30pm Steve Mendoza - 3-4:30pm Tommy Duzan - 5-6:30pm River Ramblers - 7-8:30pm Visit Mumfest.com for more information 8 NEW BERN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 OCTOBER 2020 NEW BERN MAGAZINE 9 This Month in New Bern History By Claudia Houston, New Bern Historical Society Appleton Oaksmith, one of the most eccentric characters in New Bern history, died this month in 1887. While he did not reside in New Bern, he was known here primarily due to his purchase and reconstruction of the Simpson house at 226 East Front Street. Later known as the Simpson-Oaksmith-Patterson House, this unique house has been the focus of more stories and traditional history than any other structure in New Bern. Per the National Register of Historic Places, in 1810, Samuel Photo of Simpson-Oaksmith House taken by photographer William Simpson purchased the Garrison Reed shortly before renovations by Oaksmiths. (photo NBHS) original portion of the house which stood at the southeast corner of Pollock and East Front Streets. In 1843 a huge fire destroyed a good portion of the homes on Pollock Street and it appears that Simpson’s federal style brick house was rebuilt between 1843-1846. (Sandbeck, Peter, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, NC Architecture pgs.108-109, Tryon Palace Commission 1988). The house remained in the Simpson family until 1860 when it changed hands. During the Civil War, the house served as a Provost Marshal’s office and jail. Appleton and Augusta Oaksmith purchased the home sometime in 1874 and after 1884 began operating the Vance Academy, a boarding and day school, in the house. Between 1884 and 1887, Appleton Oaksmith began remodeling this house in a perplexing – if not bizarre – style. In 1888 George Nowitzky visited New Bern and described the house in this manner: “The Greatest Architectural Curiosity in the South. It is formed by one of New Bern’s oldest brick buildings (one has done duty as a jail), transformed into such a remarkable combination and blending of dormers, balconies, pinnacles, fantastic-looking tower, railings, human, griffin and dog heads as to make it a veritable architectural puzzle. No one knows what it was intended for, and the owner, apparently believing it is nobody’s business, has failed to enlighten them.” (Green, John III, A New Bern Album, The Tryon Palace Commission, 1985 pg. 137) The house was referred to by many as “Blackbeard’s House” as there were rumors of a secret tunnel allowing the pirate to smuggle treasure. Blackbeard died long before the 10 NEW BERN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 house was built, but the rumors persisted. Many speculated that Appleton Oaksmith used the secret tunnel for smuggling purposes. Some said that the house was fashioned after Morro Castle in Havana, but why, no one knew. The storied house reflected Oaksmith’s unconventional character. Appleton Oaksmith was an ambitious man, with vision, boldness and daring -- yet his ethics Simpson-Oaksmith House circa 1900 (Brenners Studio, New Bern, from Remember in New Bern When?) with inset of detail over doorway (New Bern Resort publication, on were questionable. file at New Bern Historical Society) He was a sea captain, writer, munitions supplier, soldier of fortune, slave trader, politician, blockade runner, entrepreneur, railroad speculator, and some said, a pirate. Oaksmith was born in Portland, Maine in 1827 to literary and accomplished parents. Armed with fluency in four languages and a passion for arts and science, at the age of 16 Oaksmith set sail for China. Over the next few years he ventured to South America, the Caribbean and Africa while trading goods. He heavily financed military expeditions in Cuba and Nicaragua from 1855-1856 and lost a great deal of money. He dabbled in the magazine business, railroad speculation, paper mill ownership, and even Tammany Hall politics. In 1861, Oaksmith was arrested, imprisoned, and convicted of slave trading. He was jailed in Boston but escaped from prison in 1862 with the help of friends who bribed the guards. He hid in his grandmother’s home in Maine for a year where he fell in love with his cousin, Augusta Mason. This was problematic as he was married since 1855 to Isotta Rebecchini, an Italian musician who bore him four children. Oaksmith sailed to England where he spent years in exile. Despite his fugitive status, he became a sea captain and blockade runner for the Confederacy, sailing from England to Texas. He was almost captured in 1864 when his ship was boarded by the Union Navy, but he managed to escape and return to England. Oaksmith’s personal life was as tumultuous as his checkered career. He filed for and obtained a divorce from his wife Isotta in 1866 without her knowledge. He then coerced her into giving up custody of their four children, vowing she would never see them again if she did not sign papers. Isotta reluctantly complied, but Appleton still allowed no contact with the children. He then married his cousin Augusta in Canada in 1867, with whom he had an additional eight children. On a trip back to the US, Oaksmith landed in Beaufort, NC to make repairs to his ship. 511 Broad St. • 252.638.8558 • newbernhistorical.org OCTOBER 2020 NEW BERN MAGAZINE 11 While there, he attended an auction and successfully bid $11.25 for property west of Morehead City, known as Becton Place. Oaksmith sailed back to England but finally in 1873 returned with his wife and children to make Carteret County their home. He hired locals to reconstruct a home from a building that had been a Union Army barracks. He purchased another 300 prime acres which includes nearly all of present-day Atlantic Beach and a portion of Pine Knoll Shores. He put all the property in the name of his wife and her sister, calling his vast estate Hollywood. With the stigma of the slave-trading affair hanging over him, Oaksmith resolved to clear his name. Using an alias, he met with President Ulysses Grant. Oral history has it that after a short meeting, Grant was swayed to sign the pardon. When the President asked why his visitor pleaded so earnestly for this man, the audacious Oaksmith smugly replied, “Because I am Appleton Oaksmith.” In 1874 Oaksmith ran for the state House of Representatives from Carteret County which he won, serving one term. While in office, the visionary Oaksmith hatched Ad advertising the Vance Academy in the Simpson- many development plans for the county. He Oaksmith House after house was renovated recommended dredging Beaufort Harbor and the Neuse River.