Surprising stories from across 400 years of history and from the coast to the mountains. These are tales of some of the more "colorful" characters of North Carolina history told by one of  the state's premiere historians, Dr. H.G. Jones.

From 1969 to 1986, Dr. Jones wrote a story a week for the Associated Press. These stories were published in newspapers across the state to acquaint readers with the history and heritage that makes North Carolina special. Now, some of those 800-plus stories are collected in Scoundrels, Rogues and Heroes of the Old North State.

Dr. Jones is Curator Emeritus of the North Carolina Collection at UNC Chapel Hill and the former director of NC Division of Archives and History. He is the founder of the North Caroliniana Society.

This second edition includes 10 additional stories, ten archival photographs, and a map indexing the stories to their location across the state.

Read about the North Carolina governor who at 73 married his bride, 15.
Meet "Cyclone Mack" the gambler and bootlegger who became a famed evangelist.
Discover where Annie Oakley taught shooting lessons for 12 years and where P.T. Barnum began his first circus.
Learn were Babe Ruth hit his first home run as a professional ball player and why Nance Martin was buried seated in a barrel of rum. 
Join with Anne Bonney and Mary Read, famous women pirates, and persevere with James Iredell Waddell who would not surrender his Confederate vessel until he'd steamed and sailed around the world. 
Examine the facts and decide for yourself:
     Was Nell Cropsey murdered? Was Frankie Silver wrongly hanged?
     Was the slave an African prince? Was the "Human Fly" a Tar Heel? 

These stories are among the 67 true tales in this book about the fascinating and curious folks who claim a North Carolina heritage and who deserve your consideration. Were they scoundrels, rogues, heroes, or something else entirely. 

To order:

Scoundrels, Rogues, and Heroes of the Old North State is just $12.99.
NC sales tax and shipping & handling is just $4.01

Send your return address and a check for $17.00 payable to Randell Jones to:

Scoundrels, Rogues and Heroes
1959 N. Peace Haven Rd., #105
Winston-Salem, NC  27106

Randell Jones and Caitlin Jones, co-editors of this book, are father and daughter. They are not related to Dr. Jones, though some of the Virginia genealogy from the 1700's looks potentially promising.

This book was originally released by The History Press in December 2004 in another format and with fewer stories and photographs.

About the Author

In 2002 Dr. H.G. Jones was honored with the North Carolina Award, the highest honor the state of North Carolina can bestow upon a civilian. The following text taken from the award presentation chronicles his professional career and achievements: “H. G. Jones grew up in a house without books to become one of the most prolific writers and distinguished archivists in North Carolina. He has dedicated his life to forging a vision for the state's future by collecting and preserving every scrap of its past. For his relentless pursuit of North Carolina history, H.G. Jones receives the 2002 North Carolina Award for Public Service. Jones was born in 1924 on a tenant farm in the Caswell County community of Kill Quick and endured the Great Depression under tough circumstances. Undeterred, he headed to Lees-McRae College; however, with the onset of World War II, he soon moved from the classroom to a U.S. Navy ship. Following his discharge in 1946, Jones resumed his formal education, graduating magna cum laude from Appalachian State University, which honored him twenty two years later with its first Distinguished Alumnus Award. He went on to earn advanced degrees from George Peabody College (M.A.) and Duke University (Ph.D.). In 1956, Jones accepted a position in Raleigh as State Archivist with the N.C. Department of Archives and History where he developed the largest and most comprehensive state archival and records management program in the country. This accomplishment was recognized in 1964 when the Society of American Archivists presented its first Distinguished Service Award to the department. Jones was named President of the society in 1968, and became the only person to twice receive the Waldo G Leland Prize, the organization's top award for a book on archival history, theory and practice. That same year, he became Director of the Department of Archives and History, a position he held until 1974. During his directorship, the department grew, vastly expanding its services, obtaining funds for a new records center and developing additional state historic sites. For the next twenty years, Jones served as Curator of the North Carolina Collection and Adjunct Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He retired from those positions in 1993 to become part-time Thomas W. Davis Research Historian, a title he still holds. He also continues to keep an eye on the state's historical programs as an emeritus member of the N.C. Historical Commission. The jewel of his career is the North Carolina Collection, a staggering array of published materials pertaining to North Carolina and its inhabitants. The collection is by far the most comprehensive of its kind in the country. While managing the collection and the North Caroliniana Society, a nonprofit organization he founded in 1975, Jones continued his prolific writing, including his award-winning book North Carolina Illustrated, 1524-1984. In 1971, while on his first vacation, Jones discovered the second great passion in his life - the Arctic and its native people. For the past thirty-one years, he has traveled to the area to study, collect, and write about the culture and art of the Eskimoans, amassing over time an unmatched collection of Inuit art and artifacts. Today, Dr. Jones continues to live near the UNC campus with his lifetime collection of North Carolina and Arctic literature, art and memorabilia.” Dr. Jones’s books include: For History’s Sake, 1966 The Records of a Nation, 1969 Local Government Records, 1980 North Carolina Illustrated, 1524-1984, 1984 North Carolina History: An Annotated Bibliography, 1995 Historical Consciousness in the Early Republic, 1995