The program applies lo an array of
state taxes, including individual in¬
come; corporate income and intan¬
gibles tax; gift tax; withholding tax;
license tax; franchise tax; and inheri¬
tance taxes.
Those interested in tax amnesty
applications or more details about the
program should contact their local of-
ficeofthe North Carolina Department
of Revenue or call 1-800-4*16-2849
(919-733-7413 in Wake County) be¬
tween 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday.
But if you want to take advantage of
the program, you’ll want to move
quickly. The law changes on December
2, and the program offers amnesty
only if the back taxes are paid during
the grace period.
The Fight To Save
The Old Tory Oak
Wilkes County residents think they
may have found a way to repair an
important landmark that was dam¬
aged by a tornado last spring.
The Tory Oak. so called because it
was used to hang five Tories captured
at the Battle of Kings Mountain, was
virtually ripped in half by storms that
rampaged through the county on June
12. One part of the tree fell dead to the
ground, but the part facing west was
left standing.
After the living portion is allowed to
heal, the community plans to treat it
with a protective asphalt-based tar
emulsion. While it may not be as aes¬
thetically pleasing as before, the tree
is expected to survive, and may even
branch out to fill the missingsection.
The Tory Oak is beloved in this west¬
ern North Carolina county. The tree’s
likeness isengraved on thecounty seal
and on the symbols for several area
businesses. Its history dates back to
colonial times, when Col. Benjamin
Cleveland led his men in that all-im¬
portant battle.
Col. Cleveland had a reputation for
hating the Tories, and was once cap¬
tured by a band of them at Old Fields,
in what is now Ashe County. The colo¬
nel’s brother rescued him and. conse¬
quently, the three culprits themselves
were captured. Cleveland ordered the
men. Riddle. Goss and Reeves, hanged
from the large black oak near the vil¬
lage of Wilkesboro. Two other Tories,
Coyle and Brown, caught for horse
thieving, also were hanged from the
oak, with the very clothes line they
used to steal the horses.
Local businessman Roy “Pete-
Glass grew up within feet of the oak.
He recalls: “We were told not to climb
in that tree when we were growing up.
They said that the ghosts of the Tories
still hung there. ’Course, that didn’t
stop us from building pigeon traps out
of old apple crates and setting ’em in
the branches."
Perhaps, with the loving care of
Wilkes County citizens, the Tory Oak
will again become full with branches.
And then little boys and girls will
again build pigeon traps and listen for
Tory ghosts rattling in the tree top.
— Karla Hartzog
North Carolinians
In Oklahoma
If you happen to travel through
Oklahoma City for Oklahoma's cur¬
rent centennial celebration or any
other reason this fall, you might run
across a couple of Tar Heels from the
past.
One ofthe newest acquisitionsat the
National Cowboy Hall of Fame and
Western Heritage Center is a hand¬
some portrait of Charlotte’s own
movie cowboy, Ran¬
dolph Scott. The por¬
trait is being added
to the Western Per¬
formers Hall of
Fame, which cur¬
rently displays 20
paintings of such ac¬
tors as Cary Cooper,
Glenn Ford, James
Stewart, Gene Autry
and Walter Bren¬
nan. and features a
whole room devoted
to John Wayne.
And the Okla¬
homa Museum of
History on the
grounds of the State
Capitol has an in¬
teresting relic from a
more obscure Tar
Heel, a prize-win¬
ning quilt pieced to¬
gether by a Willie
Irvin Haswell.
According to a
plaque in the mu¬
seum, Haswell was
born in Granville
County, North Carolina, in 1857 and
learned to sew as a boy. His Pine Burr
Quilt on display in the museum won a
S65 cooking stove when it was entered
in the Texas State Fair in 1881. In
1886, he carried the dark blue, green,
white and brown quilt into the Indian
territory of what became Oklahoma.
It’s an attractive and meticulous
pieceand certainly challenges thecon-
ventional notion that quilting was
solely a woman's work.
The Tory Oak has long been a center for Willies
County activities, including this celebration
sometime between 1900 and 1910.
the Slalc'Octobcr H9
