Thursday, February 20, 2020

Fictitious Fratricide in the Revolution--The fantasy of Thomas Costner killing Peter Costner at Ramsour's Mill in 1780

Later note: Wikipedia has picked up this fantasy. Oh dear.

Austin William Smith's U of Arizona 2010 dissertation is enlivened by a Shakespearean story.
A son that has killed his father, a father that has killed his son--Henry VI Part 3 Act 2 Scene 5.

This is wholly fictional. If it were true it would make Thomas one of the meanest of all the Costners, for he collected a small debt from his late brother Peter's estate which was being administered by his sister-in-law Mary's brother, the shopkeeper and jailor Heinrich (Henry) Dellinger.

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