Edgar W. ('Bill') Nye
Fletcher, Henderson County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Edgar W. ('Bill') Nye 1850 1896. Humorist and journalist. Retired to N.C., 1891. Lived at "Buck Shoals," 3 1/2 mi. W. His grave is one mile north.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Edgar Wilson "Bill" Nye (1850-1896) was among the most popular American humorists of his day, a newspaperman whose comic essays and lectures delighted Gilded Age readers nationwide. He retired to North Carolina in 1891, living at "Buck Shoals," and is buried one mile north.
Why it matters
Nye ranked among the celebrated humorists who defined a distinctly American style of comic journalism in the late nineteenth century.
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