My name is Brandon, founder of Wilmington True History Tours. My background in the field of history is quite extensive. I graduated with distinction from the Virginia Military Institute (History Major, of course). My historic and interpretive skills were honed while serving as a Park Ranger at the Richmond National Battlefield Park. Additionally, I had an article published wherein I argued that Civil War battles may have caused rain (Ask me about it – I’ll try to send you the link. It’s OK to decline and call me a nerd.). All-in-all, I bring nearly two decades of historian/tour experience to our time together. I’ve even been named Best Tour Guide in Savannah, GA (home of our other tour company) in 2022 and 2023.

I’m also a member of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation and the Friends of Honey Hill, an organization actively preserving and interpreting the Honey Hill Battlefield in South Carolina.

Once you inevitably learn of my interest in craft beer, it will not surprise you to know I’m a co-founder and Board Member of Richmond Beeristoric, a 501(c)(3) that leads tours of beer-related historic sites in Richmond, Virginia.  

Tours are what I do for fun. My day job is that of attorney. I represent breweries, bars, and my firm’s attorneys in legal ethics and conflict of interest matters. As you can imagine, there’s plenty of work to be done there. 

Chris E. Fonvielle, Jr. is a native Wilmingtonian with a lifelong interest in American Civil War, North Carolina, and Cape Fear history. He attended public schools, including New Hanover High School, class of 1971, where he was the first soccer-style placekicker in North Carolina football history. After receiving his B.A. in anthropology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Chris served as the last curator of the Blockade Runners of the Confederacy Museum. He subsequently received his M.A. in American history at East Carolina University, and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina.

After a brief teaching stint at East Carolina University, Dr. Fonvielle returned to his undergraduate alma mater at UNCW in 1996, where he taught courses on the Civil War, Wilmington and the Lower Cape Fear, and Antebellum America. His in-depth research focuses on coastal operations and defenses, and blockade running in southeastern North Carolina during the Civil War. He has published books and articles including The Wilmington Campaign: Last Rays of Departing Hope; Wilmington and the Lower Cape Fear: An Illustrated History; Fort Fisher 1865: The Photographs of T.H. O’Sullivan.

In 2014, then-Governor Pat McCrory appointed Dr. Fonvielle to the North Carolina Historical Commission. Upon his retirement from UNC Wilmington in 2018, Chris was presented with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for distinguished service to the State of North Carolina, signed by incumbent Governor Roy Cooper.

Glenn Tetterton earned a B.A. from East Carolina University, an M.A.T. in History from Duke University, and an M.A. in German from the University of California Santa Barbara. He is a volunteer docent at the Temple of Israel and formerly served as a docent at the Bellamy Mansion. Additionally, he taught history and German for New Hanover County Schools. Glenn has studied in Austria, Oregon, and Israel.

In addition to our Wilmington History Walks, Glenn can provide tours covering Wilmington’s architecture, Jewish history, and women’s history. Glenn is a co-author with his wife Beverly of The North Carolina County Fact Book.