Jacqueline Frierson Protecting the history of Perquimans County

Story by Vernon Fueston u Photos by Vernon Fueston & Contributed

Jacqueline Frierson leafs through a leather-bound book of archived manuscript pages until she finds the correct entry.

“Here it is!” she says, her finger on a line with an “X” instead of a signature. It is the mark of Chief Kilcocanen testifying to the sale of a parcel of land on the Pasquotank River called New Hope in Perquimans County. The date on the document is 1661, and she holds the original contract written with a quill and iron ink 362 years ago.

Frierson is Perquimans County’s Register of Deeds; among other things, she is responsible for maintaining the county’s records of land transactions.

The book she is holding has been de-acidified to keep the iron in the ink from destroying it. This document and thousands of others are housed in a floodresistant, fireproof and climate-controlled walk-in vault. Without that climate control, mites would have turned the county’s history to dust years ago.

She is also responsible for keeping what is known as “vital records,” literally the records of life in Perquimans County. Frierson safeguards and organizes birth, death and marriage certificates, military discharges, and other documents that bear witness to the generations that have called Perquimans County home.

Such records are needed for employment, security clearances, driver’s licenses, insurance claims and other practical reasons. Genealogists also treasure them, mining the information to build family trees.

Frierson said she does not collect taxes and parking ticket fines. She has nothing to do with court cases, either. She can’t even interpret the document a visitor might examine.

“Because this is an office that does recordings, we have people who want us to interpret what their document is,” she said. “We cannot do that. That is practicing law. We are not attorneys.”

Frierson said her office’s job is to record information, keep that information safe and provide what she calls “customer service” to the community.

“You learn to treat people with respect when they come in, no matter who they are,” she said. “You have to have people skills. When someone walks in that door, they are the most important person. Usually, that person has a problem. So when they walk in, they deserve your undivided attention.”

Frierson credited a lifetime of diverse experiences with teaching her that customer-centered approach to civil service. She did work behind the counter at a gas station before earning her Associate’s Degree from the College of the Albemarle. After that, she worked with a local attorney, J.C. Cole, where she dealt with real estate documents and court filings.

When Cole became a judge, he suggested Frierson apply for a vacancy at the Perquimans County Register of Deeds Office. She got the job and credited the attitudes she learned dealing with the public and her legal work as qualifying her for the position.

She said she’s worked to instill that pride in customer service and a dedication to thoroughness in all her employees at the office.

“The law office work prepared me to take this job seriously. You learn to be a detail person,” she said. “You learn to check and double-check. We are liable for everything we do here and have to be bonded. There is no perfection, but you work toward perfection.”

Frierson said it’s getting harder to find workers who are prepared or willing to give personal service to the people she calls her “customers.” She said it is a sign of the times.

“The younger generation has lost those person-to-person skills. They often seem more concerned about getting by than getting the job done,” she said.

“Technology is necessary, but you still have to deal with individuals. You have to deal eye-to-eye with people and actually talk. You can sit there and email all day long, but you’re going to get more done face-to-face and on the phone.”

Frierson said that civil service includes community involvement. She said she’s always volunteered to make Perquimans County a better place through activities like reading to kids in the schools and working on town beautification projects. These days she serves on the board of the Perquimans County Food Pantry.

She dismissed the notion that holding a position in county government brings wealth, power or prestige.

“There is no power here because we are not a policy-making office.” She said she could set the price of copies, for instance, but only within what is on statute.

Frierson said that while she’s satisfied with the salary that comes with her job, she could probably earn more in the private sector. She said that if money is a person’s primary driver, working for the town or county might not be the best choice.

And she said that while people respect her office and her work, heading an office in a small county hardly brings much prestige.

So, why does she work in civil service?

“Because I love it. Sometimes I watch a person leave, and I know I’ve helped them. Every now and then, I get a note from somebody. It’s those little things you can do. People sometimes thank us, saying, ‘I didn’t know what I was going to do,’” she said.

When asked why she works in government when she could earn more in the private sector, she said the choice is about something other than money.

“Anyone who wants to get into civil service. You can’t do it for money. It’s just got to be something you truly want to do,” she said.

Vernon Fueston is a retired journalist who worked with the Bertie Ledger-Advance and Chowan Herald among others. He has written for Eastern North Carolina Living for many years.