Eastern Living November 2019

EASTERN

LIVING N O RT H

C A R O L I N A

Stories of indelible impressions that will be engraved in our communities forever

ATTHEW Matthew Sessoms Thank You Eastern North Carolina! - Matthew

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104 West Blvd-Williamston • 252-792-2154 “Where Customers Send Their Friends”

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3

LET’S EXPLORE.

WE COVER THE PLACES YOU KNOW & LOVE AND THE PLACES YOU SHOULD GO & LOVE!

o rt f u a e B

Gates

Hyde

Halifax

PG. 12

PG. 10

on N o r t h a m p t PG.38 4

B e rt i e

PG. 30

6 PG. 2

H e rt f o r d

PG. 20

M a rt i n

Tyrrell

Edgecomb

PG. 34

PG. 14

Nash

e PG. 46

PG.16

PG. 42

Washingto

n PG. 6

FEATURES

ON THE C OV E R

EASTERN

LIVING N O RT H

52. LORDS PROPRIETORS

C A R O L I N A

58.NEW HOLLAND,

HIGGINSPORT, & MT. VERNON RAILROAD

Naming the New World

Stories of indelible impressions that will be engraved in our communities forever

62.

66. OUT & ABOUT

JOHN WHEELER HOUSE

A sample of places named for historic figures throughout the 12 county region.

Design by Becky Wetherington

Events happening in and around the 12 counties

‘If these walls could talk...’

VOL. 11, NO. 6 NOVEMBER 2019 STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS

74. VIEWS FROM OUR 12

78. ALL IN A DAY’S TRIP

Battle Park in Rocky Mount, NC

Bacon’s Castle in Surry, VA

Publisher

Staff

Kyle Stephens

Gene Metrick

kstephens@ncweeklies.com

gmetrick@rmtelegram.com

Editor Thadd White twhite@ncweeklies.com

Sarah Hodges Stalls shstalls@ncweeklies.com Leslie Beachboard lbeachboard@ncweeklies.com Amelia Harper lharper@rmtelegram.com

84. SIX QUESTIONS

86. GRANDMA’S KITCHEN

Christmas chat with Jada Richardson

It’s all about the sweets!

Creative Services Director

Deborah Griffin

Michelle Leicester

dgriffin@ncweeklies.com

mleicester@ncweeklies.com Editorial Contributors Layout & Design Becky Wetherington beckyweth@gmail.com

#.

Corrine Luthy Sandy Carawan Doward Jones Jr. Sylvia Hughes Sarah Davis

90. BIOGRAPHY

Mitch St. Clair keeps moving forward and giving back

94. REEL STORIES

Mike Sweeney talks kayak fishing in the Albemarle

Copy & Photo Editor

Janice Cole Hopkins

Jim Green

Mike Sweeney

jgreen@ncweeklies.com Advertising Executives

Jessica Mobley jmobley@ncweeklies.com

96.

MARK IT!

Alan Campbell

Lou Ann Van Landingham lavan@ncweeklies.com

The history of William Blount

Sarah Louya Lewis C. Forrest

Eastern North Carolina Living Magazine P.O. Box 69, Windsor, NC 27983

Lewis Smith

252-794-3185

lsmith@rmtelegram.com

twhite@ncweeklies.com

Eastern North Carolina Living is published by APG Media Eastern NC, and is a subsidiary of the Bertie Ledger-Advance, Martin County Enterprise & Weekly Herald, Tarboro Weekly and Rocky Mount Telegram.

5

WASHINGTON

county

Ralph G. Plumblee Park Fitting tribute to soft-spoken man Story & Photos by Deborah Griffin A peaceful, shaded park at the piney woods entrance of the Riverside Plantations residential area bears the namesake of Ralph Plumblee, who once made his home in this sprawling Washington County neighborhood, not far from the banks of the Roanoke River.

The quiet town park is a fitting tribute to the soft-spoken man, who was, at the same time, as tenacious as the deeply rooted pines towering over the playground area and scattered picnic tables.

Plumblee, who died in 2011 at the age of 90, spent his life advocating to make his adopted home a better place to live.

His legacy of bringing both structural and social changes to Plymouth would touch the lives of every single resident, and generations to come.

Originally from Traveler’s Rest, South Carolina, Plumblee was born in 1920. One of seven children, he grew up on a small farm during the Great Depression.

“There was always hard work to be done,” his oldest son Steve, remembers his father telling him. “I suspect growing up this way helped make him the successful person he was.”

His father once told him, one year the total income from the family farm was only $17.

“They had to exist on that through the winter until they could plant the next year’s crop,” he added. “But they always had plenty of food because they ate what they grew on the farm.”

Steve was only 6, and his brother Terry, 3, when Ralph moved his family to Plymouth in 1961.

6

Their father had been transferred to Plymouth as manager for Georgia-Pacific sawmill, which Plumblee ran until 1977, upon retirement.

(The company has since closed its Plymouth operations.)

“He had the idea that he wanted to be one of the best mill managers Georgia-Pacific had ever had,” said Steve. “He was there everyday at 5 a.m. and worked until 6 p.m., and a half day on Saturdays. We seldom took vacations.”

According to an old newspaper article, Ralph was successful in making the mill one of the most profitable in Georgia-Pacific's southern division.

As his family was settling in, Ralph began to notice gaping needs in the town. He was determined to improve the direction of the town, with changes that would last beyond his lifetime.

“My father was a very purpose-driven man and he worked hard at everything he did,” said Steve.

First on the agenda was the living conditions of a low rent district directly across from Plymouth High School.

Known as “White City” - a group of dilapidated houses, or “tar-paper shacks,” without the convenience of indoor plumbing were lined up right across the street from the town’s high school.

Lifelong resident Beth Price, who grew up next door to the Plumblees, remembers the area having multiple “tenement houses” and dirt roads.

And it smelled.

Not only were they an eyesore, living conditions were deplorable.

“Mr. Plumblee knew it was just wrong,” said Price. “He was adamant

about improving low-rent housing. I believe it was because of Christian love for his fellow man.”

Steve remembers his father saying, “I’ve either got to get this fixed, or I need to get my family out of here. I can’t raise my family in a place that would allow these kinds of living conditions.”

Not the type to simply talk about what he wished somebody else would do, Ralph got busy.

He obtained the necessary funding to rebuild over 100 housing units in the development, now named in his honor, Plumblee Court.

“That was over 50 years ago,” said Steve. “It is still in good condition.”

Price said the project wasn’t easy. They had to repossess the land, among other things.

“He was a true humanitarian,” said Price.

He next focused on bringing a new hospital to the area. The old one had fallen into disrepair.

He helped secure a successful bond referendum that led to the construction of Washington County Hospital, now located on U.S. 64.

A great negotiator, Plumblee was articulate and didn’t mince words, Price said. He did whatever it took to get things he envisioned for Plymouth. He rubbed elbows with politicians, spoke to lawmakers on the town’s behalf, and finessed those he butted heads with, Price said.

Under his leadership, the city-wide water and sewer system, as well as the countywide water system were

established, a new elementary school was built, the Plymouth Municipal Airport was revamped and Washington County Industrial Park was established. Several retail areas were built along U.S. 64, thanks to his industry recruiting skills.

He was also instrumental in the construction of the 120-bed nursing home in town. Now Roanoke Landing and Rehabilitation Center, the home was previously named in his honor.

Coincidentally, it was where he spent his last days, leading up to the end of his life.

Plumblee also helped established the 40bed assisted living center in Roper.

“He worked long and hard to bring business and industry to Washington County,” said Steve. “He saw what was needed and used his time and skills to get things accomplished.”

Price said she has fond memories of Plumblee as a “stand up kind of guy,” she said.

“He was the epitome of a southern gentleman.”

Plumblee was honored with multiple awards – too many to list - for his efforts. A park behind town hall, complete with gazebo, is also named in his honor.

Price said Plumblee was like a soft-spoken bulldog.

“When saw a problem, he said, ‘Let’s go.

There is always a better way to do things. There is nothing you can’t do if you have the will and the people,’” she said.

As a young man, Plumblee was drafted into the United States Army soon after high school graduation, where he served in France, Italy and Germany. Rising quickly through the ranks, he became a technical sergeant. He earned three bronze stars, (given for heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement or meritorious service in a combat zone.)

Though not a Washington County native, he grew to love the place, said Steve.

A Roanoke Beacon newspaper article

[Plumblee’s] legacy of bringing both structural and social changes to Plymouth would touch the lives of every single resident, and generations to come.

quoted him upon his retirement, “I don’t see why everybody in the world doesn’t want to live in Washington County.”

Steve said he never heard his father mention moving back to Traveler’s Rest, even though his and his wife’s families lived there. Steve’s mother, Francis, whom Plumblee married in 1949, predeceased Ralph in 1995.

Steve said his father was a member of Roper Baptist Church until the day he died.

“Going to church was an important part of his life,” he said.

In spite of all he accomplished, Plumblee always acknowledged the work never done alone.

A 1998 article concerning Roper Baptist Church celebrating “Ralph Plumblee Day,” on August 20, a man named Tim Griffin was quoted.

“Ralph doesn’t want any recognition,” he said. “He grew up during the depression and understands tough times and simply wants to give back some of the blessings he has received.”

“We need more like him,” added Price.

Deborah Griffin is a Staff Writer for Eastern North Carolina Living, and a Staff Photographer for The Daily Reflector in Greenville.

7

S

ince early 2017, Bertie County, the Town of Windsor, and our

partners with NCLOW have been working together to solve the problems facing our local communities that reside near the Cashie River. With initial funding provided by the Golden Leaf Foundation, we took the first steps to do just that. Local leaders have since come together on many occasions to hear the latest findings from Dr. Stanley Riggs, and his team. To find out more information, please visit our website: http://www. co.bertie.nc.us/projects/2019/ tgow/tgow.html. All reports, presentations, and available videos are posted online.

8

Navigating Our World Class Waterways

9

HYDE

county The Irvin Garrish Highway

Photo courtesy of Ocracoke Preservation Society

The Heartbeat of Ocracoke Island N.C. 12 in Ocracoke, with a width varying

Story & Photos by Sandy Carawan

man, Irvin Garrish.

around 16 or 17 years of age) left Ocracoke to

from three miles to less than a half-mile and

Irvin Scott Garrish was born April 20, 1916

work up north on dredges and tugboats on

bound between the Pamlico Sound and the

in Raleigh, the son of Captain Myron Arrington

the Delaware River. Initially, they worked with

Atlantic Ocean, stretches 16 miles from the

Garrish and Agnes Irvin Scott. Irvin’s father was

the American Dredging company of Camden,

sandy northern end of the island where the

born in Ocracoke in 1888, while his mother

New Jersey, but soon they began joining

Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry lands to the southern

was born in Kirkwood, Georgia in 1898.

crews on vessels of the U.S. Army Corps of

end, where the Ocracoke-Cedar Island and

Irvin descended from a line of men whose

Ocracoke-Swan Quarter ferries dock and

livelihoods were not only anchored to working

Similarly, Irvin’s father, Myron, served in

depart at Silver Lake.

on the water, but men who also sought work

the U. S. Navy in which he worked as a coal

away from Ocracoke Island.

passer on the USS West Virginia. He also lived

The highway - the Irvin Garrish Highway is the heartbeat of the island where the pulse

According

to

local

Ocracoke

Engineers.”

Island

in Wilmington, Delaware working as a pilot for

of the people beats steady throughout the

historian, Phillip Howard, in his online blog

steam vessels for the Wilson Line at the 4th

seasons.

entry entitled “Philadelphia” from Ocracoke

Street Wharf.

Tourists know the highway for it being

Island Journal written January 24, 2017: “From

Then, while working in Galveston, Texas,

the main line that leads to numerous family-

the late 1800s through the middle of the

in which he commanded a boat for the U. S.

friendly tourist opportunities ranging from

20th century most young men (usually at

government, his wife, Agnes, died in a hospital

entertainment and eateries to offshore fishing and finding seashells, recreation and retail shopping to seafood markets and sightseeing.

However, branching from this highway the sandy-paved side streets and lanes lying beneath the shade of cedars, live oaks, and wax myrtles lead to where the island’s lifeblood lives, many whose families have lived on the island since its first inhabitants arrived more than a few hundred years ago and many native islanders who remember the

10

During [Irvin’s] lifetime, he not only led visitors to learn more about Ocracoke Island and its history, but led his community with his work as a commissioner to better improve the quality of life on the island for all.

there in August 1919. Before his death in 1929, Myron worked as a seaman in Norfolk, Virginia.

After Irvin’s mother’s death, he went to live with his grandparents, Simon and Sarah E. (Howard) Garrish. Irvin’s grandfather, in his mid-50’s, was employed with the U. S. Coast Guard but as a younger man he had worked as a surfman for the Life Saving Service.

As a young man, Irvin broke away from the boundaries of sea and sky to leave behind, for a short while, the isolation of Ocracoke Island,

but continued to work and still be bound by

interests that protected and promoted

end with just landing mats for the first year.

sea and sky in larger cities. At one point he

Ocracoke Island.

It was just one lane of landing mats and then

worked in the large and populous cities of

According to Phillip Howard, “Irvin ran

about every half-mile there was a pull-out,

Wilmington, Delaware as well as Norfolk,

a trolley stop and drove the trolley around

so if two cars were coming from opposite

Virginia, not only for the U. S. Army Corps

telling people about the island’s history.

directions, whoever got to one of those pull-

of Engineers but also the U. S. Coast Guard

Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he

outs would pull off to the side and let the

during different years.

would actually get in the car with people and

other car pass. Then they paved the road the

they would drive around and he’d give them

next year.”

From 1935-1936, Irvin journeyed inland and worked in Raleigh as a gas station

Howard says that Irvin was instrumental

histories of the island.”

attendant and a taxi cab driver. Then, in 1938,

Soon thereafter Irvin became interested

in seeing that N.C. 12 was maintained and

he married Elsie Ballance of Ocracoke, and

in local politics and became Ocracoke’s first

repaired so that its use was safe for all people.

together they would become the parents of

elected commissioner to the Hyde County

daughters Agnes and Martha.

Board of Commissioners.

During his lifetime, he not only led visitors to learn more about Ocracoke Island and its

In 1941, while residing in Nassawadox,

As a commissioner, he was a strong

history, but led his community with his work

Virginia, he was employed by the Virginia

advocate for improving Ocracoke in different

as a commissioner to better improve the

Ferry Corporation.

ways, but especially the island’s roads.

quality of life on the island for all.

But like many men before him, Irvin

According to Howard, the island’s first

Now, the highway bears his name, too,

returned to Ocracoke Island to continue his

paved roads were paved by the U. S. Navy

and carries thousands to and from the island

life.

during World War II. He adds that in the mid-

every week, for a majority of the year, where memories are made in many different ways.

Shortly thereafter, he worked for the North

1950s other roads in the village were being

Carolina Ferry Division as a ferry captain for

paved over and the road leading to Hatteras,

Hyde County from which he retired in the

what is now N.C. 12, was paved in 1957.

1960s.

After his retirement, he pursued many

He says, “Most of the road was paved from the village to about three miles at the north

Sandy Carawan is an English Language Arts teacher at Mattamuskeet Early College High School in Swan Quarter and a regular contributor to Eastern Living Magazine.

Photo courtesy of Connie Leinbach / Ocracoke Observer

11

GATES

county

T.S. Cooper

Elementary School Longtime educator left lasting mark in Gates County Story & Photos by Jim Green

T.S. Cooper was an important figure in education in Gates County for more than four decades.

His impact and legacy – first as a teacher, then as a principal – on the black community was immeasurable.

When Cooper resigned as principal of Gates Training School at the end of the 1947-48 school year after approximately 40 years of service, it was that class who honored him by urging that the school be renamed T.S. Cooper School.

The school board agreed, and the school has stood in Sunbury as K-5 elementary school for several decades. Cooper’s son, Russell S. Cooper, succeeded his father as principal until 1951.

Liney Briggs, 90, was a student in the midto late 1940s during Cooper’s time as principal.

Before her, she had an older brother and sisters who were students there.

“Everybody we knew talked about him,” Briggs said. “He was a no-foolishness man.

They all thought he was good and super, and he was cordial to all of us.”

Briggs described Cooper as a polite but firm disciplinarian.

“If children were acting up a bit, once they saw Mr. Cooper, they would straighten up,” she said. “If he saw you doing anything wrong, he

12

would speak to you, wouldn’t hesitate to do so.

He was very firm but very nice. You loved him and weren’t afraid of him, but you wouldn’t act up in front of him, that’s for sure.”

Cooper had the respect of the parents as well.

“My parents were no-nonsense parents, and Mr. Cooper was a no-nonsense man. For them to send their children to someone like him, are you kidding? They were happy,” she said.

His impact and legacy – first as a teacher, then as a principal – on the black community was immeasurable.

Briggs continued, “I can’t think of a parent or anyone during my time in high school or later who didn’t respect him and talk about what he did for the black kids in this community.”

After Cooper retired, he taught in the Gates County agricultural program for veterans. He was the first African American on the Board of Trustees at Elizabeth City State Teachers College, and he also served as president of the

Elizabeth City State Alumni Association.

He passed away on March 25, 1970.

Thomas Settle Cooper was born Sept.

23, 1876 in Windsor. He graduated from Elizabeth City State Colored Normal School (later renamed Elizabeth City State University) and earned a bachelor of arts degree from Virginia Union University, a bachelor of science from Hampton Institute and a masters from Columbia University.

From 1903-07, Cooper supervised principals of Elizabeth City Colored Schools and was a leader in Local Educational Congress Organization. He sought to keep African American youth in school and away from a life of crime.

He married in 1904 and had two sons, Russell and Henry.

In 1912, he helped establish an Industrial School in Sunbury.

In 1919, Cooper was appointed principal of Gates County Training School. Under his leadership, the school became an accredited high school, and was the first high school for African Americans in Gates County.

Cooper, along with the Gates County School Building Committee, worked to raise matching funds to qualify for Rosenwald Funds.

Eight years later (1927-28), a new school was built with Rosenwald Funds – the last Rosenwald School built in Gates County.

(Julius Rosenwald, a philanthropist, had given an endowment fund through the North Carolina State Board of Education, stipulating black citizens raise their own funds to match the amount given to the endowment fund).

Cooper was recommended to the Gates County Board of Education to become principal of the school in 1907.

When Cooper came to Gates Institute as a teacher, there were four other black schools in Gates County. He realized the importance of having a better school and requsted the schools be consolidated. The school board granted his request.

He served as principal of Gates Institute until he was called to work in a U.S. Governmentrelated service during World War I. His wife, Roberta, served as principal until he returned.

When he resumed his role as principal after WW I, Cooper also taught mathematics for a number of years. As the school grew in numbers, his attention became engaged in administrative tasks and he dropped teaching.

During his tenure, the name of school was changed three times: from

Gates Institute it became Gates County Training School, then Gates Training School, and then finally to T.S. Cooper upon his retirement.

The first brick building was completed in 1928, after Cooper had been instrumental in raising money to match Rosenwald Funds for the construction of a new school building. The building was dedicated on Feb. 5, 1928.

In 1930, the school was given an A-2 rating and graduated its first class of five students.

The second brick building was constructed in 1935, which gave the school three buildings – one for elementary school, one for high school and one as an agriculture building.

The agriculture building was destroyed by fire, but reconstructed in the late 1940s by veterans under the supervision of Cooper and ag teacher Claude M. Sawyer.

Since no buses were available to transport black students across the county to Gates Training School in the early 1930s, many students (mainly girls) paid for board and lodging and stayed in private homes in Sunbury. Boys stayed in a dormitory housed in the upstairs of the

Ag building.

The first state school buses became available in 1938.

In 1956, the original school building was destroyed by fire; however, school continued as usual with the use of community churches and the new section, which did not burn.

Central High School (which is now Gates County High School) opened its doors for the first time in August 1958. It was at this time T.S. Cooper High School became an elementary school.

Briggs said Cooper’s impact and legacy on the black community in Gates County was palpable.

“All of the people I know said he was very well respected and they wanted to send their children to him,” she said. “He was very good with discipline …They knew if their children acted up, he wouldn’t take it, like they wouldn’t take it. I never heard anything bad about him.”

[Special thanks to Marva Bond, Cathy Riddick and Linda Hofler who contributed to this story.]

Jim Green is Copy Editor of Eastern North Carolina Living and serves as Sports Editor of the Martin County Enterprise & Weekly Herald,

the

Bertie

Ledger-Advance and The Standard.

13

MARTIN

county

Sheriff Jerry Beach Bridge

Much More Than a Badge Story & Photos by Sarah Hodges Stalls

On

Aug.

11,

2010,

Martin

County

"It was awful," his wife explained.

Commissioners adopted a resolution to

The Beach's only child, Jennifer Beach

request the North Carolina Department of

Megill, remembered the day by explaining,

Transportation dedicate the U.S. Highway

"The community mourned with us."

64 Bridge that passes over U.S. Highway 17.

There is so much more to celebrate and

The reason for the request was not about the

remember about the man behind badge

events of one day, but about one man and

No. 528 than a day of tragedy.

his decades of service to the place he called home.

October 12, 1992 was a dark day in Martin County. A wife lost her beloved husband, a daughter lost her Daddy and an entire county lost their chief law enforcement officer and friend.

Sheriff Jerry Vernon Beach, 57, was attempting to negotiate a hostage situation at a bank in Oak City when he was shot.

"I still didn't know how bad it was when I got to the hospital," Sandra Beach said of the day.

"Very

family-oriented

from

the

beginning," explained his daughter. "He loved his siblings very much."

Megill shared a story of how he helped his sister win a beauty pageant.

"He worked hard to earn money to buy his is sister a beauty mark she wanted," to wear entering the pageant. Thanks to her

[Beach’s] confident persona in the community, according to his loved ones, came from his belief in what he was doing.

big brother, she got it. And she won the pageant.

The only thing Durand and Fessie Beach's son ever wanted to be was a law enforcement officer.

Without his chosen profession, he may have never met his best girl, Sandra Modlin.

"Deputies worked the marches that went on in town during the 1960's," she said. "I was in with a couple of folks and they asked did I know Jerry Beach."

The veteran educator was notified at

Today, his wife and daughter choose

her school and immediately headed to be

to remember the family man, doting Dad

with her husband.

and avid fisherman who loved his chosen

"He's right there," her friend told her.

profession.

The group stopped Beach and asked

Anticipating a substitute teacher would be needed for her students, she sat writing

"Everyone has a story of loss," said

lesson plans on brown paper towels from

Megill. "But not everyone has the story of

the rest room while she waited for news.

a great man that we get to tell."

That news would be their worst fears realized. He would not survive.

14

Born Sept. 21, 1935, Jerry Beach was a native of Everetts in Martin County.

He was working the area as this was asked.

when he was getting off work and his response was, "right now."

And that's where the love story began.

Months later in 1963, they became Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Beach.

busy in the classroom, so her father handled it.

"Daddy sent a squad car to come get me," she laughed. "Put me in the back seat and everything."

Sandra Beach smiled when recalling a little-known fact about her late husband.

Marrying a law enforcement officer and his unpredictable schedule was not a great shock for Sandra.

Her daughter flipped her head around

The daughter of a police officer said, "You get used to it." the lawman quickly converted to Daddy.

And he enjoyed every minute.

"He was a very involved Dad," Megill said. "When I was little he would get down in the floor and play like one of the kids."

She said he would "import all kinds of children day or night," so she had playmates - and he did not have to play Barbies.

"He treated anyone that came in our house like family," she recalled. childhood

memories

outside their home may differ a bit from most children. As a sixth grader, she was sick at school one day and

wanted

come

home.

Mom was a

to

quickly, "Shy?" she asked.

Sandra laughed, "By the time you came

When daughter Jennifer came along,

Megill's

"Believe it or not, he was shy," she explained.

along he was getting better."

His happiest place outside the family home may have been wherever fish were

His confident persona in the community,

biting. Beach had an array of fishing

according to his loved ones, came from his

partners who loved the sport equally as

belief in what he was doing.

much.

"It was what he'd always wanted to

Today, there is a hole that can never be

do," Sandra said. "There was never any

filled in the Beach family. However, Sandra

question."

and Jennifer take great comfort from the

Jennifer believes it was harder for her lawman father to have a daughter than it was for her to have a Daddy in the

countless "Jerry Beach stories" people continue to share with them.

After years in law enforcement, Beach was elected county coroner on Nov. 4,

profession.

"I understand now, he was having

1982 and then again Nov. 6, 1986, serving

to make notifications to parents

two-four year terms. He went on the run

of children my age (as coroner

for sheriff and was elected on Nov. 8, 1990

then sheriff) sometimes. It

and served until his death.

was hard on him, but he

"When he was here, he had on that

wanted to be the one

white T-shirt, them black socks and

that told them,"

checkered pants and he was just Daddy,"

she said.

Megill said.

Sarah Hodges Stalls is a Staff Writer for

teacher

Eastern North Carolina Living, the Martin

and

County Enterprise & Weekly Herald and the Bertie Ledger-Advance.

15

HERTFORD

county Howard J. Hunter Jr. Highway

State representative fought for his constituency Story & Photos by Thadd White

“He was tired of sh--.”

– in Washington, D.C. where he was born to

As he laughed out loud, Rep. Howard J.

Howard J. Hunter Sr. and Madge Watford

Hunter III used those simple words to explain

Hunter.

entire life.”

After growing up in Hertford County, Howard Jr. went to North Carolina Central

why his father – the late Rep. Howard J.

“They were from Hertford County, so I

University where he received a degree in

Hunter Jr. – had decided to seek election to

have no idea why he was born in Washington,

physical education, and earned his license as

the N.C. House of Representatives.

D.C.,” the younger Hunter mused. “He grew

a funeral director.

In truth, it was exactly why the nine-term

up in Winton and Ahoskie and lived here his

Hunter Jr. returned home and took over

member of the state house originally sought

Hunter’s Funeral Home, which was started by

election. He was tired of riding through

his grandfather the same year the former was

eastern North Carolina and seeing people in the 1980s still using outhouses.

“When he was elected, the very first bill he introduced was to get rid of outhouses in North Carolina,” Howard III said.

From there, Rep. Hunter Jr. went on to serve his constituents in Hertford, Bertie, Gates,

Perquimans

and

Northampton

counties for 18 years. He was elected to a 10th term, but passed away before taking the oath.

The story of the future state legislator began – for reasons still unknown to his son

16

The late Hunter left behind a legacy of service and a history of putting others first during his service to the people of his county, his district and his state.

born.

When citizens of Hertford County called on Hunter Jr. to seek office, he answered and ran for Hertford County Commissioner and was elected. He spent the next decade serving the citizens of Hertford County, including two years as chairman of the Hertford County Board of Commissioners.

It was then he decided to seek the state house seat, and he was elected – defeating an incumbent to become the first black man from Hertford County to serve in the state legislature.

During his 18 years in Raleigh, Hunter Jr.

he kept his word, driving himself to Raleigh

served as Chairman of the Black Legislative

to support the man who became the first

Caucus, and was a member of what was

African American to serve as Speaker of the

known in the legislature as the “Gang of

House in North Carolina.

Eight.”

In 2005, Hunter Jr. was elected to his

“Basically, it was a group of eight people

tenth term in the N.C. House, but was very

in the North Carolina General Assembly who

sick and passed away on Jan. 7, 2006.

got things done,” Howard III said. “If you

“I knew it was coming,” his son

wanted a bill passed and could get those

remembered. “It was hard because they

eight people on your side, it happened.

told us he could have lived, but he wouldn’t

“For him, it wasn’t about Democrat or

stop smoking.

Republican,” he continued. “It was about

“He told me not to put him on life

getting stuff done for the state. I have tried

support, but I did it twice because I couldn’t

very hard to follow in his footsteps in that way particularly.”

Looking back on his father’s illustrious career, Howard III said he was proud of his dad’s service, and even happier to know how much Howard Jr. loved his time in the N.C. House.

“He loved what he did, there’s no doubt about it,” Howard III said. “He loved helping people. He loved Hertford County, and he loved the Fifth District.

“My dad went out of his way to listen to people,” he continued. “It wasn’t about power like it is with some folks now, it was about helping the people he served.”

Hunter Jr. was proud of the legislation to end outhouses, but also thankful for helping sponsor legislation for the N.C. Office of Minority Health, and supporting N.C. Governor

Jim Hunt’s Smart Start initiative.

Rep. Hunter Jr. was also responsible for helping establish Hertford County QUOLA. Unfortunately, another love of Hunter Jr.’s life was smoking.

“He loved to smoke, and he just wouldn’t quit,” Howard III said. “The doctors told us they could keep him here if he would quit, but he just wouldn’t.”

The younger Hunter said it was difficult to accept for the longest time, but years after his father’s death he has come to terms with it.

“I didn’t understand it at the time, but I do now,” he said.

Hunter Jr. was sick when now Sen. Dan Blue sought the office of Speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives. He told Blue he would be there to vote for him “sick, dying or dead.” And

let go,” Hunter III continued. “The third time, it was time to let him go. He was ready, and I respected his wishes.”

The late Hunter left behind a legacy of service and a history of putting others first during his service to the people of his county, his district and his state.

He also left behind a legacy in his son, who defeated the person appointed to replace his father in 2014.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not compared to him in the hall of the legislature,” Hunter III said. “They say I have his mannerism and his look. Truthfully, there are times when I’m sitting on the floor of the House and I realize I’m sitting the way he used to.”

But those memories are only a part of what Hunter remembers about his father.

“Daddy was daddy,” he said. “We used

Rep. Howard J. Hunter III holds a replica of the sign made in his father's honor.

17

HERTFORD

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to love to go fishing. We would

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“They were all a part of what

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made him special,” Hunter III said.

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But it was Hunter Jr.’s service that led the Hertford County Board of Commissioners to name a portion of N.C. 158 in his honor.

Now-retired Hertford County

to the Rep. Howard J. Hunter Jr. Eastern Crime Lab. “A dozen years after his death, with the opposition party

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HALIFAX

county

William R. Davie House Prominent Revolutionary War figure made home in Halifax Story & Photos by Jim Green

The William R. Davie House, named for a founding father of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as well as a prominent figure in the Revolutionary War, is the only house he lived in which still stands today.

Around the year 2000, North Carolina Historic Sites purchased the house to be part of the Historic Halifax State Historic Site, according to Historic Halifax site manager Carl Burke.

Renovations are underway to preserve the house as part of Historic Halifax, Burke said.

“He was a very prominent citizen who lived in Halifax during his most active years of public life. The house he retired to in South Carolina, the house he lived in while in Raleigh and his early childhood home do not stand anymore,” Burke said. “This house is the only one that’s left. His family lived here even

20

when he was in Raleigh.”

The renovation work is being done in three phases, Burke said.

“The first phase was largely structural and exterior work,” he noted. “Now we are beginning the process of the interior work. There is a great deal of plaster work, painting and drywalling that needs to be done on the interior.”

Once the second phase is complete, the house will be furnished with exhibits.

“There is a plan for each of the rooms,” Burke said. “Thankfully there has been some money given through a request to do a good portion of that work. We will take it room by room to complete the interior.”

Friends of Historic Halifax, a nonprofit group created as a Historic Halifax

Site support group, have undertaken the task of exterior landscaping and bringing (the grounds) back to where it would have been during that time period, Burke said.

“They will also create a garden behind the house as well as an event space outside which we hope will generate revenue as well,” he said.

William Richardson Davie was born June 20, 1756 in Egremont, England. He immigrated to the American colonies in 1763, when his father, Archibald Davie, brought him to the Waxhaw region near Lancaster, South Carolina.

Davie was named after his maternal uncle, William Richardson, a prominent Presbyterian

In 1787, Davie served as one of the state’s five delegates to the Constutional Convention in Philadelphia.

minister in South Carolina, and when Richardson died, Davie inherited 150 acres of his land as well as a large library. Thereafter he always used his full name in honor of his uncle.

Davie was educated by Presbyterian teacher Joseph Alexander at Queen’s Museum, later Liberty Hall, in Charlotte, then matriculated to Alexander’s alma mater, the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), where he graduated in 1776. Davie would serve with fellow Carolinian William Churchill Houston, along with his classmate Jonathon Dayton. Davie would serve with Houston as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Two of the other framers were

James Madison and Gunning Bedford Jr. In 1777, Davie studied law under Spruce MaCay in Salisbury and interrupted his training to serve briefly with state militia under General Allen Jones.

In 1779, Davie interrupted his law studies again to help lead, as a lieutenant, a calvary troop attached to Pulaski’s Legion and promoted to major. He was seriously wounded on June 20 in battle against British in Stono Ferry, South Carolina, and resumed his studies while convalescing. He earned his North Carolina law license.

The next year, Davie raised another troop that operated in Western North Carolina, helping to defend the region against British

21

HALIFAX

county

forces, which included the army of General Charles Cornwallis. He was promoted to colonel in September of 1780.

In 1781, he was appointed commissionary general for Carolina campaign, and furnished arms and supplies for General Nathanael Greene’s army.

He returned to his law practice in 1784, married Sarah Jones (daughter of General Allen Jones), and settled in Halifax.

Two years later (1784), he was elected for the first of 10 times to the House of Commons in North Carolina’s legislature.

In 1787, Davie served as one of the state’s five delegates to the Constutional Convention in Philadelphia.

In 1789, he strongly promoted North Carolina’s adoption of the United States Constitution; he introduced the bill in the state legislature to establish the University of North Carolina.

In 1792, as a university trustee, Davie helped to draft an ordinance for “fixing the seat,” or site for the new school.

In 1793, he presided at the laying of the cornerstone for UNC’s first building, and the first state building in the United States.

The next year (January 1794), Davie was commissioned a major general in North Carolina’s militia. Three years later, he was appointed commander of the state militia by N.C. Governor Samuel Ashe.

22

In 1798, Davie was offered an appointment as brigadier general in the U.S. Army by President John Adams. That December, he was elected the 10th governor of North Carolina by the state legislature.

In 1799, he resigned his gubernatorial term in September and departed two months later for Europe to begin his service as an American minister to France. Davie spent most of the next year helping improve Franco-American relations.

In 1803, Davie lost his bid for U.S. Congress against Willis Alston. The following year, he attended board of trustee meetings at UNC in July – the last time he would visit Chapel Hill.

In 1805, Davie retired from public office and his law office, left Halifax and

moved to “Tivoli,” his plantation in Chester County, South Carolina. Davie was a staunch proponent of slaveholders’ rights and owned 116 slaves on his plantation in South Carolina at the time of his death.

In 1807, he formally ended his 18 years of service as a founding member of the UNC’s board of trustees. Three years later, university trustees cited him as the school’s “founder.”

He received an honorary doctorate of law from the university – the first such honorary degree awarded by the school – in 1811, and the next year, he declined offers to serve as a commander of the US forces during the War of 1812.

Davie died November 5, 1820 at Tivoli and was buried in Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Churchyard in Lancaster County, South Carolina.

Davie County in North Carolina established in 1836, is named in his memory, as are schools in Davie County and Roanoke Rapids, as well as a park in Mecklenburg County.

The William R. Davie House in Halifax was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

[Some information used for this story came from the book “William Richardson Davie: Soldier, Statesman and Founder of the University of North Carolina; 1756-2006, Semiquencentennial” and a April 15, 2013 article in The Daily Tar Heel.]

Jim Green is Copy Editor of Eastern North Carolina Living and serves as Sports Editor of the Martin County Enterprise & Weekly Herald, the Bertie Ledger-Advance and The Standard.

Northampton County Christmas 2019 Christmas Events

CONWAY

Christmas Parade Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas Craft Show Christmas Caroling

Nov. 30, 10:00am Nov. 30, 9:30am Nov. 30, 7:00pm

GARYSBURG

Christmas Parade

Dec. 14, 10:00am

GASTON

Christmas Parade

Nov. 23, 3:00pm

JACKSON

Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

Dec. 6, 6:30pm

RICH SQUARE Christmas Parade

Dec. 7, 10:00am

SEABOARD

Christmas Parade

Dec. 7, 2:00pm

WOODLAND

Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

TBA

LASKER

Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony Nov. 30, 7:00pm Santa Claus and Christmas Caroling Nov. 30 7:15pm (Lasker Baptist Church Fellowship Hall) For more information call Northampton County Visitors Center.

252.534.0331 or 252.534.1383

www.visitnorthamptonnc.com • www.northamptonchamber.org.

Chamber & Tourism Offices 127 W. Jefferson Street • Jackson 23

Call or visit us: Greg Shepherd, CIC Teresa Harrison, CIC Williamston 252-792-5125 www.theboydagency.com

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BERTIE

county

Bob Spivey Prayer Room His legacy lives on in many ways

Story by Leslie Beachboard It is more than just a name.

Around the historic town of Windsor, everyone may not have been in a room named in his honor, but most know the name – Robert B. “Bob” Spivey.

Spivey, who is known throughout North Carolina as an advocate for the east, also spent over three decades helping make life better for citizens in Windsor and the eastern part of the state.

Inside the Windsor Town Hall is the Robert B. “Bob” Spivey Meeting Room; the room in

which he spent many years serving the town’s citizens. The room was named in his honor on Aug. 9, 2012.

Spivey served as mayor of the town for 18 years.

He spent many hours in this room listening to citizens voice their thoughts and making sure the town ran smoothly.

“Bob Spivey was the epitome of a public servant,” Windsor Mayor Jim Hoggard said. “He served on so many boards and committees, and was an excellent contributor for each one.

We were so fortunate to have him in our town.

“He achieved quite a bit as mayor and personally, I have learned so much from him,” the mayor added. “What will always stick out to me was he always did the right thing.”

Spivey was known for his love and devotion to his hometown.

“Mayor Spivey was a smart, energetic gentleman who loved his hometown, and

Photo Courtesy of LuAnn Joyner / Vidant Bertie Hospital

26

truly wanted our community a better place,” Windsor Mayor Pro-Tem Cathy Wilson said.

Windsor Town Administrator Allen Castelloe agreed.

“It was a honor and privilege to know Mayor Spivey both personally and professionally,” Castelloe said. “Every organization he was involved with – the church, the town, the county, the state or the numerous nonprofits – were improved due to his leadership, and the fact he cared for others so greatly. He was a tremendous mentor and friend to many of us, and will be sorely missed.”

Windsor Commissioner David Overton worked with Spivey for several years, when the former served as Windsor Town Administrator.

“He did a lot of good things for the people and the community,” said Overton. “He didn’t care about the credit, he just wanted to get things done. Mayor Spivey was a statesman who

always looked after the citizens of Windsor.”

Windsor Commissioner Randy K. Whitaker said he was cognizant of the name on their meeting room, and believes all of the board members strive to meet Spivey’s examples.

“I had the privilege of knowing Mr. Spivey since early childhood,” said Whitaker. “Mr. Spivey, my dad and their friends would always get together and watch the college football games. They would switch houses during the day and I was able to tag along.

“Mr. Spivey was a great ambassador for the town of Windsor and Bertie County,” he added. “He did not always get the credit he deserves for accomplishing so much.”

Inside Vidant Bertie Hospital, families can look for comfort inside the Bob Spivey Prayer Room.

Vidant Bertie Hospital broke ground on Sept. 9, 2015 in preparation of the new chapel.

The chapel held its ribbon cutting and official opening in March of the following year.

Spivey was a former member of the Vidant Bertie Hospital Directors and Development Councils.

“I cannot think of anybody in this county that deserves it more. He did not give up on Bertie when Bertie needed a hospital,” said former Vidant Bertie Hospital President Jeffrey Dial.

Spivey, who is known throughout North Carolina as an advocate for the east, also spent over three decades

helping

make

life better for citizens in Windsor and the eastern part of the state.

Spivey sat on the Director and Development Council when the talks began about the hospital needing a chapel.

“There wasn’t place where people could go, meditate and find comfort but, with this chapel, I hope there will be more of that,” said Spivey during the ground-breaking ceremony.

Spivey said the chapel offers a lot to the community and completing the hospital. He said he hoped the chapel would be a place where people can go and give thanks for the miracle of healing.

“Bob Spivey was an incredible man who cared deeply about his community,” said Vidant Bertie Hospital President Brian Harvill.

“He was the driving force behind Bertie Memorial/Vidant Bertie Hospital joining University Health Systems over 20 years ago.

He was keenly aware that the partnership would strengthen the hospital, and allow it to remain viable, and help make it an even greater asset to Windsor, Bertie County and the surrounding area.

“He advocated tirelessly for a new hospital to be built, and was very proud of the state of the art facility we have today in Windsor.

It is only fitting the chapel that was added to Vidant Bertie Hospital three years ago bears his name. Bob Spivey was a man among men,” Harvill added.

The building and property of the Roanoke/ Cashie River Center is also named after Spivey.

The property was dedicated in September 1999.

Spivey served as Co-Chairman of the Partnership of the Sounds, and worked with the town of Windsor in support of the facility being built.

Spivey and his wife, Shirley, were also monetary contributors to the project.

The Roanoke/Cashie River Center is located on the banks of the Cashie River.

It is known for being a place “where culture meets the environment.”

The facility offers hands-on interactive

27

Martin Community College Bertie Campus.

In addition to Spivey’s career as mayor,

Leslie Beachboard is a Staff Writer for

Commissioner and on numerous committees

Eastern North Carolina Living and the Martin

throughout the area.

County Enterprise & Weekly Herald and serves

The work Spivey did in the community was

a scenic river walk and amphitheater, a working

“Tarheel of the Week,” given the Baptist Heritage Award by Chowan College and

honey bee hive, black water aquarium, turtle

named “Volunteer of the Year” by the North

tank, artifacts from the North Carolina’s

Carolina Economic Development Association.

Salmon Creek State Park, a meeting center/

Spivey was also awarded the Order of

classroom and Cashie River boat tours.

Along with the three places named

the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s highest civilian honor.

after Spivey, Martin Community College

Spivey was a lifelong member of Cashie

established the Robert B. Spivey Humanitarian

Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon.

Award in 2000.

In addition to his wife and daughter,

The award was presented to a recipient at

Shirley White Spivey, he was preceded in

graduation that was nominated for their works

death by three brothers – Tech Sgt. Joseph

in the community.

B. White Jr., Ensign James T. Spivey and PFC

Spivey was the recipient of the award the first year.

Martin Community College presented the award to Spivey for his effort to establish the

28

Sept. 12.

he served 10 years as a Bertie County

also honored many times as he was named displays, artifacts from life in historic Windsor,

Spivey passed away at the age of 91 on

Lowell B. Spivey – all of who lost their lives in World War II. His sister, Frances S. Hale also preceded him in death.

He was a Windsor native.

as News Editor of the Bertie Ledger-Advance.

29

BEAUFORT

county

Dr. Susan Dimock Road

Tribute to a trail blazer Story & Photos by Thadd White

“Susan Dimock was one of a group of women who in the middle 1800s hammered at the male-guarded doors to the medical profession and managed to break through them.”

- Willard deLue, Footloose in Eastern Carolina, 1955

It would be difficult to say if it was Dr. Susan Dimock’s life or death that was the most shocking.

Born in a time when women were rarely afforded the opportunity to practice medicine, Dr. Dimock defied the odds and became a renowned doctor and surgeon.

Then – at the height of her career – she died unexpectedly in a shipwreck at only 28 years of age.

“In an era and culture where girls rarely attended grammar school – let alone medical college – Susan was clearly an anomaly from day one,” Susan Wilson wrote in a biography published by the N.C. Medical Society. “She loved to read, study and think which she accomplished under her mom’s private tutelage

30

and in a girl’s school that Mrs. Dimock established to provide her daughter with studious female peers.”

Susan was born to Henry and Mary Dimock in Beaufort County in 1847. Her father owned the Lafayette Hotel in Washington.

As a child, Susan made friends with Dr. Soloman S. Satchwell, who lived nearby. She read as many books as Dr. Satchwell would allow her to borrow, and even accompanied him on some of his house calls.

It is believed by many this was the germ of her love of medicine.

Susan spent her early years in Washington with her parents. They were there when soldiers from the north occupied Washington, and were believed by many to be northern sympathizers because her parents came from the north.

When the Union soldiers burned much of Washington, the Lafayette was destroyed.

Susan and her mother fled to Massachusetts.

There Susan met Dr. Marine Zakrzewska and began working at her hospital. This further fueled her desire to become a doctor and she

applied for acceptance in schools in the United States, including Harvard – but was rejected.

Eventually she was accepted into the University of Zurich and – with the help of family

and friends – she went on to earn her medical degree. Her professors praised her for her hard work, diligence and intelligence.

Already fluent in English and Latin, Dimock learned Italian and German while studying in Zurich.

Upon graduation, Dr. Dimock practiced in Vienna and Paris before returning to Massachusetts.

Once back in the United States, Dr. Dimock signed a three-year contract with the New England Hospital for Women and Children, earning $300 per year. The contract reunited her with Dr. Zakrzewska, who led the hospital.

While working at the hospital, Dr. Dimock was credited with starting the first nursing school in America and graduating the nation’s first “trained nurse.” She also introduced the practice of visiting nurses and the idea of hospital social service.

“In an era and culture where girls rarely attended grammar school – let alone

medical

college

– Susan was clearly an anomaly from day one.”

- Susan Wilson Shawn Scott wrote in the Bulletin for the N.C. Medical Society in 1999 that the American Medical Association refused to admit women in 1982, but four medical associations bucked that trend.

Massachusetts began admitting women in 1869 and three states – North Carolina, Iowa and Kansas – followed suit in 1872.

The first woman presented for membership was Dr. Susan Dimock – and her childhood friend Dr. Satchwell presented her. She was accepted as an honorary member because she wasn’t in attendance.

Dr. Dimock did return to Beaufort County, and was heralded for how down-to-earth she had remained.

The Washington Echo said, “With all her varied acquirements she, on her return to her

friends, assumed no superiority over them, adopted no foreign airs or accents, but was as natural and simple as a child, lovable as a lamb, and as modest as she was meritorious.”

Following three successful years at the New England Hospital for Women and Children, she was asked to extend her stay and agreed to do so on the condition she be given a five-month leave to return to Europe.

On April 28, 1875 the Schiller was in an accident near the Scilly Isles and sank in heavy fog after hitting a reef. A total of 311 people died in the accident, including Dr. Dimock – her lifelong companion, Bessie Greene, and another friend, Caroline Crane.

Dr. Dimock’s body was recovered and she was confirmed among the deceased at age 28. Crane’s body was also found, but there are conflicting reports about whether or not Greene’s body was lost at sea.

While most of those who died were buried on the Isles, Col. W.B. Greene – Bessie’s father – reportedly paid to have the bodies of his daughter and her friends returned to the United States.

Dr. Dimock was buried at Forest Hills Cemetery is Boston.

Many in the medical profession lamented her death.

Dr. Samuel Cabot of Boston said, “In her short life she acquired, in the face of serious obstacles, an amount of medical knowledge and surgical skill such as few possess, and to these qualities she added a maturity of judgment and a power of reasoning which are quite rare…”

The 800-pound marker at Dr. Dimock’s grave was replaced in the 1990s and the original

one was moved to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church cemetery in Washington.

Upon her death, Coleman Avenue in Boston was renamed Dimock Street.

Beaufort County also has a street named in her honor, located in a residential neighborhood in Washington.

[Claudia Dahlen of the George H. and Laura E. Brown Library in Washington was instrumental in contributing to this story. The library resources were used as research for this story.]

Thadd White is Editor of Eastern North Carolina Living, the Bertie Ledger-Advance and the Martin County Enterprise & Weekly Herald.

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TYRRELL

county

Benjamin F. Cox Highway A Man of the Water Story & Photos by Sarah Hodges Stalls

of love she and her brother put together in the form of a book, offers an overview of Cox's career. This project began as a gift for Reynold's father, Clarence Flowers Cahoon, who was raised by Cox and for all intents and purposes, considered him his father.

"Unfortunately, he did not survive to enjoy this," Reynolds said of the book they compiled.

Painting by Barbara Fleming

He passed away before it could be completed.

Fortunately, it now provides a chapter in Tyrrell and Hyde county history to an entirely

A man who made his life on the water is

According to materials shared during

remembered for his efforts to establish a

the dedications, Cox was a member of the

public road between the Tyrrell County town

Southern Albemarle Association and an

According to a copy of the original

of Columbia and the outlying Fairfield.

advocate for improved highways between

nomination, "Capt. Cox" was nominated for

county seats of government.

the position of Assistant Light Keeper for Gull

Benjamin Fenner Cox was born in the

new generation.

Hyde County community of Middleton on

Based on the geography of his early years

Shoal Light Station, off Hyde County on the

New Year's Eve of 1861. He was the fourth of

and career with in the lighthouse service, he

west side of the Pamlico Sound, on March

14 children and the eldest son of Jeremiah and

knew the need for such a road quite well.

20, 1896. This position was under the U.S.

Mary White Cox. He married Margarette Williams of Fairfield in 1885.

According to a resolution drafted in March 2010, Cox was the first promoter of a highway

The Gull Shoal Light Station had been

being constructed between Tyrrell and Hyde

established in 1891 by an act of Congress. The project cost $30,000.

On June 21, 2010, the North Carolina

counties, working to get this effort completed

Department of Transportation dedicated a

in a "timely manner when many thought it

portion of N.C. 94 in his name, from the Hyde

impossible."

County line to Kilkenny Landing near the Kilkenny Community.

34

Lighthouse Service.

Columbia resident Fleedie Reynolds made much information on Cox available. A labor

Cox's application noted he had not served in the U.S. military at any point. It is assumed the title of Captain was likely one of respect, not unusual in the South during this time.

Photo courtesy of Lighthouse Digest

According to a resolution drafted in March 2010, Cox was the first promoter of a highway being constructed between Tyrrell and Hyde counties, working

positioned in a way reduce danger to the

to get this effort completed in

lighthouse

a “timely manner when many

to Lighthouse Digest.

thought it impossible.�

during

high tides, according

in 1884" were listed as those who had

His personal information sheet from the U.S. Lighthouse Service was updated upon his Dec. 17, 1908 "recommendation for

In Cox's original application, the following question was posed.

"What qualification do you possess for the position you desire?"

Cox's response read: "I have been living all my life near the water and have gone by water

reappointment/promotion" to the position of Keeper at Laurel Point Light Station, off Washington County on the Albemarle Sound.

Cox listed a brother also working for the department - W.B. Cox - Assistant Keeper of the Roanoke River Lighthouse.

a large portion of my life and think I know

With a primary education, Cox responded

how to manage a boat and have had some

to the request to list special qualifications:

experience on a light house, being employed

"Can do most any kind of mechanical work."

by Capt. J.B. Skinner, the present keeper of Gull Shoal Light House."

Cox took the oath of office on April 11, 1896.

He spent nearly four years in the

He listed multiple work skills prior to the lighthouse service including, "Farming,

fishing,

recommended Cox for the position, along with, "every good citizen in my neighborhood who have known me all of my life."

He began the role at Laurel Point on Jan. 5, 1909 at the pay rate of $50 per month.

A story handed down through the decades tells of the blizzard, which struck on a night Cox stood watch alone.

According to the story, the sound and the river froze solid. This reportedly stranded Cox for with no way to contact the outside world.

After his rations were exhausted and he knew the U.S. Coast Guard would not be able to get to him for some time, Cox set out for home.

carpentry,

principally building or repairing small boats and boring artesian wells."

position. During his tenure there, he saw new

"Col. W.H. Lucas, a former state

model lamps installed and a fuel platform

senator and elector for Mr. Cleveland

35

TYRRELL

county

A written account in the Columbia library explained, "For one full day, a night, and part of another day, without allowing himself the luxury of resting even a little, lest he freeze to death, he continuously trudged on, following the western shore line of the Scuppernong River, until he reached an open space he knew, just across from Columbia."

Thankfully, he suffered no injuries during this trek.

The veteran light keeper retired from service on Dec. 31, 1926.

Ben Cox married his second wife, Mary Swain, in 1919. Margarette, his first wife, had died early that year. He would marry one final time to his

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He was the father of four children, all with his first wife. One son died in infancy, according to local accounts.

Records show both Gull Shoal and Laurel Point Lighthouses were destroyed in the 1950s.

Cox passed away at the age of 84 in June 1945.

[Special thanks to Fleedie Reynolds for contributing to this article, as well as Carolyn

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NORTHAMPTON

county The town of Margarettsville Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan

Photo courtesy of Tillman W. Cooley, Jr.

Located just south of the Virginia border, on N.C. 186 in the northeastern corner of Northampton County is the unincorporated community of Margarettsville.

One of the earliest settlements in the county, the community was named (as were many others in the area) by an official of the Seaboard Railroad when he came there in 1836 to inspect the newly completed line from Portsmouth, Virginia.

Learning that the community had no name, he named it Margaret, for Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan, a 17-year-old.

Nearby was the first post office in the county, Diamond Grove, established in 1827 and named for a prominent plantation with oak and elm trees planted in the shape of a diamond.

In 1836, its name was changed to Margarettsville, the “tsville” having been added to the name Margaret by local residents, but

38

Story by Sarah Davis Photos by Thadd White

Margaret remains the railroad name.

According to the 2010, second edition of The North Carolina Gazetteer, Margarettsville was chartered in 1885 but rechartered as Margaretsville in 1895; however, the town sign still shows the double “t.”

The glory of that past lives on today in the legacy left

by Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley, not just in Margarettsville,

not

just

in Northampton County, not just in North Carolina, but far beyond.

Described as “a belle and beauty of her age in all the bearing of her life [proving] that the homage paid her was the just tribute of her worth,” Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan was a lovely young woman when the railroad official saw fit to name the community for her.

The next year, 1837, she married Colonel Thomas Ridley and moved north with him across the Virginia line, reversing what the early settlers in the late 1600s and early 1700s had done when they had come south from Greensville and Southampton counties, to settle in Northampton County, North Carolina.

Margaret and Col. Ridley spent their lives on the plantation Bonnie Doon, and, following her 1906 death, she was buried near Courtland in the Ridley Cemetery on the Rock Hill plantation.

Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley was the mother of eight children - Emma Wright,

John William, Nathaniel Thomas, Leonidas, Roberta Mary, Virginia Jordan, Eliza Ann, and Margaret Francis.

At least two of the daughters, Eliza Ann and Emma Wright, again reversed the migration policy, both returning to their mother’s native North Carolina after their marriages. Eliza Ann Ridley Urquhart moved to Bertie County, and Emma Wright Ridley Burgwyn moved to Northampton County.

Emma Wright Ridley (1846-1893) married George Pollock Burgwyn (1847-1907) of Jackson in 1869. Through their children Henry King, William Hyslop Sumner and Maria Greenough (Long) and their children’s children to the fourth and fifth generations - they have influenced every aspect of life in Northampton County.

Predisposed, if not predestined, to a life of service, the Burgwyn name can be found

on the rolls of public and private professions that run the gamut of the alphabet as each of them has prominently assumed a role in the life of his or her community.

Most recently, Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley’s great-great granddaughter, also named Margaret, served as mayor of Woodland from 1995 to 2005.

Living through most of the 19th century, Margaret Ridley knew the feast and famine that century produced.

Family lore has her helping a young man, born into slavery, in his escape North. With $40 from her (valued at more than $1,000 today) and Quaker assistance, he was able to make his way to Philadelphia and freedom, eventually bringing his family as well.

As a tangible testament to her talents, a quilt she made in 1846 for Nathaniel Thomas Ridley now hangs in the Museum of

Nathaniel Thomas Ridley

39

NORTHAMPTON

county

Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) in

resulted from the War Between the States.

States (Benjamin Harrison) stopped and

Margarettsville, the site of Northampton

talked, is now a quiet, rural community. Like

As many others of her time, she

County’s first brick school and the only place

Margaret, it, in the words of William Faulkner,

experienced the economic reversals that

in the county where a President of the United

Winston-Salem.

has not merely endured but prevailed. Like Margaret, the community has had a soul, “a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.” Like Margaret, the community has shown “courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of [her] past.”

The glory of that past lives on today in the legacy left by Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley, not just in Margarettsville, not just in Northampton County, not just in North Carolina, but far beyond.

[Thanks to great-great granddaughters, Margaret, Anna, and Molly Burgwyn and to Carl Witt’s Footprints in Northampton for information in this article.]

Sarah Davis is a regular contributor to Eastern North Carolina Living.

40

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NASH

county Claude Mayo Jr.

Administration Building & Surgery Pavilion His wisdom & guidance carries on Story by Amelia Harper Two important buildings in Nash County bear the name of Claude Mayo Jr., a longtime chairman of the Nash County Board of Commissioners and one who acted in that capacity during a time of tremendous building and improvement in the region.

The Claude Mayo Jr. Administration Building in Nashville (the Nash County seat) and the Claude Mayo Surgical Pavilion on the campus of Nash UNC Health Care both stand as testaments to Mayo’s influence on the growth of Nash County and the legacy that he left behind.

42

He was an active member of multiple boards in Nash County, including the Board of Commissioners and the Board of Health.

Mayo died on April 27, 2010, but a resolution passed by Nash County commissioners on March 9, 2009, outlines in broad strokes some of his most notable roles in the county as he ended his term on that board.

“During his tenure as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Nash County, Claude Mayo also served as chairman of the Board of Health, chairman of the Nash

Tourism Development Authority, a board member of Nash Health Care Systems and chairman of the Board of Commissioners for over 18 years,” the resolution in his honor said.

Mayo was appointed to the Nash County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 3, 1981, but won the seat in his own right during the next election cycle in 1982. He began serving as chairman of the board in December 1990 and remained in that role until he left the board in 2009, roughly a year before his death.

During his time as chairman of the board, many positive changes were wrought in Nash County.

The Nash County Courthouse underwent renovations and additions were made to the Nash County Detention Center. Nash Community College underwent a major expansion. The new Braswell Memorial Library was built, as was the Gateway Technology Building. And Nash County's Farmer’s Market found a permanent home.

The Claude Mayo Jr. Administration Building in Nashville was built in 1999 and still serves as the hub of Nash County government.

Mayo was also appointed to the Nash County Board of Health in 1982 and served as chairman of that board until 1991. During his time on that board, the Nash County Board of Health received the State Outstanding Public Health Achievement Award for establishing

“The

presence

and

contributions of Claude Mayo to Nash County and its government will be greatly missed by his fellow commissioners and the county’s citizens.” the Nash Regional Migrant Health Center.

Mayo also served on the Board of Commissioners for the former Nash Health Care Systems (now Nash UNC Health Care)

his primary education from the Rocky Mount Public Schools and went on to graduate from Duke University. He served in the U.S. Army for two years and then joined his father in the insurance and real estate business in 1953, when he began to acquire several farming and development interests in Nash County.

He was actively involved in his community.

In addition to his service on the Nash County Board of Commissioners, the hospital board and the board of health, Mayo also served as a N.C. Wesleyan College trustee for 16 years; as director of Pioneer Savings and Loan for 25 years and three years as chairman of that board and as a corporate board member of First Citizens Bank.

The resolution passed by the Nash County Board of Commissioners in March 2009 sums

up the impact he made on his county and his community.

“During his tenure as a member of the Board of County Commissioners of Nash County, Claude Mayo worked diligently to represent the needs of all Nash County citizens, and his service, wisdom and guidance to Nash County have contributed greatly to the growth and economic welfare of Nash County. The presence and contributions of Claude Mayo to Nash County and its government will be greatly missed by his fellow commissioners and the county’s citizens,” the resolution states.

Amelia Harper is a Staff Writer for Eastern North Carolina Living and the Rocky Mount Telegram.

for eight years, serving as a officer for the board during his entire tenure.

According to a resolution approved by the health care system, “his involvement and insight were instrumental in developing prominent expansion projects during his tenure — most notably, introducing one of the nation’s first freestanding outpatient surgery facilities at Nash Day Hospital.”

The J. Claude Mayo Jr. Surgery Pavillion was named in his honor because of “his immeasurable contributions to the state of area health care,” the resolution states.

According to his obituary, Mayo received

43

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EDGECOMBE

county

Edgecombe County Lord Edgecumbe never visited new world, but left his mark in North Carolina Story by Thadd White Photos by Thadd White, Leslie Beachboard & Alan Campbell Edgecombe County is as proud of its bright future as it is of its historic past.

The county proudly boasts being “Located on the edge of yesterday and tomorrow.”

Mount Edgecumbe and lived at his Mount

Edgecumbe remained in the same role

Edgecumbe estate in Cornwall, England.

until 1724 when he was appointed to be joint

Although Edgecombe County was named in

vice-treasurer of Ireland.

his honor, he was to never see the land as he

Despite the political fallout between

And, situated nicely between North

died in 1758 never having made the journey

he and Walpole, he sought to have their

Carolina’s capital city of Raleigh and the

to the “New World.” Also, the reason and date

friendship restored and was made 1st Lord

beautiful Atlantic Ocean, the people of

of changing the spelling of Edgecombe is not

Falmouth as chief government manager in

Edgecombe County have much of which to

known.

Cornwall.

be proud.

Lord Edgecumbe was born in 1680, the

Edgecumbe remained a member of the House of Commons until his elevation to the

And it all began nearly three centuries

third son of Sir Richard Edgecombe and Lady

ago when, according Alan D. Watson’s

Ann Montagu. He was a steadfast member of

“Edgecombe County: A Brief History,” the

Parliament for more than 40 years. During

population of what was then western Bertie

his time in the House of Commons, he

County increased – prompting the need for

represented Cornwall, St. Germans, Plymouth,

other counties to be carved out of the large

Plympton Erle and Lostwithiel.

landmass known as Bertie at the time.

Royal

Governor

George

Known to be a staunch supporter of Sir

Burrington

Robert Walpole, Edgecumbe was made Lord

originally created the Edgecombe Precinct in

of the Treasury in 1716 by the man generally

May of 1732. He named the new precinct after

regarded as the first Prime Minister of

Lord Richard Edgecumbe, who at the time

England. Edgecumbe relinquished that post in

was Lord of the English Treasury.

1717 when the two were in opposition, but was

Lord Edgecumbe was the first Baron of

46

reappointed in 1720.

The internationally known "It's A Zoo Life' calls Macclesfield home.

Like it’s namesake, Edgecombe County can be proud to be one of the “steadiest” in the world.

Gov. Burrington granted the petition in

Despite the political intrigue at the

1732, the Colonial Assembly refused to accept

beginning of its existence, Edgecombe County

the new governmental unit. It took years of

has become of the most historic in the state,

debate before the new precinct was officially

but also has a bright future.

created in 1741.

History does not provide the actual year the County of Edgecombe was created.

Tarboro, the County Seat, is one of the 10 oldest towns in North Carolina. The name comes from the river which flows through the

The county’s current boundaries were

region, according to Monika S. Fleming in her

created when Wilson County was formed

book “Edgecombe County along the Tar River”

in 1855, thus removing a portion of the

which is part of the Making of America Series.

southwest corner of the county, and in 1871

Fleming says the river’s name possibly

when the boundary between Edgecombe and

came from the Tuscaroran word meaning

Nash counties was shifted to coincide with the

health from “Tar” to “Tau.” She also says it is

Wilmington and Weldon Railroad line.

possible it contributed to the various spellings

peerage in 1742, after which he was named Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, posts he held until his death in 1758.

Upon his death, Horace Walpole described Lord Edgecumbe as “one of the honestest and steady men in the world.”

While the man himself was involved in political intrigue in his home country, so too was the land named in his honor in the United States.

Tarboro High School has delivered six state football championships to Edgecombe County.

47

EDGECOMBE

county

of the town’s name from Tarborough and Tarrburg in the 1760s to Tawborough in the mid19th century to today’s spelling of Tarboro.

In addition, Edgecombe County is home to Princeville – which is the oldest African American town in the United States.

Rocky Mount, one of the state’s top 20 in population, is located in both Edgecombe and Nash counties.

All told there are 10 municipalities that call Edgecombe County home, including Conetoe, Leggett, Macclesfield, Pinetops, Princeville, Rocky Mount, Sharpsburg, Speed, Tarboro and Whitakers.

Edgecombe County is also home to Edgecombe Community College, which offers a variety of educational and skill-enhancing opportunities.

As the county’s website boasts, “Edgecombe County’s location offers a mild year-round climate with four distinct seasons. After a brief winter snowfall or two, we know that it won’t be long until the Dogwoods begin to bloom.

“After a few days of hot sunbathing days in summer, we know that the local maple trees will soon begin to show the brilliant colors of fall,” it adds.

In addition, there are dozens of historic houses

of

worship

scattered

throughout

Edgecombe County.

Like it’s namesake, Edgecombe County can be proud to be one of the “steadiest” in the world.

[The Janie F. Allsbrook Local Collection History at the Edgecombe County Memorial Library

and

www.edgecombecountync.com

provided information for this story.]

Thadd White is Editor of Eastern North Carolina Living, the Bertie Ledger-Advance and the Martin County Enterprise & Weekly Herald.

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Named after the

Lords Proprietors Story by Janice Cole Hopkins

Many of the place names in North Carolina stem from the early days of settlement. Do you know how the first settlement took place in North Carolina after it was initially explored and the first attempts at colonization failed?

To fully understand what took place, let’s consider some background material.

When

the

New

World

was

first

colonialized by the British, the most common way of obtaining land was through a trading company, such as the East India Company.

That changed in 1632, however, when King

George Monck, Duke of Albemarle

Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon

Charles I gave George Calvert proprietary rights to a large area of land east of the Potomac River in exchange for a portion of the incomes gained from it. This became the colony of Maryland, and similar grants would follow.

These Lords Proprietors were to govern the land and had immense power. The land grant or license normally spelled out their exact responsibilities and powers.

In 1629, King Charles I had given Sir Robert Heath the southern half of the English property in the New World between 36 degrees and 31 degrees north latitude from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and it was named Carolina, meaning “land of Charles.”

Did you know Carolina once included part of California and everything in between? Yes, it stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific

John Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of Stratton 52

William Craven, Earl of Craven

Ocean.

One need only to look at a map of North Carolina to see how these Lord Proprietors and their heirs influenced names in the state.

But Sir Heath didn’t succeed in settling the land, and he fell out of favor during the English Civil War when he was deemed a Royalist supporter. He was therefore stripped of all his holdings, and in 1663, eight English noblemen were granted a charter

Sir George Carteret, 1st Baronet

Sir William Berkeley, Governor of Virginia

Sir John Colleton, 1st Baronet

Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury

from King Charles II to establish the colony of Carolina. The eight Lord Proprietors were: George Monck, the Duke of Albemarle; Baron Berkeley of Stratton; the Earl of Clarendon; Edward Hyde, the Earl of Craven; Anthony Ashley Cooper, the Earl of Shaftesbury; Sir William Berkeley; Sir John Colleton, and Sir George Carteret.

Albemarle County became the first government in Carolina in 1664 when William Sayle was appointed governor. The Lords Proprietors saw that their authority was weaker near the Virginia border, so they divided Carolina into North and South. This was completed in 1712.

Besides attracting colonists, they were to protect Carolina against the Spanish in Florida. In order to be successful this time, the king and proprietors developed incentives.

The Lords Proprietors were the eight Englishmen to whom King Charles II granted, by the Carolina charters of 1663 and 1665, the joint ownership of a tract of land in the New World called “Carolina.”

53

King Charles I of England

Any religious affiliation was tolerated,

had gone to James Bertie. Joseph Blake had

except for atheists. Each family member was

taken possession of John Berkeley’s. William

granted 150 acres, and a male servant who

Craven had inherited his grandfather’s portion.

worked out his indenture also received one

William Berkeley’s had gone to Henry Bertie

hundred acres from the Lords Proprietors. To

and two widows. Colleton’s had gone to his

attract more investments, property owners

grandson. And Shaftesbury’s was being held

also received 150 acres for each slave he

in trust for John Cotton.

brought into the colony.

Carteret’s interests continued until the

By 1700, Carolina had 6,600 colonists

colonists won the Revolutionary War. At that

compared to only 1,500 in Florida. Mainly the

time, the Crown paid him the compensation

British, French Huguenots and a few planters from the Caribbean came in the first waves of settlers. However, the proprietors failed to protect Carolina during Queen Anne’s War against pirates who raided the coast and

King Charles II of England

against Indian attacks.

Colonists petitioned the king to replace the proprietorship with direct royal administration in 1719. Therefore, King George appointed royal governors for both North and South Carolina. England supposedly would be in charge but would allow the people to basically govern themselves. In 1729, the king bought out the New World holdings of seven of

Carolina to see how these Lord Proprietors and their heirs influenced names in the state.

Albemarle is the name of a large sound, the county seat of Stanly County, and a former county. The county of Albemarle was done away with in 1739, and other counties emerged from it.

Bertie, Carteret, and Hyde are counties, and Clarendon is a town in Columbus County.

Shaftesbury County became Chowan County, and Berkeley County became Perquimans.

A survey of the state will also reveal these

Granville, refused to sell and kept his property

eight names among communities within

rights in a northern third of North Carolina.

cities, street and road names, precincts, developments and more. Whether the Lords

some

Proprietors were a good or poor beginning

other gentlemen had inherited or come

might be up for debate, but there is no

into possession of the property. In 1729,

denying that they’ve left a lasting legacy.

the

54

One need only to look at a map of North

the Lords Proprietors. John Carteret, Lord

At the time the royal coffers bought

King George of England

for losing his holdings.

Lords

Proprietors’

interests,

Albemarle was being held in trust for Henry

Janice Cole Hopkins is a professional writer

Somerset, the third Duke of Beaufort and his

with numerous published books, and is a regular

brother, Lord Charles Somerset. Clarendon’s

contributor to Eastern North Carolina Living.

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57

Story by Lewis C. Forrest

The New Holland, Higginsport, and Mt. Vernon Railroad

I

n 1918, the North Carolina

lake, made up almost half of

Farms

owned

the drainage district. The district

Lake Mattamuskeet in Hyde

was to remove the water from

County, North Carolina. They

the lake and reclaim its rich bed

bought the lake from New Holland

for development and to relieve

Farms, Inc. who purchased it in

flooding of neighboring farms.

1911 under its former name of

By 1916, the district built the

the Southern Land Reclamation

world’s largest capacity pumping

Company, from the State Board

plant to drain the lake, becoming

of Education.

America’s most famous pump-

Company

The private ownership of the lake coincided with the

58

supported

land

reclamation

project.

formation of the Mattamuskeet

New Holland Farms and the

Drainage District, a 100,000-

North Carolina Farms Company

acre enterprise. Mattamuskeet,

worked to develop a town called

North Carolina’s largest natural

“New Holland” adjacent to the

A railroad was critical to raising the value of the reclaimed lakebed and other acreage within the drainage district.

pumping plant. Both companies

be equivalent to $12,532,874 in

planned to sell lots and farms in

2019.

the reclaimed lakebed for much

The

more than they paid for the

contracted

property.

Company of New York City

farms

company

the

Foundation

New Holland Farms, Inc. had

to build the line, beginning

planned to build a railroad from

construction in August of 1920.

the pumping plant to connect

The contractor employed more

with

Southern

than 600 men to clear rights-of-

Railroad on its run from Norfolk

way, grade the bed, lay crossties,

to Belhaven, but sold out before

install rails, build sidings, sink

following through. A railroad

wells and erect water towers for

was critical to raising the value

steam engines. By November

of the reclaimed lakebed and

of

other acreage within the drainage

completing seven miles of the

district.

line per month.

the

Norfolk

In October of 1920, North

1920,

the

workers

were

Much of the line passed

Carolina chartered development

through

of a 35-mile line called the

timberland. The contractor ran

“New Holland, Higginsport, and

nine miles of the line directly in

Mt. Vernon Railroad Company.�

the reclaimed lakebed, making

The charter stated the North

it essential to keep the water

Carolina Farms Company would

pumped out of the lake for the

build the line from the pumping

trains to operate. This short line

plant at New Holland to Wenona

railroad was one of the biggest

in Washington County for a

engineering projects in North

projected

Carolina.

cost

of

$977,353.

Based on inflation, that would

swamps

and

virgin

Between New Holland and

59

went into bankruptcy. This shut

By

down the railroad.

In 1925, August Heckscher, a

Holland

was

farming

bought the bankrupt assets of

wheat, flax and Irish potatoes

North Carolina Farms Company,

and was shipping record yields

including

million-dollar

to market on the railroad. That

railroad, for just $200,000.

fall, Heckscher agreed to sell

Heckscher

New

Lake Mattamuskeet to the U.S.

Holland Corporation for his lake

Government to create a migratory

enterprise, not to be confused

waterfowl refuge.

the

formed

the

This decision to sell led to

new corporation shifted the focus

shutting

from a real estate development

dissolving

venture to a huge commercial

Drainage District, and allowing

farm.

the lake to refill. This also ended

down the

the

pumps,

Mattamuskeet

the operation of the New Holland

into

Railroad. The nine miles of track

bankruptcy in 1923, scheduled

in the lakebed was soon under

passenger service on their railroad

water. A company from Alabama

ended forever. New Holland

salvaged the steel tracks and the rolling stock from the line.

Farms

Company

went

Wenona, there were six stops

Carolina Farms Company bought

Corporation chose not to operate

called

two steam engines, numbers 32

as a public carrier but to only haul

and 100, for the line.

freight for his farming operation.

Higginsport, Wilbanks, Patberry

Corporation

New

13,000 acres of corn, soybeans,

When the North Carolina

Harrison,

1932,

wealthy New York industrialist,

with New Holland Farms, Inc. The

Benhamton,

massive drainage pumps.

The nonprofit Mattamuskeet Foundation is preserving the

and Kirwin. The North Carolina

In October of 1921, the first

The new owners restored the

records of the companies involved

Farms Company named each

passengers took a ride on the

railroad line that had been idle

in draining Lake Mattamuskeet,

stop for an investor in the rail line.

new railroad. They soon added

for two years, replacing 27,000

including the railroad records.

At Wenona, the company built a

freight and mail service.

crossties of red heart Cypress.

These are fading reminders of the

New

only public railroad to ever serve

Holland

Corporation

barn, a small house for the train

In 1922 or 1923, engine

crew, a larger house for other

number 100 jumped the tracks

discontinued use of the steam

railroad personnel and overnight

and went into the marsh near

locomotives and replaced them

guests, and an office for the

Wenona. The owners arranged

with

Norfolk Southern Railroad agent.

for Norfolk Southern Railroad

gasoline-powered

The railroad had standard

to bring in a rail crane mounted

and a 25-ton Plymouth diesel

will speak on the New Holland,

gauge tracks, allowing Norfolk

on a flatcar to lift the steam

electric engine. By the end of

Higginsport,

Southern cars to travel on the

locomotive back onto the tracks.

1927, the small Plymouth engine

Railroad at the 2019 Swan Days

an

eight-ton

Plymouth locomotive

Hyde County.

Lewis C. Forrest, Ed.D., is the executive director of the nonprofit Mattamuskeet

Foundation. and

Mt.

He

Vernon

line without transferring cargo

In September of 1923, the

was bringing 200 tons of coal

Festival on Dec. 7, at Mattamuskeet

to narrower cars. In 1921, North

North Carolina Farms Company

per week to New Holland for the

School.

60

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61

If these

WALLS could talk

John Wheeler House is part of Historic Murfreesboro

A

Story by Sarah Davis Photos by Thadd White Murfreesboro

The Wheeler House, located at 407 East

Thought to have been built in 1810 as

(chartered by the General Assembly

Broad Street, is one of the more imposing

a store for William Hardy Murfree (origin

of North Carolina in 1787) in Hertford

sites on the Murfreesboro Historic Tour.

of the name of the town) and his business

County, one observing the architecture of

With 18-inch brick walls and the only brick

partner, George Gordon, the building was

buildings, some pre-dating its beginning,

dependency remaining in Murfreesboro, it

purchased by John Wheeler in 1814 and

must often think beyond the brick and

stands out architecturally, but it also stands

expanded and remodeled as a house.

mortar (Indeed, the oldest commercial brick

out because of its residents and their place

building in North Carolina still stands today

in local, State, and national government.

visitor

to

historic

Wheeler descendant James Elliott Moore, writing for the occasion of the Wheeler

in Murfreesboro and remains in use, now

Additionally, many have been writers,

Reunion in 1980, calls Murfreesboro

as the Rea Museum) to the inhabitants and

leaving a legacy of literature, both fiction

“unique to Southern towns” because it

muse, “If these walls could talk . . . .”

and non-fiction.

was settled primarily by merchants and

In at least one case, maybe they do.

Thanks to the John

Wheeler family, those walls have talked.

mariners from New England.

Wheeler, who came to Murfreesboro in 1796, could be numbered among merchants

and

mariners

from

New

England, but his journey to Hertford County and Murfreesboro was a bit more circuitous than most.

Born in Essex County, New Jersey, to Dr. John Wheeler, a loyalist sympathizer during the Revolutionary War, young John found himself moving frequently - first to Newark, New Jersey, for protection by the royal army, then to Long Island, New York, and later to St. John’s, New Brunswick, before eventually returning to the United States and New York City. There, in business as a bookseller, he made the acquaintance of Zedekiah Stone from Bertie County.

62

“

Thought to have been built in 1810 as a store for William Hardy Murfree (origin of the name of the town) and his business partner, George Gordon, the building was purchased by

John

Wheeler

in

1814

and

expanded and remodeled as a house.

Stone persuaded Wheeler to

behind an infant daughter, Julia, who

come South and to enter into a

would later marry Dr. Godwin Cotton

partnership in a mercantile business

Moore.

in Windsor.

Before his death in 1832, he

Stone was the father of Gov.

would marry again and father nine

David Stone; Wheeler married Maria

more children. Known among his

Elizabeth Jordan whose sister married

descendants as “Prolific John” for the

Gov. Stone.

Following Zedekiah

19 children he sired, he also began a

Stone’s death, Wheeler entered into

legacy of literature. In 1831, himself

a partnership with Walter Hubbell

writing a letter to the editor of the

and moved to Murfreesboro to

Norfolk Herald, providing the public

represent that concern in Hertford

with the first account of Nat Turner’s

County.

Insurrection.

Quickly

establishing

himself

John Hill Wheeler (elected to the

not only as a leading merchant

House of Commons of the North

(with a mercantile business on the

Carolina General Assembly for terms

corner of Main and Williams) and mariner (with ships trading between Murfreesboro and the West Indies) but outstanding citizen as well, he served as postmaster for several years.

To John and Elizabeth, eight children were born - three surviving their mother’s death in 1810. One of them was John Hill Wheeler, born in 1806, in a house near where the present Wheeler House, the former Murfree store, stands.

By the time the elder John Wheeler moved into that house, probably 1815, he was again a widower, having married another Bertie County resident, Sallie Ford Wood, who died in 1814, leaving

63

unfinished manuscript is housed at Wake Forest University.

At least one other member of the Wheeler family was known for literary publications: Junius Brutus Wheeler, son of John Wheeler and his third wife, Sarah Clifton, was distinguished in service in the Mexican War. A professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, he published a series of textbooks used in the curriculum there.

And, there is yet another possible manner in which the matter of these walls may speak. Some believe that Hannah Crafts, pseudonym for the author of The Bondwoman’s Narrative, once lived in the Wheeler House when

“

from 1827-1831; first superintendent

In 1970, the house became the property of the Murfreesboro Historical Association, donated by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lee Smith, Jr., of Raleigh, in memory of her father, John M. Camp of Franklin, Virginia.

of the U.S. Mint at Charlotte; North Carolina State Treasurer; and first American minister to Nicaragua) wrote the first history of North Carolina by a native. Historical Sketches of North Carolina was published in 1851. The first printing of 10,000 copies sold out within a year.

His brother, Dr. Samuel Jordan Wheeler,

also

Murfreesboro,

a

however, is a story for another time and another publication.

After John Wheeler’s death in 1832, his son Dr. Samuel Jordan Wheeler came into possession of the house, which may well have also been the dwelling of John Hill Wheeler on his trips back to North Carolina; in 1866, the Samuel Wheeler family left the

scholarly

house, moving to Bertie County. Three

history of Meherrin Baptist Church and founded and edited the Murfreesboro

years later, it was sold.

In

1970,

the

house

became

Citizen. In addition to writing for his

the property of the Murfreesboro

own newspaper, he was a frequent

Historical Association, donated by

contributor to other state and local

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lee Smith, Jr., of

papers.

Raleigh, in memory of her father, John

John Wheeler Moore, son of Julia

M. Camp of Franklin, Virginia.

Wheeler and Godwin Cotton Moore,

Restored and maintained by the

who was instrumental in the founding

MHA (with the financial assistance

of Chowan Baptist Female Institute

of endowments established by Mr.

in 1848 (now Chowan University),

and Mrs. J. Guy Revelle and Wheeler

wrote the first school history of North

descendant James Elliott Moore), it

Carolina; a two volume history of the

hosts between 500-1,000 visitors

State of North Carolina that began

each year, according to Lamar Van

as Sketches of Hertford County,

Brackle, president of the MHA. His

published

Murfreesboro

wife, Frances, is site manager for the

Inquirer; and the novel The Heirs of

building, and they welcome inquiries

St. Kilda. At the time of his death, he

and visitors.

in

the

was working on a history of Baptists in North Carolina; the unpublished and

64

visit his native North Carolina. That,

of

postmaster

wrote

John Hill Wheeler would return to

Sarah Davis is a regular contributor to Eastern North Carolina Living.

Past Storms As a teenager, J e a n n i e MacGregor ran away from her brother’s r e m o t e mountain cabin in Wyoming and went back to live with her aunt in Baltimore.

She needs some sort of social life to meet her future husband. When the first man she finds interesting rejects her, she turns to the next man who shows her attention. Is Linden Olsen everything he seems to be – suave, gallant, wealthy, and from high society? She never imagined that a series of events would leave her reeling and deciding to return to Wyoming.

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Get the book Available on Amazon and other sites, and bookstores can order them for you. or send $9.37 + $.63 tax + $2.99 shipping to Janice hopkins, 127 Jet Drive, oakboro, NC 27967 (Direct orders can be signed when requested, and more goes into the scholarship fund.)

65

&

OUT ABOUT! Out & About is a listing of events happening in and

around the 12 counties which make up the coverage region for Eastern North Carolina Living magazine.

Those wishing to have an event listed should sent it to: Eastern Living, Attn: Out & About, P.O. Box 69,

Windsor, NC 27983. Email events to Thadd White at twhite@ncweeklies.com.

Nov. 16 On The Border- Eagles Tribute ROANOKE RAPIDS – The Roanoke Rapids Theatre will host On The Border- Eagles Tribute with lobby doors opening at 5 p.m., theatre doors opening at 6 p.m., opening act at 7 p.m. and the headliner at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16.

The Roanoke Rapids Theatre is located at 500 Carolina Crossroads Parkway in Roanoke Rapids.

For more information, call 844-7785483 or visit www.rrlive.com.

Intro to Metals COLUMBIA – The Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft will host Intro to Metals from 1 p.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16.

This is a family event and admission is free.

The show will be held at the Pocosin Arts Metal Studio, 201 Main St. in Columbia.

For more information, call 252-7962787, email info@pocosinarts.org or visit www.pocosinarts.org.

Nov. 17 Tar Kilns and Long Leaf Restoration WASHINGTON – Goose Creek State Park will host Tar Kilns and Long Leave Restorations at 2 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 17.

Participants will gather in the visitor’s center to learn about the ecological and economical history of the park, and its impact on long leaf pine trees.

66

Goose Creek State Park is located at 2190 Camp Leach Rd in Washington.

For more information, call 252-9232191.

Nov. 18 Stand Up Comedy WASHINGTON – The Arts of the Pamlico will host a night of stand up comedy Monday, Nov. 18 at the Historic Turnage Theatre.

Admission is $5.

The theatre is located at 150 West Church St. in Washington.

For more information, call 252-9462504.

Center for Performing Arts, 3400 N. Wesleyan Blvd. in Rocky Mount.

Nov. 22-23 Christmas Craft Show BELHAVEN – The 6th annual Christmas Craft Show will be held from 5 p.m.- 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22 and from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23.

The craft show will be held at the Wilkinson Center, 144 East Main St. in Belhaven.

For more information, call 252-9438485 or email sfandrews47@yahoo. com.

Nov. 21 Music Variety Show WASHINGTON – The Beaufort County Traditional Music Association will host a variety show at 7 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 21.

Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

The show will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 W. Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

A Tribute to Elvis LITTLETON – The Lakeland Cultural Arts Center will present Randoll Rivers as ‘A Tribute to Elvis’ at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22 and Saturday, Nov. 23.

Tickets are $20 for nonmembers and $16 for members.

The show will be held at the Mark Taylor Theater, 411 Mosby Ave. in Littleton.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call 252-586-3124 or visit www.lakelandcac.org.

The Musical ‘Elf Jr.’ ROCKY MOUNT – The Dunn Center for the Performing Arts will host the musical, “Elf Jr.” from 7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for children.

The musical will be held at the Dunn

Nov. 22 – 24 “Hansel and Gretel” WASHINGTON – East Carolina University will present “Hansel and Gretel” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22, at 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24 at the Historic Turnage Theatre.

The theatre is located at 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, call 252-9462504.

Nov. 23 Flatty Creek Paddle WASHINGTON – Goose Creek State Park will host Flatty Creek Paddle at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 23.

Participants will meet at Dinah’s Landing for a kayak trip down Flatty Creek with a park ranger.

Goose Creek State Park is located at 2190 Camp Leach Rd. in Washington For more information, call 252-9232191.

Holiday Shopalooza WILSON – Shiloh Pentecostal Holiness Church will host its 3rd annual Holiday Shopalooza from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23.

There will be over 20 local vendors.

Admission is free.

The event will be held at 5843 Shiloh Church Rd. in Wilson.

Nov. 24 An Afternoon with Patsy Cline ROCKY MOUNT – The Dunn Center for the Performing Arts will host ‘An Afternoon with Patsy Cline’ from 3 p.m.- 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24.

Tickets are $25.

The event will be held at the Dunn Center for the Performing Arts, 3400 N. Wesleyan Blvd. in Rocky Mount.

Nov. 23 An Evening with Joe Newberry • 3:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

COLUMBIA - Pocosin Arts hosts an evening with Joe Newberry. Listen to Joe’s dynamic bluegrass melodies while enjoying an evening in the historic Riverview House on the Scuppernong River. An oyster roast, appetizers, steamed shrimp and adult beverages will be provided with $75 ticket price. Visit pocosinarts.org/25years for more information.

The concert will be held at 107 N. Water Street in Columbia.

Nov. 25 Thanksgiving Worship Service MURFREESBORO – Chowan University will host its annual Thanksgiving worship service at 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 25.

The service will be held in Turner Auditorium inside McDowellColumns Hall.

The service is free and open to the public.

Chowan University is located at 1 University Place in Murfreesboro.

Dec. 1 “Rent” WASHINGTON – The Historic Turnage Theatre will present the musical “Rent” at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 1 in observance of World Aids Day. Admission is free, but a $5 donation is recommended.

The event will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Nov. 26 “A Christmas Carol” WASHINGTON - The Arts of the Pamlico will present “A Christmas Carol” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26 at the Historic Turnage Theatre.

Admission is free, but donations will be greatly appreciated.

The theatre is located at 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, call 252-9462504.

Christmas Concert ELIZABETH CITY – The Albemarle Chorale will host its Christmas concert ‘A Glorious Christmas’ at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 1.

The concert will feature sacred music for the Christmas season and new renditions of familiar carols.

Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated.

The concert will be held at First United Methodist Church, 201 South Road St. in Elizabeth City.

Nov. 30 Couples and Singles Dance WASHINGTON – USA Dance Chapter 6046 will host a couples and singles dance from 7 p.m.- 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30.

For more information, call 252-9462504.

Mallard Creek Hike WASHINGTON – Goose Creek State Park will host a ‘hike the Mallard Creek Loop Trail’ at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30.

Hikers will participate in a 1.5-mile hike on the Mallard Creek Loop Trail.

Participants are encouraged to bring water and binoculars, and wear sturdy boots.

Goose Creek State Park is located at 2190 Camp Leach Rd. in Washington.

For more information, call 252-9232191.

Classic Films Showing WASHINGTON – The Arts of the Pamlico will host classic Christmas films from noon- 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3.

Admission is free, but a $5 donation is encouraged.

The event will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Dec. 3 Art Class for Children WINDSOR – The Bertie County Arts Council will host a children’s art class, “Winter Holiday Village Dioramas” from 4 p.m.- 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 3.

Students will use the fork scraping technique on canvas to create Van Gogh’s painting “A Starry Night.”

The class is for ages 6 through 12.

The cost of the class is $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers.

The Bertie County Arts County Gallery is located at 124 South King St. in Windsor.

For more information or to register, call 801-920-3773 or email rsusie@ aol.com.

Dec. 5 Windsor Christmas Parade WINDSOR – The town of Windsor will host its annual Christmas Parade at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5.

The parade will be held downtown Windsor.

Williamston Christmas Parade WILLIAMSTON – The town of Williamston will host its annual Christmas parade at 4 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 5.

The parade will be held downtown Williamston.

Dec. 6 Christmas Concert WASHINGTON – The Beaufort County Choral Society will present a Christmas concert at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6.

Admission is free.

The concert will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Martin County Community Christmas Chorus WILLIAMSTON – The Martin County Community Christmas Chorus show will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for students.

The show will be held at the Martin County Auditorium, 1260 Godwin Ave. in Williamston.

Advance tickets are available at Mast Pharmacy in Williamston and tickets will be sold at the door.

For more information, visit www. matincountyarts.com.

Aulander Christmas Tree Lighting AULANDER- The town of Aulander will host its annual Christmas Tree Lighting from 6:30 p.m.- 8 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 6.

Come join the town of Aulander for fellowship, refreshments, a tree lighting and a mini concert.

The event will be held at the Aulander Community Building.

Holiday Ornament Make-N-Take COLUMBIA – The Pocosin Arts School of Fine Crafts will host a community holiday ornament maken-take on Friday, Dec. 6.

This is a free event.

The event will be held at Pocosin Arts, 201 Main St. in Columbia.

For more information, call 252-7962787.

Dec. 6 & 7 ‘Christmas Belles’ Play LITTLETON – The Lakeland Cultural Arts Center will present the play ‘Christmas Belles’ at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7.

Tickets are $16 for adults and $9 for students.

The play will be held at the Lakeland Cultural Arts Center, 411 Mosby Ave. in Littleton.

For more information or to purchase, 252-586-3124 or visit www. lakelandcac.org.

Candlelight Christmas Tour and Southern Dinner MURFREESBORO – The Murfreesboro Historical Association, Inc. will host its Candlelight Christmas Tour and Southern Dinner from 4 p.m.- 8 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7.

Tickets are $35 for adults, $10 for ages 11 to 16 and children under the age of 10 are free.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call 252-398-5922.

Holiday Artists’ Market COLUMBIA – The Pocosin Arts School of Fine Crafts will host its Pocosin Arts’ Holiday Artists’ Market Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7.

The market will be held at 201 Main St. in Columbia.

For more information, call 252-7962787.

Dec. 7 2019 Swan Days Festival SWAN QUARTER – The 2019 Swan Days Festival will be held from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7.

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OUT OUT OUT ABOUT! ABOUT! ABOUT! The festival will have migratory bird tours, educational programs and craft and food vendors.

The festival will be held at Mattamuskeet School and the Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge.

For more information, visit the Swan Days Facebook page or visit www. swandays.com.

Owl Outing WASHINGTON – Goose Creek State Park will host owl watching at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7.

Participants will learn facts about owls, which are mostly nocturnal animals.

Goose Creek State Park is located at 2190 Camp Leach Rd. in Washington.

For more information, call 252-9232191.

Holiday Homes Tour WASHINGTON – The Arts of the Pamlico will host a holiday homes tour from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7.

This is a self-guided tour through beautifully decorated homes in downtown Washington.

Advance tickets are $22 for adults and $20 for students. Tickets the day of the event are $25, and are cash only.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Holiday Christmas Shop WASHINGTON – The Holiday Christmas Shop will be open from 10 a.m.- 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7.

The shop is located at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Aulander Gymboree Vendor & Craft Show AULANDER – Aulander Ruritan Club will host the Aulander Gymboree Vendor & Craft Show from 10 a.m.4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7.

The show will be held inside the Aulander Gym on Rice Avenue in Aulander.

Jamesville Christmas Parade JAMESVILLE – The town of Jamesville will host its annual Christmas

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parade at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 7.

The parade will be held downtown Jamesville.

Dec. 7 & 8 ‘The Christmas Story’ Drama WILLIAMSTON – ‘The Christmas Story’ drama will be performed at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7 and Sunday, Dec. 8.

Refreshments will follow.

The drama will be held at Macedonia Christian Church Family Life Center, 7640 U.S. 17 South in Williamston.

For more information, call 252-7923540.

Dec. 8 Christmas Open House WINDSOR – Hope Plantation will host Christmas Open House from 1 p.m.- 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8.

The Hope Mansion and King Bazemore House will be decorated with time period decorations.

There will be live holiday music, refreshments, and horse and carriage rides.

Admission is free, but donations will be greatly appreciated.

Hope Plantation is located at 132 Hope House Rd. in Windsor.

For more information, call 252-7943140 or visit www.hopeplantation. org.

Christmas Concert MURFREESBORO – Chowan University will host its annual Christmas concert Sunday, Dec. 8.

The concert will feature a wide range of modern and classic Christmas favorites.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Chowan University is located at 1 University Place in Murfreesboro.

Tarboro Christmas Parade TARBORO – The town of Tarboro will host its annual Christmas parade at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8.

The parade will begin at the 200 block of Main Street and ends at the Tarboro Shopping Center/Hope Lodge Street.

For more information, contact the Tarboro/Edgecombe Chamber of Commerce at 252-823-7241.

Christmas Concert Elizabeth City – The Albemarle

Chorale will host its Christmas concert ‘A Glorious Christmas’ at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8.

The concert will feature sacred music for the Christmas season and new renditions of familiar carols.

Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated.

The concert will be held at First United Methodist Church, 201 South Road St. in Elizabeth City.

Dec. 10 An Evening With Santa WINDSOR – The Bertie County Arts Council will host an ‘Evening with Santa’ from 5:30 p.m.- 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 10.

The event will be held at the Roanoke Cashie River Center, 112 W. Water St. in Windsor.

For more information, contact the Bertie County Arts Council at 252794-9402.

Carriage Rides WINDSOR – The Windsor/Bertie Chamber of Commerce and the Bertie County Arts Council will host horse and carriage rides from 6 p.m.- 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10.

Take a ride on a horse drawn carriage through downtown Windsor to see the Christmas decorations.

The rides will begin at the Bertie Arts Council’s Gallery, 124 S. King St. in Windsor.

For more information, visit www. tarborochamber.com or call 252823-7241.

Dec. 12 Frankie Harrison Bluegrass Band WILLIAMSTON – The Martin County Arts Council will host the Frankie Harrison Bluegrass Band Thursday, Dec. 12.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets will be available at the door.

The concert will be held at the Martin County Arts Council’s Flat Iron Building, 124 Washington St. in Williamston.

For more information, visit www. martincountyarts.com.

Carriage Rides WINDSOR – The Windsor/Bertie Chamber of Commerce and the Bertie County Arts Council will host horse and carriage rides from 6 p.m.- 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12.

Take a ride on a horse drawn carriage through downtown Windsor to see the Christmas decorations.

The rides will begin at the Bertie Arts Council’s Gallery, 124 S. King St. in Windsor.

Dec. 11 Robersonville Christmas Parade ROBERSONVILLE – The town of Robersonville will host its annual Christmas parade at 4 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 11.

The parade will be held downtown Robersonville.

Dec. 13 Christmas Variety Show WASHINGTON – The Art’s of the Pamlico will present a Christmas Variety Show at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13.

Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

The show will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Farm-City Breakfast ROCKY MOUNT – The North Carolina Cooperative Extension of Edgecombe County, the Edgecombe Martin County Electric Membership Cooperation, the Edgecombe County Farm Bureau and the Tarboro Edgecombe Chamber of Commerce will host the 42nd Annual Farm-City Breakfast at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11.

The breakfast will be held at the East Carolina Agriculture and Education Center, 1175 Kingsboro Rd. in Rocky Mount.

Dec. 13 & 14 ‘Christmas Belles’ Play LITTLETON – The Lakeland Cultural Arts Center will present the play ‘Christmas Belles’ at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 13 and Saturday, Dec. 14.

Tickets are $16 for adults and $9 for students.

The play will be held at the Lakeland Cultural Arts Center, 411 Mosby Ave. in Littleton.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call 252-586-3124 or visit www.lakelandcac.org.

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OUT OUT OUT ABOUT! ABOUT! ABOUT! Dec. 14 “The Polar Express” WASHINGTON – The Arts of the Pamlico will host the movie “The Polar Express” at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14.

Activities will include hot chocolate and bells for everyone.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students.

The movies will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Aulander Christmas Parade AULANDER – The Aulander Christmas parade will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14.

Following the parade, light refreshments and Santa will be available at the Aulander Community Building.

Bear Grass Christmas Parade BEAR GRASS – The town of Bear Grass will host its annual Christmas parade at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14.

The parade will be held downtown Bear Grass.

Oak City Christmas Parade OAK CITY – The town of Oak City will host its annual Christmas parade at noon Saturday, Dec. 14.

The parade will be held downtown Oak City.

Until Dec. 14 Members Only Art Show and Sale WILLIAMSTON – The Martin County Arts Council will host a Members Only Art Show and Sale during regular business hours from noon -4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

This show highlights the Martin County Arts Council members.

The show will be held at the Martin County Arts Council’s Flat Iron Building, 124 Washington St. in Williamston.

For more information, visit www. martincountyarts.com.

Dec. 15 ‘Christmas Belles’ Play LITTLETON – The Lakeland Cultural Arts Center will host the play ‘Christmas Belles’ at 2:30 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 15.

Tickets are $16 for adults and $9 for students.

The play will be held at the Lakeland Cultural Arts Center, 411 Mosby Ave. in Littleton.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call 252-586-3124 or visit www.lakelandcac.org.

Welcome to Goose Creek WASHINGTON – Goose Creek State Park will host ‘Welcome to Goose Creek’ at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15.

The presentation will introduce all of the recreational activities throughout the park.

Goose Creek State Park is located at 2190 Camp Leach Rd. in Washington.

For more information, call 252-9232191.

Christmas Concert WASHINGTON – The Beaufort County Community Orchestra will host a Christmas Concert at 3 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 15.

Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

The concert will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Dec. 20 Christmas Concert WASHINGTON – The Arts of the Pamlico will present The Embers featuring Craig Woolard performing a Christmas concert at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $25 for students.

The concert will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Children’s Christmas $5 and Under Shopping Market WILLIAMSTON – The Martin County Arts Council will host a Children’s Christmas $5 and Under Shopping Market from 3:30 p.m.- 6:30 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 20.

Children ages 11 and younger are invited to come shop for family and friends.

An adult must accompany children.

The market will be held at the Martin County Arts Council’s Flat Iron Building, 124 Washington St. in Williamston.

For more information, visit www. martincountyarts.com.

Dec. 21 All About Bears WASHINGTON – Goose Creek State Park will host ‘All About Bears’ at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21.

Participants will learn about the life history of North Carolina’s black bears and examine mounts, skulls and furs.

Goose Creek State Park is located at 2190 Camp Leach Rd. in Washington.

For more information, call 252-9232191.

“The Elf 2” WASHINGTON – The Arts of the Pamlico will present the movie “The

Elf 2” at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students.

The movie will be shown in the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Through Dec. 21 6th Annual Christmas Market WILLIAMSTON – The Martin County Arts Council will host its 6th Annual Christmas Market during regular business hours, noon -4 p.m. on Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. -2 p.m. on Saturdays through Saturday, Dec. 21.

Unique gifts are available from a wide array of handcrafted items created by local artists and craftsmen.

The market will be held at the Martin County Arts Council’s Flat Iron Building, 124 Washington St. in Williamston.

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OUT OUT OUT ABOUT! ABOUT! ABOUT! The Hamilton Christmas parade will be Thursday, Dec. 12.

The class will be held at Pocosin Arts, 201 Main St. in Columbia.

For more information, call 252-7962787.

Jan. 9 Painting Class COLUMBIA - The Pocosin Arts School of Fine Arts will host a painting class from 1 p.m.- 4 p.m. on Thursdays beginning Thursday, Jan. 9 through Thursday, Feb. 6.

The class is for ages 18 and older.

The classes will be held at Pocosin Arts, 201 Main St. in Columbia.

For more information, call 252-7962787.

Dec. 22 Broadway on the Big Screen WASHINGTON – Broadway on the Big Screen will present “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22.

Admission is free, but a donation of $5 is greatly appreciated.

The event will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Dec. 28 ‘Paint in the Park’ WASHINGTON – Goose Creek State Park will host ‘Paint in the Park’ at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 28.

Participants will create nature-based artwork down by the Pamlico River swim beach tables.

Goose Creek State Park is located at 2190 Camp Leach Rd. in Washington.

For more information or to register, call 252-923-2191.

New Year’s Eve Show WASHINGTON – IC Improv will present a New Year’s Eve Show at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 28.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students.

The show will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlicon.org.

Jan. 1 First Day Hike WASHINGTON – Goose Creek State Park will host a First Day Hike at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan 1.

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Start the new year with a hike down the Pamlico River.

Goose Creek State Park is located at 2190 Camp Leach /in Washington.

For more information, call 252-9232191.

Jan. 7 Pottery Class COLUMBIA – The Pocosin Arts School of Fine Art will host a pottery class from 9:30 a.m.- noon and 6:30 p.m.- 9 p.m. on Tuesdays beginning Tuesday, Jan. 7 through Tuesday, Feb. 4.

The classes will be held at the Pocosin Arts, 201 Main St. in Columbia.

For more information, call 252-7962787.

Jan. 7-Feb. 4 Art After School COLUMBIA – The Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft will host Art After School from 3:30 p.m.- 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays from Tuesday, Jan. 7 through Tuesday, Feb. 4.

The classes are for ages 6 through 9 and10 through 18.

The classes will be held at Pocosin Arts, 201 Main St. in Columbia.

For more information, call 252-7962787.

Jan. 8 Metals Class COLUMBIA – The Pocosin Arts School of Fine Arts will host a metals class from 2:30 p.m.- 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.- 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, beginning Wednesday, Jan. 8 through Wednesday, Feb. 5.

The class is for ages 18 and older.

Jan. 9 - March 26 Children’s Creative Movement Dance Class WILLIAMSTON – The Martin County Arts Council will host a children’s creative movement dance class at a time to be announced beginning Thursday, Jan. 9 through Thursday, March 26.

The class is for children 4 through 10.

Children will learn basic dance concepts.

The class is $125 for members and $135 for nonmembers.

The classes will be held at the Martin County Arts Council’s Flat Iron Building, 124 Washington St. in Williamston.

For more information, visit www. martincountyarts.com.

Jan. 6-10 Community Yoga COLUMBIA – The Pocosin Arts School of Fine Art will host free community yoga Monday, Jan. 6 through Friday, Jan. 10.

The class will be held at Pocosin Arts, 201 Main St. in Columbia.

For more information, call 252-7962787.

Jan. 11 Guitar Fest WASHINGTON – The Beaufort County Traditional Music Association will host its annual Guitar Fest from 10 a.m.- 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11 Admission is free.

The fest will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Jan. 11-16 Community Yoga COLUMBIA – The Pocosin Arts School of Art will host free community yoga Saturday, Jan. 11 through Thursday, Jan. 16.

The class will be held at Pocosin Arts, 201 Main St. in Columbia.

For more information, call 252-7962787.

Jan. 12 Holiday Social WILLIAMSTON – Roanoke River Partners will host its annual Holiday Social from 5 p.m.- 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan 12.

Current and Prospective members will get an update on current Roanoke River activities.

The event will be held at the Haughton Hall Bed and Breakfast, 203 N. Haughton St. in Williamston.

For more information, call 252-7920700.

Broadway on the Big Screen WASHINGTON – Broadway on the Big Screen will present “Street Scene” at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 12.

Admission is free, but a $5 donation is greatly appreciated.

The showing will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Jan. 14 & 15 Auditions WASHINGTON – The Arts of the Pamlico Players will host auditions for Neil Simon’s “The Dinner Party” from 6:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14 and Wednesday, Jan 15.

There are six roles for this comedythree male and three female.

Auditions will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. artsofthepamlico.org.

Jan. 16 African American Artist Show and Sale Opening Reception WILLIAMSTON – The Martin County Arts Council will host an opening reception for the African American Artist Show and Sale from 6:30 p.m.- 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16.

Admission is free.

The reception will be held at the Martin County Arts Council’s Flat Iron Building, 124 Washington St. in Williamston.

For more information, visit www.martincountyarts. com.

Jan. 17 Broadway on the Big Screen WASHINGTON – Broadway on the Big Screen will present “Kiss Me Kate” on Friday, Jan. 17.

The showing will be held at the Historic Turnage Theatre, 150 West Main St. in Washington.

For more information, visit www. historicturnagetheatre.org.

Jan. 18 Annual Gala WASHINGTON – The Arts of the Pamlico will host its annual gala Saturday, Jan. 18.

This event will include casino tables, dinner and music.

The event will be held at the Washington Yacht and Country Club.

For more information, visit www.artsofthepamlico. org.

Saturday Crafts COLUMBIA – The Pocosin Arts School of Fine Arts will host ‘Learn How to Make a Clay Whistle’ from 1 p.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18.

This is a free event for all ages.

The class will be held at Pocosin Arts, 201 Main St. in Columbia.

For more information, call 252-796-2787.

NOW OPEN AT OUR NEW LOCATION

Drs. Mills & Matthews Eye Clinic

Jan. 27 Hiking Trip WASHINGTON – A hike through Mallard Creek is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan 27.

Join a ranger for a half-mile hike through the pine woods forest and ending at Mallard Creek.

Participants are encouraged to wear sturdy footwear and bring water.

Participants will meet in the parking lot of the site park, 2190 Camp Leach Rd. in Washington.

Dr. Robert C. Mills, OD Dr. Scott Matthews, OD

316 S. McCaskey Road-Williamston (formerly Dr. Skahill’s office)

252-792-2250

Give us a call for your complete family eye care • Glasses • Contact Lenses • Management and treatment of eye disease The Aulander Christmas Tree Lighting will be Friday, Dec. 6.

HOURS: MONDAY THRU FRIDAY 8AM TO 5PM 71

Plymouth “A Place To Call Home”

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Visit Historic

Plymouth, NC

Photo Courtesy of Washington County TTA

Shop & Dine at the Stores & Restaurants in downtown

Ivy Garden Florist Designs by Donna Full Service Florist Donna Shaw Owner, Designer

105 W. Water Street Downtown Plymouth, NC 27962 (252) 793-5789

Fresh Made Peanut Butter, Homemade Peanut Brittle Snack Nuts and Chocolates, Boiled Peanuts, Fine Gifts Custom Gift Baskets, Gourmet Foods and so much more!

30871 US Hwy 64 E • Jamesville, NC 27846 ph 252.793.2993 • fx 252.791.0065 Toll-free: 888-637-6887 “We Ship for Christmas or Anytime!” Order online!

www.mfpnuts.com

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12 Views From Our

Battle Park

A scenic drive to Battle Park will take you through the area from which Rocky Mount got its name. The park, which offers picnic facilities, scenic overlooks and walks along the Tar River, is the site of the original village of Rocky Mount and its first post office circa 1816.

Photos by Alan Campbell and & Sarah Louya 74

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ALL IN A

Day’s Trip

Bacon’s Castle

The ARTHUR ALLEN HOUSE

Surry, Virginia

Story and Photos by Leslie Beachboard Contributions by Michelle Leicester

F

or those looking for

was occupied as a fort or castle

brick house near the James

retained control of the house

a day trip filled with

by the followers of Nathaniel

River, where he lived with his

for over three months while

history and unique

Bacon during Bacon’s Rebellion

wife, Alice Allen.

their caused declined.

architecture,

Bacon’s

Castle,

also known as the Arthur Allen

Bacon’s Rebellion was an

House, is place to add to the list.

armed rebellion by Virginia

Allen

was

a

wealthy

The death of Bacon in

merchant and a Justice of the

October of the same year left

Peace for Surry County.

his forces under the leadership

Bacon’s Castle, located in

settlers led by Bacon against

When Allen died in 1669 his

of Joseph Ingram, who proved

Surry, Virginia, is known as

the rule of Governor William

son, Authur Allen II inherited

unsuited for the command.

the oldest documented brick

Berkley.

the house and property.

Ingram dispersed the army to

dwelling in the United States.

Built in 1665, Bacon’s Castle is recognized as an extremely rare

example

of

Jacobean

Contrary to popular folklore,

Around

mid-September

Bacon never lived at nor visited

1676, a group of Bacon’s rebel

Bacon Castle.

followers seized the property.

other locations.

By the Civil War, Bacon’s Castle was owned by the

Soon after Surry County was

The home was commanded

formed in the Royal Colony of

at various times by William

James Hankins was a law

The house became known

Virginia in 1652, Arthur Allen

Rookings, Authur Long, Joseph

student at the University of

as Bacon’s Castle because it

built the high-styled Jacobean

Rogers and John Clements,

Virginia at the outbreak of the

architecture of the new world.

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in 1676.

Hankins family.

“

Bacon’s Castle, located in Surry, Virginia, is known as the oldest documented brick dwelling in the United States.

Built in 1665, Bacon’s Castle is recognized as an extremely rare example of Jacobean architecture of the new world.

Civil War. He was a member of

Plantations, Bacon’s Castle faced

the Jefferson Society (a literary

the problems of manpower

society) and was commissioned

due to the emancipation of

June 22, 1861 as first lieutenant

slave and insurmountable debt

of artillery, Fourth Regiment,

following the Civil War.

Virginia Militia.

Later,

he

John Hankins had mortgaged became

the

the property prior to his death

Captain of the Surry Light

in 1870. Unable to raise the

Artillery.

money to pay the mortgage, his

William Underwood killed

daughter-Virginia Hankins-sold

Hankins in a duel at Isle of

the 1,200-acre estate in 1872

Wight Courthouse.

to the mortgage holder to pay

Like

other

James

River

off the debt and provide for her brothers’ and sisters’ education.

Virginia Hawkins moved to Richmond, Virginia to become a teacher.

William

Allen

Warren

purchased the estate in 1880, and sold it to his son Charles Allen Warren in 1909.

When Allen died in 1931, the

estate

passed

through

inheritance to his son, Walker Pegram Warren, who was born in the mansion.

Warren and his wife used Bacon’s Castle as their second home until their deaths in a car accident in 1973.

The Warrens’ had no children, so the mansion, outbuildings

79

ALL IN A

Day’s Trip

and 40 acres of the plantation

Bacon’s Castle now operates

was acquired by the Association

as a house museum and historic

for the Preservation of Virginia

site with 40-acres of outbuildings

Antiquities.

remaining

including barns, slave and tenant

1,130-acres of the plantation

quarters, smokehouses and a

was acquired by Virginia Senator

17-century English formal garden.

Garland Gray and was later

In 2015, the Virginia Outdoors

passed to his son, Elmon T. Gray.

Foundation received a $257,996

It is still devoted to agriculture.

grant from the Virginia Land

After

80

The

the

Preservation

Conservation

Foundation

to

Society acquired the house,

help the group purchase a

it

conservation

underwent

restoration.

easement

on

Preservation activities continue

1,260 acres of privately-owned

while guests visit the site.

farmland surround Bacon’s Castle.

The

easement

ensures

notable architectural features

the land will be permanently

include

protected from residential and

chimneys,

commercial development.

gables and carved compass

Guests may tour Bacon’s

roses

triple-stacked shaped

decorating

Flemish the

cross

Castle from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on

beams in many of the public

Fridays and Saturdays and noon

rooms, along with time-era

– 4 p.m. on Sundays between

correct furnishings and clothing.

March and November.

the tour is preserved writings

an inside look at the rare

on the wall in the children’s

example of American Jacobean

bedroom on the fourth floor

architecture,

and signatures and a love letter

the

only

high-style house from the 17th Century.

including barns, slave and tenant quarters, smokehouses and a

It is only one of three

late

19th

the Century,

17-century English formal garden.

An original one-story service

The downtown area is filled

wing was replaced with a taller

with a variety of antique stores,

to

Greek Revival wing. Around this

a bakery, an ice cream shop and

Bacon’s

time, the entrance was moved

restaurants.

etched in window panes.

Between

a house museum and historic site with 40-acres of outbuildings

One of the highlights of

These guided tours give

and

“

Bacon’s Castle now operates as

mid

A

lunch

or

dinner

surviving Jacobean great houses

Castle

several

from the center of the main

west of the Atlantic Ocean.

modifications, which can still be

block house and diamond-

recommendation

seen today.

pane casement windows were

the iconic Taste of Smithfield

exchanged

Restaurant.

Visitors

will

see

many

underwent

for

double-hung

The

dash windows.

flagship

would

be

restaurant

Moving the door left a

and store of Smithfield Foods

scar in the location of the

features the best hams from

original pediment surround. All

all over the world, over 240

changes were maintained in the

different flavors of peanuts

restoration.

and memorabilia of the historic

Visitors may also self-tour

town.

the grounds, outbuildings and

The menu includes half-

gardens throughout the year.

pound 100 percent Certified

Group tours are available, and

Angus beef burgers, signature

there is a gift shop.

sandwiches,

salads,

homemade

desserts

The house is listed on the National Register of Historic

soups, and

signature cocktails.

Places and was designated a

This trip can be made easily

National Historic Landmark in

in one day and promises to be

1960.

interesting to guests of all ages.

Before or after a trip to

Leslie Beachboard is the News

are

Editor for the Bertie Ledger-

travel

Advance and a Staff Writer for

approximately 10 miles down

the Martin County Enterprise &

the road to historic downtown

Weekly Herald and Eastern North

Smithfield, Virginia.

Carolina Living.

Bacon’s

Castle,

recommended

visitors to

81

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We are proud to wish you a Merry Christmas!

Get into the spirit with Christmas Music November 25th to 29th brought to you by Bertie County Peanuts.

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(252)793-9995 83

6

Qwithuestions

Jada Richardson

1

S econd G rader

What is your favorite part of Christmas?

My favorite part of Christmas is that I get to open gifts with my baby sister, Alivia, my mom and my dad.

2

How do you know Santa Claus is real?

I know Santa is real because of the joy in my heart.

3

How does your family celebrate?

We go to my grandma’s house to eat and play games with my cousins, aunts and uncles.

84

at

W est B ertie E lementary S chool

4

What does Christmas mean to you?

Christmas means a lot to me because I get lots of presents. I get to celebrate for my family and friends.

5

What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

My favorite Christmas tradition is celebrating with my family and friends, and going to my favorite restaurant, Red Lobster.

6

Do you get up early to open presents?

I get up really early. I will hop out of my bed and sneak to open a few presents before my mom and dad get up.

85

Grandma’s

Kitchen Christmas truly is “the most wonderful

ahead of time and put it in the refrigerator

time of the year.” Family get togethers

so it is ready when they arrive. We roll them

with love, laughter and, of course – food.

out and they cut out the cookies in Santas,

Decorations all around the home. Children

snowmen or whatever shape they like.

anxious to open presents.

Once baked, they decorate the way the

What could be better?

mood strikes them. We use the occasion to

My family gathers late in the day on

indulge ourselves as we bake. After all, it is

Christmas Eve so each family has their own

a grandmother’s right to spoil grandchildren

family time together Christmas morning.

(while also ensuring they behave).

Our

big

Thanksgiving.

traditional For

meal

Christmas

is

on

we

do

finger foods, dips and sweets. Everyone contributes to the meals.

On Thanksgiving we gather around the table and give thanks for all our blessings.

On Christmas Eve we fix plates and gather in the living room near the tree.

After food and fellowship, we open presents. I feel certain the grandchildren would prefer to open presents first, but it

My family’s favorite sweet for this time of the year is peanut butter balls closely followed by peanut butter fudge. There’s a joke about nuts in that statement, but I will skip it. You get it anyway, right?

My favorite of all the decorations is the tree. The tree to me represents freshness, a newness of life. That’s what Jesus brought to mankind on the day He entered this earth. The lights that twinkle speak to me

is good to wait because their anticipation

of the light He brought into a dark world.

builds.

I wish everyone could have the joy and

My family loves homemade bread and I make bread loaves for Thanksgiving

peace that knowledge brings.

Whatever

your

traditions

are

and Christmas. Before Christmas the grandchildren and I make sugar cookies

very best Christmas you’ve ever and may

together and each carries some home with

there be peace among men.

them. We make sugar cookies because that’s what all of them like. I make the dough

The recipes are so old I do not remember where I got them. Enjoy!

Sylvia Hughes is a retired newspaper editor and columnist residing in Windsor. In addition to three sons, she has a gaggle of grandchildren, many of whom love cooking with her just as she did with her mother and grandmother.

86

for

Christmas, I wish you and your family the

ookies Buttery SugaCormbC king ine flour, baking soda, ba

2 cups of butter, softened 2 cups sugar 3 large eggs 5 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 6 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS tter and In a large bowl, cream bu . Add eggs sugar until light and fluffy after each ll one at a time, beating we d vanilla. addition. Beat in milk an

add to powder and salt; gradually well. Cover creamed mixture and mix and refrigerate for one hour, roll out On a lightly floured surface, h cookie to ¼ inch thickness. Cut wit on greased cutters. Place 1 inch apart baking sheets.

8-10 Bake at 350 degrees for ed. wn bro minutes or until lightly ar and cool Sprinkle with sparkling sug d then ice on racks, or cool on racks an sugar icing. with colored confectioners s Makes about 11 dozen cookie

Peanut Butter Balls

½ cup butter, softened 2 teaspoons vanilla 1/8 teaspoon salt 2 cups creamy peanut butter 2 cups confectioners sugar 2 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 tablespoons oil ½ bar wax

Stir in 2 cups confectioners sug ar and all but ½ cup graham cracke r crumbs. Add additional ½ cup only if needed to hold firm.

Form into 1-inch balls. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate chips, oil and wax.

With two forks, dip, remove and place on wax paper until chocolate DIRECTIONS is set. Keep in air tight contain er.

Cream butter, vanilla, salt and Ref rigerate if desired. Makes about 6 peanut butter. dozen.

e Peanut Butter Fitucodmges to a full, rolling

heat until boil is when it boil. (Full, rolling down) Boil to soft cannot be stirred 6 minutes) ball stage (about er and vanilla.

Add peanut butt in y. I usually take Beat until cream to beat it because outside if it is cold . it will set up faster . Cut buttered 8X8 dish to in DIRECTIONS ur Po evaporated milk entirely.

Mix sugar, salt, after it has cooled m iu ed m er ov ok and margarine. Co ut butter 1 cup creamy pean 3 cups sugar Dash of salt ed milk 1 ½ cups evaporat ¼ cup margarine 1 teaspoon vanilla

87

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biography •

Story & Photos by Sarah Hodges Stalls

Mitch St. Clair Mov ing Forward Never Stopped Him From Giv ing Back 90

L

ooking back at the life and career of Beaufort County native Mitch St. Clair, one pattern becomes clear. He values the community he has called home all his life.

Born and raised in Chocowinity, St. Clair is a 1968

graduate of Chocowinity High School, where he played football.

He made a trip to Fayetteville State University with his uncle. After a closer look at the cost of college, St. Clair made the decision not to pursue higher education.

"I said I am going back to Little Washington and get me a job," he explained.

Soon St. Clair was employed at National Spinning, then a large employer in the county.

His sister had also returned to their hometown. She was looking for a job and one day her brother, Mitch, drove her to an interview with Winn-Dixie, when the company was preparing to move into Washington.

As he waited in the lobby for his sister, a man came out and asked, "who's next?" motioning to him.

St. Clair told the man, “No, I have a job. I'm waiting for someone.� After being asked repeatedly, St. Clair gave in and went back for an interview.

On the way home, his sister was surprised, to say the least, Mitch had been hired and she had not.

"That ride back to Chocowinity wasn't so good," he recalled.

The unexpected offer from Winn-Dixie led to a 15year career that St. Clair never expected.

After moving his way up the ranks from the beginning role of bag boy to assistant store manager, St. Clair was told the company wanted to move him to Virginia.

"I did not want to go to Virginia," said St. Clair.

91

biography • Having worked hard to take his departments to be recognized by the company, he made a deal to stay and move into the meat department at his store.

Later, an ankle injury would put him on the sidelines. At first, all St. Clair could think was, "Now what am I going to do?"

And with a plan, and the money he had built up in his profit sharing - St. Clair Trucking would be what he was going to do.

"I had always liked trucks and took to driving them pretty well," said St. Clair Trucking's original driver.

That was 1982. St. Clair drove one truck and hired a driver for the other. If one broke down, he worked on them and the other driver kept things moving.

Early on, St. Clair Trucking was able to get in on work on U.S. 264 as a contract hauler.

"That opened a lot of doors for the company," said St. Clair.

Growth led to attaining their own contracts and led to an increase up to 21 trucks.

St. Clair said he has always tried to limit the geographical range the company will work, keeping people closer to home and spending more money at home instead of abroad.

After many years of running hard on the job, St. Clair decided it was time to scale back a bit.

"We merged from trucking more to demolition," he explained.

He believes when people did not see the amount of trucks on the road to which they had become accustomed, some assumed he was done.

"I've cut back tremendously," he said of present day St. Clair Trucking.

"I am 69 years old," St. Clair laughed.

A true believer in giving back to his community, St. Clair has served on numerous boards and for causes close to his heart.

His service includes time with Beaufort County Crimestoppers, the local Boys and Girls Club, WashingtonBeaufort Chamber of Commerce (serving two years as chairman), Beaufort County Health Department Board and the Noon Rotary Club.

Current endeavors include service to the Beaufort County Developmental Center Board, Beaufort County Community College - who nominated St. Clair for the Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award - and Vidant Beaufort Hospital's Advocacy Committee.

Today, St. Clair serves on the North Carolina Outdoor

92

Heritage Advisory Council, which was an appointment by the governor.

His first stop at state level service proved to be a "real adventure."

After being approached multiple times, St. Clair made a requested visit to Raleigh, where he was offered a seat on the state Community College Board. He turned that down since he was already serving at Beaufort Community College and preferred to stay there.

According to the North Carolina Wildlife Commission, St. Clair began his service as a Commissioner on Aug. 24, 2007.

He would serve until June 30, 2013.

St. Clair remembered that first meeting well. "I went to Asheville," he explained.

"I remember standing in that door way thinking ‘what have I gotten myself into’?" he said.

It quickly became apparent, St. Clair was the only person of color in the meeting. A little research revealed, according to St. Clair, he was the first person of color to serve in this position.

"At first I was a bit overwhelmed," he recalled.

This was a leap from the little boy in Chocowinity who would check his father's rabbit boxes for him.

"All I knew was the game warden side of it, and suddenly I am telling them the rules," he laughed.

He quickly took to the role and was welcomed into the fold equally as rapidly.

"At that first meeting, a man came up to me, shook my hand and said ‘come on, you are going fly fishing with me,’"

“

Family and faith are t wo of the passions he shares his t ime with outside of work.

”

explained St. Clair. "From that day forward, I was welcomed and thoroughly enjoyed it."

After much fishing, turkey and bear hunting, he hung up his hunting license.

When there is time for unwinding these days, St. Clair is more likely to be found on his motorcycle, a love he developed as soon as he was old enough to go to work and buy his own machine.

Family and faith are two of the passions he shares his time with outside of work.

A trustee at Mt. Hebron Church, St. Clair may be found in a business meeting or cutting the grass, whichever is needed.

"It has been a blessing to go about this business and my life as I have," said St. Clair. "I am grateful."

Sarah Hodges Stalls is a Staff Writer for Eastern North Carolina Living, the Martin County Enterprise & Weekly Herald and the Bertie Ledger-Advance.

93

Kayak Fishing in the

Albemarle

H

ere in the Albemarle

load up the kayak and go fishing.

region we are surrounded

With today’s technology and anglers

Kayak anglers are known to share

by water with our rivers,

like myself and others pushing for new

information on where and when the fish

creeks, ponds and the sound. We have

ideas, we have brought the industry up

are biting and what they are hitting on. If

more access to fishing than just about any other area in the state.

In our rivers we can catch largemouth

to what is needed for anglers with rod holders, anchors, electronics and new

bass on one cast, then catch a puppy drum on the next. It makes for a great place to fish but a lot of us have no way to fish but from the bank until now.

you don’t want to bass fish there is always crappie, perch and even fishing from the beach for drum and blues. Kayak fishing has some very distinct advantages over

The great thing about kayak fishing is once you have

owning a boat besides the overhead.

You can sneak into shallow water and fish where nobody has, before including

Kayak fishing has exploded over the

made the initial investment,

some of the creeks we have which are

past few years and with a kayak you can

there is almost no overhead

blocked off by low water bridges.

fish almost any body of water we have to choose from.

The great thing about kayak fishing is once you have made the initial investment, there is almost no overhead after that. What that means is there is no gas, oil, tags or insurance. You simply

94

gadgets being invented every day.

Stealth is also key with a kayak

after that. What that means

because it makes very little noise and

is there is no gas, oil, tags

has almost no water line for the fish to

or insurance. You simply load up the kayak and go fishing.

see. I have gone into ponds and literally caught fish right under my boat in less that three feet of crystal clear water.

I have also been in the Chesapeake

Bay and had the striper pin the

me up current almost three miles until I

There are a million different gadgets

menhaden under my kayak with the fish

finally turned her and got her in the boat.

you can put on your kayak to make it

There are a few things to consider

yours, and if you wait another day it will

busting all around the boat.

be a million and one.

It is a totally different way to fish and

before buying your first kayak. There is a

you don’t know how much fun it can be

sit on top (SOT) kayak which is open on

There are also different drive systems

until you try.

top. This type of kayak is what you use

for kayaks, which means some you have

When you fish from a kayak you are

in big water because the water will break

to paddle while others have pedal drive

closer to nature with a quiet approach

over the bow and go out the scupper

systems which push the boat from the

that will bring out the wildlife on the

holes in the bottom.

bottom.

banks and in the water. It is nothing to

The other type is the standard or

Others have electric trolling motors

have deer come to the banks to drink

sit in (SI) kayak. This type has a hole in

attached to them while some have jet

and not even know you are there. All the

the middle that you climb in and sit on

drives.

while the fish are following the bait right

the bottom. You can use this in ponds,

These are all things you have to

up to the kayak and hitting the bait right

creeks and other calm water, but if you

consider before purchasing your first

at the end of the line.

take a wave over the bow, it will sit in

kayak, but rest assured once you get

your kayak till you tip it over and drain

started kayak fishing, you will be hooked

the water out.

just like me.

With the right preparation you can go offshore or in the sound and fish for stripers, blues and Spanish mackerel

Next, you want to look at accessories

all in your kayak. I have caught a striper

which could be rod holders, depth

columnist for The Daily Advance in

over 30 pounds in the Chesapeake Bay

finders, dry bags and tackle storage

Elizabeth City and a new contributor

on light line and bass tackle. It dragged

systems.

to Eastern North Carolina Living.

Mike

Sweeney

is

a

regular

95

MARKER TEXT

Bertie County Marker ID: A-41 Original Date Cast: 1951-P

WILLIAM BLOUNT Member of Continental Congress, signer of the Federal Constitution, governor S.W. Territory, Senator from Tennessee. Birthplace 1/5 mi. S.W.

MARK IT! Title To Begin Here

Rabore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam Information courtesy of the voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources ea rebum.

Stet clita kasd gubergren, no

W

illiam Blount, United States senator and Governor of the Southwest Territory, was born on March 26, 1749 in Bertie County, son

of Jacob and Barbara Blount and brother of John Gray Blount.

As a member of one of the wealthiest, most respected families in North Carolina, Blount received an education at private academies in both North Carolina and Virginia. The family resided at Blount Hall.

During the American Revolution, Blount served briefly as the paymaster of the 3rd North Carolina Continental regiment before resigning in 1778. He served six terms as a state representative and senator, before accepting a position with the Continental Congress, and later served both state conventions concerning adoption of the United States Constitution. Blount also supported the cession of the state’s western lands to the United States government, and became Governor of the “territory of the United States south of the Ohio River.”

From 1790 to 1796, Blount served as Superintendent of Indian Affairs and was instrumental in forging the 1791 Treaty of Holston with the Cherokee. The agreement provided the United States legal right to a large amount of land, some of which whites already had occupied. Blount helped found the state of Tennessee and chaired the convention that drafted the state’s first constitution in 1796. Blount College, the forerunner of the University of Tennessee, was named in his honor.

Upon admission of Tennessee into the Union, Blount was elected to the United States Senate. In 1797 he was found guilty of “a high misdemeanor, entirely inconsistent with his public trust and duty as Senator,” and was expelled from the Senate for having been involved in a scheme to incite the Creek

REFERENCES William H. Masterson, William Blount (1954) Buckner Melton, The First Impeachment: The Constitution’s Framers and the Case of Senator William Blount (1998) William S. Powell, ed., Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, I, 182-183—sketch

by Stanley J. Folmsbee Samuel A. Ashe, ed., Biographical History of North Carolina (1905) Biographical Dictionary of the American Congress (1928) M. J. Wright, Some Account of the Life and Services of William Blount (1884) William Blount Papers, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville

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and Cherokees to aid the British in conquering Spanish-held West Florida. An impeachment trial began in the House of Representatives, but Blount was acquitted before the Senate.

Blount was elected a state senator in Tennessee and chosen as president at its first session in December 1797. The charges were subsequently dismissed.

Blount died in Knoxville, Tennessee on March 21, 1800, and is buried in the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery. He left a widow, Mary Moseley Grainger, and seven children.

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PARTING SHOTS Thadd White on the banks of the Cashie River

The idea for this issue came when I was

What you have read in these pages are our

driving across the J.J. “Monk” Harrington

attempts to tell the stories of the real people

Bridge on N.C. 11 late last year.

whose lives so touched others they have had

I am fortunate enough – and indeed old

places named in their honor.

highway sign despite the tragedy Hurricane Dorian visited upon the island.

Sarah Davis takes us on a trip through history as she gives the background of where

enough – to have known Monk Harrington

When we began, I chose to delay the

when he was still the President Pro-Tempore

story about Monk Harrington (we plan to do

of the N.C. Senate, and in his retirement.

this theme again in a year or so) with one on

One of Gates County’s most renowned

Many times he would come to Pittman’s

Robert B. “Bob” Spivey. Our hope was to get

educators – Mr. T.S. Cooper – has a school

Richfood in Lewiston where I worked as a

it accomplished while he lived, but alas, that

named in his honor. Jim Green was able to

was not to be as he

locate a former student – now aged 90 – to

What you have read in these pages

died in September.

recall the excellent educational leader.

You’ll read a story

There are many more stories within – one

are our attempts to tell the stories

by Leslie Beachboard

in each of our 12 counties, plus a look at the

about Bob’s life and

John Wheeler House in Historic Murfreesboro.

of the real people whose lives so

the many people he

We welcome your feedback on places

touched others they have had

touched and learn

you’d like to know more about when we tackle

at least some of the

this issue next time. Just drop me an email.

places named in their honor.

Margarettsville got its name - Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan.

things, which have

We’ll be back in January 2020 with an

been named, in his

issued titled Heroes Among Us, where we

honor.

look at some of the people doing heroic work

teenager and hang out with my boss – William

Our choice in Martin County never wavered.

Pittman – and a group of older men, all of

I remember Sheriff Jerry Beach as well, though

Until next time, remember… all who

whom have since passed away.

I only met him once or twice in person. Sarah

wander are not lost. Continue joining us

As I remembered that time, it struck

Hodges Stalls does a remarkable job in her

as we meander through Beaufort, Bertie,

me there were many such places in our 12

story about his life – telling about the life he

Edgecombe, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde,

counties – bridges, highways, rooms and even

lived and not just the heroic way he died.

Martin, Nash, Northampton, Tyrrell and

buildings – who were named for people some

Sandy Carawan put together an excellent

in our communities.

Washington counties.

story on Irvin Garrish and the Irvin Garrish

Thadd White is Editor of Eastern North

I shared it with our staff, and we quickly

Highway on Ocracoke Island. And, thanks to

Carolina Living Magazine, the Bertie Ledger-

began the process of rectifying at least a few

Connie Leinbach of the Ocracoke Observer,

Advance and the Martin County Enterprise &

of those.

we have a photo of Mr. Garrish and the

Weekly Herald.

didn’t know.

98

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