Augustus Abner McQuire

Ocracoke's earliest settlers were pilots, men who guided sailing vessels through Ocracoke Inlet and across the shallow Pamlico Sound. By the nineteenth century most island men were seafaring, and worked on coastal schooners and other boats up and down the east coast.

An Irish-American sailor & diver by the name of Augustus Abner McQuire also served on sailing vessels. He died at sea, and was buried far from home, on Ocracoke Island. McQuire is standing on the left in the photo below (click to view a larger image).



Ocracoke Preservation Society recently had a monument erected where McQuire is buried, near the British Cemetery. Walk warily by his grave after dark. For many years islanders have reported seeing the ghost of "old diver" wandering about in that vicinity.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a list of traditional island remedies. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news032111.htm.