Looking to Thee

The Methodist Church was the center of community activity in my grandparents' time. My grandfather, Homer Howard, and my grandmother, Aliph O'Neal Howard, were active members of the congregation. (Click here to read my history of the Ocracoke Methodist Church.)

Grandfather Homer served in the United States Life Saving Service. Returning from beach patrol, he customarily rode his horse down Howard Street. Cousin Blanche remembers listening to him singing as he passed in front of her house. Last month Blanche sang one of the hymns she remembers hearing my grandfather singing (she says he had a beautiful voice). The hymn was "Looking to Thee," written in 1911.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.