Wednesday, November 30, 2016

A Riddle

My friend Al Scarborough stopped by several days ago to pose a riddle for me based on an observation he'd just made.

"Philip," he said, "can you tell me a feature that is built into every modern automobile but is seldom used? However Ocracoke islanders, and even many visitors, use this feature routinely?"

Can you guess the answer to the riddle? If you think you know,  please leave a comment.

If no one solves the riddle by the end of the day I will post a clue in the comments section.

Our current Ocracoke Newsletter is a 1938 article about Capt. Gary Bragg, waterfowl hunting, and wooden decoy carving. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112116.htm

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Sam Jones Story

Visitors to Ocracoke often notice two especially imposing buildings on the island, The Castle Bed & Breakfast, and Berkley Manor Event Venue.

The Castle Bed & Breakfast



Berkley Manor
Brian Carter Photo, Courtesy Ocracoke Observer























These large iconic structures with towers, dormers, and cedar shingles were built by Sam Jones in the 1950s. You can read more about him here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news012111.htm.

Below is a short personal story about Sam written by Julie Howard.

"Stories of Sam Jones have been part of Ocracoke's history for more than half a century.

"The self-made millionaire from Swan Quarter, who began as janitor for a Norfolk VA foundry and eventually owned the entire company, spent much time on the island, his first wife's birthplace.

"So when I moved to Ocracoke in 1972, I heard many stories about Sam Jones-- his foibles and eccentricities, his unpredictability, and his great generosity to the island and its residents, especially to the Methodist church and the local fire department. 

Sam Jones, Photo Courtesy Outer Banks History Center















"Everyone has a favorite, and sometimes personal, Sam Jones tale. Here is mine.

"During the 1970's I served as organist for the Ocracoke United Methodist church. Sam had donated our electronic organ, and he usually attended Sunday services when he was in town. I was accustomed to seeing him, his private pilot, and other guests in the front pews.

"One Thursday night, right in the middle of our weekly choir practice, the back doors of the sanctuary flew open, and in marched Sam and his pilot, each carrying a stack of large boxes. They proceeded down the aisle and handed out the boxes: first to the choir director, then to me, and finally one to each member of the choir. Not much was said, that I recall, but the message was clear:  Thanks for your service to this church.

"When we all recovered from this surprise appearance, we opened our boxes to discover beautiful dresses, apparently individually chosen for us by Sam.  Mine was lovely and silky, navy and white...and it fit perfectly. That amazed me, as I was a rather small person and often bought clothes in the teen department.

"One interesting detail of the gift was that the price tags had been left on the dresses. I don't remember knowing other prices, but my dress had originally been marked $120, then reduced by half for a sale price. Even at $60, the gift of ten dresses to our little church choir made a lasting impression on me. I believe Sam made an impression on everyone with whom he crossed paths."

Our current Ocracoke Newsletter is a 1938 article about Capt. Gary Bragg, waterfowl hunting, and wooden decoy carving. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112116.htm.

Monday, November 28, 2016

Caribsea Wreck

In past posts I have written about the U-Boat attack on the Caribsea, a 251' freighter that was sunk off the Outer Banks on March 11, 1942. Ocracoke native, James Baughm Gaskill, was killed in that attack. 

Today the Caribsea lies in 85 feet of water east of the Cape Lookout Shoals. According to Roderick M. Farb in his book, Shipwrecks, Diving the Graveyard of the Atlantic, "the site of the wreck is 12.5 miles from the Knuckle Buoy on a heading of 31 degrees."

Although much of the ship's hull is gone (the Navy depth-charged the wreck during WWII to prevent German U-Boats from hiding nearby) divers are still rewarded with views of the bow, the forward hold, and her two anchors, as well as a large windlass, and the engine & boilers.

Farb writes that the wreckage harbors sponges, urchins, mollusks, crustaceans, various species of fish, and an occasional shark or manta ray.

Our current Ocracoke Newsletter is a 1938 article about Capt. Gary Bragg, waterfowl hunting, and wooden decoy carving. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112116.htm.  


Friday, November 25, 2016

Rev. Tilley

I found this on the Friends of Portsmouth Island Facebook page: 

"The churches on the island [Portsmouth Island] never had full-time ministers. A pastor came from Ocracoke once a month..... Sending the minister from island to island was not simple as an article from a 1948 issue of the 'Ocracoke Beacon' reveals:



















'The Rev. C.J. Tilley, Minister of the United Methodist Church, Ocracoke, narrowly escaped death by drowning early Wednesday morning when he stepped from the Ocracoke mailboat into the skiff to take him to Portsmouth. According to Roy Eubanks, of Beaufort, who was returning from his hunting lodge on Portsmouth to Beaufort, Mr. Tilley stepped from the mailboat, which was bound for Atlantic into the skiff before the skiff had come to a stop. He stepped on an oar, the end of which flew up and hit Mr. Eubanks on the chin and then he fell into the water which is approximately twenty feet deep at the point where the mailboat leaves mail and passengers for Portsmouth. The minister, wearing heavy clothes went under once, but was fished out the second time he came to the surface and was pulled aboard by hunters on the mailboat. He was then taken on to Portsmouth in the skiff.

'In 1930, Rev. Tilley returned to Portsmouth for a reunion celebration and recalled his first trip to Portsmouth. "I fell overboard on the way over. I tell my Baptist friends it was a complete immersion, Bible and all."'"

(Text from "Portsmouth Island Outer Banks Treasure" by Frances A. Eubanks and Lynn S. Salsi, copyright 2004)

Our current Ocracoke Newsletter is a 1938 article about Capt. Gary Bragg, waterfowl hunting, and wooden decoy carving. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112116.htm

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving!

The entire staff of Village Craftsmen join me in wishing all of our readers a Very Happy Thanksgiving filled with family, friendship, and fine cuisine!











If you are on the island be sure to come out tomorrow night for Ocracoke Alive's annual fundraising concert at the Community Center.

Our current Ocracoke Newsletter is a 1938 article about Capt. Gary Bragg, waterfowl hunting, and wooden decoy carving. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112116.htm

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Nags Head

A persistent legend on the Outer Banks is that the town of Nags Head obtained its name from the activity of "wreckers" (unscrupulous bankers who would lure sailing vessels close to shore by tying lanterns around horses' heads or necks, thus suggesting a safe anchorage; when the ship wrecked it would be plundered).

This is surely an "urban legend." Roger Payne, in his book, Place Names of the Outer Banks, writes, "There is no historical evidence to support this story, and hanging a smoking lantern around a horse's neck is not a task easily accomplished."

On this subject, Wikipedia makes reference to the work of John Viele, retired U. S. Navy officer and author of a history of wrecking in the Florida Keys (The Florida Keys: The Wreckers. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc., 2001). Viele states that the use of "false lights" to lure ships close to shore simply would not work.

According to Wikipedia: "[Viele] points out that mariners interpret a light as indicating land, and so avoid them if they cannot identify them. Moreover, oil lanterns cannot be seen very far over water at night, unless they are large, fitted with mirrors or lenses, and mounted at a great height (i.e., in a lighthouse). In hundreds of admiralty court cases heard in Key West, Florida, no captain of a wrecked ship ever charged that he had been led astray by a false light."

Payne writes that "The most plausible explanation of the origin of the name is that an Englishman who had moved to the Albemarle area of North Carolina purchased a sizeable tract of land in 1832 in this area. Since it reminded him of an area in England named Nags Head he named his purchase Nags Head."

Payne's explanation does seem plausible, but I have been unable to locate any place in England named Nags Head that might remotely resemble the Outer Banks. For example, one Nags Head in England is a 2,224 ft / 678 m mountain peak. Can any of our readers shed any light on this subject?

Our current Ocracoke Newsletter is a 1938 article about Capt. Gary Bragg, waterfowl hunting, and wooden decoy carving. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112116.htm.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Vittoria Energy

On Sunday afternoon I joined my daughter Amy at the Preservation Society Museum to chat with three young men who are on a sailing adventure. Nathan, Bond, and Karl, representatives of Vittoria Energy, a 501(c)(3) organization, are sailing from Washington, DC, to Cuba on a 1985 31' Hunter sloop refitted as a renewable-powered sailing ship.

The Vittoria












According to their web site, "Exploring the world and how we power it, Vittoria Energy Expedition educates travel-inspired audiences about current renewable energy innovations that not only fuel, but empower lives. We work at the intersection of technology, business, and policy, to inform the public discussion around energy decisions at home and in our communities."

The Vittoria is, of course, a sailboat, so wind is their primary source of energy. However, they have removed the vessel's auxiliary diesel engine and replaced it with a 25 HP electric motor.


















The motor and other electric devices on board are powered by five solar panels and eight 260 Ah batteries operating in a 48 volt system.























Nathan, Bond, Karl, and other members of their organization had some previous sailing experience, but they had little technical knowledge in electronics. They had to learn from experience.












The Vittoria will be leaving Ocracoke as soon as they have fair winds. We wish them well on their journey to Cuba...and on their journey to promote clean, renewable energy for our communities.

For more information, please visit their web site: vittoriaenergy.org

Our current Ocracoke Newsletter is a 1938 article about Capt. Gary Bragg, waterfowl hunting, and wooden decoy carving. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112116.htm.

Monday, November 21, 2016

November Newsletter

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a reprint of a 1938 article about coastal waterfowl hunting and carving wooden decoys. The article features Ocracoke native Gary Bragg (1881-1954), one of the island's best known hunting guides.


















You can read the Newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112116.htm.

Friday, November 18, 2016

Live Oaking

Some years ago cousin Blanche told me that eighteenth and nineteenth century ship builders sometimes came to Ocracoke offering considerable sums of money to buy live oaks. As John Bartram, Botanist to His Majesty for the Floridas, wrote in 1766, "The live oak (so called from being an evergreen) is tougher, and of a better grain than the English oak, and is highly esteemed for shipbuilding."

  
















In her excellent book, Live Oaking, Southern Timber for Tall Ships, Virginia Steele Wood writes, "Precisely when live oak was first used in constructing sailing vessels along the American coast is unknown, but eventually it became so important for the building of tall ships that expeditions sailed southward for the sole purpose of cutting and carrying off the timber to northern shipyards; it fulfilled their requirements for a variety of shapes and permitted them to avoid the weakening effect of crossgrain cuts. With its great tensile strength and resistance to rot, even when exposed to constant wetting and drying, it was ideally durable for wooden ships."

Ocracoke has had the good fortune of not having all of its live oaks cut down for ship building. At least six large trees (three on Howard Street, two at Springer's Point, and one at Old Hammock) are large enough (eight feet in girth) to be members of the Live Oak Society. Click here to view the registry that includes the Ocracoke trees. 

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm.   

Thursday, November 17, 2016

OPS Awards

A large crowd gathered at the Community Center Tuesday evening for Ocracoke Preservation Society's Fall Membership meeting. After enjoying delicious potluck dishes, a brief business meeting was held and two annual presentations were awarded. 

Members enjoying their meals











In one of the first orders of business President Toth acknowledged the outstanding work done by Amy Howard, OPS's Administrator. Amy will be leaving this position at the end of the year to begin managing the Village Craftsmen (more about this in a future post). 

Ruth & Amy
 

















Will Purvis and Jamie McGaskill of Wilmington, NC, were presented with the 2016 Save an Old House Award for preserving and maintaining the Emma and Simon O'Neal house on Lighthouse Road. Built circa 1900, this house is a contributing structure in the Ocracoke Historic District. It is a typical “story and a jump” house with turned porch posts, original exterior corbelled chimney, and two-over-two sashes.

O'Neal House, 2009














The award recognized Purvis's and McGaskill's efforts to rehabilitate the house and save the architectural features that allowed it to be originally identified for placement in the Historic District. This project joins several others as a model for ongoing preservation efforts.  

O'Neal House, 2015


 











Next, President Ruth Toth presented the annual Cultural Heritage Award to island native Martin Garrish for his role in preserving Ocracoke's vibrant music tradition.

Ruth & Martin


















Martin was born on the island in 1951 and has been a driving force in Ocracoke's music scene since he was a teenager. He is a master of many different genres including acoustic, electric, country, rock, folk, and jazz. I chatted with him during dinner, and he amazed me with the depth and breadth of his knowledge of music. He has been described as having an encyclopedic grasp of mid to late 20th century music, but Martin assured me his expertise doesn't go much beyond 1985! He pointed out that he was never much interested in fishing, hunting, or boats, but music fascinated him from the time he was four years old. 

Martin, congratulated by Tom Pahl











Martin has played with various local groups -- the Cousins, the Rockers, the Graveyard Band, and Martin & Friends. In presenting his award, John Golden called Martin the Doc Watson of the Outer Banks. Martin seldom leaves the island so he has not achieved national or even much regional fame, but those who hear him play on the island know he is one of music's greats. Be sure to look for Martin's gigs and CDs whenever you are on the island. 

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Dare Wright

Dare Wright (1914 – 2001) was a children's author, model and photographer. She was born in Canada, but spent most of her childhood in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1957 her first children's book, The Lonely Doll, was published. It became an immediate success, making "The New York Times Best Seller" list for children's books.

Wright's second book, Holiday for Edith and the Bears, was published in 1958. 












Holiday for Edith and the Bears tells the charming story of Edith and the bears "on a holiday on a sea island. There were so many wonderful things to do and see." All of the photographs were made on Dare Wright's beloved Ocracoke Island.












Dare Wright had 17 additional children's books published between 1959 and 1981. Ten of her children's books, including The Lonely Doll and Holiday for Edith and the Bears, are still in print. Her only book for adults, Ocracoke in the Fifties, was published posthumously.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm.  

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

1000 Floors

Sunday, as I climbed the ramp after my daily walk on the beach, I stopped to chat with one of my neighbors. She shared the following story about her experience on the beach recently.

The weather on the island these past few weeks has been spectacular...pleasant temperatures, bright skies, and warm ocean water...and hardly anyone else on the beach once you get some distance from the walk-over ramps. There was no one as far as she could see, so the neighbor decided to strip down, lay her watch, wallet, glasses, Fitbit wristband, and mobile phone on her clothes, and jump into the ocean.

After a refreshing swim she stepped out of the water to retrieve her clothes. She was surprised to discover that her $150.00 Fitbit was missing. She was convinced that one of the many fiddler crabs had snatched it and carried it into its burrow. But after fruitlessly digging around in the sand for more than 30 minutes she finally resigned herself to not being able to retrieve her expensive wristband.   

Two days later she received a message on her computer from Fitbit. The device's transmitted information confirmed extraordinary achievement in a short amount of time. She was congratulated on earning a Skydiver Badge.  "By climbing 1000 floors, you're as high as you'd be if you were skydiving," the message enthused.

Of course....the Fitbit thief was a seagull, not a fiddler crab!

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Latino Festival

This weekend's Latino de Ocracoke Festival was a runaway success. A large crowd turned out to enjoy colorful costumes, savor delicious food, listen to lively music, purchase traditional crafts, learn how to prepare tortillas and guacamole, and to mingle with friends and neighbors.

Below are a few photos I toke on Saturday.

















Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm.   

Friday, November 11, 2016

Ocracoke in Fall

On November 11, 2005, an article titled "Ocracoke in Fall: Gloriously Empty" by Cincy Price was published in the New York Times. Price concludes her article with these two paragraphs:

"After brunch, I follow Michael Schramel to Philip Howard's housewarming party. Philip, a local storyteller and owner of the Village Craftsmen, has just restored a mid-19th-century family house on Lawton Lane. The Howard family is one of the main families on the island, along with the O'Neals, the Williamses and the Jacksons, names I'd noticed at the cemetery the day before. In 1759, William Howard was the first European to live on Ocracoke, and it is rumored that Blackbeard's quartermaster might have been a Howard. Before I leave, I am introduced to little Lachlan Howard, the first boy of the 10th generation.

"If, as they say, a place is less about location and more about the people that inhabit it, then Ocracoke is lucky. These are legacies that won't be swept away as easily as material possessions."

You can read the entire article here.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Election Results...Corrected Version

I haven't been able to locate official Hyde County election results just for Ocracoke precinct, but I did get the following island numbers from the Ocracoke Current:

President: Hillary Clinton, 318; Donald Trump, 158 (see comments for explanation of correction)
US Senate: Deborah Ross, 320; Richard Burr, 159
NC Governor: Roy Cooper 373, Pat McCrory 123
US Representative (3rd District): Walter Jones beat Ernest Reeves, but I don't have the figures.

More Hyde County 2016 election results are available here: http://er.ncsbe.gov/?election_dt=11/08/2016&county_id=48&office=ALL&contest=0.

Voting is a right and a privilege we exercise as citizens of a free and democratic society. 

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm.  

Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Light Keeper Salary, 1881

The following table of Light Keepers' salaries was copied from the Light House Board's July, 1881, "Instructions to Light-Keepers." The annual salary was $1,000, or approximately $2.78 per day.


















To view a larger, better quality image in Internet Explorer do a right click on the image, then "Open Link in New Tab," then left click on that image to enlarge.

In Firefox, do a left click on the image, then a right click to "View Image." Then a left click on photo to enlarge.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm

Tuesday, November 08, 2016

Lighthouse Keeper's Duties

The following excerpt is taken from "Instructions to Light-Keepers," from the Lighthouse Board, July 1881. There are 94 "General Instructions to All Light-Keepers," as well as instructions to keepers of light ships; instructions for management of fog-signals, sirens, steam-whistles, and fog-bells; regulations for painting the tower, purifying water, managing provisions, and establishing salaries...more than 200 instructions in all.

Below is Instruction Number 16:


"Keepers must be courteous and polite to all visitors who conform to the regulations, and show them everything of interest about the station at such times as it 
will not interfere with their light-house duties. Keepers must not allow visitors to 
handle the apparatus or deface lighthouse property. Special care must be taken to 
prevent the scratching of names or initials on the glass of the lanterns or on the windows of the towers. No visitor should be admitted to the tower unless attended by a 
keeper."

Photo by Eakin Howard



















After Ocracoke lighthouse was electrified and automated keepers were no longer required. However, the National Park Service still sometimes opens the lighthouse during summer months so visitors can step inside. The spiral stairs are not open to the general public, and climbing  the lighthouse is not allowed. More information, including photos of the inside of Ocracoke Lighthouse, can be viewed here: https://www.ocracokenavigator.com/ocracoke-lighthouse.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm.

Monday, November 07, 2016

Latino de Ocracoke

Saturday, November 12, Ocracoke will host the first annual Festival Latino de Ocracoke. Events will take place at Ocracoke School from 11 AM to 9 PM, followed by a dance at the Ocracoke Community Center from 9 PM to midnight. (Click here for a detailed program in both Spanish and English)



The Festival Latino de Ocracoke will be a day to honor vibrant Hispanic traditions, and a day to celebrate the unity of all who are part of this great community. Through delicious authentic food, traditional dances and music, exciting games, crafts, and fun for all ages, organizers hope this festival will bring the community together to experience and enjoy the friendship of our cultures.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm.   

Friday, November 04, 2016

Cape Hatteras Naional Seashore

The following paragraph is excerpted from an article, "Ocracoke," by Jay F. Dugan, originally published in Ford Times, October, 1950.

"There are twenty-eight national parks in the U. S. with some eleven million acres but the nation does not own a single foot of ocean-front beach. In order that people will always be able to walk on a sandy ocean beach, climb windblown dunes and bathe in the surf without trespassing on private property, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Park may be established. The Government is now buying what land along the Banks south from Manteo it can get. Bankers (those who live on the Banks) are not sure they want a National Park on their islands but they are coming to realize that the alternative is to have it turned into a Coney Island sort of thing by private investors. Government men are doing an educational job among the Bankers and report that the Park is a growing possibility."

Ocracoke Beach, October, 2016












Although legislation for the establishment of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore was passed by Congress on August 11, 1937, World War II intervened. The park was officially dedicated on April 24, 1958.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm

Thursday, November 03, 2016

Sound, Bay, Esturary, Lagoon

Visitors to Ocracoke sometimes refer to Pamlico Sound as "the bay."  This got me to wondering about the difference between a sound and a bay...and also what constituted an estuary and a lagoon. So I looked up the definitions at dictionary.com. This is what I discovered:

  • Sound: 1. a relatively narrow passage of water between larger bodies of water or between the mainland and an island, 2. an inlet, arm, or recessed portion of the sea.
  • Bay: a body of water forming an indentation of the shoreline, larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf.
  • Estuary: 1. that part of the mouth or lower course of a river in which the river's current meets the sea's tide, 2. an arm or inlet of the sea at the lower end of a river.
  • Lagoon:  an area of shallow water separated from the sea by low sandy dunes.

I wondered if maybe Bay, Estuary, or Lagoon would be a more accurate descriptor of the Pamlico Sound. Here are my musings:

  • Is Pamlico Sound really a "narrow passage" between the mainland and the Outer Banks? It seems pretty wide to me...almost 3 hours to cross it by ferry.
  • Does Pamlico Sound form much of an "indentation" in the shoreline? How "indented" must it be to be called a bay?
  • To what extent do the Neuse and Pamlico rivers  "meet the sea's tide?" The rivers and the Atlantic are about 25 miles distant.
  • Is Pamlico Sound an area of "shallow water" separated from the Atlantic by low sandy dunes? Although relatively shallow, it is more than 20 feet deep in places.

So my question to our readers is, Which of these do you think is the most accurate name for the body of water between Ocracoke Island and the mainland:

Pamlico Sound,
Pamlico Bay,
Pamlico Estuary, or
Pamlico Lagoon?

Leave a comment to cast your ballot.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm.

Wednesday, November 02, 2016

Gaskill

In the past I have commented on several island family names, including the Gaskills and how there has been some confusion about a possible connection with the Gaskins family. Occasionally the two names have been interchanged, or thought to be variations of the same name. Several weeks ago I was visiting with Euphemia Gaskins Ennis who assured me that Gaskins and Gaskills are two distinct Ocracoke families.

Gaskins is a corruption of Gascone, the surname of a French family who made their way to North Carolina by way of Ireland.

Gaskill, on the other hand, is an English name derived from the location of this family in the late Middle Ages, in Gatesgill, a hamlet in Dalston Parrish within the city of Carlisle in Cumbria County on the northwest coast of England.

Gatesgill, recorded as Geytescales in 1273, derives from the Old Norse words "geit" (goat) + "skali" (shelter), meaning "shelter for goats." Modern variations include Gaitskell, Gaitskill, Gaskill, Gaskell and Gaskall. Read more at the Internet Surname Database.

Ellen Marie Fulcher Cloud and Earl O'Neal have researched Ocracoke Island families extensively. I rely on their research for the following information about the Gaskills.

William Gaskill (b. before 1737 - d. 1768) was a whaler and fisherman, and Justice of the Peace in Carteret County in 1749/1750. He and his wife, Ann Jarret, had ten children. At least two of their children settled on Ocracoke. Thomas Christopher Gaskill (b. ca. 1752 d. ca. 1828) arrived on Ocracoke Island before 1800. His brother, Benjamin Gaskill (d. 1787), married Jane Williams Wahab, daughter of John Williams of Ocracoke (and widow of Job Wahab).

A number of Gaskills continue to live on the island today. As Ellen Marie writes, "what a fine group of people they are."

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm.  

Tuesday, November 01, 2016

Light Vessels

A couple of months ago I wrote about the Diamond Shoals Light Vessel (LV-71).

USCG Photo













In 1891 Gustav Kobbe wrote an article for Century Magazine, titled "Life on the South Shoal Lightship." The South Shoals vessel (No. 1) was positioned 24 miles off Sankaty Head, Nantucket Island.

Kobbe wrote movingly of life aboard a lightship, a vessel "as much at the mercy of the waves as a vessel stripped of sails or deprived of motive power in mid-ocean. Even in smooth weather the motion is entirely different from that of a ship under way. For a few minutes she will lie on an even keel, and then without warning she will roll so that the water streams in through her scuppers."

Kobbe explains that "the emotional stress under which [the] crew labors can hardly be realized by any one who has not been through a similar experience. The sailor on an ordinary ship has at least the inspiration of knowing that he is bound for somewhere; that in due time his vessel will be laid on her homeward course; that storm and fog are but incidents of the voyage: he is on a ship that leaps forward full of life and energy with every lash of the tempest. But no matter how the lightship may plunge and roll, no matter  how strong the favoring gales may be, she is still anchored [on the shoal]...."

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about earthquakes that have affected Ocracoke and the Outer Banks. You can read the newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092116.htm