1837 Shipwreck and Robbery

The following letter was written by John Pike, Esq., of Ocracoke, N.C., to James Bergen, Esq., of  New York City – Published in the N.Y. Express

 

Ocracoke, Nov. 2, 1837

To the Public: -- A statement has been published throughout the United States, from a New York paper, purporting to describe circumstances relating to the wreck of the Home. The libelous slanders it contains have aroused the indignation of every person here, for there never was a more gross and wanton calumny propagated, or a greater imposition practiced upon the public, already extremely excited as to every thing relating to this unfortunate vessel. I became acquainted with Hiram Force at the wreck. His supporters I do not know, but if respectable men they are imposed upon by Force; or if they undertake by their own knowledge to endorse Mr. F’s narration, they are as unworthy of respect as he is, and have perhaps joined him in his frauds. Mr. Force was introduced to my acquaintance on the day after the wreck, under two charges, viz., -- First, for stealing a gold watch and chain from the dead body of the lady of Mr. B.B. Hussey of Charleston, S. C. The second charge was, for claiming and breaking open the trunk of a missing passenger, Mr. L. S. Benedict, and stealing therefrom part of its contents, and destroying papers to cover his villainy. He presented himself to be a gentleman passenger. The fact of stealing the watch from the body was not clearly proved; but one was seen upon the body before he approached it, and immediately after he was seen to have a gold watch, and that on the body was missing. The charge of stealing the clothes and destroying the papers was clearly proved. He could offer no defense, but stated that he was occasionally insane from once having fallen from a cherry tree, and he thought he must have been insane when he committed the larceny. Perhaps his newspaper narration was made under the same influence. At the time of his examination he was completely dressed, with the exception of a hat, in a very fashionable suit of the clothes he had stolen from the trunk, and it came out that Mr. Hiram Force was the barber of the Steamboat Home. His guilt and impostures were so glaringly apparent, that nothing but the multiplicity of business pressing at the moment, and the fact that the nearest gaol was sixty miles from the beach, saved him from a residence in the North Carolina States Prison. Some of the humane persons on the beach urged in his behalf, the miserable condition of the culprit arising from the ship wreck, and induced the magistrate to grant his release upon his giving up all the stolen property and leaving the place forthwith which he consented to do: but whether he gave up- all, is and will be a secret; but this extraordinary gentleman, culprit, barber, quickly decamped for your city to revenge himself.

John Pike

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a chapter from Philip Howard's book, Digging up Uncle Evans, about the 1837 wreck of the Steamboat Home, one of the most horrific wrecks ever on the North Carolina coast. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-1837-wreck-of-the-steamboat-home/.

1837 Controversies

On November 7 of this year I wrote about Ocracoke Island resident John Pike (he is listed in the federal census in 1830, 1840, and 1850). Although a prominent citizen during his residency on the island, he seems to have been involved in several controversies. In 1837 Pike was the Notary at the Port of Ocracoke, Justice of the Peace and Wreck Master.

On March 1, 1837, Ocracoke's former Justice of the Peace, and upstanding citizen, Jacob Gaskill, was involved in an argument with his neighbor and first cousin, Willis Williams. In the ensuing altercation Jacob Gaskill shot and killed Willis Williams. It was Ocracoke's first murder. In the spring of 1837, in Hyde County, Jacob Gaskill was tried and convicted of “felonious slaying.” He was not found guilty of murder. Nevertheless, as punishment he was branded on the palm of his hand with the letter “M”. He was never sent to prison. (See https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/murder-on-ocracoke/ for more information.)

Just months later, in October, the steamboat Home wrecked on Ocracoke during "Racer's Storm" (see......). William Howard appears to have been the acting Wreck Master at that time. In a dispute with John Pike over their respective actions during rescue and salvage operations William Howard accused John Pike, “through his influence and money” of rescuing “a murderer from the gallows merely for the sake of gain.” Presumably this refers to John Pike’s involvement in the murder trial of Jacob Gaskill.

At the same time John Pike petitioned the court to have William Howard release money and personal articles found on the body of James M. Rolls who lost his life when the Home wrecked. Howard buried Rolls' body, then claimed the money and personal belongings that were recovered from Rolls' trunk as payment for "washing, dressing and giving him a decent burial."

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a chapter from Philip Howard's book, Digging up Uncle Evans, about the 1837 wreck of the Steamboat Home, one of the most horrific wrecks ever on the North Carolina coast. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-1837-wreck-of-the-steamboat-home/.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

At 210 feet tall, the distinctive "candy striped" black and white lighthouse at Cape Hatteras is among the tallest beacons in the United States. It was the second light tower to guard the dreaded shoals at Cape Hatteras, and was built and lit in 1870.

The present lighthouse replaced the original lighthouse at Hatteras which was first lit in 1803.

1803 Cape Hatteras Light

Capt. David D. Porter described the original beacon in an 1851 letter to the Lighthouse Board:

"Hatteras light, the most important on our coast is, without doubt, the worst light in the world. Cape Hatteras is the point made by all vessels going to the south, and also coming from that direction; the current of the Gulf Stream runs so close to the outer point of the shoals that vessels double as close round the breakers as possible, to avoid its influence. The only guide they have is the light, to tell them when up with the shoals; but I have always had so little confidence in it, that I have been guided by the lead, without the use of which, in fact, no vessel should pass Hatteras. The first nine trips I made I never saw Hatteras light at all, though frequently passing in sight of the breakers, and when I did see it, I could not tell it from a steamer's light, excepting that the steamer's lights are much brighter. It has improved much latterly, but is still a wretched light. It is all important that Hatteras should be provided with a revolving light of great intensity, and that the light be raised 15 feet (4.6 m) higher than at present. Twenty-four steamship's lights, of great brilliancy, pass this point in one month, nearly at the rate of one every night (they all pass at night) and it can be seen how easily a vessel may be deceived by taking a steamer's light for a light on shore."

Sixty feet was added to the original lighthouse in 1853.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a chapter from Philip Howard's book, Digging up Uncle Evans, about the 1837 wreck of the Steamboat Home, one of the most horrific wrecks ever on the North Carolina coast. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-1837-wreck-of-the-steamboat-home/.

Edward Farrow

Edward Farrow (1839 - 1878) was the son of Wilson Tilmon Farrow, Sr. (1798-1880), Ocracoke resident and member of the state legislature. Ed Farrow married Lucretia Credle Wahab (1848 - 1930). Their home was located where Berkley Manor is today. Sam Jones, owner of Berkley Machine Works in Norfolk, Virginia, bought the house more than a half century ago, and built the newer part around the old house. Edward Farrow is buried in the front yard.

Edward Farrow's epitaph reads simply, "Farewell, Ed."

Among Ed and Lucretia Farrow’s children, one son married and moved to Pennsylvania, a daughter married Ocracoke’s Methodist preacher, Rev. West, and moved to Norfolk, Virginia, and another daughter married a lawyer from New Bern, North Carolina. After Ed Farrow died his widow moved to mainland Hyde County where she met a traveling salesman, Michael Lawrence Piland (1861-1920). They moved to Ocracoke where Mr. Piland ran a store and ice cream parlor, served as choir master in the Methodist Church, founded Ocracoke's Odd Fellow's Lodge, and was appointed post master. (Read more about Michael Lawrence Piland here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/island-inn-lodge-no-194-independent-order-odd-fellows/.)

Lucretia Credle Wahab Farrow Piland moved to Washington, North Carolina, where she is buried.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a chapter from Philip Howard's book, Digging up Uncle Evans, about the 1837 wreck of the Steamboat Home, one of the most horrific wrecks ever on the North Carolina coast. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-1837-wreck-of-the-steamboat-home/.

Hurricane Season

The official Hurricane Season begins on June 1, and ended this past Friday, November 30. The peak of the season is mid-August to late October. Some of the most devastating storms to strike the Outer Banks were the San Cirioca Storm in 1899, the unnamed 1933 hurricane, and the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944. Recent hurricanes that brought strong winds and tidal flooding to Ocracoke were Hurricane Alex in 2004 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

Tide Markers at Village Craftsmen

Although hurricanes Florence and Michael threatened Ocracoke Island in 2018, little damage occurred, and there was only insignificant tidal flooding.

I recently wondered what other major hurricanes have struck Ocracoke, and learned about the "1775 Independence Hurricane." This is what I read on Wikipedia:

"On August 27, 1775, a hurricane hit the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It turned northeastward and left the state on September 2, bringing heavy wind and rain to southeastern Virginia. A letter from New Bern, North Carolina, recounted, 'We had a violent hurricane...which has done a vast deal of damage here, at the Bar, and at Matamuskeet, near 150 lives being lost at the Bar, and 15 in one neighborhood at Matamuskeet.'

"The September 9, 1775, edition of The Virginia Gazette reported: 'The shocking accounts of damage done by the rains last week are numerous: Most of the mill-dams are broke, the corn laid almost level with the ground, and fodder destroyed; many ships and other vessels drove ashore and damaged, at Norfolk, Hampton, and York. In the heavy storm of wind and rain, which came on last Saturday, and continued most part of the night, the Mercury man of war was drove from her station abreast of the town of Norfolk, and stuck flat aground in shoal water.'"

Apparently Ocracoke, with fewer than 150 residents, was too remote to make the news. I wonder how much damage the Independence Hurricane did. We may never know, but we do know the community survived and flourished.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a chapter from Philip Howard's book, Digging up Uncle Evans, about the 1837 wreck of the Steamboat Home, one of the most horrific wrecks ever on the North Carolina coast. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-1837-wreck-of-the-steamboat-home/.

Nags Head, 1849

In 2014 I wrote a Newsletter about Steamships and Ocracoke. Because steamships facilitated travel to the Outer Banks, Nags Head began to develop as a resort area in the nineteenth century. By 1885 a significant number of well-heeled North Carolinians had discovered Ocracoke Island. However, by then Nags Head had been a favorite resort area for half a century.

David Stick has compiled several historical accounts of life on the coast of North Carolina in his 1998 book, An Outer Banks Reader. He includes excerpts from an 1849 diary recounting a tutor's time in Nags Head. The tutor, George Higby Throop, writes that "planters, merchants, and professional men" and their families make up the majority of visitors to Nags Head. Unmarried men take up residence in a large hotel. Families spend the summer in "snug cottages" outfitted with the "more common articles of household furniture" as well as "one or more horses, a cow, and such vehicles as are fitted for use on sandy roads; a buggy sometimes, but oftener a cart.... One, two, three, sometimes half a dozen servants accompany the family."

Nags Head's "Unpainted Aristocracy"

After reading that account no one has reason to cast a critical eye toward present-day visitors who arrive on the Outer Banks with trailers loaded with kayaks, bicycles, lawn chairs, and coolers of beer. I have yet to see anyone bringing a horse or a cow!

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a chapter from Philip Howard's book, Digging up Uncle Evans, about the 1837 wreck of the Steamboat Home, one of the most horrific wrecks ever on the North Carolina coast. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-1837-wreck-of-the-steamboat-home/.

Snow Ice Cream

It doesn't snow very often on Ocracoke, but when it does, it creates great excitement, especially for the children.

Ocracoke Lighthouse in Snow, 2015

My father was born on the island in 1911. He liked to tell me how his mother would make "snow cream." Below is the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 can of condensed milk
• pinch of salt
• 4 tblsp sugar
• can of crushed pineapple or can or chopped peaches, drained
• large bowl of snow

Separate eggs. Beat egg whites until they stand in peaks. Add sugar gradually. Beat egg yolks until light. Add salt, milk, fruit, then fold in egg whites. Add snow last. Serve immediately.  

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a chapter from Philip Howard's book, Digging up Uncle Evans, about the 1837 wreck of the Steamboat Home, one of the most horrific wrecks ever on the North Carolina coast. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-1837-wreck-of-the-steamboat-home/.

Okok

Charles II (1630-1685), who, after the end of the Protectorate, was restored as King of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1660, granted a charter for Carolina to eight Lords Proprietors in 1663. The charter included all of the land between Virginia and Florida, and extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.  

In 1672 John Olgiby (1600-1676) created the "First Lords Proprietor' Map" of the Carolina territory (from Virginia to Florida; and from the Atlantic to the Appalachians).

Olgilby Map, 1672

 













The detail above shows the Outer Banks (the map is oriented with North to the right). At the bottom is Cape Hatteras. About midway on the left side of the map one island is identified as Okok. This is Ocracoke. Interestingly, it is still common today, almost 350 years later, to hear native Ocracokers refer to their island as Okok (pronounced Ocock), and themselves as Okokers (Ocockers).

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a chapter from Philip Howard's book, Digging up Uncle Evans, about the 1837 wreck of the Steamboat Home, one of the most horrific wrecks ever on the North Carolina coast. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-1837-wreck-of-the-steamboat-home/.

Portsmouth Island Schools

Education was an important part of community life on Portsmouth Island from soon after its first settlement. A chart of the coast of North Carolina between Cape Hatteras and Cape Fear from a survey taken in 1806 by Thomas Coles and Jonathan Price, clearly shows an "Academy" in Portsmouth village (click on the map to enlarge; the academy, a two-story building with chimneys on each end, is pictured at the bottom left).

1806 Map & Chart

Another schoolhouse was located on the "Straight Road" about half-way between Portsmouth and Sheep Island (Sheep Island is just to the west of Portsmouth village).

School on Straight Road (Cape Lookout Seashore Collection)

 The last schoolhouse stands yet today, managed by the Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Present-day Schoolhouse

In 1894 Portsmouth school students numbered 75. In 1903 there were 52 students. The school population had declined to 24 by 1916. In 1942 there were only two students. When one of the students moved off the island in 1943 the school was closed. The last residents left the island in 1971.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a chapter from Philip Howard's book, Digging up Uncle Evans, about the 1837 wreck of the Steamboat Home, one of the most horrific wrecks ever on the North Carolina coast. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-1837-wreck-of-the-steamboat-home/.

Maritime Infirmary

In 1828 a contract was executed for a maritime infirmary near Ocracoke Inlet.  Dr. James W. Potts was awarded the position of physician in Portsmouth village at a salary of $1,500 per year. Dr. Potts soon realized that maintaining a hospital at this remote location, even with a private practice on the side, was not worth the trouble and expense he incurred. He transferred his contract to Dr. Samuel Dudley after 18 months.

According to an 1831 letter from Potts' half-brother, Joseph Hurtow, to Joshua Taylor, Collector of Customs at Ocracoke Inlet, Dr. Dudley's "hospital" was a dismal and pitiful operation. He describes it thus: "As to the hospital at [Port] Ocracoke, a small wooden house has been rented and occupied for the purpose at $30 to $40 per year. The house stands about two feet above the level of the ocean and not to [sic] far from it's margin, upon the Portsmouth Banks and on the naked sands, without the benefit of shade. The house itself is 16 to l8 feet by 20 or 22 feet in size, without plastering or as I believe glass windows. About six cots, a pine table or two and a few benches or chairs, and the furniture of the hospital has been described."

Potts says there is "no cistern to contain fresh water" and asserts that "how sick seamen now fare in regards to dirt, cleanliness, nursing or medical assistance, I do not know...."

Potts then goes on to suggest that the hospital be re-located to Ocracoke and the contracts for "Keeper of the Hospital and Keeper of Ocracoke Light House" be united. Hurtrow then offers to assume those positions himself, and to use the lighthouse keeper's quarters for the hospital, explaining that "the house at the Beacon is at present of very little service -- because inhabited only, a great part of the time, by an old Yellow man*, left there to clean and light the Beacon and the keeper's residence...."  

Less than a month after Hurtrow's letter to Joshua Taylor, the Collector wrote to the Secretary of the Treasury that the hospital did have windows, and that the seamen were well provided for. Dudley's contract was renewed.

Finally, an 1842 act of Congress appropriated $8,500 to build a dedicated marine hospital on Portsmouth Island. A lengthy process of legal contortions over title to the land, planning, bidding, contracting, inspecting, and provisioning delayed opening of the hospital until 1847. This was a very substantial two-story structure, built on piers, with a fireplace in each room, primitive running water, spacious “piazzas” (porches), and separate quarters for the hospital physician, and at times, a “medical student.”

You can read an account of the hospital here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/north-carolinas-first-hospital/.

*"Yellow man" is an offensive  term, typically used to belittle people of Asian descent. I have no evidence that Anson Harker (b. 1780 - d. 1847), the first person of record listed as Keeper of the Ocracoke Lighthouse, was Asian. Harker served 1829-1846.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a chapter from Philip Howard's book, Digging up Uncle Evans, about the 1837 wreck of the Steamboat Home, one of the most horrific wrecks ever on the North Carolina coast. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-1837-wreck-of-the-steamboat-home/.

Wreck of the Steamboat Home

Ocracoke Island was the scene of one of the most horrific shipwrecks ever on the North Carolina Coast. In October, 1837, the steamboat Home ran aground during "Racer's Storm" in gale force winds. Ninety people, mostly well-heeled residents of New York City and Charleston, South Carolina, lost their lives as the steamboat broke apart in a raging surf.

This month's Newsletter is a chapter from Philip Howard's book, Digging up Uncle Evans, about that terrible wreck. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-1837-wreck-of-the-steamboat-home/.

Blackbeard's Final Battle

Today is not only Thanksgiving Day...it is also the 300th anniversary of the Battle at Ocracoke. In 1718 Lt. Robert Maynard of the British Royal Navy, with his sailors, defeated the pirate Blackbeard just off shore of Springer's Point on Ocracoke Island.

For the very first time Ocracoke Island, with sponsorship of the Ocracoke Preservation Society and the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association, is celebrating this historic battle and the British sailors who had a major role in ending "The Golden Age of Piracy." For more information go to the OPS web site: https://ocracokepreservation.org/300th-anniversary-of-the-battle-at-ocracoke/

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know we are one day early...but all of the folks at Village Craftsmen join me in wishing our readers a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Village Craftsmen will be closed Thanksgiving Day, not only to celebrate the holiday with family and friends...but also to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Ocracoke between Lt. Robert Maynard of the British Royal Navy and Blackbeard the pirate and his crew.

A ceremony will be held tomorrow at 10 am at Springer's Point to remember the battle and the sailors who lost their lives November 22, 1718. For more information about the event click here: https://ocracokepreservation.org/300th-anniversary-of-the-battle-at-ocracoke/.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/.

The "Best" Story

Ellen Marie Cloud (1940-2016) compiled a small book documenting eighteen historic Ocracoke family names. One of the more colorful chapters is titled "The 'Best' Story."

Capt. James Best (1791-1846) appears to have been born at Davis Island, NC (in Carteret County). About 1820 Capt. Best married Ocracoke native Nancy Howard (1801-1857). Presumably the couple met when Capt. Best was sailing to the Port of Ocracoke. They made their home on Ocracoke in the vicinity of Pamlico Sound, at North Pond.

When he was 28 years old Capt. Best purchased a 54 ton schooner, "Louisa." In 1844 he and his father-in-law, William Howard, purchased a schooner named "Little John."

Although the Bests never had any children, all indications indicate that Nancy Best longed for children. The Bests, however, were sufficiently well-to-do to have a housekeeper, a young woman who did the laundry, scrubbed the floors, and polished the silverware. Her name was Ann Scarborough, and she was fourteen years younger than Capt. Best. As sometimes happens, the man of the family and the hired help found themselves attracted to each other. In 1838 Ann Scarborough gave birth to a son, Capt. Best's only child.  Ann named him Thaddeus Constantine Scarborough.

Five years later, in 1843, Ann Scarborough, who never married, died. In her will she designated James Best guardian of their son. James and Nancy Best willingly accepted care of young Thaddeus. Unfortunately, Capt. Best died three years later. Nancy Best continued in her role as mother to eleven-year-old Thaddeus.

Nancy Howard Best's tombstone reads, "She was, but words are wanting to say what. Think what a wife should be: She was that."

Descendants of Constantine Thaddeus Scarborough (and, thus, of Capt. Best) continue to live on Ocracoke today. 

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/. 

Religion on the Outer Banks

In 1710, the Reverend John Irmstone [or Urmstone, a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, which was established in 1701 by the Church of England] of Bath wrote in a letter to his superior about people from Hatteras and Ocracoke who came to get baptized.  He gives no surnames, but says, 'these persons, half indian [sic] and half English, are an offense to my own and I gravely doubt the Kingdom of Heaven was designed to accomodate [sic] such.  They stunk and their condition was not improved by the amounts of sacramental wine they lapped up nor by sprinkling with baptismal waters."

In the summer of 1753 the Rev. Alexander Stewart assumed the position of minister at St. Thomas parish (Anglican) in Bath, North Carolina. The next year he was entered on the rolls of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel as a missionary to St. Thomas parish.

The first record of a minister of the Gospel actually visiting the Outer Banks is October 7, 1766, when Rev. Stewart, who was plagued with bad health, went to Portsmouth "for the bathing in the salt water." On that visit he baptized twenty-seven children from Portsmouth and Ocracoke. There is no indication that Rev. Stewart ever returned to the Outer Banks. He died in 1771.

In 1772 a Reverend Mr. Reed visited the "Sea Coast" and experienced "some Benefit from the Sea air", but found "the people sickly, & poor accommodations," so he "soon returned" to the mainland.


By the nineteenth century Methodists had begun proselytizing on the Outer Banks. In 1828 the Ocracoke-Portsmouth Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church was established. A "preaching house" was soon constructed.



This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/. 

Tavern on Portsmouth

What may have been the very first tavern on the Outer Banks was established by Valentine Wade in 1757. In 1753 the North Carolina Colonial Assembly had passed a bill "appointing and laying out a Town on Core Banks, near Ocacock [Ocracoke] Inlet, in Carteret County." In 1756 Wade purchased lot number 21 in Portsmouth village. He was soon named Justice of the Peace, but in 1759 a number of citizens of Portsmouth and Ocracoke were disturbed by the influence of the tavern. John Bragg, an inlet pilot operating from Ocracoke, and Joseph Ryall, a soldier stationed at Fort Granville on Portsmouth (see yesterday's blog post) filed a formal complaint against Wade.

The complaint charged that "Valentine Wade, one of his Majestys Justices of the Peace for the county of Carteret, and who keeps a Tavern in the Town of Porstmouth in said county, Permits, suffers and encourages disorderly persons to dance and play at cards and dice in his house upon the Lords Day."

1700s Tavern Scene

Wade was ordered to appear before the Council and explain his conduct in view of his official position, but he failed to show up to defend himself, and was "struck out of the Commission of the Peace."

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/.

Fort Granville

In 1755 North Carolina Governor Arthur Dobbs visited Ocracoke Inlet, and ordered that Fort Granville, which had been authorized for Portsmouth Island but never constructed, be finally built. Portsmouth was designated as the site of the fort because it was "a Maratime Town, far distant from the bulk of the Inhabitants of this Province, and liable to the Depredations of an Enemy in Time of War, and Insults from Pirates and other rude People in Time of Peace."

The fort was designed as "a fascine* Battery secured by piles, with 2 faces; one to Secure the passage in coming down a Narrow Channel to this Harbour, and the other to play across the Channel where it is not above 300 yards wide."

Fascines

By 1757 Fort Granville was finally manned with a small company. The next year 53 officers and men were stationed at the the fort. By 1762 less that half that number served at Fort Granville. The next year only five soldiers were stationed at Portsmouth, and the garrison was decommissioned with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1764, which ended the French and Indian War.

*fascine: a bundle of rods or sticks bound together, often used in military operations.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/. 

Remembering Lt. Maynard

As anyone familiar with Ocracoke knows, the legend of Blackbeard the pirate has been a dominant and persistent theme on Ocracoke, even today, 300 years after his defeat by Lt. Robert Maynard and the British Royal Navy.

Lt. Robert Maynard

Several years ago Ruth Toth, vice president of the Ocracoke Preservation Society, decided that Lt. Maynard and his crew should be recognized and celebrated on the 300th anniversary of the final battle. The Executive Committee of OPS agreed, so Ruth and a small committee have been working to make it happen. OPS will host a three day event at Ocracoke (November 21, 22, and 23) to commemorate the historic battle.

Invitations have been extended to officers and midshipmen from the Royal Navy officer training unit who train aboard the HMS Ranger, named for Maynard’s ship. This unit typically holds their most formal dinner of the year on November 22^nd, to celebrate Maynard’s defeat of Blackbeard.

The event begins with an Oyster Roast on Wednesday, November 21 (this is a ticketed event with limited seating). At 10 am the next morning (November 22...Thanksgiving Day) the public is invited to a memorial ceremony at Springer’s Point Nature Preserve, the closest land to the site of the battle. Immediately following the ceremony, all are invited to an English Tea in the Barn at the Berkley Manor (served in fine china tea cups).

For more information go to the OPS web site: https://ocracokepreservation.org/300th-anniversary-of-the-battle-at-ocracoke/.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/.

Spanish Invasion

The coast of North Carolina was periodically invaded by Spaniards beginning in April, 1741, when two privateers with about 100 sailors arrived at the Outer Banks. The Spaniards erected a tent camp on Ocracoke with the goal of controlling shipping through Ocracoke Inlet. In August North Carolina merchants and residents in two ships drove the Spaniards from Ocracoke. The Spaniards returned again in 1747, landing on Ocracoke and capturing the port of Beaufort before abandoning the town a few days later. The final invasion occurred in 1748 when the Spaniards attacked the town of Brunswick. A prisoner exchange ended the seven year cycle of Spanish invasions. 

However, the threat of  Spanish invasions returned 150 years later during the Spanish-American War (April, 1898-August, 1898). In July, 1898, the Daily Journal of New Bern, NC printed this brief article:

"An official of the Government, high in authority, whose business it is to organize the people of the coast into a battalion auxiliary to the navy for home protection, passed through this section [Dare County] last week on his way south. In a general conversation he informed the writer that the auxiliary gunboat "Kemp" is now being fitted out for coast patrol duty. She will be stationed at Teach's Hole, at Ocracoke, and will make frequent cruises between Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout. Commodore S. Barsey Casey, Retired, will be in command of the Kemp, and after enlisting a sufficient number of the patriotic young men of Ocracoke to man his ship he will organize and arm those who are left to patrol and guard the coast. It is now to be hoped that the good people of Ocracoke may 'Worship under their own vine and fig tree' where no Spaniard comes to molest or 'Don' makes them afraid...."

Spanish Vessel, Alfonso XIII

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/.

Rev. Fitts

Rev. Robert Nicholson Fitts (1881-1971) served as preacher at the Ocracoke Methodist Church, South, from 1929 to 1932.

His granddaughter shared this story of Rev. Fitts' time on Ocracoke:

"It was on Ocracoke that my grandfather got his sailing lesson. He was on his way home, wearing his only suit, when Wahab Howard convinced him to go sailing. Robert was reluctant, but gave in. They were out in Silver Lake and over went the boat. The story changed, depending on who told it. Wahab swore he didn't tip it on purpose but knows the preacher tried to climb up the mast as they were going over. Robert, however, was positive Wahab had dumped them on purpose. At age 91, Mr. Tommy Howard (Wahab's father) would still split his side laughing as he described the preacher walking up the road dripping wet."

The Ladies Aid Society organized a fund-raiser. They showed a movie one night and collected enough money to buy Preacher Fitts a second suit!

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/.

Herman & Flossie Spencer

Yesterday I shared this OPS picture of the Island Inn & JoKo Gallery. The photo was made about 1973 or 1974.

One of the OPS staff asked me about the white house in the left background, where Spencer's Market is today. That was the home of Herman and Flossie Spencer. Some of our long-time visitors will remember that Herman and Flossie were the parents of Gaynelle Tillett (d. 2018, https://ocracokeobserver.com/2018/05/06/gaynelle-spencer-tillett-an-ocracoke-brand/), and grandparents of Ricky Tillett. When the property was sold, the house was moved to make room for the present development. The house is now located just a short distance away. It is painted red, and has been converted to Sorella's Pizza & Pasta restaurant.

In the early 1970s Ocracoke had no municipal water system. Residents and businesses were collecting rain water from their roofs and storing it in cisterns next to their houses for drinking and cooking. We built our home/business (Village Craftsmen) on Howard Street at that time, knowing that "city water" would soon be coming to the village. So we did not build a cistern. We simply put a large galvanized tub on the back porch and periodically filled it with a garden hose from my parents' house.

We had just started filling the tub when our neighbor, Herman Spencer, stopped by to show us some small birds he had carved. He was in his late '60s at the time, and had been supplying us with a few of his carvings. We invited Herman into the store, and took a look at his birds. We couldn't afford to buy them all, so we sorted through them, asked how much he wanted for them, and chose several. He was in no hurry, so we chatted and shared a few stories. Finally we wrote him a check, put the rest of his birds back in his box, and walked him to the back door..

As he was getting ready to open the door he turned to us with that typical Ocracoke Island nonchalance and dry wit, and said, "I reckon that tub is about filled up by now."

Of course, the tub had been running over for quite some time! Herman just casually walked back home.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/.

The Island Inn

Recently the staff of the Ocracoke Preservation Museum discovered this undated photo on a thumb drive.

The building on the right is the Island Inn. The photo was taken about 1973 or 1974. Sometime around 1960 entrepreneur Doward Brugh had purchased the old Odd Fellows Lodge/Silver Lake Inn/Wahab Coffee Shop and re-named it the Island Inn. He owned the inn for only a few years. Pennsylvania natives, George and Emilie Wilkes were the next owners. They operated the inn from about 1965 to 1970, then sold the inn to Bill and Helen Styron.

JoKo, a popular artist who owned property on the island, decorated the dining room in a piratical-nautical theme. Walls were stained to look like the inside of a sailing ship, fishing nets and buoys were hung from the ceiling, and two large paintings (one of Blackbeard holding his severed head in his hands, and a beach scene) adorned the end walls. A small gallery selling JoKo's prints was established in the Inn.

I am wondering if any of our readers remember when Bill & Helen Styron owned the Island Inn.

Earlier this year I wrote a history of the Island Inn. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/island-inn-lodge-no-194-independent-order-odd-fellows/.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/.

John Pike

John Pike's name surfaces on Ocracoke in the early 19th century. The first mention of him is in the 1830 census. He is listed as Head of Household with two other males and two females living with him. He owned fifteen slaves. In 1840 one more female is listed in the household. the number of slaves is not given.

Not until the 1850 census are names and occupations listed. In that year John Pike (born in Connecticut), age 64, is listed with Emma W. Pike (50 years old, and presumably his wife), George W. Pike (28 years old, probably a son), and Hester K. Pike (21 years old, probably either John & Emma's daughter or George's wife). John is identified as a merchant; and George, a clerk. We know that John Pike owned and operated a general store that was located somewhere along the soundside shore in the vicinity of the present-day National Park Service Visitors Center and parking lot. Nearby was his home and garden.

Captain John Pike was also the owner and master of several schooners. Following is a list of his vessels:

SPARTON -- Schooner, built in Plymouth, Mass, in 1825. 1 deck, 2 masts, 62 ft. long, 19 f t, - wide, 6 f t deep. 508 tons. Owner: John Pike and William Howard. Master: John Pike.

MARY -- Schooner, built in New Bern, NC, 1837. l deck, 2 masts, 69 FT. long, 21 ft. wide, 7 ft. deep 96 tons. Owner & Master: John Pike.

MANUNECK -- Enrolled at Ocracoke, 1849. 49 ft,. long. Owner: John Pike. Master: Josephus Fulcher.

MANUMIT -- Schooner, Enrolled at Ocracoke, 1855/1856. 58 ft long. Owner: George Pike (3/4) and John Pike (1/4). Master: A. B. Howard.

THOMAS COX - Enrolled at Ocracoke, 1825. Master: John Pike 

MARY - 1840. Enrolled at Ocracoke. Owner & Master: John Pike

UNION - 1840. Enrolled at Ocracoke. Owner: John Pike

Two other vessels are connected with Ocracoke as well as with a Robert Pike. Robert Pike is not listed in any Ocracoke census.

COLLECTOR - Enrolled New Bern 24 Jan 1822, 74 ton, surrendered Plymouth 28 Oct.1823. Owner & Master: Robert Pike.

OLIVIA COX - 1827. 99 ton. Original Owner: Thomas Cox. Master: Robert Pike. 1828. New Owner & Master: Robert P.ike. 


In 1835 Ocracoke resident, Wilson Tilmon Farrow, Sr., wrote a lengthy letter to an attorney in Boston, requesting his help regarding a "rascality" on Ocracoke that had something to do with the "robbing" of a vessel. Islanders somehow involved in this affair included William Howard (grandson of Ocracoke's first William Howard), his son-in-law Captain Elijah Chase, Captain John Pike, and Jacob Gaskill (Ocracoke's Justice of the Peace). A transcript of a portion of Farrow's letter follows:

"Swanquarter
"March the 16, 1835

"Mr. W. D. Sohier

"Dear Sir, I received a commission from you some time ago but have not received any notes from the opposite party. I have some doubt they mean to keep it back as long as they can to prevent our procuring such evidence as we may need. I therefore wish you to proceed to get the evidence from New York as I before instructed you. The deposition of New York are strong against Howard, Pike & Gaskins. We must be sure to have them....

"Yours respectfully, — Tilmon Farrow"

In 1837 John Pike was the Notary at the Port of Ocracoke, Justice of the Peace and Wreck Master. In a dispute with William Howard over their respective actions during rescue and salvage operations after the wreck of the steamboat Home, William Howard accused John Pike, “through his influence and money” of rescuing “a murderer from the gallows merely for the sake of gain.” Presumably this refers to John Pike’s involvement in the murder trial of Jacob Gaskill (see https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/murder-on-ocracoke/).

There appear to have been other accusations against John Pike. Soon after the wreck of the Home, on November 2, 1837, he penned a letter to James Bergen, Esq., which was published in the New Y.ork Express:

"Dear Sir: -- Some of the New York papers have published a statement purporting to have been made by Mr. Hiram Force, as to the loss of the Home, and to the conduct of the inhabitants of Ocracoke, and myself particularly. On reading the annexed article you will perceive how utterly false the charges are, and learn, if you do not know it already, the baseness of the person from whom they emanated. From what I have seen and heard, I have reason to believe many of the charges made against other persons, are unfounded, and will prove so. A long personal acquaintance with you, induces me to avail himself of your aid in placing my statement before the pubblic [sic], and I am confident that the knowledge you have had of me in relation to wrecked property, and to Insurance business, will enable you to vouch for my character, and I hope many of your merchants can do the same."

John Pike and his wife are mentioned in a comment by Joseph Francis Daly in his 1917 book, The Life of Augustin Daly. He relates that in September, 1841, his father, Captain Denis Daly, set sail from Plymouth, NC, in the Union, a vessel loaded with lumber. Captain Daly succumbed to a fever, and died on Ocracoke. According to Joseph Daly, "Captain Pike and his wife showed [Daly's widow] every attention and gave her full particulars of all that had taken place.... [Capt. Daly] was interred in a plot set apart for burials in Captain Pike's garden. The ravages of wind and wave have devoured the shore line and buried the little cemetery beneath the waters of the Sound."

On December 31, 1846 John Pike was appointed Postmaster at Ocracoke. He served until August 16, 1848.

The last mention of John Pike in the Ocracoke census records is in 1850. In fact, no Pikes are listed in any local records after that date, and there is no record of any Pikes that are buried on Ocracoke Island. John Pike was a prominent citizen (Justice of the Peace, Notary, and Wreck Master), and of considerable means (He was a slave owner as well as owner and master of several schooners). In spite of several web sites with extensive information about the Pike family (in New England, North Carolina, and elsewhere) I have been unable to discover any further information about John Pike's birth family, why he settled on Ocracoke, or what happened to him or his family after 1850. He simply appeared here sometime before 1830, became a well-known member of the community, and disappeared after 1850. It is all very curious!

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/. 

Waterfowl Hunting

Waterfowl hunting has been a popular winter sport on Ocracoke for more than a century. In 1910 the "Book of the Royal Blue," a magazine published monthly by the Passenger Department of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, ran an article titled “Winter Sport in Virginia and North Carolina.” It was an excerpt from an article in “Field and Stream,” by H.C. Herring, M.D., an avid hunter.

“What about geese and ducks? You always bring back a lot. Where do you go?” was a question put to Dr. Herring by an acquaintance.

Dr. Herring's answer: "I told him there was only one section which would completely answer all demands of the amateur and professional sportsman, and that was on the Island of Ocracoke. To supply the necessary information  I turned to a map of North Carolina and placed my finger on a little island, midway between Capes Lookout and Hatteras, where could be found more fowl from November until March than at any other point in America."

You can read the entire article here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/hunting-ducks-geese-1910/.

If you are interested in modern-day waterfowl hunting on Ocracoke do an internet search for "Waterfowl Hunting Ocracoke." There you can find web sites for a number of Ocracoke hunting guides.

Setting Decoys in Pamlico Sound

And if you are a successful hunter, you might want to use this recipe from the 1950s and 1960s Ocracoke Cook Book:

Stewed Wild Goose

1/4 lb. salt pork
1/4 cup flour
8 potatoes, halved
Corn dumplings or drop pastry dumplings
Cut-up goose
Salt & pepper
Pod of red pepper

In large pot fry out salt pork until light brown, add flour slightly browned, add cut up fowl. Add salt, pepper, pod red pepper, and enough water to cover. Cook until tender then add potatoes and corn dumplings. Lay dumplings in top or add drop dumplings when nearly done.

-- Mrs. Eva Williams (1892-1972)

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/. 

Ocracoke Ponies

Although more than 300 Banker Ponies (actually small horses) once roamed wild over Ocracoke Island, today only a small remnant herd remains, cared for by volunteers and staff of the National Park Service.

Former Park Ranger Jim Henning was one of the first people to investigate the origin of the ponies. According to Jean Day in her 1997 book, Banker Ponies, an endangered species, Henning "identified several physical characteristics of the Spanish mustangs in the horses. They have fewer lumber vertebrae than the average horse, have five to ten times greater bone density than most horses and are able to carry heavy weights. Their wide foreheads and short, strong necks and beautiful flowing manes and tails are also characteristic of the Spanish mustang."

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/.

Lamb in His Bosom

Earlier this fall a friend suggested I read Caroline Miller's 1933 novel, Lamb in His Bosom. The novel chronicles the lives of a pre-Civil War, non-slaveholding rural Georgia family.

I was struck by several words in the rural Georgia antebellum dialect that were similar or identical to words still in use on Ocracoke today (although mostly by older native islanders). Here are four of them:

• Give-y -- "Vince would come in with his cowhide boots caked in mud, and give-y with wet...." (Clothes hung out on a clothesline can get stiff when dry; they are described as "give-y" when still damp.)
• Lightsome -- "...it was...red as the sky's coloring, lightsome as the wanton burst of down from a thistle's bloom...." (Ocracokers use "some" as a post-positional adverb in place of the adverb "very." E.g. "It's cold some today!" or "She is pretty some!")
• Cunning --  "...the creek...flowed into the river's cunning serpent way that would in time seek out the sea." (Older Ocracokers use "cunning," not as "deceitful," but meaning "attractive," "quaint," or "clever.")
• Doset -- "[She] took a doset morning, noon and night." (On the island a doset [rhymes with "toast"] is not only a quantity of medicine, but also an infection or other illness. Islanders also use the word as a verb. E.g. "He was doasted right!" 
• Zilphey -- "She named Zilfey Trent for her mother's dead mother in Carolina." (Zilphia was an Ocracoke Howard family name in the mid-19th century.  Although never a very common name, it was more popular 150-200 years ago. Today only one in every 185,000 babies is named Zilphia.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/.

Augustus S. Merrimon

There is something about Ocracoke, on the coast of North Carolina, and the Asheville area, about 500 miles west, in the mountains of North Carolina, that attracts kindred spirits. Maybe it's the uniqueness of the places, the isolation (an island served by ferries, and small settlements in the hollers), or the natural beauty of sea and mountains. Whatever it is, many island residents enjoy sojourns to the mountains, and vice versa.

If you frequent Asheville, you've probably noticed Merrimon Avenue, one of the primary roads in the city. It was named for Augustus Summerfield Merrimon (1830-1892), an attorney who was a public servant in Asheville prior to the Civil War, and then served as a U.S. Senator from 1873 to 1879 and as Chief Justice of North Carolina’s Supreme Court from 1889 until his death.

August S. Merrimon

Although Merrimon was opposed to secession, he joined the Confederate Army in 1861. During his time in the army he served in eastern North Carolina where he made a name for himself. 

Augustus Merrimon was the inspiration for the name of a small unincorporated community in coastal Carteret County. Merrimon (population ca. 650), originally called Adams Creek, was named for Augustus S. Merrimon in 1881 by an admirer, Edward F. Carroway, the community’s first postmaster.

During the Civil War Merrimon also served at Confederate forts at Hatteras and Ocracoke. As it turned out, Fort Ocracoke was never completed or fully manned, and was abandoned when Union forces advanced on Ocracoke and Portsmouth islands in the fall of 1861. Little is known about Meerrimon's duties while at Ocracoke, although we can speculate that he might have been as impressed with the natural beauty as are modern residents and visitors.

You can read more about Augustus Sumerfield Merrimon here: https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/augustus-s-merrimon-1830-1892/.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Lachlan Howard's essay about the Fresnel Lens and its use in theater, solar ovens, cameras, and industry, as well as lighthouse illumination. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/the-fresnel-lens/.