Wilson Angley •

A Brief Maritime History of the Oriental Area of Pamlico County

. by Wilson Angley •

A Brief Maritime History of the Oriental Area of Pamlico County

Wilson Angley 25 August 1987

Research Branch Division of Archives and History • :North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources In July of 1585 Sir Richard Grenville' s expedition sailed southward

from the mouth of the Pamlico River am along the eastern shoreline of what • is now Pamlico County. This expedition aH?arently reached a point just be

low the IOOuth of Broad Creek before turning northeastward toward the lower

e m of Portsm:>uth Islam. Algonquian Imian towns then in existence in the

present Pamlico County were Secotaoc, near Hobucken, am Pcm:mik, in the vicinity of Maribel. Both of these aboriginal settlements were situated

north of the Bay River, a considerable distance from what is now the town of Oriental.1

In the mid-1950s archaeologist William G. Haag comucted an admittedly

"cursory examination" of the Neuse River area from New Bern eastward to the

Pamlico Soum. No aboriginal sites were identified in the Oriental vicini

ty; however, Haag ' s survey was far from exhaustive, am he made particular

mention of the fact that the north shore of the Neuse, like that of the 2 nearby Pamlico, was very rich in terms of its archaeological potential.

'!here can be little doubt that the Neuse River am the creeks in the

present Oriental area saw at least intermittent use by Algonquian groups

am later by representatives of the Bay River tribe, which emured in the

general vicinity until after the TUscarora Wars of 1711-1715. Arrl, imeed,

during the 1970s it was reported that Wian artifacts hcrl been located

along the shores of Whittaker Creek, which debouches into the Neuse River just east of Oriental.3

In the early years of the eighteenth century, historian am naturalist

John Lawson reported that the Bay (or Bear} River Imians could ruster only 4 about fifty fighting men. 'Ibis tribe, however, hcrl been of sufficient

importance to attract the diplomatic efforts of Carolina' s proprietary • govermtent as recently as 1699. Moreover, in light of the early shipwreck 2

recently located along the south bank of Greens Creek near Oriental, it • is perhaps significant that the agreement str uck that year with the Iooians had included a provision that they came to the assistance of shipwrecked

mariners ar:rl aid in the safekeeping of salvaged cargoes. 5 App:irently, even

then it was well recognized that the waters of Pamlico Sourrl aoo the lower

Neuse could be perilous urrler adverse coooitions.

Eighteenth-century maps of North Carolina give virtually no indication

that the eastern shoreline of present-day Parnlico County was settled to any

appreciable extent; yet this was precisely the area where settlement of the

entire Neuse basin began. Indeed, the present Oriental area has been

called the very "cradle of Neuse colonization. "6 'Ihe earliest known set

tlers of this area included William Powell, 'Ihomas Lepper, Richard Smith,

'Ihomas Yeates, ar:rl Farnifold Green. 7 For many years the present Whittaker

Creek was known as Powells Creek, after William Powell; aoo the names of

Smith Creek ar:rl Greens Creek still commemorate their associations with

Richard Smith ar:rl Farnifold Green.8

It is significant to note that William Powell was a shiprwright by

trade at the time of his removal to the present Oriental area about 1703.9

It is at least possible that he continued the construction or rep:1ir of

vessels in the new location. Richard Smith, moreover, is several times

referred to in early records as "Capt. Richard Smith," although this may

well connote a militia rank rather than a maritime occup:1tion.10

'lhe individual most instrunental in settling the present Oriental was,

most probably, Farnifold Green, who obtained several large tracts of lar:rl

there in the early years of the eighteenth century. In 1707 he received a • proprietary grant for some 1,700 acres of land between Greens and Smith 3

creeks; and it was here that he established his "Green's Neck" plantation. • In another of his several acquisitions of land, he received 640 acres "at Greens Point in Powells Creek in Neuse."11

As a praninent planter in the relatively sparsely settled area, Green

was involved in nlllrerous land transactions and held the rank of captain in 12 the Bath County militia. On at least two occasions during the early days

of the Tuscarora Wars, Green wrote to Virginia governor Alexander Spots

wood, informing him of the plight of settlers on the lower Neuse and asking

for his assistance.13 Following a renewal of violence in 1712, Green was

appointed "Commissary to impress and supply the army with anything that is

to be had in Bath County." Particularly needed, a:fP3rently, were large

quantities of corn and other provisions to sustain colonial forces.14 It is entirely possible that Green's position as commissary gave rise to a

small amount of early vessel traffic to and from his principal plantation

on Greens Creek.

It may well have been Green's leadership position that resulted final

ly in retribution against Green himself, his family, and his plantation. In

1714 Indians launched a surprise attack, killing Green, one of his sons, a

white servant, and two slaves. Another of his sons was wounded in the at

tack, and his plantation and home on Greens Creek were laid waste.15 In

the will that he had drawn sozre three years prior to his death, Green had

provided that the "land in Greens Neck whereon I now live" should devolve

to his sons JaJres and Farnifold II. As events unfolded, this land would

remain in the hands of his descendants for more than a century to come. 16

It was not until after 1710 arrl the founding of New Bern that the • Smith Creek and nearby Wilkinson's Point areas were finally supplanted as 4

the focal points of settlE!!Ient on the Neuse River. Although the records • are not specific as to the route taken or the roode of transportation employed by the initial settlers of New Bern, it is probable that they

proceeded past the mouth of Smith Creek am upriver to their final destina tion in small sailboats or shallops provided by Thomas Pollock in the Albemarle.17 These vessels were surely among the first to travel as far

upstream as the New Bern area, but they were umoubtedly preceeded by canoes, periaugers, am other assorted craft on the lower Neuse am in the waters of the Pamlico Sourrl.

The only vessel rrentioned by narre in connection with the early settle-

rrent of New Bern was the sloop Returne, which was purchased for L200 by Baron Christopher de Graffenried' s associate, Franz Ludwig Michael. Plans were, in fact, made during the early days of the fledgling settlarent for

extensive use of the Returne in the West Indian trade; am the vessel is

known to have made at least one voyage to Bermuda early in 1711, j ust 18 ronths before the outbreak of the '1\lscarora Wars. In addition to the

Returne, Graffenried am Michael also acquired a shallop (or barque) for use on the sourrls am rivers of the coastal region.19

Having gained some acquaintance with the comi tions of life i n the

coastal region am with the heavy depemence of settlers on trade am

transportation by water, Graffenried observed that it was an "absolute 20 necessity to keep shallops am boats upon the rivers. n Although SOJrewhat unrealistic as to its size, Graffenried also acknowledged the need for a larger, ocean-going vessel for use in nore extensive trade:

It would be very useful to purchase a ship of about ninety tons burden. A ship with three masts is better than a brigantine, am when it is loaded it must not go deeper than eight feet in the water; • in fact a half foot less rather than more • • • • It trust be sheathed in 5

order to be assured against worms. These worms attack ships at all • tines fran May to September •••• When the ship is loaded arrl draws seven arrl a half, or at roost, eight feet, you can travel with it into the country arrl up into the Neuse. A little ship such as that strongly built of good wood arrl well nailed can always be used; sometitres to transport pork, beef, flour, cask staves, hoops, etc. , to the Barb

If the recently discovered shipwreck near Oriental proves to date from the

early eighteenth century, it is possible that it r epresents the remains of

a vessel very similar to the ~:me described contemporaneously by Graffenried as being well suited to the Neuse River trade.

The apparent age of the shipwreck has prompted at least some speculation

that it might somehow have been associated with the nefarious activities of

North Carolina's rrost notorious pirate, Blackbeard (Edward Teach). Follow-

ing a brief but profitable period of piracy in the West Irrlies, arrl the

daring blockade of the harbor at Charlestown, South Carolina, Blackbeard

sailed northward along the Atlantic coastline to the present Beaufort Inlet,

where he parted company with Stede Bonnet arrl disbarrled rrost of his follow ing of four hurrlred rren. 22

In June of 1718 he entered Ocracoke Inlet arrl shaped his course for

Bath Town on the Pamlico River, where he availed himself of a "gracious

pardon" fran Governor Charles Eden. He then established residence in Bath

arrl reputedly took as his fourteenth bride the daughter of a Bath County • planter. Unable to content himself, he soon threw off the shackles of 6

domestic life to resurre his depredations against coastal shiwing. Thi s • resunption eooured for only five ronths, however, am even duri ng this tirre he was absent fran North Carolina at Philadelphia am Bennuda. While

actually present in North Carolina, he was rost often to be foum ei ther at

Bath or, rore frequently, at Ocracoke Inlet, his usual base of operation. Fran his point of anchorage there, he was able to keep a close watch on the

vessels passing al ong the coast or through the inlet. I t was here at Ocra-

coke Inlet that he was finall y kil led in fierce ham- to- ham combat with Lieutenant Robert Maynard on 22 November, 1718. 23

Despite the brevity of his stay in North Carolina, Blackbeard's career

has given rise to num:rous legeoos; am he has come to be associated with

many sites along the North carolina coast. One of the l aoomarks tradition-

ally associated with the famous pirate was "Teach ' s Oak" near Oriental.

'Ibis venerable tree am its legeooary associations were described in the early 1970s by Blackbeard' s JOOst authoritative biograifler:

Atrong the many pl aces in North Carolina reputed to have been frequented by Blackbeard are the so-called "Teach ' s Oak ," near Orien tal, where he supposedly camped for relaxation; Holiday' s Islam in the Chowan River, where tradition says he buried some of his treasure; am "The Old Brick House," near Elizabeth City, where it is said he once lived.

Teach's oak is located almost at the water's edge on a peninsula farm l ying between the Neuse River am two creeks, Smith am Gree [sic.] • Large am ancient, am now gnarled am bent, the old tree was many years ago naned after the infamous freebooter. Local traditi on avers that Blackbeard posted a sentinel in its branches. There is evidence that the area has been du~ up in the search for buried treasure, but none has been foum. 4

Although there is no documentary evidence to support Blackbeard' s

traditional association with the Oriental area, the tradition cannot silrply

be dismissed out of ham. While it is true that Blackbeard was in North • Carolina waters only briefly, am that he was usually to be foum either at 7

Bath or Ocracoke Inlet, there are indications that he was thoroughly fami- • many of l i ar with the Pam1ico Sound area and that he was acquainted with

the pl anters scattered along its shores. Indeed, it is said to have been

while "visiting the plantations along the sounds and rivers" that he chose 25 the last of his many wives. t-k>reover, there are hints in a near contem-

porary source that Blackbeard' s visitations in the hares of area planters were not altogether enjoyable experiences for his hosts:

He often diverted himself with going on shore anong the planters; where he revelled night and day. By these he was well received, but whether out of love or fear, I cannot say. Sornetim:!s he used them courteously enough, and made them presents of rum and sugar, in recom pense for what he took fran them; but as for liberties which, ' tis said, he and his canpanions often took with the wives and daughters of cannot take upon Ire to say whether he paid them ad the planters, 26 valorem or no. If the shipwreck near Oriental has any connection whatsoever with

Blackbeard, which seems extr~ly doubtful, it at least does not represent the remains of either the Queen Ann's Revenge or the Adventure. '!he former

was cast away in what is now Beaufort Inlet; and the latter, the vessel 27 upon which he was killed, was later sold in Virginia at public auction.

Nor , aH;)arently, could it be the remains of the French trerchant vessel

which Blackbeard allegedly found abandoned at sea. This vessel, the only

prize vessel known to have been brought by Blackbeard into North Carolina

waters, is believed to have been kept at anchor just inside Ocracoke Inlet,

where it was later burned to the water line and sunk by the pirate chief tan. 28

Unfortunately, the records yield not a single clue as to the indentity

of the l ost vessel near Oriental or the conditions under which it catre to • grief. If the proposed archaeological investigation proves unable, as 8

• well, to answer these questions, it may at least define IOOre clearly the

boundaries of speculation.

Several years prior to Blackbeard's af{)earance in North carolina

waters, New Bern am the surrourrling area had been dealt nearly a death

blow by the ravages of the Tuscarora Wars. It was only to be with the

passage of tine that settlerient an:l related maritine activity would finally

resl.li'Ie on an awreciable scale. This process began slowly in the 1720s,

but as late as 1741 New Bern could boast only twenty-one resident families.

By the middle of the eighteenth century, however, New Bern arrl Craven

COunty were being populated at an increasingly rapid pace. With this rise

in population came the establishment of ferries, the construction of roads

and bridges, and a quickening and diversification of maritime activity. By

the mid- 1760s, the once prostrate New Bern contained about 100 houses and a 29 FQpulation of roughly 500 people.

The expansion of trade am commerce at New Bern was given considerable

impetus by the town' s establishment as the center of g011errment in North

carolina, despite the obstacles to navigation between New Bern and the

nearest outlet to the sea at Ocracoke Inlet:

During its political preeminnence, New Bern developed in a commerical and maritime way to an extent which observers of earlier years had not for seen. This came despite grCNe natural handi caps handicaps which were partly offset by the fact that New Bern, accord ing to usage at least, was regarded as the capital. Therefore, mer chants wishing to engage in business in North carolina naturally selected as a place to settle "the first town" or the prospective "first town" of the pr011ince, where the assembly was meeting IOOst of the time and ruch of the official business was being transacted. In increasing nwtbers, the shipping of these man arrived at the wharves of the Neuse and Trent with valuable cargoes fran the British Isles and Wesj Indies and departed laden with products of plantation and 0 forest.

Almost certainly, sorre of these "products of plantation and forest" • were being drawn fran the area of present-day Oriental, where a modest but 9 • sustained local trade centered arourx:t the various plantation lamings. In addition to this local trade, it nust be borne in mim that nearly all ves

sels trading with New Bern, Bath, am Edenton arrived am departed through

Ocracoke Inlet, thus passing near the shoreline of what is now Pamlico

County, even uooer the m::>st favorable of coooitions. uooer adverse comi

tions, particularly during sudden storms, vessels may well have left the vast expanses of open water to seek refuge inside the mouths of streams

such as Smith Creek. It is entirely possible that the vessel recently fouro

near Oriental was seeking just such refuge, but that the damage already sus tained was too severe for it to continue further on its voyage.

In 1739 the colonial assembly began its attempts to ameliorate some

what the hazards to navigation between New Bern am Ocracoke Inlet through an act providing for regulated pilotage am properly marked channels. 'lhrough this am nunerous subsequent acts, the assembly acknowledged the 31 growing importance of trade along the Neuse.

Having been interrupted for several years by the turmoil aoo violence

of the Tuscarora Wars, settlement of the present Oriental area am of the

eastern shoreline of what is now Pamlico County resuned am quickened in the

late 1710s aoo 1720s. Already by 1710 a road had been laid off between

Wilkinron' s Point am Durham Creek to the north, spanning the peninsula be

tween the Neuse am Pamlico rivers. In 1722 the colonial assembly ordered

construction of a road fran Durham Creek southwestward to New Bern. 'Ibis

same legislation, however, made clear that the "old road" should continue to

be maintained by settlers to the east. 32

Landowners in the area of present-day Oriental during the middle • decades of the eighteenth century included John am William Carruthers, 10

• William Bryan, Joseph Ediroooson, William vaughn, Benjamin Hall, William

'lhompson, John aoo Susannah Mill, George Whitaker, am the sons of Farnifold

Green. 33 M:>reover, it is clear that several of these rren had dwelling houses 34 aoo other i!!i?roverrents on their lam. While the records make no specific

mention of mari time activity or vessel ownership by these rren, there were urrloubtedly several private plantation larx:lings in the area arx:1 a signifi-

cant volume of local trade.

During the Anerican Revol ution, numerous vessels asceooed the Neuse

River to New Bern with materials essential to the patriot war effort, a 35 significant number of these vessels f l ying French flags. It was reported

by contemporary observers that "a considerable quantity of Continental

Stores, pork, etc." was being harxlled at the New Bern docks, arx1 that "a

large trade • • • [was being] carried on fran Ocracoke Bar to the South Key

[ s1c· . , Qu ay] n o f V1rg1n1a· · · . 36 After the winning of iooepeooence, trade with New Bern am on the

the colonial peri od. Some seventy- f i ve vessels entered aoo cl eared at New

Bern duri ng a six-roonth period in 1788, engaged primarily i n trade with New

Englarxl arx1 the West Irrlies. In 1790 a federal customs house was estab-

l ished in New Bern, which now contained some 400 houses aoo a population of

approximately 2,000. By the eoo of the eighteenth century, New Bern had

becane the largest town in the state, its population havi ng roore than dou 37 bl ed since the Revolution. '!he growth of New Bern aoo the expansion of

its maritime econany were, in fact, destined to continue through the first 38 two decades of the nineteenth century.

In contrast with the rapid develo~nt of New Bern, the area of • present-day Oriental seems to have urrlergone few noticeable changes in the 11

late eighteenth am early nineteenth centuries. It remained, fran all • appearances, a sparsely settled area of farmers arrl small planters. Arrong the landowners of this later period were representatives of the Edmomson,

carruthers, Bateman, Shines, Valance, Dawson, Nelson, am Green families,

the last of these having now held substantial acreage in the area since the

earliest days of settlanent. 39 Indeed, it ag;>ears that land ownership by

the descendants of Farnifold Green I was to continue well into the antebel-

l um period. In his will, which was drawn in 1795 am proven at this death

in 1804, Farniforld Green I I I made special provision for these ancestral

lams:

All my Lands, below New Bern on the Neuse River arrl Smiths Creek left rre by my Father agreeabl e to his wil l, [are] to be divided agreeable to my Gram Father's will •• • am also the Entry i n Company with John car ruther & Thomas Nel son, being the one third part of Twelve hundred and eigh~ acres of Land, on the No[rth] E[as]t side of Smith' s Creek • ••• 0 'Ihroughout the antebellum period, navigation along the l ower portions

of the Neuse River continued to be fraught with difficulties and potenti al

hazards for mariners and their vessels. The channel between New Bern and the

Pamlico Sound remained tortuous and the weather comi tions, as always, were 41 subject to sudden and unpredictabl e changes. As during the eighteenth

cent ury, it is entirely possible that imperiled vessels on the lower reaches

of the Neuse might have sought occasional refuge inside the mouth of Smith

Creek, although the narres and ultimate fates of these vessel s do not ag;>ear

in the records. our ing the bet ter part of the Civil war, Union forces held firm control

over Pamlico Sound and the Neuse and Pamlico r i vers; and i t is doubtful that

the present Oriental area saw any significant military action. However , • nurrerous vessels and a l arge number of troops undoubtedly passed nearby in 12

Marcil of 1862, when Union forces rooved upriver to lay seige to New Bern. • Overcoming Confederate resistance there, they began an occupation of the 42 town that would last throughout the remaimer of the war.

It is to the period just after the Civil War that the town of Oriental

can trace its beginnings. Although accounts of the earliest days of the

camn..mi ty vary somewhat as to details, they all center arourrl the coming of

Captain Louis B. Midyett to the area am his recognition of its potentials

as a place of settlement. It is also significant to note that Midyett is

coom:mly said to have run into the roouth of Smith Creek because of the

safety it afforded as a harbor of refuge:

'!be story has been told that Louis B. Midyette cane to New Bern in a sailboat naned the "Strat" to get some supplies am because of a better fish market there. He was a farmer am fisher.man by trade. On his way back from New Bern, a northeast gale cane up am he had to corre into Smith Creek until the wim ceased. He carne ashore where a small creek entered Smith Creek, am camped under his sail until he could continue his journey• • •• [He] liked the looks of the place so Jlllch that he iill'OOdiately decided to corre back. He bought lam between Smith Creek am ~ Creek, fronting on Neuse River, built a horre am settled down. He had an ideal location for a town, as there was a neighboring creek on each side, a ten foot channel to the roouth of Smith Creek which had a little tributary forming a perfect lam locked harbor capable of giving anchorage to a number of boats in fair or foul weather.

Having decided to relocate his family from Dare County to the present

Oriental, Captain Midyett soon convinced his brother-in-law, Robert P.

Midyett, to do the sane. '!he latter acquired a prilre tract of 250 acres of

lam between Smith am Whittaker creeks, a tract previously owned by Alexan 44 der Mitchell am Sam w. Chadwick, respectively. '!he two Midyett families

were soon joined by other residents of Dare County am nearby Hyde am

Tyrrell counties. These new arrivals included members of the Mason, Ca.rson,

O'Neal, Barnett, Wise, Mann, am Daniels families, as well as other Midyett 45 • relations. 13

Coincidently, it was in 1872, about the ti.ne of Oriental's beginnings • as a town, that Pamlico County was finally fonned out of portions of Craven am Beaufort counties. An 1874 map of the lower portions of the Neuse River

imicates that develo:f~I}ent of the Oriental area had only barely begun. Only

a few small farms were recorded on the lower reaches of the principal

creeks, with no roads, larrlings, structures, or waterfront facilities at all

along the southern or lcrwer shoreline of Greens Creek, where the shipwreck

was recently located. '!his map also reflects significant variations in the

nanes of streams frcrn those ccmronly used today: Greens Creek was identi fied as "Kershaw's Creek"; am the present Kershaw Creek was identified as

"Chapel Creek. " Smith am Whittaker creeks were named essentially as they

are at present. Virtually no development was imicated on this map for the 46 area now occupied by the town of Oriental. By 1896 Oriental had grown

sufficiently to justify the establishnent of a post office. 'lbree years 47 later, in 1899, the town was incorporated by act of the General Assembly.

Already by 1890 a gristmill, sawmill, and cotton gin were in operation 48 at Oriental. By 1896 cOIIII'Iercial am imustrial establishnents there

included the Oriental Lumber Company, the steam sawmill of the finm of Mid

yett am Delamar, a cotton gin, am at least three general rrercantile busi

nesses. The population of the small but grcrwing town had now risen to 150.

'lhe nearby camunity of Kershaw, on Kershaw Creek, had also developed a

modest amount of commerce am imustry, including one steam sawmill am two

general stores. Kershaw's population at this time was comprised of fifty

souls. 49 Although the vessel traffic generated by these establishnents at

Oriental am Kershaw could only have been on a modest scale, it was never

theless essential that many raw materials am finished products be transpor • ted very largely by water. 14

The activities at Oriental and Kershaw were but small parts of the • of New Bern and the lower Neuse region in cannercial and maritine activities

general. In 1897 an examination of the river at and below New Bern summa-

rized existing trade and gave due praninence to the growing importance of

steamboats: The principal articles of import are general merchandise, fertilizers, hay and grain, coal and machinery, aggregating about 25, 000 tons per year.

The principal exports are lumber, shingles, fish and shellfish, truck (vegetables), and cotton, aggregating about 150, 000 tons per year.

Llmt>er forms about the only export in sailing vessels or barges, and fertilizers, coal, and hay the principal imports in that class of vessels.

The other articles are almost entirely transported by a line of steamers. There is one regular line of steamers running to New Bern fran Elizabeth City, N. c., there connecting with the Norfolk and Southern Railroad, forming a part of the "E.C.D. Line" (Eastern Caro lina Dispatch Line). The principal steamer of the line is a vessel of 720 gross tons, 487 net tons, with t~5 triple-expansion engines and first class passenger accommodations.

There had been several attempts during the first half of the nineteenth

century to establish steamboat lines on the lower portions of the Neuse

River. Indeed, from 1818 to 1820 New Bern had been the headquarters for

North Carolina' s first steamboat canpany, which ran a steamer regularly

during this brief period from New Bern to Elizabeth City. It was not until

the middle of the nineteenth century, however, that steamers began to op-

erate profitably on the Neuse. Stymied for several years by the Civil

War, the use of steamers on the Neuse resumed and proliferated duri ng rough 1 ly the last two decades of the nineteenth century. 5

Our ing this peak period of steamboat activity, New Bern was linked • with conm.mities on the upper Neuse and with those scattered throughout the 15

central am upper coastal region of the state. Beyond the boundaries • of North Carolina, New Bern steamers were linked directly or by rail with vessels reaching Norfolk, Baltirrore, New York, am other eastern . . 52 C1t1eS.

As early as 1884 the Pamlico Steamboat Company was operating the

steamer Elm City between the fledgling settlenent of Oriental am New Bern. The much larger Old Dominion Line am the Norfolk am Southern Railroad later employed the steamers Ocracoke am Neuse on regular freight am passenger runs between New Bern am Elizabeth City, with

regular daily stops at Oriental between 1896 and 1907.53

'lhe prominent role of steamboats on the lower Neuse, at Oriental,

and in much of coastal North Carolina in general was brought to an end

during the first decade of the twentieth century with the completion of

hitherto missing railroad links. In 1906 the tracks of the Norfolk and

Southern Railroad were completed from New Bern to Oriental, largely to

serve the needs of the Roper Lurrt>er Company. In 1908 the railroad was

extended further north to Elizabeth City, where rail connections had

long existed with the port city of Norfolk. The completion of this

direct railroad route between New Bern and Norfolk had the immediate

effect of relegating steamboats to an inferior or merely supplenentary

status, for larger quantities of goods could now be transported over-

land more rapidly am at less expense. Soon, the steamboats were to vanish altogether from the sounds am rivers of the central am upper

portions of the North Carolina coast. 54

Another significant factor in the rapid decline of steamboats was the

advent of gasoline-powered vessels at about the same time that the railroads • were being completed. These safer am more efficient craft soon displaced 16

even those few utilitarian steamers that had somehow managed to remain in . 55 • serv1ce. Several steps were taken by the federal goverrment in the late nine-

teenth arrl early twentieth centuries to improve navigation on the Neuse

River at arrl below New Bern. This improvement began in 1878 with a congres-

sional ag;>ropr iation for the reroc>val of obstructions placed in the natural

channel during the Civil war, arx'i also for the rexroval of snags arx'i the

construction of j etties above New Bern. In 1902 this project was modified to

provide a channel eight feet deep at low water, 200 feet wide at New Bern

arx'i 300 feet wide below New Bern. Improvement of the Trent River began in

1879 with the reroc>val of snags as far upstream as Trenton. In 1902 this

project was also modified to con.form to the Neuse River project arx'i to provide for the dredging of an eight-foot channel 300 feet wide along the

New Bern waterfront. In the early 1920s the Neuse River project was

expanded to provide for a channel 300 feet wide arx'i twelve feet deep at mean

low water up to arx'i in front of New Bern. By 1930 the exparx'ied proj ects

for both the Neuse arx'i Trent Rivers were completed, except for the channel

along the New Bern waterfront, which remained 200 feet wide. 56 While these

improvements did not involve the Oriental area directly, they did contribute

tangentiall y to the volume of trade arx'i the diversity of vessel types on the

lower Neuse. They also may have affected significantly the commercial inter-

actions between these vessels arx'i those that plied the more restricted waters

of Smith, Greens, arx'i Kershaw creeks.

The largest single boost to the irx'iustrial arx'i commercial development

of Oriental came about 1906 with the establishment there of the John L.

Roper Lt.mt>er Company. Other lurrber mills had operated at Oriental in the • past, such as the Ori ental Lunber Company arx'i the Blades Lunber Company; but 17

the Roper mill was on a vastly larger scale than anything that had come • 57 before. Logs were floated or towed to the Roper facility from distances

of ten to fifteen miles; and at its peak the plant cut upwards of 125,000 58 feet of ti.nt>er per day.

Another imustrial facility of considerable importance to Oriental in

the early years of the twentieth century was the Defiance Box Company, whose

plant was located on the south shore of Smith Creek, directly opposi te the

town. This l arge factory produced wooden boxes for the shiprent of vege-

tables; am it is said at one time to have "loaded three masted schooners 59 and other l arge boats for Norfolk and Baltimore am other places."

A third imustri al facility that occasioned a certain am:mnt of vessel

traffic early in this century was the cotton gin established by a farmers'

cooperative about 1912. This gin was subsequently taken over by one L. F.

McCabe, who ran it for several years. At one time McCabe is reported to 60 have shipped as many as twenty- four bales a day by boat to New Bern.

It was soon after the coming of the railroad that the town of Or iental

att.racted the attenti on of the federal g011erment am the United States Army

Corps of Engineers. I n 1909 the Corps conducted a preli minary examinati on

of Smith Creek i n order to gauge the extent of commerce am the need for

improved navigati on. The resulting report sheds considerable light on the

Oriental area near the height of its imustrial develo~nt , when both the

Roper Lurtt>er Company and the Defiance Box Company were in full operation:

Smiths Creek is a small tributary of the Neuse River, in Parnlico County, flowing into the l atter stream at the town of Oriental ••• •

Although the stream is navigable for 5 or 6 miles above Oriental, there is but little traffic on it, and no improvement is needed. The i.nq;>rovernents desi red are at Oriental, aoo between Oriental am deep • water in Neuse River. 18

Oriental is one of the prosperous new towns now springing up on Pamlico Sound am its tributaries. A few years ago it cuoounted to • nothing at all. Now it is the terminus of the Newbern, Bayboro, and Oriental branch of the Norfolk an1 Southern Railway, am the site of the John L. Roper Lunber Canpany, one of the largest in the South, and of a mill of the Defiance Box Canpany, of Defiance, Ohio, the former shipping about 400,000 feet of lunt:>er per toonth an1 the latter 200,000 to 300,000. This lumber is shipped in barges 175 to 190 feet long, drawing 8 to 9 feet. There are two difficulties experienced in making these shi~ts. One is a narrow am crooked entrance fran the river into the creek, an1 the other is that the interior harbor is very narrow, being ob structed by a large llUd f lat in front of the town, on which the barges frequently ground...... The water-borne cormnerce on Smiths Creek for the year 1908 was 72,915 tons, valued at $789,551, of which 1,376 tons only were above Oriental, and 71,539 tons, valued at $773, 966 were handled at am below Oriental. More than half of this was lurnber and timber ••••

Ten years ago, it is stated, this place was only a small settlement, with practically no trade. Now it is a town of about 2,500 inhabitants, with cormnerce of over $75o,g2o an1 industries representing an investment of approximately $300,000. In view of the rapid growth of Oriental, am its present am potential commerce, it was determined that the federal government would undertake to

improve the entrance channel from the Neuse River and dredge a small bay in

the center of the town to a depth of ten feet at mean low water. In return,

the town of Oriental agreed to construct an adequate public wharf for gene-

ral use and a bulkhead or breakwater to protect the harbor from heavy swells

from the southeast. This bulkhead was to consist of "two rows of sheet

piling 300 feet apart, enclosing an area of 7.6 acres." It was to be filled

with materials dredged from the harbor. 62 A map accanpanying the report of

1909 clearly indicated the existing depths of water, the locations of exist-

ing industrial and wharf facilities, the harbor area to be dredged, and the

location of the proposed bulkhead, considered essential to the success of 63 • the overall project. 19

Just as the improvements at Or i ental were neari ng completion, and the • town seemed on the threshold of prosperity, there began a devastating series of events that woul d dramatically alter its future. In 1910 the Defiance

Box Company closed its Oriental plant. Two years later, the John L. Roper

lunt>er mill , upon which the town ' s economy so heavily deperrled, was de-

stroyed by fire, never to reopen. Nor was this all. In September of 1913

the town fel l victim to a vi olent hurricane, which deiOOlished the wharf of

the Norfolk and Southern Railroad and lai d waste the bulkhead guarding

Oriental harbor and the improvements only recently compl eted by the federal

goverllllent. 64

Quickly the fortunes of Oriental were reversed. Wi th the loss of its

principal industries, the resulting loss of commerce, and the destruction of

the bulkhead came also a decidedly different attitude on the part of gover n-

ment officials with respect to further assistance. In 1915 i t was deci ded

that no additional IOOnies would be experrled on the Oriental project, espe-

cially in view of the town ' s failure to rebuild the bulkhead and provide the

public wharf originally agreed upon:

It appears from the report of the di strict officer that commercial conditions have greatly changed since the adoption of the project for the improvements of thi s harbor. There was then a thriving and pros perous business which promised to expand and become of considerable general importance. Due apparently to the closing of one l arge indus try and the destruction of another by fire, the opposi te has been the case. Commerce has decreased very greatly and has assl.llred a l ocal character that does not require a depth of water as great as that call ed for by the existi ng project. Moreover, l ocal interests have apparently not found it to their advantage to provide an efficient and satisfactory bulkhead and public wharf, as contemplat ed by the act adopting the project. Without these adj uncts the dredging would be of l i ttle val ue and short l ived. In view of these corrlitions the board recommerrls l egisl ati on authorizing the abarrlonment of the project for Smiths Creek, N. c., and ~e return of any available balance of funds to the Federal Treasury • 6

A further investigation of commerce on Smith Creek in 1918 found that • it oonsisted primarily of agricultural products, seafcx::x:1, fertilizer, lumber, 20

timber , san:l, am miscellaneous items. Cargoes during the preceding year • had been transported by some fifteen small gas boats, twenty-two sailboats, one. steamer, an:l one barge. In addition to the freight, some 1 ,800 passen

gers had been borne along the stream during the course of the year. A depth

of nearly nine feet was still available in the entrance channel, with five

feet available in Smith and Kershaw creeks for a distance of one mile above

Oriental. Camnerce upstream from Oriental, however, accounted for less than

four percent of the total; an:l overall trade remained fairly light an:l of a

dec~ly local character. In view of its findings, the federal government

adhered to its earlier decision to undertake no further improvements in the 66 area.

In October of 1920 the Intracoastal Waterway was opened between Beau

fort and Balti.Jrore, making it possible for sizable barges to navigate in

safety between the two points without risking the perils of an ocean passage 67 along the Atlantic coast. '!be waterway, as constructed, passed through

the lower portion of the Neuse River very near the routh of Smith Creek and

Oriental. Di rectly opposite Oriental, on the south side of the Neuse, ves

sels passed through the routh of Adams Creek. In the fullness of time, and

especially in recent years, the proximity of the Intracoastal Waterway woul d

transform Oriental into the popular center for pleasure boating and tourism

that is has become today.

Almost immediately, the completion of this long section of the Intra

coastal Waterway began to affect the nature and volune of maritime activity

a l ong the lower Neuse. A r eport issued by the federal governnent in the

early 1920s summarized vessel traffic an:l cargoes in general, but pl aced

particular emphasis on the increased usage of barges for the shipment of • bulk cargoes: 21

About 85 per cent of the total commerce on Neuse River is over that portion of the stream below New Bern. Approximately one-third of the total is ll.lllber shipped by way of the inlarrl waterway to • points as far north as Canrlen, N. J . , in barges of 800 to 1,000 tons cap:lcity, with 8 or 9 feet draft. These barges bring return cargoes of fertilizer arrl materials for its manufacture, hard coal, cement, arrl salt. Another third is timber, rafted arrl towed by gas arrl steam boats of 4 to 7 feet draft. The remaining commerce consists largely of local trade with the surrourrling territory. Farm arrl water products are brought in, arrl fertilizer, groceries, rercharrlise, arrl s~lies are carried out in gas arrl steam boats of 3 to 6 feet draft.

In a passage of more particular relevance to Oriental arrl similar

places, this same report observed that small gas boats of twenty to fifty

tons burden made:

frequent trips from smaller communities on the lower Neuse and its tributaries, bringing cotton, potatoes, tobacco, arrl other. farm products, returning with fertilizer, groceries, arrl supphes. 69

It was about this same time that party boats, such as that of captain

Bill Willis, were making regular excursions from Oriental to Ocracoke, Cape

U>okout, Morehead City, arrl points upstream along the Neuse. It was also

during this period that fishing vessels arrl oyster boats began to operate

increasingly out of Oriental arrl other locations on the lower Neuse. One

old-time resident of the Lower Broad Creek area recalled seeing a fleet of

as many as sixteen vessels bringing their oysters upstream to market at New

Bern.70

Like their predecessors, twentieth century mariners have continued to

firrl the con:H tions of navigation on the lower Neuse to be subject to sudden

arrl disquieting change, despite the improvements in weather forecasting arrl

communications. In the 1970s, for example, an experienced sailor on the

lower Neuse described an incident which he, himself, had recently experi-

enced:

Most people don't know the moods of the Neuse.... The wirrl can be • blowing gently out of the southwest arrl all at once with no warning a 22

gale roars out of the northeast arrl knocks it down. It was on one of these occasions that [we] were out sailing. We were probably about a • mile out of the harbor off Whitakers Creek when the wim shifted to the Northeast • • • • In about two minutes, four foot seas were pushing my stern arrl the wim was blowing a gale. 71

In this particular case, the hapless mariner fouoo safety in the mouth of

~ittaker Creek, but he might just as easily have taken refuge in the mouth

of Smith Creek, as doubtless many other mariners have done since early in the eighteenth century.

In addition to the large shipwreck nearly opp:::>site Dewey Point, several

smaller am apparently ltllch IOOre recent wrecks have been located in Kershaw

Creek. Because their locations are so distant fran the open waters of the

Neuse, it seems unlikely that these vessels came to grief while seeking ref-

uge fran a storm. More probably, they suffered mishaps unrelated to weather, or were deliberately scuttled by their owners.

A soil survey map of 1934 indicates the presence of quite a number of

structures in Oriental arrl a f ew scattered improvements outside the town,

especially in conjunction with small boat larrlings on both sides of Smith,

Kershaw, arrl Greens creeks. There was, as ye t, no means of crossing the 72 lower portions of these streams except by water. An aerial photograph of

1938 conveys basically the same information with regard to improvements arrl

larrlings, but reveals ruch IOOre clearly the extent to which lams in the area were being cultivated.73

It was apparently soon after this picture was made that a bridge was

finally thrown across Smith Creek at Oriental, making it possible for the

first time to cross the stream by car or on foot. This bri dge would be 74 replaced by the present structure in the mid-1970s.

A map of 1948 irrlicates that little growth had taken place at Oriental • during the preceding decade. Nor had any dr arnatic changes occur red with 23 75 • respect to the larrls along the principal creeks in the area. It was

during this srure year, however, that a breakwater was constructed fran

Chadwick Point southwestward into the xoouth of Smith Creek, providing at 76 last to the Oriental harbor a ~asure of protection missing since 1913.

'lhroughout the 1950s arrl 1960s, Oriental remained a small mariti~ village with relatively few inhabitants, roost of whan were long-term or

native residents who derived their livelihoods primarily from the soil arrl from the waters of the Neuse River arrl Pamlico souoo. In recent years, however, the charms of Oriental have proven irresistable to increasing

m.mi:>ers of retirees, yachtsmen, arrl sailing enthusiasts. Many of these

relative newcaners have established permanent residence there, while others 77 come and go on a seasonal basis.

A comparison of the map of 1948 with a revised version of 1983 clearly

indicates the extent to which growth had already occur red in Oriental arrl 78 the immediate vicinity. Moreover, the rate of growth has accelerated significantly during just the last few years, bringing with it some basic

changes in the town ' s econcmy and way of life. The once tr~l arrl rela

tively isolated village now boasts six marinas, where roughly 500 pl easure 79 boats are IOOOred the year rourx3 . Time will tell whether the forces of

change can be controlled in such a way as to preserve the natural beauty of

the area arrl protect its enviroment for the enjoyment of future genera

tions. In the meantime, Oriental continues to build upon its rich maritime

heri tage. It is hoped that this report will contribute to an awreciation

of that heritage and be of some assistance in the archaeological investiga tions soon to be urrlertaken • • Footnotes

• ~id B. Quinn, editor, '!he Roanoke voyages, 1 584-1590 (Loooon: Hakluyt SocietyI 1955) , 166-167 aoo ''Map of Rale1gh ' s Virginia, 1584-90, n inside back cover. ~illiam G. Baag, '!he Archaeology of Coastal North Carolina (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1958) ,~0-61.

3r.arry B. Prescott, compiler, Pamlico County: 100 Years, 1872-1972 (N.P.: Pamlico County Historical Association, [1972]) , 146.

4John Lawson, A New Voyage to Car olina, edited by Hugh Talmage Lefler (Chapel Hill: The Univers1ty of North Carolina Press, 1967) , 242. 5 Prescott, Pamlico County, 12.

6Alonzo 'Ibomas Dill, Jr. , " Eighteenth Century New Bern: A History of the TOwn arrl Craven County, 1700-1800," 8 parts, North Carolina Historical Review, XXII (1945) a00 XXIII (1946) , Volume XXII (1945) , p . 8. See alsop. 12. 7 For i nformation on these earliest settlers, see Dill, "Eighteenth Century New Bern," XXII (1945), 6-13; Elizabeth Moore, Records of Cr aven County, Volume I (Bladensburg, Marylam: Genealogical Recorders, 1960) ,lO; weynette Parker Haun, canpiler, Craven Precinct-county North Carol ina ••• Cour t Minutes, 1712-1756, 4 vols. (Durham: published by the canpller, 1978-1987) , I, 1-2; aoo Prescott, Pamlico County, 12.

8Di11, " Eighteenth Century New Bern," XXII (1945) , 8 am 12-13.

9Dill, " Eighteenth Century New Bern," XXII (1945) , 11; am Beaufort County Deeds, Book I , p. 112. 10 saun, Craven County Court Minutes, I, 11, 21, aoo 23. 1 lwi1liam s. Powell, editor, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volumes I a.rx1 II. (Chapel Hill: The Univers1ty of North Carohna Press, 1979 am 1986) I II, 354; Dill, "Eighteenth Century New Bern," XXII (1945), 8; arrl Margaret M. Hofmann, editor, Province of North Carolina, 1663-1729 (Weldon: Roanoke News Co. , 1 979) , 42. For otherrecorded patents for Green in the area, see Hofmann, 63 a.rx1 135. 12 Powell, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography , II, 354. 13 Powell, Dictionary of North Carol ina Biography, II, 354; and Prescott, Pamlico County, 115. -

1~illiam L. Saumers, editor, Colonial Records of North Caroli na, 10 vols. (Raleigh: State of North Carolina, 1886-1890) , I, 879; Dill, " E1ghteenth Century New Bern," XXII (1945) I 311; am Powell, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, • I, 354. - 25 15 Saurrlers, Colonial Records of North carolina, V, 653- 654; Powell, Dictionary of North carolina Biography, II, 354; arrl Dill, "Eighteenth Century New • Bern," XXII (1945) , 312. 16 Secretary of State's Wills, North Carolina State Archives, will of Farnifold Green. See also the petition of James arrl Farnifold Green II in Saurrlers, Colonial Records of North carolina, v, 653-654. 17 Christoph Von Graffenried, Account of the Founding of New Bern, edited by Vincent H. Todd (Raleigh: Edwards arrl Broughton, 1920) , 226. 18 Graffenried, Account of the Founding of New Bern, 287; arrl Dill, "Eighteenth Century New Bern-;" XXII (1945) ,17r --

19Graffenried, Account of the Founding of New Bern, 379. 20 Graffenried, Account of the Founding of New Bern, 304. 21 Graffenried, Account of the Founding of New Bern, 305. 2 ~bert E. Lee, Blackbeard the Pirate: ~ Reappraisal of His Life and Times (Winston- Salem: John F. Blau, 1974) , 27- 55; arrl Powell, Dictionary of North carolina Biography, I, 163-164. --

23For a detailed account of Blackbeard' s brief career in North Carolina, see Lee, Blackbeard, 56-126; arrl Powell, Dictionary of North carolina Biography, I, 163-164. 2~e , Blackbeard, 172. For further discussion of "Teach's Oak" arrl of Blackbeard's trad1t1onal association with the Oriental area, see Prescott, Pamlico County, 157-159; arrl Marion W. Hardy, A Glimpse of Pamlico County (Charlotte: Herb Eaton, Inc. ; arrl Marceline, Missour1: Wadsworth Publishulg Co. , [1977]), 104- 105. For other locations traditionally associated with Blackbeard, see Lee, Blackbeard, 171-173 arrl 223-224. 25 Lee, Blackbeard, 74. 26 Quoted in Lee, Blackbeard, 73. 27 Charles Johnson [Daniel Defoe], A General History of the Pyrates, edited by Manual Schonhorn (Colunt>ia, South Carolina: Univers1ty of South Carolina Press, [1972] . First published in 1724), 75, 83 , arrl 87; arrl Lee, Blackbeard, 51. 28 r.ee, Blackbeard, 78-80 arrl 84. 29 Di11, "Eighteenth Century New Bern", XXII (1945), 465-467 and 474-477 and XXIII (1946) , 47 arrl 142. 30 oill, "Eighteenth Century New Bern," XXIII (1946), 60-61. See also pp. 62- 66 • • 3 ~ill, "Eighteenth Century New Bern," XXIII (1946), 64. 26

32oill, "Eighteenth Century New Bern," XXII (1945) , 476 ~ am Prescott, •• Parnlico COunty, 12. 33Margaret M. Hofmann, editor, Colony of North Carolina, 1 735-1775: Abstracts of Land Patents. Volurres I am Ilof projected three volurres (Weldon: Roanoke News Co. , 1982 am 1984) , I, 445, 450, and 533 am II, 44 and 636; Moore, Records of Craven COunty, 6, 7, 9, and 10; Saunder s , COlonial Records of North Carol .:ma,N, 953, 1044 and 1045 am V, 653- 654; am Rayzrorxl Parker Fouts, comp~ler , Abstracts from the North Carolina Gazette of New Bern, Nor th Carolina, 1751- 1759 and 1768- 1790; Volume I (Cocoa, Flor~da: ~n Rec Books, 1983) , 65-66. 34 See, for example, Fouts, Abstracts from the North Carolina Gazette, 65-66; Moore, Records of Craven County, 93-94; and Craven COunty loose wills, North Carolina State Arch~ves , WJ.ll s of Farnifol d Green (1759) and Farnifold Green (1774) •

35oill, "Eighteenth Century New Bern," XXIII (1946) , 345-348 and 350-351.

36Moore, Records of Craven Count y , 162.

37oill, "Eighteenth Century New Bern," XXIII (1946), 514- 515 and 517-519.

38'lbomas Hargrove arxl Gordon P. Watts, Jr., "A Cultural Resource Survey of the Efird Canpany Property New Bern North Carolina" (report subni tted to Wilmington District, United States Army Corps of Engineers, 1982) , 11. Herein after cited as Hargrove and Watts, "The Efird Company Property of New Bern."

39craven County Estates Papers, North Carolina State Archives, J ohn Green and Farnifold Green folders; Craven County loose wills, will of Farnifold Green III; Moore, Records of Craven County, 23 and 25; Hardy, A Glimpse of Parnlico County, 76; and Mar~on W. Hardy, I Remember "Oriental" (New Bern: A-1 Spec~al Secretarial Service, 1975~ First published ~n 1974) , 8- 10. 40 craven County loose wills, will of Farnifold Green III. 41 For examples of vessels in distress on the lower Neuse during the antebellum period, see Moore, Records of Craven COunty, 53- 57. 42 John G. Barrett, '!he Civil War in North Carolina (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press~963) , 95-108; arx1 Angela Barnett, Pamlico County Imagery: An Architectural survey (Bayboro, North Carollna: Board ofCounty C00111U.ss~oners, am Pamlico County Hi storical Associ ation, 1980) , 9.

43aardy, ~ Glimpse of Pamlico COunty, 70. See also pp. 63 arx1 67; Hardy, .!. Remember "Or1ental", 2; am Prescott, Pamlico COunty, 146.

44Prescott, Pamlico County, 146. See also Hardy, A Glimpse of Parnlico COunty, 67- 68. 'l'tiere were, 1 n fact, at least two homes-in the oriental v1cinlty when the Midyetts arrived, known later as the "Blackwell House" am the "Sparrow House. " See Prescott, Pamlico County, 147; arx1 Hardy, A Glimpse of Pamlico • COunty, 75. 27

45Prescott, Pamlico County, 147; am Hardy, ~Glimpse of Pamlico County, 63-64.

• 46united States Army Corps of Engineers Map of 1874, North Carolina State Archives.

47Prescott, Pamlico County, 147.

48Levi Branson, canpiler, Branson's North carolina Business Directory, editions of 1890 arrl 1896 (Rale1gh: Lev1 Branson, Office Publ1sher, 1890 am 1896) , (1890) , pp. 503-505.

49Branson, North carolina Business Directory (1896) , pp. 473-475.

50united States Congress. 54th Congress, 2nd Session. House Docurrent, No. 317, p . 3.

51Hargrove am Watts, "The Efird Company Property of New Bern," 13-21. 5~grove arrl Watts, "The Efird Company Property of New Bern," 20.

53Richard E. Prince, Norfolk Southern Railroad Old Dominion Line and Connections (Millard, Nebraska: Published by the author, 1972), 188-189; Barnett, Parnl1c0 County Imagery, 10-12; Hardy, A Glimpse of Pamlico County, 64 arrl 75; am Prescott, Pamlico County, 153 arrl 156. For p1ctures of the Neuse arrl Ocr acoke, see Hardy, A Gll.ITipSe of Pamlico County, 64 arrl Hardy, I Remember "Oriental", 85. A third- steamer, the Albemarl e, also aH;)ears to have made regular stops at Oriental. See Hardy, .!. Remember "Oriental", 15. 54Prince, Norfolk and Southern Railr oad, 15; Hargrove arrl Watts, "The Efird Company Property of New Bern", 22; United States Congress. 6lst Congress, 3rd Session. House Docurrent, No. 1093, p. 5; United States Congress. 67th Congress, 2nd Session. House Docurrent, No. 299, p. 8; am Hardy, A Glimpse of Pamlico County, 64. The rail line between New Bern arrl Bayboro was actuallycanpleted by the Pamlico, Oriental, arrl Western Railroad, which was absorbed in 1906 by the Norfolk am Southern.

55Hargrove arrl Watts, "The Efird Company Property of New Bern," 21- 22; arrl Barnett, Pamlico County Imagery, 13.

56House Docurrent, No. 1093, pp. 1- 3; House Docurrent, No. 299, pp. 2- 3; arrl United States Congress. 77th Congress, 2nd Session. House Docurrent, No. 623, pp. 2-3.

57Hardy, A Glimpse of Pamlico County, 78-79; arrl Prescott, Pamli co County, 147-148. --

58Hardy, A Glimpse of Pamlico County, 64, 79, arrl 81. See also u.s. Army Corps of Engineers map ofl909 1n Apperrl1Xes.

59Hardy, A Glimpse of Pamlico County, 64. See also u.s. Army Corps of • Engineers map of 1909 in Apperxhxes. 28

GOPrescott, Pamli co County, 148; am Hardy, ~ Glimpse of Pamlico County, • 79. 6~nited States Congress. 6l st Congress, 2nd Session. House Docwrent, No. 774, pp. 3-4. See also pp. 6-8.

6~ouse Docuirent, No. 774, pp. 7 am 10. See also United States Congress. 65th Congress, 3rd Session. House Docuirent, No. 1848, p. 2.

63See u.s. Army Corps of Engineers map of 1909 in Appemixes. 64 united States Congress. 64th Congress, 1st Session. House .Docu.trent, No. 59, pp. 4 am 6; am House Docun'ent, No. 1848, p. 5. For a picture of the bulkhead prior to its destruction, see Appemixes. 65 House Document, No. 59, p. 3. 66 House Document, No. 1848, pp. 2- 8. For a map accompanying the report of 1918, see Appemixes.

67House Document, No . 299, pp. 9- 10.

68House Document, No. 299, p . 8. 69 aouse Document, No. 299, p. 9. 70 Hardy I A Glimpse of Pamli co County I 67 am 69; am Prescott, Pamlico County, 115. --

7~ardy , A Glimpse of Pamlico Count y, 90. 72 See soil survey map of 1934 in Appemixes. 73 See aerial photogra:fh of 1938 in Appemixes. 74 Hardy, .!_ Remember "Oriental", 68 am 82.

75See map of 1948 in Appemixes. 76 aardy, A Glimpse of Pamlico County, 69. 77 News and Observer (Raleigh} , May 18, 1987. 78 See maps of 1948 am 1983 in Apperrlixes. 79 News and Observer (Raleigh} , May 18, 1987• • BibliograFhy

• Unpublished Sources North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh Aerial PhotograFhs Beaufort County Records Deeds Craven County Records Deeds Estates Papers Records of Ships and Merchants Wills Maps of North Carolina, the Neuse River, am Pamlico Soum Pamlico County Records Deeds Estates Papers Wills Treasurers and Comptrollers Papers, Ports, Port Beaufort

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Rush, Richard am others, editors. Official Records of the Union and Con federate Navies in the War of the Rebelll.on. 30vols. Washington: Goverment Pr1ntTrig Offlce,l894-1914.

Saurrlers, William L., editor. Colonial Records of North Carolina. 10 vols. Raleigh: State of North Carolina, 1886-1890.

Scott, R. N. aoo others, editors. 'lbe War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of theUniooand COrlfederate Armies. 70 vols. Wash1ngton: Governnent Print1ng Office, 1880-1901.

Southgate, Herbert s. "Pioneer Skipper." State, LIII, No. 5 {October, 1985), 8-10 an1 26- 27.

United States Congress. 43rd Congress, 1st Session. Senate Miscellaneous Document, No. 25.

54th Congress, 200 Session. House Docunent, No. 317.

61st Congress, 200 Session. Bouse Docunent, No. 774.

61st Congress, 3rd Session. House Docunent, No. 1093.

63rd Congress, 1st Session. House Docunent, No. 226.

64th Congress, 1st Session. House Docum:mt, No. 59.

65th Congress, 3rd Session. House DoCUirent, No. 1848

67th Congress, 2n1 Session. House DoCUirent, No. 299.

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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA Department of Cultural Resources M ernorandum Raleigh 27611

Date: May 2 1 1988

TO Mark Wilde- Ramsing, Urrlerwater Archaeology

FROM,. Wilson Angley, Research Branch

SUBJECT: Oriental area survey

After hearing of your plans to expand tl:e survey area in the vi cinity of Oriental, I went back to nrt notes for the Oriental report and to my re:port of 1984 on the SUrl1ter Winds develop:nent area. The latter re:port does a pretty decent job of filling in the history of the area between Orchard arrl Broad creeks, arrl makes a few refer ences to Dawson's Creek as well.

The early history of tl:e additional areas is virtually identical with the Oriental area itself - settled during the first few decades of the eighteenth century by fanners and planters whJ depended very : heavily on the Neuse and its various trib.ltaries for travel and can m:rce. Many of these early settlers are nentioned in the SuriiTer Winds re:port. At least sare of these rren were tb:mselves mariners.

John Pindar, for e.xarrple 1 was a seafaring man ~ to have lived at the nouth of Dawson's Creek prior to tre Revoluticn. I should also m:ntion that recovered artifacts irrlicate that a large Indian village appears to have been located near the present site of Whortonsville.

The shorelines of the creeks in the expanded survey area cxntinued under tl:e ownership of farm:rs and small planters through the antebellum pericxi. At least one of these, John :&lrney, is known to have had a mill and a sizable naval stores operation on Browns Creek. I expect that there ware numerous naval stores prcxiucers and a gocxi many crude larrlings throughout tre entire survey area prior to tre Civil War.

Unfortunately, the naps of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are virtually w::>rthless as far as irrlicati.ng structures, larrlings, and otrer features is concerned. ~, an excellent and highly detailed map of tiE lower Neuse was ~lished in 1874, which I am enclosing. As you will see, it sh:>ws numerous fannsteads, outl::uildings, roads, and landings aloog the Neuse and its principal trihltaries. Mark Wilde-Ramsing May 2, 1988 Page 2

Like Oriental, the other SIBil cxmwnities in the general survey area carne into existence late in the nineteenth century and developed at a leisurely pace thereafter - at least for a while. In 1880 P!lml.ioo had a ootton gin, two general stores, b.u fish dealers, and a canbination oorn, flour, and sawnill powered ~ steam. Virtually the same situation continued in 1896, with the steam sawnill ncM being operated by W::xxiard and Son. Near~ 1 at the present Whortons ville, a general store was being operated by R. P. Whorton. A post office opened at Pamlico in 1878, rut was discont:i.rru.ed in 1930. The post office at Whortonsville opened in 1904 and closed in 1924. The post office at Janeiro opened in 1889 and closed in 1931.

The production of ltmlber at Parnlico continued well into the twentieth century and occasioned a significant anount of maritirce activity on the lower portions of Broad Creek. A rep::>rt on this stream in 1918 descri.J:x:rl this operation and asscciated traffic in sore detail, mentioning schooners, l::arges, gas J::oats, and sma.ll steamers. It further rep::>rted that the latter b.u types of vessels plied "quite regularly between Pamlioo and Ne\lbml and Oriental." I am enclosing a copy of this rep:>rt and its accatpanying map.

For whatever they might be ~rth, I am also enclosing several u.s.G.s. maps done in 1948 and 1951. I t:h:Jught they might provide sane useful carparisons with your nore recent maps of the area and with the soil survey map of 1934.

I hope that this infonnation will prove helpful as yoo plan the expanded survey of the Oriental area. If I can be of any further assistance, please let ne knJw.

WA:lk