Poll Scrapbool

Bill Griffin's Scrapbook
Submission & comments by
William A. "Bill" Griffin

GROWING UP IN HYDE: MY EARLIEST MEMORIES THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL
(written in 2009; often revised)

Before I start my memories, I need to lay a little family background. I wish I had started this before my Mother died—there are things I’d like to ask her that is now too late. Maybe in time I will find some people who are older than I who remember my families before I was born—I’d like to fill in a few details.
Scranton’s history and my family come together with the arrival in 1892 of The Scranton Land and Lumber Company. When this group of entrepreneurs arrived from Scranton, PA, they changed the name of the community of Broad Creek, NC, to Scranton, NC. I don’t know when my grandfather, Leonard Albert Griffin (born 2/12/1860), arrived. He was from Rexburg, VA (northeast of Richmond). Whether or not he had already lived in Scranton before he married my grandmother, Winifred Kinion (born 11/20/1876), in Yeatsville on May 17,1893, is unknown to me. He was 33 at the time, and she was 16½. (The first property recorded to him was on March 27, 1897.) He worked as a blacksmith. To this union, four children were born: Lillian (12/3/98), James Leonard (Pete-11/18/02), Maude (8/27/06), and Norfleet Edward (John—4/3/1908), my father.

My first cousin, James Leonard Griffin, Jr (born 7/23/29)—who had all kinds of nicknames—I called him "Dick"—states that our granddad came to Hyde as a logging superintendent, logging for Cooperage Lumber Company in Belhaven, and sending the logs by the river to Belhaven. He says that after that job had worked itself out, and he had married our grandmother, that he decided to stay in Scranton and built a store. Later he became a blacksmith. The store and blacksmith shop were gone before my memory. (The 1920 census lists him as “general mdse. salesman’; the 1930 census lists him as “blacksmith.”)
I do not know why my grandfather was so detached from his family. It seems that he never visited his family in Virginia again. And, to the best of my findings, the family only visited the Scranton Griffins once. So far, I have not been able to trace any roots in Virginia. (That has now changed-2015-and I have a lot of info on the family.)

My first home was the home that the Griffins had lived in before moving next door. I do not remember my grandfather Griffin. He was killed by a log truck on April 13, 1942, when I was 2½. He had ridden to Belhaven on a log truck to get some supplies. When he returned, he took the supplies off the truck and waved the truck on; and as the truck pulled away, it ran over him. He was 82. I remember the Griffins as staunch Democrats.

Born in 1939, Bill Griffin grew up in Scranton, NC. He enjoyed school in Swan Quarter, and that is where he met his future wife, Patricia Swindell, in the first grade—in fact, he proposed to her in the first grade. They graduated from West Hyde (Swan Quarter) High School in 1958. Trish went to East Carolina, majoring in home economics, and Bill went to Roanoke Bible College, majoring in Bible. They married at Trish’s home in 1962, while Bill was preaching at West Park Church of Christ in Portsmouth, VA. They spent a year in Tennessee, where Trish taught and Bill advanced his education. They returned to Roanoke Bible College in 1963 where they began a life-life ministry at Roanoke Bible College—he serving as a professor and in various administrative roles while she completed her education in library science and became library director. Trish retired in 2006; Bill in 2013. They have two grown children and five living grandchildren (one deceased). Bill has published two books: Ante-Bellum Elizabeth City: the History of a Canal Town and Roanoke Bible College: the First Twenty-five Years. They have enjoyed a close relationship with the home county. They returned to Fairfield in 1978 for an eight-year weekend ministry at Fairfield Christian Church. Bill’s mother lived in Hyde until 1972; Trish’s parents were in Hyde County until her mother’s death in 2010. They still own land in Hyde.

Some of these photographs are digitized slides that Harry & Inez Poll took in the early 1950s. Harry was born in England on Jan. 29, 1900, immigrated to the US in 1913 and was listed as a Church of Christ pastor on the 1930 Mower Co., Minnesota census. Harry married Inez Marie Keyser c1919 and they had 3 children. Inez was born in Iowa on Sept. 15, 1897 and died in Atlanta, Georgia on Feb. 16, 1980. Harry died in April 1968. They are buried in Union Cemetery in Cambridge, Isanti Co., Minnesta. Harry preached at Englewood in Indianapolis, Indiana and he came to Eastern North Carolina every two years for vacation and held revivals. They held two or three at Scranton, including baptizing the submitter of these slides. They would take the slides one year and when they returned again the next year they would show them after the nightly preaching. This was quite a phenomenon in Hyde in the early 50s! The back country of Eastern North Carolina included logging operations which must have really intrigued him because there were so many photos. Following the Poll's deaths Bill Griffin asked their daughter, Marjorie, for the slides which he had digitized. The church photos (with the exception of the Scranton Christian Church) the sawmill photos and 7 of the photos under the "Families & Homes" section are all from the Poll Collection, the rest were taken by Bill & Trish Griffin.

Bill made a very nice presentation on October 22, 2017 to the Hyde County Historical & Genealogical Society. Just click on the image below to see the presentation.

If you can identify any of the persons in the photos below, please e-mail me or Bill Griffin so we can put a name to the face. Thanks!

Ancestral Charts for Bill Griffin & his wife, Trish (Swindell) Griffin

To see Bill & Patricia "Trish" (Swindell) Griffin's Ancestral charts go to this page: http://www.myheritage.com/site-family-tree-162250312/griffin

Benjamin W. Dunbar b. Jan. 30, 1848 d. Apr.19, 1912

Margaret Elizabeth Gowers b. Nov.16, 1849 d. Aug. 4, 1929 [see death certificate]

Married: Jan. 24, 1869 in Hyde Co.

Children:

1. William Hertford Dunbar - b. Sept. 30, 1871 d. June 18, 1952 [see death certificate and tombstone]; Married: Julia Agnes Boyd

2. Charles Alonzo L. "Lonnie" Dunbar - born Mar. 19, 1873 d. Aug. 22, 1943 [see death certificate]; Married Mar. 9, 1904 in Hyde Co. to Margaret Elizabeth "Maggie" Smithwick

3. James Benjamin "Bennie" Dunbar - b. Jan. 24, 1875 d. July 31, 1928 [see death certificate]; Married: Estelle Allen; Buried: Davis Cemetery, Pungo, Beaufort Co., NC

4. Julia Elizabeth Dunbar - b. Jan. 20, 1877 d. May 3, 1909; Married: a Bishop

5. Margaret Virginia "Maggie" Dunbar - b. Oct. 16, 1878 d. Apr. 26, 1938 [see tombstone]; Married 1^st Joseph R. Skittlethorp on Apr. 20. 1898 in Hyde Co.; 2^nd Eli Lafayette Baynor May 20, 1900 in Hyde Co.

6. Mary E. Dunbar - b. Feb. 26, 1881 d. 1881

7. Dallas Dunbar - b. Oct. 16, 1882 d. Nov. 24, 1922 [see tombstone in Mount Olive Church of Christ Cemetery]; Married: Ada Allen

8. Edward N. "Eddie" Dunbar - b. March 26, 1884 d. February 20, 1961; Married: Julia Collins

9. Jay Hugh B. Dunbar - b. Feb. 13, 1886 d. Nov. 11, 1980 Elizabeth City, NC see tombstone]; Married: Bina Mae Cowling

10. Wheeler Wilson Dunbar - b. June 22, 1888 d. Sept. 7, 1964 [see death certificate]; Married: Effie Pinkham; Buried Oakdale Cemetery, Washington, Beaufort Co., NC

11. Rufus Dunbar - b. June 23, 1888 d. Aug. 10, 1951 [see death certificate and tombstone]; Married: Nina Pearl Mallison

12. Blanche Maybell Dunbar - b. May 21, 1890 d. Sept. 23, 1980 Mariposa, CA; Married: a Satterthwaite

	Seven of eight sons born to Benjamin & Margaret (Gowers) Dunbar
Margaret (Gowers) Dunbar holding her grandson, Wendell Satterthwaite
	Hertford Dunbar & wife Julia with grandson, Billy Griffin
William Hertford Dunbar, son of Benj. & Margaret Dunbar

1976 Dunbar Reunion News Article

Church

Scranton Christian Church - Photo by Bill Griffin
[see also a 1914 photo of Scranton School]

Scranton Christian Church during Revival 1951

Scranton Christian Church Choir during Revival 1951

Scranton Christian Church during Revival 1951

Scranton Christian Church Folks - early 1940s

1 Annie Rayburn, 2 Annie Silverthorne, 3 Mattie Bridgman, 4 Andrew Alcox, Sr., 5 Joe Bishop, 6 George Rayburn, 7 unknown, 8 unknown, 9 Florence Ross, 10 George Ross, Jr., 11 Ella Bishop, 12 Matt Whitley, 13 Rosa Alcox, 14 Maggie Bishop, 15 George Ross, Sr., 16 Unknown, 17 Christine Hodges, 18 Tiny Equills, 19 Andrew Alcox, Jr., 20 Sam Silverthorne, 21 Archibald Bishop, 22 Mack Mason, 23 Selma Mason, 24 Essie Lee Equils, 25 Margaret Bridgman, 26 Leonard Griffin

Scranton Christian Church Folks - early 1940s

1 Annie Rayburn, 2 Andrew Alcox, Jr., 3 Andrew Alcox, Sr., 4 Rosa Alcox, 5 Florence Ross, 6 George Rayburn, 7 George Cuthrell, 8 George Ross, Sr., 9 unknown, 10 Walter Hodges, 11 Betty Morris, 12 Sam Silverthorne, 13 Leonard Griffin, 14 Bill Noble, 15 Annie Silverthorne, 16 Mona Cuthrell

Scranton Christian Church Baptism Service at Bells Island

Scranton Christian Church, originally known as Neal's Chapel, was organized in September 1855 and in October 1855 it was enrolled by the Annual Conference of the State's Disciples. Although an exact date is not known for the erection of the first building at Neal's Chapel, it is likely that it was between 1855 & 1870. In 1888 the first Sunday School was organized with 39 members and 4 teachers. In 1892 the name Neal's Chapel ceased to be used and the name Scranton appeared on official correspondence. This church has been remodeled several times during it's long history. The change from a Disciple church to an independent Christian Church occurred officially in 1968.

Mount Olive Church of Christ was enrolled by the State's Annual Meeting in October 1866. Services were held at Clark's Schoolhouse. The church was built about 1887 but did not start using the name Mount Olive until 1888. The church dropped it affiliation with the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, in N.C. and is now associated with the Church of Christ. The church is a white structure to which additions have been made during the years. It's surrounded by the church cemetery and a beautiful grove of oak and pine trees.

On Oct. 23, 1887, the Fairfield Christian Church, known as "Enterprise" until 1893, was enrolled by the N.C. Christian Missionary Convention with a membership of 25. On. Dec. 1, 1892 Mrs. Laura Blackwell executed a deed to the trustees of the church for 1/5 acre for a building site. By 1894 there were 79 members.

Mount Olive Church of Christ at Ponzer

Fairfield Christian Church

School

1924 Sladesville High School Commencement Program

The above seven school pictures were taken in relationship to Miss Lona Bonner’s classroom—4^th and 5^th grades at Swan Quarter. Most of them are from the 1949/1950 school year, a few from 1950/1951. In addition to making a sand castle every year, she also took her students on a trip to Mrs. Way’s Museum in the Leechville area of Beaufort Co., then to Washington, NC to tour bottling plants, newspapers, etc., and through Bath to see houses and church buildings in the old town. She was an outstanding teacher—but so were almost all the teachers at that school. What a tremendous foundation they gave us.

SOULE HONORS FAITH SERVICE

    Soule United Methodist Women honored Lona Bonner CARAWAN during the morning worship service on Sunday, October 8. CARAWAN was recognized for her devotion and outstanding contributions to the church. This recognition also included wishes for her 90^th birthday on Oct. 18.
    Mrs. Scott COBLE, president of the UMW, presented the honoree with a rose corsage, a devotional book by Helen Steiner RICE and read a poem she had composed for this special occasion.
    Mrs. CARAWAN was born on Oct. 18, 1910 to Claud and Lizzie Swindell BONNER. On Oct. 30 she was baptized by Presiding Elder A. M^cCULLEN. She was married to W. Ruel CARAWAN who died in January of 1967.
    In service to the church she served as a Sunday School teacher and is a member of the administrative council. Presently she is president of Soule Ladies Aid, holding the position for 63 years. In the UMW she prepares and presents the program and has done so for the past 15 years. Under her care the paraments are always changed appropriately and the candles trimmed and replaced as needed. Through the combined program of Providence and Soule she volunteers weekly at Cross Creek Health Care.
    Mrs. CARAWAN is a graduate of East Carolina University (then ECTC). After graduation she continued to upgrade her studies. She retired as a classroom teacher with the Hyde County School System after 40 years of service.
    At the close of the worship service the Reverend Hal HARBIN asked the blessing of the meal, a birthday dinner complete with cake and candles. (The Coastland Times - Sunday, October 29, 2000; pg. 16A)

SWAN QUARTER - Lona Bonner CARAWAN, 95, of 535 Turnpike Road, Swan Quarter, died Thursday, September 28, 2006, at Cross Creek Health Care, where she had been a patient recently. Born in Lake Landing, October 18, 1910, she was the daughter of the late Claude L. and Lizzie Swindell Bonner. She was the widow of Ruel Carawan who died in 1967. Mrs. Carawan was a life-long member of Soule United Methodist Church, a former teacher of youth and adult Sunday school classes, active in United Methodist Women and president of the Soule Ladies Aid from January, 1937 until it disbanded a few years ago. She was a graduate of East Carolina Teachers College. She retired after teaching in the Swan Quarter and Mattamuskeet schools for 40 years, 1930 to 1970. She was active in the Hyde County Unit of Retired Teachers, a member of the Hyde County Historical and Genealogical Society, Hyde County Grassroots Arts Council and Octagon House Restoration, Inc. She was a charter member of the former Swan Quarter Rebekah Lodge in which she took an active part for forty eight years. Surviving are a nephew, F. Thomas Carmine, Jr. of Newport News, Va.; a great nephew, Bret Carmine of Newport News, Va. and a first cousin, Mary-Louise S. McGee of Swan Quarter. She was preceded in death by her dear sister, Renagrant B. Carmine. Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday in Providence United Methodist Church. The Rev. Valerie Ballance and Steve Bryan will officiate and burial will follow in Soule Cemetery. The family will receive friends in the fellowship hall at Providence Church from 1 p.m. until the hour of the funeral on Sunday. Arrangements are by Bryan Funeral Service in Swan Quarter. (Washington Daily News - Saturday, September 30, 2006)

Swan Quarter (West Hyde) High School Juniors & Seniors on a trip to Washington, D.C. - Spring 1957

Circa 1958 - High School Queen, Patricia "Trish" Swindell, & her Court

Work & Industry

In 1932, the Mattamuskeet Drainage District was abandoned and the Mattamuskeet Lake property sold to the U.S. government to create Mattamuskeet Migratory Bird Refuge. Between 1935-1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps transformed the converted the old pumping station into a rustic hunting resort called Mattamuskeet Lodge. Some of the Hyde Co. CCC men are seen above.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families as part of the New Deal. Originally for young men ages 18–23, it was eventually expanded to young men ages 17-28. Robert Fechner was the head of the agency. It was a major part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal that provided unskilled manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state and local governments. The CCC was designed to provide jobs for young men, to relieve families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Great Depression in the United States while at the same time implementing a general natural resource conservation program in every state and territory. Maximum enrollment at any one time was 300,000; in nine years 3 million young men participated in the CCC, which provided them with shelter, clothing, and food, together with a small wage of $30 a month ($25 of which had to be sent home to their families).

The American public made the CCC the most popular of all the New Deal programs. Principal benefits of an individual's enrollment in the CCC included improved physical condition, heightened morale, and increased employability. Implicitly, the CCC also led to a greater public awareness and appreciation of the outdoors and the nation's natural resources; and the continued need for a carefully planned, comprehensive national program for the protection and development of natural resources.

During the time of the CCC, volunteers planted nearly 3 billion trees to help reforest America, constructed more than 800 parks nationwide and upgraded most state parks, updated forest fire fighting methods, and built a network of service buildings and public roadways in remote areas.

The CCC operated separate programs for veterans and Native Americans.

Despite its popular support, the CCC was never a permanent agency. It depended on emergency and temporary Congressional legislation for its existence. By 1942, with World War II and the draft in operation, need for work relief declined and Congress voted to close the program. Source: Wikipedia

Kenneth Dunbar's Sawmill Operation

Left-Right: Jack Watson, Kenneth Dunbar, Michael Williams at the sawmill

Left to Right - Lucille Griffin, Harry Poll, Billy Griffin, Joe Bishop

A load of pulpwood

Families & Homes

Kenneth Dunbar & his Packard in Scranton in front of the log cabin store run by Lillian Griffin

Kenneth Dunbar Home

Keith Dunbar Home

Newspaper article & photo compliments of Carolyn Dunbar

Photo taken 1949 in front of the Kenneth Dunbar Home
Left to Right - Inez Poll, Lucille Griffin, John Griffin [aka Norfleet Edward] and Billy Griffin (in front)

Compliments of Carolyn Dunbar

Bobby Dunbar's 6th Birthday - May 3, 1946

Dunbar Family - Photo by Bill Griffin
Left to Right standing by a 1953 Chevy- John Griffin, Bobby Dunbar, Thelma Dunbar, Keith Dunbar, Lucille Griffin, Jimmy Dunbar, Margaret Bing, Emmett Bing, Bill Griffin (our submitter)

Dunbar/Richards Christmas Breakfast 1957 at Keith Dunbar's Home
Starting on the left: Keith Dunbar, Estelle Richards, Thelma (Richards) Dunbar, Lucille (Dunbar) Griffin, Maude (Griffin) Dunbar, & Kate Richards [with her back to the camera & mother of Thelma]

Dunbar/Richards Christmas Breakfast 1957 at Keith Dunbar's Home - Second shift of same meal
Starting on the left: John Griffin, Kenneth Dunbar, Annette (Richards) Harris, Jimmy Dunbar, Marjorie (Richards) Harris, Gilbert Richards, Bobby Dunbar [with his back to the camera]

Easter photos compliments of Carolyn Dunbar

Dunbar Family - 1946

Left-Right: Olian Williams, Sr., Christine Williams, Michael Williams, Cora Hodges, & Walter Hodges

Harry & Inez Poll

John Harry Swindell family at Lake Mattamuskeet

John Harry Swindell family - c1942
In the front yard of the Swindell home at Swindell's Fork, Swan Quarter, Hyde Co.

Left-Right - Annie Silverthorne, Sam Silverthorne, Julia Dunbar

John Harry Swindell family - 1950s
Photo of all of J. Harry Swindell's children, spouses and grandchildren

Norfleet Edward "John" Griffin and his sister Maude Griffin

Left-Right - Leonard Albert Griffin; Bill Nobles, George Washington Hodges at Scranton Christian Church
Photo made before 1942

Left-Right:
   James Leonard "Pete" Griffin, Sr. - b. Nov. 18, 1902 d. Feb. 24, 1976; Buried: Oakdale Cemetery in Washington, Beaufort Co., NC
Maude Amelia Griffin - b. Aug. 27, 1906 - d. Feb. 18, 1983 Belhaven, NC [see obit]; Married William Kenneth Dunbar; Buried: Mt. Olive Church of Christ Cemetery
Norfleet Edward Griffin [always known as John Griffin] - b. Apr. 3, 1908 in Scranton, NC d. Apr. 22, 1971 in Pantego, NC in a logging accident [see obit - see death certificate]. He married Julia Lucille "Lucy" Dunbar on Apr. 20, 1935. Lucille was born in Royal, NC on Nov. 10, 1912 & died Feb. 18, 2007 in Elizabeth City, NC. [see obit] They are buried in the Belhaven Community Cemetery.
   Winifred Elizabeth (Kinion) Griffin - b. Nov. 20, 1876 Chocowinity, NC d. Dec. 12, 1960 Belhaven, NC [see obit - see death certificate]; Buried: Mt. Olive Church of Christ Cemetery
   Leonard Albert Griffin, Sr. - b. Feb. 12, 1860 Rexburg, VA d. Apr. 13, 1942 Washington, NC [see death certificate]; Buried: Mt. Olive Church of Christ Cemetery NOTE: All census records indicate that Leonard Albert was born in 1860, however, his death certificate, with his wife as the informant, & tombstone indicate 1875.
   Lillian A. Griffin - b. Oct. 3, 1898 Scranton, NC - d. Dec. 17, 1973 Scranton, NC; Married: Charles Spencer in Hyde Co. on May 29, 1918; Divorced before 1930

Photo taken circa 1914

Left-Right:

John Harold Swindell, Jr. - b. Feb. 24, 1913 Swan Quarter, NC d. Mar. 31, 1996 Swan Quarter, NC [see obit]; Buried: Soule Cemetery; Married: Janie Cutrell in Hyde Co. on Jan. 29, 1937

John Harold "Harry" Swindell, Sr. - Mar. 11, 1889 Swan Quarter d. Jan. 30, 1979 Washington, NC [see obit]; Buried: Soule Cemetery; Married: Mary Atkinson

Mary (Atkinson) Swindell - b. Nov. 28, 1887 Tunkhannock, PA d. Apr. 14, 1969 Washington, NC; Buried: Soule Cemetery

Russell Atkinson Swindell - b. May 14, 1916 Hyde Co. d. Mar. 3, 1997 Raleigh, NC [see obit]; Buried: Raleigh Memorial Park Cemetery; Married: Martha Easterling [see her Find-A-Grave page]

Photo taken circa 1918

The Jamestown Exposition was one of the many world's fairs and expositions that were popular in the United States in the early part of the 20th century. Commemorating the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in the Virginia Colony, it was held from April 26 to December 1, 1907, at Sewell's Point on Hampton Roads, in Norfolk, Virginia. It celebrated the first permanent English settlement in the present United States. The 20 remaining exposition buildings were included on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, as a national historic district. Apparently this Hyde County couple ventured to Norfolk in 1907 for the festivities. This is Joseph Sar Cutrell and his wife Annie May Nixon. They married in Hyde County on January 15, 1905. Joseph was born Sept. 13, 1869 and died July 12, 1929. Annie May was born Nov. 18, 1882. After Joseph's death she married John Martin Benson on Nov. 14, 1942. Annie died Dec. 8, 1957. Joseph & Annie are buried in Fairfield Cemetery in Hyde County. For more information on the 1907 Jamestown Exposition see Wikipedia.


1972 going-away party at Hub's Reck in Belhaven given for Lucille (Dunbar) Griffin on her move from Hyde County to Elizabeth City. Attendants mostly consisted of Scranton Christian Church friends and Hyde neighbors.