True Republican - March 26, 1811

The Washington Post (Washington, DC) - November  14, 1925; pg. 2
    GAME WARDEN, CLUB SUPERINTENDENT AND GUIDE SAVED IN CURRITUCK SOUND - Norfolk, Va., Nov. 13 - Three men clinging to the housing of their sunken power boat in Currituck Sound, half dead from exposure and their struggles in a storm that whipped the water into a fury, were rescued by the schooner J.E. Sterling, enroute from Stumpy Point, N.C. to Norfolk last night.  They were D.W. SNOW, game warden of Currituck County; A.J. KOYNER, superintendent of the Swan Island Club; and G.D. CARSON. a club guide.  Capt. C.E. WISE and engineer Ben MIDGETT of the schooner put off in a lifeboat when they heard cries for help in the gale.  SNOW and CARSON were found conscious but extremely weak from their efforts to keep themselves and KOYNER, who was unconscious, above the water.  KOYNER was on the verge of delirium when taken aboard the schooner.  He had been at Currituck courthouse that day and SNOW and CARSON had gone from Swan Island in a 38-foot power boat Teal to take him home.  The boat was blown against some hidden piling and the bottom stove in.  She sank within a few minutes.  Only a few inches of the housing remained above the water.  "If we had been half and hour later" Capt. WISE said, "I am certain that the three men would have perished.  Their strength was almost gone."

The Washington Post (Washington, DC) - July 16, 1926; pg. 2
MAN ADRIFT IN BOAT IS SOUGHT AS SLAYER - Norfolk, Va., July 15 - Adrift somewhere in Back Bay or Currituck Sound in a skiff, George WATERFIELD, sought as the slayer of pretty Bertha ANSELL, 17, belle of Knotts Island, is eluding a posse and half a dozen bloodhounds bent on capturing him.  WATERFIELD, it is alleged, killed Miss ANSELL and seriously wounded William M. TATEM, her escort, on a lonely road near Knotts Island Tuesday night and then escaped.  He is armed with a shotgun and a pistol and has plenty of ammunition.  Most of the inhabitants of Knotts Island have not been asleep since the shooting, many believing WATERFIELD might return and slay others.  Fred WILKINS, a resident of the island, says WATERFIELD told him there were at least two other he wanted to kill before he is taken prisoner.  The island shores are being patrolled by armed men, while others are in motor boats and skiffs seeking the fugitive.  It is charged that WATERFIELD killed the girl because of a grudge he had against her father.  The men had a quarrel and WATERFIELD is alleged to have sworn he would "get even" with ANSELL.

The Washington Post (Washington, DC) - August 16, 1927; pg. 2
GIRL BATHER, HEEDLESS OF WARNINGS, DROWNS  - Norfolk, Va., Aug. 15 - Warned on account of delicate health, although she was a good swimmer, not to enter the surf at Virginia Beach, Miss Sadie JOHNSON, 15, of Corolla, N.C., was drowned yesterday afternoon.  Thousands of bathers were on the beach but non, not even members of her own party, missed her until she had disappeared; not did they hear her cry for help.  Fifteen minutes later her body rode in on the crest of a wave in front of the Coast Guard Station.  Efforts to revive her were futile.

The Washington Post (Washington, DC) - July 23, 1928; pg. 2
ROBBERS WHO SHOT MERCHANT SOUGHT - Moyock, N.C., July 22 - Little headway had been made tonight toward apprehension of two youthful robbers who late yesterday held up and probably fatally wounded P.H. FLORA, merchant of Moyock.  They escaped in an automobile bearing a Virginia license plate.  The merchant was found unconscious behind the counter of his store.  He has been unable to explain circumstances leading up to the robbery.  Belief is held that the merchant resisted and was shot.  The bullet punctured both lungs.  Less than three weeks ago the Bank of Currituck in Moyock was held up by two young men who were soon afterward arrested in Norfolk, Va.

The Landmark (Statesville, NC) - January 27, 1933; pg. 7
YOUTH'S BODY IS FOUND IN ROAD - Elizabeth City, Jan 24.- The mysterious killing of Branton WALKER, 22 year old Barco youth, was puzzling officials of Currituck county today.  A group of men, returning from a dance early Sunday, found WALKER's body face downward on a highway 100 yards from his home.  Dr. W. T. GRIGGS said the youth's skull was crushed as if by some blunt instrument. No other marks indicating violence were found on the body.  When found the body was lying in the center of the highway with arms stretched out above the head.

The Landmark (Statesville, NC) – October 27, 1933; pg. 6
SANFORD CRAIN IS JAILED FOR KILLING OF HIS UNCLE - Currituck, Oct. 24. - Sanford CRAIN, 26, of Bertha, is scheduled to be given a preliminary hearing in recorder's court here on a charge of murder as a result of the fatal shooting of CRAIN's uncle, Patrick H. CRAIN, Sunday night.  According to the report received here, the slain man was at the home of his brother, Thomas CRAIN, father of the accused man.  Thomas and Patrick CRAIN were looking over some papers when Sanford left the room about 6:30 o'clock.  A moment later a shotgun charge was fired through a window and CRAIN staggered to his feet crying "I'm shot."  He fell dead instantly.  Sheriff Howard FORBES was notified and Sanford was found near the slain man's home.  According to Recorder J.A. SUMMERELL, Sanford freely admitted the killing.

The Washington Post (Washington, DC) - February 23, 1934; pg. 4
RETIRED COAST GUARD CAPTAIN FOUND DEAD - Currituck, N.C., Feb  22 - Capt. Humphries LEWARK, 60, a Corolla Coast Guardsman who retired four years ago, was found dead last night two miles north of Poyner's Hill Coast Guard Station by a searching party which set out after his horse had returned home at dusk riderless.  Death was believed due to a heart attack.

The Washington Post (Washington, DC) - October 19, 1935; pg. 1
Norfolk, Va., Oct. 18 - Three persons were killed when the automobile in which they were riding plunged through the open draw of the Centerville turnpike bridge last night and sank in 10 feet of water.  The dead were Miss Patsie WHITLOCK, 18, of Bonny Corner, Princess Anne County; James Jackson McLEOD, 18, who operated a filling station on Route 27 near Greenbriar Farms; and Frank FLORA, 27, of Moyock, N.C.  Firemen recovered the bodies of Miss WHITLOCK and McLEOD.  Fireman L.C. GREGORY of Portlock, who first dived into the canal, reported that the bodies were wedged in the front seat of the car. FLORA's body was not recovered until a wrecking truck had pulled the machine out.  Fire department crews worked for more than a half hour in an attempt to revive McLEOD and the girl.

The State (Raleigh, NC) - August 30, 1941
    OUR FOREIGN REPRESENTATIVES - THOMAS J. JARVIS - Governor of North Carolina, United States Senator and U.S. Minister to Brazil, was born in Currituck County in 1836.  He was educated at Randolph Macon College in Virginia were he graduated in 1860.  He enlisted in the Confederate Army and was severely wounded in the war.  He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1865 and 1875, member of the State House of Representatives 1868-1870, Speaker of the House in 1870, elected Lieutenant-Governor in 1876 and upon the resignation of Zebulon B. VANCE to assume office of U.S. Senator, became Governor, serving in that office for six years.  He was appointed Minister to Brazil by President Cleveland in 1885 and served until 1889.  He was appointed to the U.S. Senate to succeed Senator VANCE in 1894 and served out the term.  He resumed his practice of law in Greenville and died there in 1915.  He is esteemed as one of the truly great men of North Carolina.

Unknown newspapers
SIMPSON'S TO MARK 50^th ANNIVERSARY -  GRANDY, June 4 - Mr. and Mrs. George V. SIMPSON, both 71, will celebrate their fiftieth (golden wedding) anniversary on Sunday, June 16, at their residence here and will hold open house to their friends from 2 to 6 p.m.  Mr. and Mrs. SIMPSON have 10 children, six boys and four girls, 20 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  All their children and the majority of the grandchildren are planning to be with their parents on their wedding anniversary.  If they do it will be the first family get-together at which all the children have been present since World War I.  The children are George K. SIMPSON and Horace SIMPSON, both of Grandy, Milton SIMPSON, USCG, Portsmouth, Va., Mrs. Rosa GRAY, South Norfolk, Marvin SIMPSON, Gadsden, Ala., Claude SIMPSON, U.S. Army, West Point, N.Y., William SIMPSON, USCG, New London, Connecticut, Mrs. Katie AYDLETT of Grandy, Mrs. Mamie LANE of Portsmouth, and Mrs. Gladys BATEMAN of Poplar Branch.  (Information kindly furnished by Benjamine O. Bateman, Jr.)

SIMPSON'S 50^th WEDDING OBSERVED AT GRANDY HOME - July 16; Mr. and Mrs. George V. SIMPSON celebrated their golden wedding anniversary Sunday, June 16, at their home which was beautifully decorated with cut flowers.  The bridesmaid and best man when Mr. and Mrs. SIMPSON were married were present, Mrs. Martha Evans OUTLAW and E. B. COFFEE.  The six sons and four daughters of the family were present during the day and for the luncheon served to 65 and to which were invited friends and relatives.  The Rev. RAINWATER, pastor of Mt. Zion Methodist Church, and Dr. W. T. GRIGGS, their family physician for more than 50 years, were also participants in the day’s events.  During the afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. SIMPSON were hosts at a reception.  Mrs. Mark AYDLETT and Mrs. Otto BATEMAN presided at the guest book and received the gifts.  After being presented to the honorees the guests were invited into the dining room where ice cream and cookies were served from a table decorated with a three tier wedding cake and yellow candles.  NOTE:  The George V. Simpson's were married June 17, 1896 at 4:00 PM at the home of Mr. Dempsey Smith the bride's father.  Dr. Pitts officiated.  Witnesses were Martha Evans Outlaw & E.B. Caffee.  (Information kindly furnished by Benjamine O. Bateman, Jr.)

The Washington Post (Washington, DC) - December 14, 1946; pg. 2
DETECTIVE DIES IN AUTO CRASH - Norfolk, Va., Dec. 13 - Detective George W. PERKINS of the Norfolk police division, was killed in a traffic accident on Route 522 near Winchester yesterday afternoon.  A companion, George LANTSES, was admitted to a Winchester hospital for treatment of shock.  The officer's widow, Mrs. Gladys PERKINS, is a Norfolk policewoman.  PERKINS was born in Moyock, N.C. on August 14, 1912.  He became a member of the Norfolk police division in 1936 and entered the detective bureau in 1942.  PERKINS and LANTSES left Norfolk for Pittsburgh early yesterday to return a prisoner.

circa 1949 newspaper  - Submitted by Judy Brickhouse

Arkie Baxter Ballance

circa November 1949 newspaper  - Submitted by Benjamine O. Bateman, Jr.

Unknown newspaper - April 1950  Submitted by Judy Merrell Brickhouse
[see death certificate for Connell Gray McHorney here and for Richard Gene Snowden here]

The State (Raleigh, NC) - June 10, 1950
CURRITUCK COUNTY - They named the county, the town and the beautiful freshwater sound on which it is located from the Indian word "Coratank" meaning wild goose, and for many years it has been know far and wide as a sportsman's paradise.  It looks a lot like parts of Ireland too, Edward DROMGOOLE, a Methodist circuit rider thought when he first visited there in 1783, so he named one of its villages Sligo after a town in his native land.
    Originally a part of the great county of Albemarle, the early settlers along Currituck Sound were jubilant when, in 1728, following the dispute over the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina, William Byrd and his surveyors ran the line to include them in the state of North Carolina.
    Many years later, in 1850 to be exact, Currituck County began to become famous as the greatest wildfowl shooting territory on the Atlantic Coast.  In those days Currituck was already an ancient little village on "Courthouse Point", and the shire town of a great county 80 miles long.  Currituck's area then included Dare County's 300 square miles of land and 1200 square miles of water and Currituck County's Representative in the state legislature then lived on the north end of Roanoke Island.
    One hundred years ago courts in Currituck County were held twice a year in a large house located near where Currituck County courthouse, built in 1876, now stands.  The spring term of court, usually held in may, was called the "Cherry Court" from the large quantities of cherries consumed by lawyers, witnesses and interested spectators.  The fall term of court, held in October, was called "Chinquapin Court" because of the enormous quantity of these nuts that were consumed there.  Then, as now, the settlement at Currituck Court was an unincorporated village of a few houses, a general store, a courthouse and jail, overlooking the placid waters of the sound.
    Today the visitor to Currituck County whizzes along hard-surfaced highways or improved county roads, little realizing that for many years travel thorough this county was either by slow-moving boat or by horse and cart over roads that were little more than sandy trails.  An artist for a popular magazine 100 years ago visited Currituck and in addition to making some interesting pen and ink sketches of the countryside, reported that "the soil is rich and easily cultivated, a fresh sea breeze always checked summer's heat, taxes were low, and the inhabitants of this great county enjoyed health, happiness and contentment in no ordinary degree."  He made the trip through the recently opened Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal on a 50-foot vessel which had a top speed of 10 miles and hour.
    Much the same can be said of Currituck County nowadays.  There are still no incorporated towns but between Moyock and Point Harbor can be seen some of the most productive farms, the most progressive rural schools, and the best cared-for county roads in the state of North Carolina.
    The only bank in Currituck County is located at Moyock, "The Village of Cannas".  On Dudley BAGLEY's Highland Farm near this community, thoroughbred seeds and plants are cultivated.  Also near Moyock, on the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp, is "Pudding Ridge" where, until a few ago, lived an Amish-Mennonite Colony whose members settled there in 1907 after migrating from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.  They were called "hook and eye" Mennonites because they wore no buttons.  The men wore long hair, shaved only their upper lip, and refused to serve on juries, bring a law suit, hold public office, swear oaths, attend theaters or use tobacco or liquors.  The women were familiar figures along country roads and at public markets in their slatted bonnets and quaint dresses.  Only a few of them remain there today
.    A little south of Currituck courthouse on a slight rise of ground is Pilmoor Memorial Methodist Church, a neat little red brick building erected in 1928 with the assistance of Mr. Joseph P. KNAPP, wealthy New York sportsman and philanthropist, who has a home on nearby Mackay Island.  It marks the site where Joseph PILMOOR preached the first Methodist sermon in North Carolina on September 18, 1772.  It was the first church in the state to operate a Sunday School bus which picks up children the length and breadth of the Currituck peninsula and takes them to Sunday School.
    Coinjock is located at an important link in the intercoastal waterway on the banks of the Albamarle and Chesapeake Canal, and each season sees scores of Florida-bound yachts pass through this sheltered route.  Jarvisburg is the birthplace of Thomas J. JARVIS, Governor of North Carolina between 1879-1884, and Point Harbor is where the three-mile long Wright Memorial Bridge crosses the shallow waters of Currituck Sound to the Dare beaches.
    The inhabitants of Currituck County are extremely friendly and hospitable to strangers and while it is an intensely rural county, their outlook is unusually broad due to the steady influx of so many duck hunters from northern cities since 1850.  Nearly all of the county's business is transacted at the courthouse, past which moves a steady stream of tourists each summer bound either for Dare County beaches or to the Greyhouse Dog Races a little north of Moyock.  But otherwise Currituck County, established in 1677, has changed but little in appearance since it was first written up in a magazine of nationwide circulation 100 year ago.

The News & Observer  (Raleigh, DC) - Sunday, October 11, 1953 - Kindly submitted by Ben Bateman

The Washington Post and Herald Times  (Washington, DC) - March 31, 1956; pg. 18
LOIS L. BAUM - Funeral services for Lois L. BAUM, 63, former D.C. resident, will be held at 2 p.m. today at the Deal Funeral Home on Georgia Avenue.  Interment will be in Fort Lincoln Cemetery.  Mrs. BAUM, who lived here for more than 30 years at 809 Longfellow Street, died Tuesday in Coinjock, N.C. where she was born.  She and her husband, Clair BAUM, a retired painter, went there about two years ago.  She was a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.  She is survived by her husband; two daughters: Lois B. BARNES of Washington Blvd. in Arlington, and Jenniewee B. SLAUGHTER of Huggins Dr., Silver Spring, Md.; four sisters and four grandchildren.

The Virginian-Pilot? - c. 1956  [Submitted by Anne Jennings]

The Daily Advance? - c. 1957  [Submitted by Anne Jennings]

N. ELTON AYDLETT ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR STATE SENATE - N. Elton AYDLETT of Elizabeth City and prominent Northeastern North Carolina attorney, today announced his candidacy for one of the two First District State Senatorial seats subject to the Democratic primary to be held in May.  In making his announcement, AYDLETT became the first candidate to announce for the Senate for the coming term.  AYDLETT has a long period of public and civic service behind him, he as been mayor of Elizabeth City since June 1951, having been re-elected for a second two-year term in 1953.  The announcement came as no surprise to close friends of AYDLETT.  He has been thinking of running for the Senate for the past few years.  The two Senate seats are no held by William COPELAND of Murfreesboro, who has served the traditional two terms, and A.P. GODWIN, JR. of Gates County, who has served only one term.  AYDLETT was born October 25, 1902 at Harbinger in Currituck County.  He received his high school education at Poplar Branch and went on to the University of North Carolina in 1921 where he graduated with an L.L.B. degree in 1926.  He was admitted to the State Bar the same year and came to Elizabeth City where he was associated with the late Judge Walter L. SMALL in the practice of law until 1928 when Judge SMALL was appointed to the Superior Court bench.  He married the former Pantha HOUSER of Rutherfordton and they have one child, Miss Patricia Ann AYDLETT, who is also a graduate of UNC.  The candidate was appointed Clerk of Superior Court for Pasquotank County in 1928 and served in that capacity until 1946 when he resigned to become a partner in the law firm of McMulan and Aydlett.  He has been active in civic and political affairs for many years, having served as chairman of the Pasquotank County Democratic Executive Committee since 1943; director of the N.C. League of Municipalities; director of the Elizabeth City Boys' Club since its organization in 1937; member State Democratic Executive Committee; president of the Elizabeth City Chamber of Commerce, 1948 to 1951; past president Elizabeth City Kiwanis Club; past president Elizabeth [City] Concert Association.  He is a member of the Blackwell Memorial Baptist Church, Red Men and Elks Clubs.  "It is my sincere purpose and desire," said AYDLETT in making the announcement of his candidacy, "to represent the people of the entire First District in the next General Assembly of North Carolina, to the very best of my ability.  With 25 years experience in public affairs, I feel that I am qualified to serve in this very important office, representing all the people in the district and giving impartial consideration to every proposition that may come up affecting the district.  I shall appreciate the vote and support of the voters in the First District, and give my assurance that if nominated and elected, I will discharge the duties of the office to the very best of my ability."

The Daily Advance? - June 1956? or 1957?  Can anyone enlighted me on what year these photos were taken?  [Submitted by Anne Jennings]

The Daily Advance? - October? 1957 [Submitted by Anne Jennings]

The Washington Post and Times Herald  (Washington, DC) - January 2, 1958; pg. B2
RAY ADAMS, MERCHANT, SPORTSMAN  - Ray T. ADAMS, 58, Washington businessman and sportsman, died Wednesday at Corolla, N.C. at the Whalehead Club which he owned.  He was president of R.T. Adams, Inc. here, a firm specializing in hotel meats.  He was also a member of the advisory board of the National Bank of Washington and of the Washington Board of Trade.  Mr. ADAMS belonged to the Albert Pike Consistory and was a 32nd degree Mason, Almas Temple.  Born in Norfolk, Va., he came to Washington in 1930 and in 1939 bought the Whalehead Club which he converted into a hunting and fishing resort.  He is survived by his wife, Eleanor, at home at 1823 Quincey Street; a sister, Elsie REITZINGER of Norfolk; a brother, Joseph ADAMS also of Norfolk; a daughter, Phyllis McBURNEY of Norfolk; and a step-daughter, Mrs. G.R. BUTLER of Takoma Park, Md.  Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Hines Funeral Home.

Unknown newspaper - 1959 [His tombstone in Moyock Memorial Cemetery states "Deputy US Marshal 1939-59"] Lower news article on Will & his pony submitted by Judy Brickhouse.

The Washington Post and Times Herald Washington, DC) - May 3, 1959; pg. C12
CLASS TRIP ENDS AFTER PUPIL DIES  - The traditional visit to Washington of the Moyock, N.C. High School senior class came to an abrupt end Friday afternoon when a classmate who had stayed behind because of illness died of meningitis in an Elizabeth City hospital.  The 14 students arrived at Money's Tourist Home Friday and visited Mount Vernon and the Capitol before hearing of the death of 17-year old Barbara Ann SAWYER of Barco, N.C.  Barbara died less than 24 hours after she was stricken.  Saddened and disappointed, the seniors headed for home after a stay of 4 hours.  In Moyock, they and 200 others received triple sulfa shots against the disease.

The Washington Post, Times Herald (Washington, DC) - October 14, 1963; pg. B1
DEPUTY'S SLAYING LAID TO YOUTH - Moyock, N.C., Oct. 13 - A 17-year old Norfolk, Va. youth was charged today with killing Currituck County Deputy Sheriff W.F. MORGAN with the officer's pistol Saturday night.  Sheriff Luther L. SANDERLIN said witnesses gave this account of the shooting: MORGAN, 61, was in his parked car when the youth left a dance hall shortly after 11 p.m.  The youth backed his car into the deputy's vehicle.  MORGAN was writing out a ticket when the two began scuffling.  Both tumbled out of the deputy's car and the youth seized MORGAN's pistol.  He forced the officer back into the car then fired two shots.  One struck MORGAN in the left eye, killing him.

The Washington Post, Times Herald (Washington, DC) - September 28, 1964; pg. D4
MARGARET W. HARRISON - Margaret W. HARRISON, 57, died Saturday at her home in Moyock, N.C. after a long illness.  Miss HARRISON was born in Belhaven, N.C. and came to Washington in 1941.  She was employed by the Navy Research Laboratory for 18 years until her retirement in 1959.  She is survived by her mother, Martha W. HARRISON of Moyock; three sisters: Mrs. Wallace W. SMITH of Moyock, Mrs. O.W. WILKERSON of Asheville, N.C. and Mrs. Robert M. HOLLAND of Arlington; and two brothers: Robert T. HARRISON of Raleigh, N.C. and Derwood HARRISON of Bethesda.

Unknown newspaper - circa November 1964 [Article submitted by Judy Merrell Brickhouse]  (Carrie Boswood was born Nov, 21, 1874 & died April 14, 1974)

The Sunday Advance (Elizabeth City, NC) - Sunday. June 15, 1968; pg. 3 (kindly submitted by Linda Mansfield)

The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA) - March 28, 1982
     Paradoxical sets of tracks are evident in the woods of Martin's Point, N.C
     In the swath of the wide imprints of earth-moving equipment treads are the dainty elliptical hoofprints of the deer that roam the dense forests of the peninsula.
     Housing is coming to one of the last large undeveloped tracts in the Dare County section of the Outer Banks.  This is a 335-acres strip that lies on the east side of Currituck Sound immediately north of the Wright Memorial Bridge.  Martin's Point Creek (also known as Jean Guite Creek) is the eastern boundary. A motorist driving on the bridge, toward the beaches, can see the strip to his left.
     The point is about 2 1/2 miles long and less than half a mile wide at maximum.  But the important geographical statistic is that it has five miles of shoreline.  The developers have platted 385 building lots, 225 of them on the waterfront and 160 in the interior.
     While access to the point is still limited to four-wheel-drive vehicles, the developers are receptive to buyers in Part 1.  That's the section closest to U.S. Highway 158.  At the moment, $35,000 will buy your choice of 100-foot-wide lots.  The roads are being cut now.  These will be private roads built to state standards so they could be dedicated to public use if the families who buy there, if they wished, dedicate them (and the maintenance costs) to the county or state.
     When Part 2 of the development is ready, the prices will increase.  This is the northern end where the creek and the sound join.  The unusually large lots at the point are expected to sell for about $100,000.  
     The developer is Martin Point, Inc., a corporation with 11 stockholders.  Among them are principals in Sun Realty of Nags Head, a professional man from the Pittsburgh area, and an airline pilot who flies from Saudi Arabia.  They bought the tract in February 1982 for $3.5 million from the trustees of the Gravely estate, a tobacco-wealthy family from Rocky Mount, N.C.
     At the moment, Martin's Point is uninhabited.  But there remains visual evidence of its past when it was a plantation farmed with slave labor, when the little shipyard near the manor house built and repaired schooners and when the entire point and adjacent lands were a rich source of timber.
     About 1940, the GRAVELY family bought the 325-acre point with its century-plus house and converted it into a hunting preserve.  At the junction of the old dirt road entrance from the highway stands a concrete pillar inscribed with the word "Catco".  This is an acronym for China-American Tobacco Co., the Gravely family enterprise that later became a part of American Tobacco Co.
     This one-lane, dirt road is passable all the way to the northern point, but the travel is rough in a conventional automobile.  It follows the high ridge on the creek side and will be abandoned and allowed to return to the forest when the wide, new roads are built along the center of the land strip.
     As near as Martin's Point is to the ocean, the topography bears little resemblance to beach land.  It has a rolling, hilly contour.  Where the bulldozers have uprooted some of the gigantic hardwood trees, the soil strata show some sand, some clay, some peat moss, and some rich black loam.  The Point is with small freshwater ponds and some sizable lakes.  Waterfowl and turtles abound here.  Wild grapes in the woods attract all sorts of birds.
     Martin's Point's settlement is subject to legends, some probably factual in part.  Nevertheless, they have caused some treasure hunting. 
     Willis GALLOP (1764-1848) came to the point in his own schooner sometime in his early life.  It was popularly believed that the ship also bore chests of silver and gold of dubious ownership.
     Willis GALLOP died at 84.  He and his first wife, Mary, who died at 25 in 1808 [this is in error--Mary died in 1848 at the age of 73], are buried in adjacent graves in woods near their home.  Willis acquired a second wife, Polly, and huge land holdings, perhaps 6,000 acres that extended from Powell's Point to old Kitty Hawk village.  It certainly extended to Southern Shores (the north side) but the ocean side was considered virtually worthless.
     The early settler either bought or established a plantation on Martin's Point and either he or his son, Hodges, set up a shipbuilding and repair yard there.  Willis had four children.
     He wrote his will in 1844 and died four years later.  The will passed on the plantation and some slaves to Polly on condition that she not remarry.  Among other things she inherited were some furniture and kitchen equipment, three cows and calves, one third of the hogs, her choice of the dogs, a young mare with tack, the spinning stuff and loom, a small canoe, three hoes and a gun.
     Hodges was also given land and slaves, his mother's inheritance when she died or remarried, the schooner High Priest and her materials and an iron chest.  The other children were also left bequests and personal property but apparently in smaller amounts.
     The plantation house still stands about half a mile from the north end of the point.  An open porch now surrounds three sides, likely an addition made when the property was a hunt club.
     The Martin's Point or Jean Guite Creek is quite wide here.  On the shoreline and extending into the water are the remnants of a ship-launching and hauling railway.  [see pictures of this ship-launching railway here, compliments of Ben Bateman, Jr.] Rusting and marine-growth encrusted spikes that were used to secure heavy timbers on wooden ships are easy to find around the shoreline.  There is also a collection of smooth ballast rocks around the base of some large trees there.
     This is the site of a small marina the developers will build for the benefit of the property owners.
     Hodges GALLOP, according to local legends, had a fleet of schooners that were in trade between the east coast and the West Indies.  He might have been a blockade runner during the Civil War.  At least, according to old memories, when Gen. Ambrose BURNSIDE and his federal troops landed on Roanoke Island, Hodges GALLOP was captured.  He was beaten to try to force him to tell the location of his treasure.  They got nothing out of him.
     In his 1875 will, Hodges GALLOP split up the property among is heirs and directed that all of his "sea boats" be sold to pay for the schooling of his five sons.
     A LYONS family that operated an iron foundry in Newark, N.J., acquired much of the property around the turn of the century and tried a lumbering enterprise.  The reputed price was $6,000.  Then all but 100 acres was sold to Tunis Lumber Co., A Dr. GRIGGS from Poplar Branch was the next owner.  Then the GRAVELY family acquired the point - the 335 acres - about 1940.
     Paul BREAUX of Sun Realty, one of the stockholders of Martin's Point, Inc., said his associates were dedicated to preserving as much of the flora and fauna on the tract as possible.  They plan to domesticate wild ducks for the freshwater lakes and ponds by first clipping their wing feathers and then feeding them handsomely, while they regain their flying ability.
     Houses built in the development must meet the standards of the architectural review committee.  The minimum size will be 1,200 square feet.
     A shallow strip with 1,400 feet of frontage on U.S. 158 will be turned into an office park.  BREAUX said that Sun Realty would have an office there and that possibly a building contractor and a stockbrokerage-investment company would locate in the park.

The Washington Post (Washington, DC) - April 14, 1982; pg. C9
James H. (Larry) SULLIVAN, SR., a photoengraver with the Government Printing Office and the Lanman Progressive Co. in Washington for 35 years until he retired in 1975, died of cancer April 11 at his home in Moyock, N.C.  He had lived in Moyock since 1975.  Mr. SULLIVAN was a native of Washington.  He joined the old Lanman Engraving Co. in 1940 and transferred to the GPO in 1960.  He was a member of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad and the College Park Moose Club. Survivors include his wife Henrietta of Moyock; four sons: James H. Jr. of Pensacola, Fla., Robert J. of Potomac and Terence M. and L. Casey, both of Silver Spring; two daughters: Mallory BLY of Arlington and Constance B. SULLIVAN of New York City; two brothers: Jeremiah of Washington and Louis of Bethesda; eight sisters: Kathleen McDUFFIE of Bethesda, Patricia SULLIVAN of Washington, Margaret OSWALD of McLean, Harriet ROSENBURG of California, and Betty HOUCK, Thelma MURPHY, Dorothy BROWN, and Estaire ISMER, all of Arlington; 12 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

The Washington Post (Washington, DC) - August 17, 1982; pg. C7
Derwood D. HARRISON, 75, an auditor with the General Accounting Office's claims division for more than 30 years before retiring in the mid-1960's, died of cancer Aug. 14 in the Clemson Downs Health Center in Clemson Downs, S.C.  He lived in Clemson Downs.  Mr. HARRISON was a native of Moyock, N.C. and lived here for 40 years before moving to South Carolina in 1967.  Survivors include his wife, Clara L. who is in the Clemson Downs Health Center; a brother, Robert of Raleigh, N.C.; and a sister, Rena SMITH of Moyock.

The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.) - July 25, 1991 by Ida Kay Jordan
    A Brief History of Monkey Island - Currituck County Attorney Ike McREE, a participant in last week's outing, marveled aloud that Currituck owns an island.  "It's not something I expected," said McREE, who grew up in Raleigh.
    The county acquired the island in 1987 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in exchange for 54 acres of marshland. The island was given to the federal agency by the Nature Conservancy.
    The tiny bit of land is described by Travis MORRIS, a local historian and real estate broker, as "the most beautiful island in Currituck Sound."
    Tradition has it that this seven-acre island was the summer home of the Pamunkey Indians. The local lore is given credence by the existence of an Indian burial ground on the island's north end and by the island's very name.  However, little was recorded about the small piece of land in the middle of the Currituck Sound until shortly after the Civil War.
    MORRIS, a member of a prominent local family, noted in a 1976 paper that his grandmother's grandfather, Samuel McHORNEY, sold the island in 1866 to Benjamin SIMMONS for $15.
    After several additional sales among Northerners during the next five years, the main part of the existing clubhouse was built. Morris wrote that his grandmother Carrie BOSWOOD, who died at age 100 in 1974, said the building had been there since she could remember.
    Around the turn of the century, the property was acquired by L.W. and W.A. DAVIS, who each retained a share when the club was incorporated in Virginia in 1919 with a membership limited to nine.
    Among those members was George HILL, president of the American Tobacco Co. His wife, Aquinas H. HILL, also became a member during the '20s.  Another member was T.B. YUILLE, president of the American Cigar Co.  Charles A. PENN, a Reidsville man who was executive vice president of American Tobacco and the perfecter of Lucky Strike cigarettes, joined in 1927.
    In 1930, PENN bought out the other members. His son, Frank, assisted MORRIS with anecdotes about the club.  Frank PENN recalled, for example, that Bob DAVIS, a New York Sun columnist and author of 28 books, continued to join his friends at the club even after he lost his eyesight. Legend has it that the sightless DAVIS would sit in a duck blind and, while his companion did the shooting, he would write down what was happening.
    Another frequent visitor was Irvin COBB, whose 125 books made him a household name by the 1930s. PENN said that when COBB and his friends came to the lodge, they would bring one cook just to make the biscuits, a regular cook and a butler.  PENN also remembered hunting with Elridge WARREN, former owner and publisher of Field and Stream magazine.  PENN called WARREN the best marksman he ever saw and backed it up with a story.  At a time when the bag limit on ducks was 22, PENN said, WARREN would take 23 shells with him. When asked what the extra shell was for, WARREN replied it was to give to his hunting companion.
    Members of the PENN family continued to use the island until 1974, when family heirs decided to sell Monkey Island, Mary Island, Lungreen Island and Raccoon Island, plus two miles of Atlantic Ocean frontage and about 2.5 miles of Outer Banks frontage on the Currituck Sound.
    The Monkey Island Investment Venture Corp., a group of investors from Texas, Oklahoma and Winston-Salem, paid $3 million for the package.
    Monkey Island, a private club since it began in 1869, was opened to the public for the hunting season of 1974. Travis MORRIS operated it with a staff of Currituck residents.  But the Monkey Island venture was short-lived. A 1975 recession was hurting sales of beach property and the PENN family reclaimed many of its holdings. Later, the PENN's sold Monkey Island to the Nature Conservancy.

"You think about living nearly a hundred year! Isn't that awful? I have enjoyed every one of them. I am still enjoying them. I was born in Moyock in the home, not in the hospital, in 1904. My father was a merchant. He operated a country store that had everything imaginable. He had a counter for medicine, a place for the candy, fruit, vegetables, dried peas and beans. On the other side of the store was dry goods, and then in the center of the store was the Moyock post office.

"Moyock was a quiet place, and the two churches the only thing I knew much about growing up. You had to make up your own entertainment, but it was always something going on. We had a train station--the Northern & Southern went through Moyock--and that was a gathering place for everybody at train time. You'd know you'd see your friends if you go to the station and gather there.

"We didn't have much of a street, and people stayed stuck. The roads were terrible. And when you came through Moyock to Snowden, you had to get out and open the gate, which was a cattle gate. People let the cattle go where they wanted. They didn't keep them closed up at home. "My father had a home built on Tull Creek Road. They put electric power in the house and the bathroom and we thought we had something. It had to run on batteries. We had a house out in the back with large batteries that operated the electric current. Run on Delco.

"The man that built the house was very peculiar. At night he slept in a nightgown and house cap, and he had an imaginary wife and children. He never married, but he would talk to them. he would get up mornings early and tell his imaginary wife, the baby was hungry, get that baby the milk. To hear him talking to an imaginary wife was funny to us, but he was an unusually smart carpenter and he did a good job. He was a good ol' soul.

"A lot of people drove up to Norfolk and worked at the Ford plant, and then we had some big farmers in Moyock. People used to grow their vegetables and corn, and they used to live at home. They didn't pay for groceries the way you do now. You raised what you ate. And when you went shopping, you took your eggs and your chickens to sell and buy your groceries. My father had a chicken coop out beside the store, and if they'd bring in chickens he'd buy them and put them in his chicken coop, and they did the same with eggs.

"We had a happy home. My mother's health wasn't good, but she was always enjoying life. My mother and father both came from happy homes, and that's what they brought to us when they were married, because we had a real good time and did things together.

"Every Sunday afternoon we'd go for a ride in a surrey, mama and papa and all the children, and we'd see what kind of animals we could see out of the clouds. I can remember a time mama was getting us ready and dressed to go and he had decided it was time to go see his sisters. He had two old maid sisters lived in Moyock. And we got ready to go and papa wasn't there.

"Mama said, 'Come on, let's drive right by him, play a joke on him.' And she didn't know much about the car and she went around the block and she rain in the ditch, and the way the cars were built that day and time, the wheel just turned up and broke. But I enjoyed the fact that papa came up laughing about it. He said, 'You thought you were going to leave me. You didn't do it!'

"We always had a house full of people, company coming in and church meeting. You never knew who was going to eat at our house because people would come from up the creek and other places to shop, and there weren't any restaurants over yonder. We lived right beside the store and daddy always said, 'Go off there, Mandy'll feed you.'

"I can remember going to school, so many grades in one room, and we didn't have running water in school and had the outdoor toilets and the pump outside. We had a very strict teacher, a woman that became principal of that school and made a high school out of it, the first high school in Moyock. She was smart as she could be, but strict. If she caught you telling a story, she washed your mouth out! She was a smart woman, and I learned to like her.

"People then were people. They're people now, but they were old-fashioned people. Different! Entirely different. I can't put into words because I talk funny anyways, but people were just different then. Everybody is for themselves now and they don't have time to think about anybody. What takes their time, I don't know, but it's entirely different now than it has ever been. I don't know why. I guess there's too much going on or something. People think more about themselves and making money than they do their neighbor. Used to be, you thought about your neighbor and your friends.

"My mother talked to us about the right way to live. She taught us to get out of life what you put in it. She taught us about staying happy, going to church, and not doing anything you'd be ashamed of. She taught me to see some good in everybody and tell them about it. There's some good in everybody and you should help them to bring it out, that's what my mother always said.

"As far as dressing up in clothes, that wasn't stressed. My mother held to learning and reading and music and doing the thing you should be doing. And she taught me I wouldn't have anything to worry about if I kept my mind on good things and did good things."

The Virginian-Pilot - Tuesday, August 26, 2003; pgs. B1&2 [submitted by Ben Bateman]

The Coastland Times - Thursday, July 31, 2003; pg. 6A

The Dailey Advance - Sunday, February 12, 2006; pg. 2C (Kindly submitted by Anne Jennings)

The Coastland Times - Thursday, March 16, 2006; pg. 3A

The Coastland Times - Sunday, May 28, 2006; front page & 6A
Gallop Descendants Push for Cemetery to 'Rest In Peace'
by Mary Helen Goodloe-Murphy
Small cemeteries are scattered across rural North Carolina: in the middle of farmland, close to homesteads, tucked into corners of special places.  On Memorial Day, some will visit those family cemeteries and place flowers and flags on the graves of those who died while fighting United States wars.  Some gravesites will not be honored on the day which is still known in some places as Decorating Day.  Family has scattered.  The land with these scared sites has been sold.  It's been subdivided.  If rules were followed, the family cemetery is marked on plats and recorded.  That's the case with two historic graves in Martin's Point in Dare County.  On lot 14a in the subdivision's second section are the graves of Willis GALLOP who died October 29, 1848 and Mary GALLOP, his wife, who die eight days before on October 12, 1848.  At the time of death, these two people were 81 and 73.  In 1984, Gallop descendants replaced the faded and hard-to-read gravestones with new ones, fenced the site and installed a concrete walkway.  The graves are visited by descendants scattered across the nation.  For example, Jean Owens SCHROEDER who lives in Eatonton, Ga., travels twice a year to Currituck County to visit the graveyards of her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.  She includes a visit to the graves of Willis and Mary GALLOP, her fourth great-grandparents.  At a recent Dare board of commissioners meeting, some of those descendants spoke.  The group delivered to each commissioner a thick notebook with deed research, copies of North Carolina law and countless protest letters from GALLOP descendants.  Carlton NEWBERN told the commissioners that Willis GALLOP was a "native son of Dare County before there was a Dare County".  At issue is a legal notice published during April and once in May.  The notice stated that Jeffrey A. BAXTER intended to disinter and remove on or before May 13 the two graves of Willis and Mary GALLOP.  The descendants are adamantly opposed to the disinterment and have written countless letters to attorney Wyatt M. BOOTH stating their opposition.  Dare's commissioners have the ultimate decision.  Under current state law, any person owning the land on which "abandoned cemeteries" or burial grounds are located may disinter, remove and reinter graves after "first securing the consent of the governing body of the town, city or county in which such abandoned cemeteries or burial ground are located."  The GALLOP descendants asked the commissioners to deny consent.  County attorney Robert L. OUTTEN told the board that attorney BOOTH is on notice that before disinterment the matter must be brought before the commissioners.  He reported that there is no request from BAXTER or BOOTH for the commissioners to do anything.  OUTTEN pointed out that the statute speaks only to "abandoned" cemeteries for which no standards are spelled out in state law.  The cemetery issue is before the General Assembly.  During the 2005 session, a House Study Committee on Abandoned Cemeteries was formed with Rep. Carolyn K. JUSTUS from Henderson County chairing the committee.  Rep. Tim SPEAR has been appointed to that committee.  Legislation is anticipated in this session.  The issue presented by the GALLOP cemetery case is one before the House committee.  "If we continue on this current course of bulldozing over out history, in 50 years there will be no evidence that our forefathers even existed," states letters signed by GALLOP descendants from Harbinger, San Diego, Fredericksburg, Va. and New York City.  Current state law on the care of rural cemeteries, originally written in 1917, calls on county commissioners to prepare and keep on record in the office of the register of deeds a list of all "public" cemeteries and those public cemeteries which have been abandoned.  Boards of commissioners are required to take possession and control of all abandoned public cemeteries and to see that boundaries and lines are clearly laid out, defined, marked, preserved from encroachment.  Boards of commissioners may also appoint a board of trustees to carry out these duties and to accept donations for upkeep and beautification of such cemeteries.  Another section of the law speaks to access to and maintenance of private graves and abandoned public cemeteries.  The law gives a descendant of the person whose remains are reasonable believed to be interred in the grave, descendant designee or any other person who has a "special personal interest" in the grave or abandoned public cemetery with consent of the private or public landowner access to discover, restore, maintain or visit a private grave or abandoned public cemetery.  If consent of the landowner cannot be obtained, the law sets up a petitioning process through a county's clerk of superior court.  Dare County is not bereft of information about its cemeteries.  Two women, Lois Johnson MEEKINS and Amy Midgett GAMIEL, compiled a survey of gravesites throughout the county.  Annotated lists by villages describe the cemetery locations and gravestone markings and add information about families.  The listing is current though 1999.

The Virginian-Pilot - Friday, July 14, 2006
STEAMER HAS SAT IN CURRITUCK SOUND SINCE FATEFUL DAY IN 1912
by Jeffrey S. Hampton
On the morning of March 3, 1912, the steamer Undine was plying through the Currituck Sound when it hit a log that punctured a hole in its bottom. Water rushed through the hull, extinguishing the engine fires, according to a report at the time in the Virginian-Pilot.  The passengers - five men, a woman and a baby - left their breakfast and rushed for the lifeboats. It looked like the Undine might capsize, according to the report.  The skipper, identified only as Capt. WISE, settled the passengers quickly and assured them the steamer would not capsize.  Another steamer picked up the crew and passengers about five hours later. The Undine sank in about 10 feet of water and deteriorated until nothing was left above the surface.  No one died, and there were no daring rescues, but wrecks are relatively rare in t he Currituck Sound, despite the heavy shipping traffic that passed through in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The steamer represents a time when small ports along the Currituck Sound and some inland rivers bustled with maritime commerce.  In later years, modern highways and railroads helped transform the bulk of the boat traffic through the sound from commercial to recreational.  State underwater archaeologists found the wreck this week, settled on the bottom of the Currituck Sound less than a mile off Knotts Island.  The remains of the hull showed her to be a screw steamer 93 feet long and 17 feet in width, said Richard LAWRENCE, director of the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. A screw steamer uses a propeller rather than a paddle wheel. LAWRENCE found a propeller measuring 4 feet 8 inches in diameter with the remains.  This week's finds - a smaller and older sailing vessel also was found - make four dived on and recorded by state archaeologists in the Currituck Sound, LAWRENCE said.  For decades, locals on Knotts Island had known of the remains of the wreck, said Barbara SNOWDEN, a local historian. Fishing nets would snag on the tallest pieces. Tulls Creek resident Margaret PRITCHARD said her late mother remembered the boat's sinking, SNOWDEN said.  PRITCHARD's mother said the wreck could be seen by looking directly out of the front door of her Tulls Creek home.  On Tuesday, LAWRENCE and his crew were guided to the general area by Barbara SNOWDEN's husband, Wilson SNOWDEN, by cell phone as SNOWDEN stood in the hallway of the PRITCHARD family home, LAWRENCE said. The SNOWDENs have been instrumental in bringing attention to local maritime history and asked LAWRENCE to come this week.  The crew marked an area of 3,000 feet east and west by 600 feet north and south. Using a magnetometer, which detects metal, the crew found the ship. "We dove down and there it was," LAWRENCE said.  Many ships and boats have carried the name Undine, said Gregg CINA, assistant archivist at The Mariners' Museum in Newport News.  CINA provided a page from "Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States" that shows this Undine was one of 10 vessels with that name. The length and width help match this one with the first entry. The boat was built in 1872 in Petty's Island, N.J.  An undine is a water nymph in German mythology.  This Undine was headed to Coinjock from Norfolk carrying passengers and freight, according to the news report.  The wreck will be documented and recorded with the global positioning system. Later, archaeologists will return to explore the remains further for artifacts, LAWRENCE said.  State archaeologists have records for about 5,000 wrecks along the North Carolina coast and nearby waterways. About 900 have been located and dived on, he said.  Later in the week, LAWRENCE dived on another older wreck in the Currituck Sound. It's name is unknown. Currituck County resident James MARKERT found and marked it earlier using GPS, LAWRENCE said.   The sailing vessel of about 25 feet in length was likely built before the Civil War. The wreck will also be documented and dived on later for further research.

No part of these records may be used for any commercial purposes. However, please feel free to copy any of this material for your own personal use and family research. If you find anything here that pertains to your families, I would strongly suggest that you look at the record on your own to check for errors or possibly other additional and helpful information.