Located on U.S. Highway 158 at Olds, south of Jarvisburg.  Samuel Owens (1805-1878) married Elizabeth Olds (born 1826).  Their two sons, Willoughby (1841-1913) and Edmond (1844-1922), were born and reared here.  From style of architecture of original, before additions were added, Samuel and "Betsy" must have moved into an old house on the Olds property.  The largest Scuppernong grape vines in the county were here until destroyed by hurricanes in the 1930's.  One vine covered more than two acres of ground.

Addendum by Roy E. Sawyer, Jr.--      This house was the home of the great grandparents of Alma Owens Roberts.  Elizabeth Olds (b. 1826) was the daughter of David Olds (d. c1834) and his wife, Keziah Lindsey.  Keziah Lindsey Olds (c1785 - 1857) was the daughter of David Lindsey and his wife, Ella Russell Lindsey.  David Lindsey was a Revolutionary War pensioner.  I descend from a sister of Elizabeth Olds, Dorcas Olds, who married John S. Poyner.  Alma Roberts told me that we were related to Ransom Eli Olds, who founded the Olds Motor Works (Oldsmobile division of General Motors) and REO Auto Works.  An archivist at General Motors has said that the family of R. E. Olds was from northeastern North Carolina; however the Olds descendants, of Lansing, Michigan, claim that their Olds line came from New England.  This house stood until the late 1960's at Olds Hill, formerly, Olds, NC, now Jarvisburg, NC.      Willoughby Owens (c1841 - 26 Nov 1913), oldest son of Samuel and Elizabeth Olds Owens, married Susan Jane O'Neal Paine (21 Feb 1832 - 18 Oct 1907). Their son, Nathan O'Neal Owens (30 Jan 1866 - 5 Apr 1933) married Bessie May Walker (1 May 1881 - 25 Oct 1945), and they were the parents of Alma Mae Owens (22Jul 1907 - 1981), who married George Frank Roberts, and who also compiled this study of old homes in Currituck County in 1960.  (See Willoughby Owens House).      It was the August, 1933, hurricane, which destroyed the scaffold of the large scuppernong grapevine near this house, thus causing the vine to die.      The house apparently was used as a tenant house by the 1920's, and Violet Gordon, a black woman, lived here.  She worked during the hunting season at the Currituck Shooting Club.  Her son, Jim Gordon, and his wife, Rona, also worked at the club.      When I was a child in the 1950's, Timothy and Carrie Perry lived here.

 

This photo and information are from the project "Old Homes in Currituck County to 1860" originally compiled June 1960 by Alma O. Roberts and Alice Flora of the Currituck County Historical Society.   We are indebted to Barbara B. Snowden, president of the Currituck County Historical Society for permission to reproduce this collection on the internet, and also to Gerri Andrews and Diane Ferebee of the Currituck County Public Library who provided digital copies of the photos.  No part of this document 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.  Images are for personal use only, not for redistribution.