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Henry Carter Lindsey

Henry Carter Lindsey, known as Carter Lindsey, has strong ties with Currituck County.  Both of his parents, William Burvell Lindsey (4 Mar 1895 - 4 Apr 1967), and Hattie Bennett Snowden Lindsey (22 Aug 1896 - 8 Mar 1969) were Currituck County natives.  William B. Lindsey was the son of Ambrose Lindsey (1871 - 1934) and Mattie A. Lindsey (1873 - 1935).  Hattie Bennett Snowden Lindsey was the daughter of William Henry Snowden (4 Aug 1854 - 13 Dec 1918) and Annie Forbes Snowden (21 June 1860 - 17 Nov 1930)

 Henry Carter Lindsey (17 Jun 1924 - 13 Dec 1980) grew up in South Norfolk, VA., and graduated from South Norfolk High School.  He worked in his father's business, Lindsey Lumber Company, on Military Highway in South Norfolk/Chesapeake.  As a young man, his weight approached 600 pounds.  He found his way to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, where he was a sideshow showman.  In 1952, Cecil B. DeMille cast Carter Lindsey in his blockbuster film, THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, about the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, and it was Paramount Pictures greatest box office success ever.  The film won two Oscars, one for best picture and one for best story, at the 1952 Academy Awards presentation.  In the credits for the movie, he is listed as C. H. Lindsey.

Carter Lindsey was especially close to his aunt, Mrs. Annie Leola Snowden Hall (22 Apr 1887 - 15 Dec 1980), and his uncle, Henry Snowden (1901 - 1979), both of Currituck Court House.  Mrs. Hall's husband, Oscar L. Hall, was postmaster of Currituck, and Henry Snowden ran a general store across the road from the courthouse.  Carter Lindsey especially enjoyed time around the water sailing his boat, and the photo above shows him at the docks along the sound near where the Knotts Island Ferry Dock is located today.  Mrs. Leola Hall was in a nursing home in Elizabeth City, and when she heard the news of Carter's death, she only lived two days.  She and Carter were very close.  Wilson and Barbara Snowden have porch furniture that Carter Lindsey built for his Aunt Leola Hall.

Carter Lindsey had two brothers and one sister:
1.     William Burvell Lindsey, Jr. (25 Sep 1917 - 15 Mar 2002)  married Ruth Amanda Creekmore (14 Apr 1917 - 6 Mar 2003)
2.     Wilbur Frank Lindsey (6 Sep 1919 - 10 Feb 1999) married Audrey Lee Peterson (3 Jul 1919 - 1 Mar 2003)
3.     Hattie Earldine Lindsey (18 Oct 1921 - 23 Mar 2002) married Grover Lee Treadway (1 Nov 1913 - 27 Feb 1972)

Photograph submitted by Barbara Snowden and information supplied by Roy Sawyer.  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.