Hertford County Stories & Legends
If you know of a story or tale regarding the Hertford County, North Carolina area
that we can add to this collection of information please contribute it whenever you'd
like by contacting the Webmaster at the link provided at the end of this page!
The two graves marked only with ship parts
salvaged from the wreckage of the Steamship Olive purportedly by a distraught fiance
mourning the loss of his intended following her horrific death aboard the Olive Steamship
on February 16, 1903
Harry L. Thompson gives an excellent account of the Olive sinking and the
weather throughout Bertie on that day. He quotes accounts from The Bertie
Ledger and The Virginian Pilot. A Miss Huson perished as did Hostess Martha
Barrett, Mrs. Vaughn of Colerain and 14 others. Miss Huson could be 'the
bride.'
His book:"BERTIE REVISITED" Offers remarkable stories and tales of the area that are
apparently more factual that fiction! Treasure tales, the Battle of Windsor. Cost: $12.00
plus 1.00 shipping. Send check to Harry Thompson, 611 Greens Crossroad,
Windsor, NC 27983
"BERTIE FOLKLORE" Is a wonderful collection of old tales from this area of
North Carolina's past! $12.00 plus 2.00 postage. Just make out a check for $14.00 to
Harry L. Thompson c/o Port-O-Plymouth Museum, P.O.Box 296, Plymouth NC 27962 and it
will be on the return mail - AUTOGRAPHED!
I always heard that the piece of metal that was driven into the ground at
the Church Cemetery was from an automobile axle. It was used to mark a grave.
Many graves remain unmarked in the cemetery today because people were not
able to afford headstones. Some even used wooden markers which are long gone.
I believe the remains of the Steam Ship Olive is at the bottom of the Wiccacon
River at Tar Landing in Harrellsville. I was told that the ship caught fire
and burned and sank there. I would love to know what really happened.
[Contributed by: Mike V. Perry]
I have heard my mother talk about the Olive sinking. There are several stories
that have circulated about this ship. One is that a woman from the Christian
Harbor Community in Hertford Co.had gone to Edenton to shop for her wedding
dress. She was on the Olive and died. Her finance was so distraught that he
was able to retrieve a metal piece of the ship and he drove it into the
ground at the church cemetery. I don't know if this piece of metal really
came from the Olive but I do know that there is a piece of metal sticking
out of the ground at the cemetery. I have seen it. Another story says that
some people who lived near the river on the Chowan side had relatives on
the Olive. When the storm came up one of the relatives looked out the
kitchen window and saw the image of the Olive on the side of the barn.
True??? I have no idea but these stories have been told and retold in
Hertford and Chowan Co. ever since the Olive sank.
I talked to my mother today and she said the girl who died on the Olive and
was buried in the Christian Harbor Church graveyard was a Huson. She had a
brother named Josh Huson who in the 1930's was an old man. Of course my mother was
12 when he would walk by their house going to the river, so I have no idea
what "old" meant to her then.
I checked the census and in 1850 & 1860 there was a Huson family living in
the Harrellsville area. I have not been able to search the 1900 census, which
would be the last one the girl would be listed in. Over the years the spelling
of the last name could have changed. There were some Hughesons living in the
Mars Hill community years ago.
According to my mother, Josh Huson never married, he lived with a family
whose name was Lower(?) pronounced: lau wer
[Contributed by: Kay Early ]
Lived in: Brantley Grove Township, Hertford County, North Carolina
Series: T623 Microfilm: 1200 Book: 2 Page: 281
June 5th 1900 Census
John Huson listed on pg 281a Brantley Grove Township, Hertford County, NC - as family #22:
He has a wife of 17 years, he is 38 yrs old, born April 1862, and is a Farmer, owns his home.
All relatives born in NC, wifes relatives born in NC all children born in NC.
Minia A. is 35 yrs old, born Dec 1864, 7 children and 7 still alive.
Charles is 15 born June 1884, Farm Laborer
Nannie E. is 13 born June 1886
Herbert J. is 10 born Oct 1889
Cillie S. is 8 yrs old born 1891
Joseph B. is 6 born Feb 1894
John T. is 2 born Aug 1898
Lula C. born April 1900
[Contributed by: Marianne Cleveland Nichols]
The Olive Steamship
Contributed by E. Frank Stephenson, Jr.
Christian Harbor Baptist
Church Cemetery Interments
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