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Perquimans, meaning “Land of Beautiful Women,” was named by its earliest inhabitants, the Yeopim Indians<\/a>, a branch of the family of Algonquians. Perquimans included the land between the Yeopim River and Little River; at its greatest extent, it reached from the Virginia border to the Alligator River. Today, its people occupy 261 sq. miles of low land between the Albemarle Sound and the Dismal Swamp.<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Perquimans-County-Court-House-Susan-C-Griffin1.jpg\" "\\"Perquimans")
(Photo credit: Susan Griffin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Englishmen began the permanent settlement of this region of North Carolina about 1650. Perquimans county was formed in 1668 as a precinct of the much larger County of Albemarle, and is home to the\u00a0Newbold White House<\/a>. Built in 1730, the Newbold-White House is the oldest brick structure in the state.<\/p>\n A portion of Perquimans county was deeded to George Durant in 1661 by Kilcocanen, King of the Yeopim Indians. With the river as the region’s major thoroughfare, the small settlement called Hertford served as the state’s first capital until 1716.<\/p>\n In 1696 the records show that there were in Carolina sixty or seventy scattered families, settled principally along the water front for twenty miles up Little River shore, and around to Perquimans River. The inlet of Roanoke was frequented by small vessels trading to and from the West India Islands, and pirates and run-away slaves resorted to this place from Virginia.<\/p>\n (Colonial Records, Vol. I, page 467.)<\/p>\n From the Great Swamp’s mysterious depths, The wild swan floats upon my breast; Between my narrow, winding banks, So far removed seem shore and stream, Thus, half asleep, I dream along, I leave my marshes and my fens; And sharing man’s incessant toil, From “In Ancient Albemarle” by Catherine Albertson, 1914.<\/p>\n Perquimans, meaning “Land of Beautiful Women,” was named by its earliest inhabitants, the Yeopim Indians, a branch of the family of Algonquians. Perquimans included the land between the Yeopim River and Little River; at its greatest extent, it reached from the Virginia border to the Alligator River. Today, its people occupy 261 sq. miles … Continue reading “Welcome to Perquimans County, NCGenWeb!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9744,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7\/revisions\/9744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"Perquimans](\"http:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Perquimans-County-2011-Susan-C-Griffin-1-1024x435.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTHE PERQUIMANS RIVER<\/h2>\n
\nWhere wild beasts lurk and strange winds sough;
\nFrom ancient forests dense and dark,
\nWhere gray moss wreathes the cypress bough;
\n‘Mid marshes green with flowers starred,
\nThrough fens where reeds and rushes sway,
\nPast fertile fields of waving grain,
\nDown to the sea I take my way.<\/p>\n
\nThe sea-gulls to my waters sink;
\nAnd stealing to my low green shores,
\nThe timid deer oft stoops to drink.
\nThe yellow jessamine’s golden bells
\nRing on my banks their fairy chime;
\nAnd tall flag lilies bow and bend,
\nTo the low music keeping time.<\/p>\n
\nFor many a mile I dream along
\n‘Mid silence deep, unbroken save
\nBy rustling reed, or wild bird’s song;
\nOr murmuring of my shadowed waves
\nBeneath the feathery cypress trees,
\nOr pines, responsive to the breath
\nOf winds that breathe sea memories.<\/p>\n
\nFrom sound and sight of mart or mill,
\nThat Kilcokonen’s painted braves
\nMight roam my woods and marshes still.
\nAnd still, as in the days of yore,
\nEre yet the white man’s sail I knew,
\nUpon my amber waves might skim
\nThe Indian maiden’s light canoe.<\/p>\n
\nTill low at first, and far away,
\nThen louder, more insistent, calls
\nA voice my heart would fain obey.
\nAnd by a force resistless drawn,
\nThe narrow banks that fetter me
\nI thrust apart, and onward sweep
\nIn quiet strength toward the sea.<\/p>\n
\nI dream no more upon my way;
\nBut forward press, a river grown,
\nIn the great world my part to play.
\nUpon my wide and ample breast,
\nThe white-winged boats go hurrying by;
\nAnd on my banks the whirring wheels
\nOf busy mills hum ceaselessly.<\/p>\n
\nI journey ever onward down,
\nWith many a lovely sister stream,
\nWith all the waters of the Sound,
\nTo join the sea, whose billows break,
\nIn silver spray, in wild uproar,
\nUpon the golden bars that guard
\nThe lonely Carolina shore.<\/p>\n
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