Articles in regional publications that pertain to a wide range of North Carolina-related topics.
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for "Pitt County--History"
Record #:
22851
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In this group of local tales, a horse of Col. Harry Skinner got its hoof caught on a railroad track in 1900. A train came barreling along and stopped just in time. The engineer and another man worked to free the horse. In 1886, it was long known that the Venters Cross Roads and Calico section were filled with tough people. A Deputy Sheriff told of a run in with a tough woman from that section. There is the story of Mrs. Turner Pollard, who in 1885 visited Greenville for the first time since the Civil War, to purchase her burial dress. She went home and had her burial dress prepared. Next she had a grave dug beside her husband, which was bricked up ready for use. It is not known if she died, but at least she was prepared. There is a remarkable story from 1902 of how Isaac McGowan, a black man, ran down and killed a deer on Dickinson Ave. And finally, a hilarious story, of how bears fool hunters. There was a big hunt for a bear in 1886 and when they think they have it, it turns out to be a turkey buzzard.
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Record #:
22853
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These tales include the story of a black man from Grifton in 1906 who died and later revived and the coffin was returned to the store. Also in 1906, a wasp got up the pants leg of “Coot” Whichard while at church and hilarity ensued and the story of a number of mad dogs. There is a story of a man with prize hunting dogs and fancy poultry. The man complained that the neighbor’s dogs were killing his prize chickens. To dispatch the culprits, he sat out with a gun in the chicken yard before day break. He shot two dogs killing his chickens and upon discovery, they were his prize hunting dogs. About 1900, it was discovered there was sand rock along the ravine between Third Street and the river. In 1907, the rock was quarried to make the foundation for the granolithic sidewalks in Greenville Heights and early paving on some streets. And finally, there is the story of the sons of Noah Tyson Cox in 1906 that unknowingly sat beside a bush with a rattlesnake in it.
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Record #:
22855
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This group of local stories includes a tale about a black man named Issac Staton who named his kids "Get All," "Will Have It," and "Save All." M.C.S. Cherry, Jr. had two hound dog puppies named Sullivan and Kilrain, named for noted pugilists. There is a 1904 announcement from the newspaper by parents of young ladies stating the girls cannot attend dances if there escort is not there to pick them up by nine o’clock. In 1835, John Buck raised 2000 pumpkins, the largest weighing 156 pounds. In 1903, Mrs. D. D. Haskett raised a lemon weighing one and a half pounds, measuring 12 ½ inches in circumference. There is a tale from 1900 about George B. King, Greenville postmaster, having challenges trying to get the mail to the train on time. In 1901, government surveyors put a tablet on the Court House stating that Greenville was 68 feet above sea level. The tablet was destroyed in the Court house fire of 1910. In another story, the Standard Oil Company tanks blew up on Dickinson Avenue in 1933, causing tremendous damage. And lastly, there are details of a Prophecy Party given by Mrs. R. W. King in 1900.
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Record #:
22856
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This group of local tales includes the story of G. M. Mooring, Pitt county Legislator, who received four grandchildren in one week in 1912. Another tale concerns a school shooting at the Bell-Arthur High School principal in 1930. In 1900, there was a feud between the Jesse James family and the E. S. Lewis family. After a terrible shootout, Jesse James stole E. S. Lewis’ daughter and married her anyway. There seems to have been a problem in 1933 that people would crash into the barricades on the end of Pitt Street. The bridge had been taken down, but being creatures of habit, forgot that the bridge was gone. And lastly, there is a funny story about a fox hunt at Red Oak which went terribly wrong.
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Record #:
22859
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Kammerer tells local stories that include a "Historical Castle," a museum set up on Dickinson Avenue in 1930 that sounded like Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. That in 1934, the Welcome to Greenville sign was a broken down mess. In 1933, the world famous Prof. and Madam Nemar, noted magicians and tricksters, came to Greenville and put on a blindfolded drive through the crowded streets of Greenville and a magic show at the Greenville High School. In 1933 there was a Greenville campaign to get rid of hobos and there were numerous dairies in Pitt County in 1940. And lastly, Preston Pierce, former police chief and now tax collector in 1933, was cleaning his gun in his office in the Court House and it accidently fired which lead to panic and mayhem.
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Record #:
22860
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In this group of local stories, Vernon Parrish showed a piece of wedding cake in 1935 originally served on January 1, 1854 in Baltimore, MD. In 1940, Deputy Sheriffs investigated a supposed murder at Gardner’s Bridge on the Pitt Craven line. In 1926, "Dare Devil Vee” gave a thrilling show of leaping on speeding cars. On Aug. 28, 1936 the largest dirigible passed over Greenville. Dirigibles and airplanes that flew over Greenville were becoming a nuisance on Sundays interrupting church services. In 1937, Hoot Gibson, the cowboy actor, came to Greenville with the circus. And lastly, the story of Greenville residents witnessing flying saucers on April 11, 1950, and July 27, 1967.
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Record #:
22861
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In this group of local stories, marl and cottonseed were used as fertilizers. Benjamin Briley was the first man in Pitt County to find marl on his farm, followed by Josiah Barrett and Benjamin Streeter. Joshua Patrick was the first person to use cotton seed as fertilizer. About 1825, there were two cotton gins in Greenville, one standing along what is now Dickinson Avenue. The Tar River's big freezes are also discussed. In 1876-1877, a big snow of eighteen to twenty inches remained on the ground from around Christmas until mid-January. On February 11, 1889, Greenville received ten and one-half inches of snow with a temperature of eleven degrees; two days later, the temperature dropped to two degrees below zero. In 1899, there was a line of tornados which swept through northern Pitt County leaving a trail of wreckage. And lastly, the story from 1898 of the runaway horse and wagon of J. D. Carroll and all the mayhem it caused.
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Record #:
22865
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These tales include the story of how J. A. Hyman found a fish fallen from the sky in 1894. Of how Mrs. E. B. Higgs lost her diamond ring in a coffee bag in 1894 and later ground it up in the coffee mill. J. L. Hearne had a comedy of terrible successive household accidents in 1898. In 1899, a one horse medicine man rolled into Greenville and attracted with his stuffed rattler, and a live coach whip snake and woodchuck. A 1899 description of the first desk phone in Greenville owned by W. B. Wilson. An Ola Forbes tale about a deer hunt gone wrong from 1898. And lastly, the unusual feats of strength by a woman at the Opera House, who could not be moved by any means and could lift three men at once.
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Record #:
22866
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This group of stories tell how farmers were complaining in 1886 of sturgeons eating all their corn during floods. In 1889, Mrs. George Newton of Falkland Township.gave birth by the side of the road. The child died and she buried it there. Her husband, upon learning of the event, went and dug up the child to see if it was mulatto, which it was not. In 1889, Andrew Joyner told a funny story about a frog in a churn making butter. And lastly, all the events of Christmas week 1871 with its parades, mummers, parties, jousting tournament and Coronation Ball.
Stories include a description of Christmas in 1871, damage to corn crops by sturgeons following a flood in 1886, and the 1889 death of Mrs. George Newton's infant in Falkland Township.
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Record #:
22867
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This group of local stories includes the story of Job Moore and A. J. Moye winning agricultural awards at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. A funny story from 1944 about a hen house being robbed and a parrot catching the thief. A story about the tobacco cloth of Billie Branch of near Winterville being caught up by the wind in 1944 and making an unusual journey. In 1938, ball lightning went down the main street of Falkland. There is the obituary of a cow from 1890, known as "The Town Terror" of Greenville. In 1928 the Greenville fathers got rid of the last three horse troughs in Greenville. The story of the terrible shooting in 1908 in a café in Greenville of A. B. Kittrell and C. F. White, which ended with both their deaths. And finally a story from 1942, of how a newsboy saved the life of J. Francis Bowen from death in H. A. Whites Office in Greenville.
Stories include \"Henhouse Huckster,\" \"The Town Terror,\" and \"Horse Troughs.\"
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Record #:
22868
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The tales begin with a "pork roundup" in June 1883, when the chief of police arrested all the pigs on the streets in Greenville. In 1897, G. N. Crawford had a dog that could “worm” tobacco. In 1902, a speaker at the Ayden Methodist Church gave a humorous lecture on “The World is a Big Tater Patch.” In 1967, Oral Roberts University named a building for East Carolina College President John D. Messick. There is a story of undying love from 1900 between Edward Sugg and Ada Hearne. In 1874, a great circus was advertised to appear in Marlboro; but what showed up was a big funny mess. There is a story from 1884 about a barber in jail cutting patron’s hair through the jail window. And lastly, the story about the Thomas J. Jarvis Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy Masquerade Ball in the Opera House in 1902.
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Record #:
22869
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This group of local stories talks about a unique court held in 1902 when W. F. Harding went to the country and was a witness in a case held in the middle of the road with a stump for a desk. In 1903, Bryan Ives beat up his wife and daughter. The next night a masked group of eight men dragged him out of his house and gave him 50 lashes with a buggy trace and five with a horse whip. He was sent a note to leave the State in 10 days. In 1901, W. A Garris witnessed a fight between a rooster and a hawk and in 1903 Frank Hines killed a six foot moccasin stealing his eggs that weighed over 50 pounds. There is the story of a runaway mule running through Greenville in 1902 tearing up everything in its path. E. B. Ficklen told a funny story in 1903 of how a hen stole five puppies from its mother and cared for them. In 1902, a group of young businessmen in Greenville organized a club called the “Big Six Club.” And in 1901, D. E. Whichard told a tale about killing a deer while in a canoe duck hunting.
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13.A History of Grifton by Kammerer, Roger Greenville Times / Pitt's Past Vol. Issue , Jun 7-20 1989
Record #:
22872
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Once called “Bell's Ferry,” the small town of Grifton is located on both sides of Contentnea Creek (known locally as Mocassin River). In 1889, the legislature changed the town's name to “Grifton” and made it official on January 1, 1890. Following the name change, the railroad came through Pitt County and directly through Grifton. The railroad transformed the town, which built new streets at a steady rate. The railroad also stimulated the development of businesses.
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14.The Odd and Unusual by Kammerer, Roger Greenville Times / Pitt's Past Vol. Issue , May 10-23 1989
Record #:
22873
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This group of local stories include the story of how R. L. Humber moved his father’s house by himself in 1900. He moved the house down to First Street. In 1897, the Sanctificationists of Washington, NC would come by boat to Greenville to hold their church services in the coffin room of the John Flanagan Buggy Company. In 1901, a little girl accidently baked her doll in a child’s oven. In 1900, the son of Alfred Worthington killed a three foot moccasin with 32 pikes in his belly. In 1897, two small sons of Fred Phillips of near Falkland dug a 22 foot well with only a part of a shovel and a tin bucket. In 1897, Mrs. M. H. Quinerly gave a dinner for her father Alfred Forbes and his friends over the age of 65. And finally a story from 1901, of a raid on a watermelon patch and the aftermath.
Local stories dating from the 20th century include \"Lightning Freak,\" \"House Mover,\" \"Two Smart Boys,\" and \"Watermelon Raid.\"
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Record #:
22878
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This group of local stories tell of an umbrella catching fire in the window of Pender’s Hardware Store in Greenville and the strange tale of Thomas J. Sheppard of Sheppard’s Mill Pond. In 1895, Mayor Ola Forbes got into “a scrap” with R. L. Belcher about a liquor license and the Mayor had to pay the Court costs. From 1895 is a tale about a conjured rooster in Falkland, a midget named Bryant Gardner in Grifton and a large snake getting caught up in a wagon wheel in 1896. Also from 1895, Sheriff R. W. King owned a smart horse named “Frank.”
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