Articles in regional publications that pertain to a wide range of North Carolina-related topics.
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120 results
for "Pitt County--History"
1.A History of Pactolus by Kammerer, Roger Greenville Times / Pitt's Past Vol. Issue , Dec 7-20 1988
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22880
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Pactolus is a rather small town in eastern Pitt County. Named about 1770 by a school teacher named Lincoln, it was not until May 30, 1832, that Pactolus was granted a post office. Churchill Perkins the leading early merchant, served as the postmaster. The first business for the town was started in 1840. There were two early academies at Pactolus, the Jordan Plains Academy in 1831 and the Midway Male and Female academy in 1849. Kammerer gives the history of some of the leading citizens and merchants like Henry Irwin Toole, James R. Davenport and R. R. Fleming. In 1892, the rail road came through Pactolus and the depot burned several times. Prohibition caused a divide and the town of Maupin was created in 1905 until its charter was revoked in 1911.
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22881
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This group of local stories includes tale of Adam Corbett, the noted miser of Falkland twsp., and his hidden gold. In 1881, Walter Pollard, age 12 and Johnnie Nance, age 11, eloped because of ideas from paperback novels. In 1898, there is a story of a turkey loose in C. T. Munford’s Store in Greenville. Also in 1898, O. R. Simpkins had a “possum” dog that bagged 39 of them in one week. In 1897 a no-smoking law was instituted in Bethel. In 1893, there was a strange cloud phenomenon which caused many to be believe it was judgement day. Kammerer also gives a funny story from 1923 of the pranks of the Ayden Masonic Lodge.
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3.Odd and Unusual Tales by Kammerer, Roger Greenville Times / Pitt's Past Vol. Issue , Nov 9-22 1988
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22882
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This group of local stories includes J. W. Page had a smart mule in 1892, P. J. Bynum had an encounter with a mad dog in 1897 and how W. C. Haddock was attacked by six large minks in 1894. There is a funny story from 1895 of a little girl asking her mother “Who is Procrastination?” In 1895, there was a runaway marriage of W. B. Bullock and Zilva Highsmith and Asa Garris killed a moccasin with 20 frogs in it. In 1899, S. T. Nobles, a barber, was fined one cent and court costs for working after midnight in Greenville. In 1897, John Strickland gave out invitations to his funeral and went home and killed himself. In 1923, Jesse Tedock Hart was killed when a train hit a cow and it flew and landed on him. In 1899, Mrs. J. F. Briley caught a 24 pound turtle. She had also killed a deer with a club when she was young.
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Record #:
22884
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A collection of stories about different topics is recited from local tales around the county. In this group, lightning freak stories about the damage of lighting hitting the homes of L. A. Cobb and H. B. Tripp in 1892. There is a funny story from 1894 of a little girl getting spanked by her mother. There are dog stories about a mad dog in 1894 and a dog and cat chasing each other in R. M. Starkey’s yard and jumping into the well and drowning. From 1895 there is a story about a goat being arrested in Ayden and the strange déjà vu dream of H. G. Jones. In 1892 a cow got stuck in a ditch and the owner nailed a wooden frame around her like a straight-jacket so she could stand.
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22885
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A collection of stories about different topics include a funny story of a store clerk misunderstanding a woman wanting a thimble and an inquiry from 1897 for catching bull frogs. In 1896, J. C. McGowan saved his burning tobacco barn by using a barrel of pickles and juice. Also in 1896, a wedding was to take place in Farmville township. The groom helped with the arrangements and went home to change clothes and stood the bride up at the alter. A few days later the father spotted the young man on the streets of Farmville and gave him a thrashing. In 1899, W. A Garriss and wife heard someone stealing watermelons one night and went out to investigate. He saw a figure in the dark and inadvertently shot his wife. The last story from 1897 is a hilarious tale of a string of events that followed the nailing up of a horseshoe for good luck.
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Record #:
22890
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Kammerer gives many unusual deaths that were reported to the coroner's office. The information gives good genealogical information. For example, John Shannon drowned in 1763. Thomas Travis died when a sapling snagged the trigger of his gun while hunting in 1766. Samuel Calhoon was out of his senses and caused his own death in 1775. In 1773, William Hattaway was accidently killed while hunting turkeys and Ann Hardee was choked to death by her husband. In 1774, Capt. James Gorham’s slave Mingo was killed when a pine tree fell on him. Kammerer also gives the names of Pitt county soldiers taken from Field Returns in 1773 and 1775.
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Record #:
22902
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This group of local stories tells of a rat drinking whiskey till he dies and of a still found three blocks from the Court House. In the 1940s, Bob Rankin owned a pet terrier, called “Rufus the Terror” who patrolled Fifth Street killing rats and howling to music. In 1945, a black couple named their son Tojo Hitler Mills to be unique. But the county pressured them to change the name to Odell Mills. A hilarious story is told of the mayhem caused by a hog that fell off the back of a truck north of the bridge. Another funny story is told of a panther that was causing alarm in the Winterville community in 1887. One night 24 hunters went out to find and kill it and after scared shooting into the dark woods, it was discovered that it was only an owl making the frightening noise.
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Record #:
22905
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This collection of stories tells of the original Tom Thumb’s visit to Greenville in 1845 and of Johnny Morris, Jr., the famous Philip Morris midget and ambassador, who visited Greenville in 1948. An official seal for the City of Greenville was designed by K. A. Conway and Mrs. R. B. Starling. It was made official in 1957. There is a funny story about a woman parking in a no parking zone and leaving a note for the cop. The cop left her a ticket and a funny note. A history is given of Cornwallis’ horse and how it died in Pitt County after 1823. In 1952, Mayor W. L. Whedbee, proclaimed Greenville Clean-Up Day and 60 businessmen swept Evans Street from the Court House to Five Points. In 1952, W. L. Mayo of Pitt County was named national Father of the Year for raising 14 kids and financing their college education out of a farmer’s income.
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Record #:
22909
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This collection of unusual local stories reveals that the first color movie in the county, "Wanderer of the Wasteland," was viewed at White's Theater in downtown Greenville in 1925. A short history is given of the trees on Fifth Street planted 1935/36 by Simon B. Tucker and a funny story of name changes of the Greenville streets. In addition, Mrs. Laura (Dudley) Griffin, a confederate widow lived in Ayden in 1955. Other widows included Mrs. Lanie A. Baldwin, Mrs. Willie P. Gardner, Mrs. Bettie J. Moore and Mrs. Lucy Worthington.
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Record #:
22912
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In this group of local stories, Benjamin Streeter Sheppard, a pilot from Farmville, NC and Raleigh, NC, flew the first airmail out of NC from Raleigh. A number of female firsts in Pitt County included Mrs. Lula (Tucker) Bowen was the first Greenville Public Library librarian, who worked from 1903 to 1913 without compensation. In 1947, Bessie Tucker of Winterville was the first woman in Pitt County to be called for jury duty. In 1949, Mrs. Abe Wooten of Farmville was the first woman to be drawn to serve on the Pitt County grand jury. Several unusual weddings are described and in 1942, a goat ate a tobacconist’s car. In WWII, Proctor Hotel towels were seen on an island in the Pacific. Gov. T. J. Jarvis saved an oak tree which helped to determine where the buildings on ECU's campus were placed.
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Record #:
22914
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A collection of different stories told around the county. In this group there are stories of opossums wandering downtown Greenville causing mayhem and an old safe dug up in 1947 causing excitement. Several World War II ships and planes were named after some famous Pitt Countians, one being a Boeing flying fortress named “Miss Greenville, N.C.” In 1928, E. G. Flanagan and Matt R. Long of Greenville were named Kentucky Colonels by the Governor of Kentucky. And lastly, there is a funny story of trail-blazer of a man going into a Greenville beauty parlor in 1927 and having his hair done.
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Record #:
22920
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Andrew J. Griffin, a Greenville jeweler, served on the CSS Virginia (known as the Merrimac) during its battle against USS Monitor. Griffin organized the Greenville Hook and Ladder Company in 1883. In 1884, Joe Fleming killed an owl with a five foot wing span. In 1885, a fox killed 40 chickens of J. G. Sheppard and 200 others in the neighborhood. In 1902, J. W. Smith, raised a thirty-five-pound collard that was eight feet in circumference at the Pitt County Poor House. In 1908, Jordan Hedgepeth and Perlina E. Cherry got married in a buggy. In 1926, seven Pitt County boys set out to see the world, without their parent’s permission. They wound up in Norfolk, VA where Travelers Aid notified their parents. In 1887, at a church service in Gardnersville, Pitt County, Frank Moore shot at John Coward, missing him and hitting the ministers hat on the pulpit.
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Record #:
22923
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In this collection of local stories, In 1885, two boys beat each other up with pieces of ham and an embalmed whale was exhibited in 1933. Another one is a notice from A. C. Jackson, Sheriff of Pitt County, about the rowdyism on Sundays at the local filling stations in the county. He said he would prosecute the owners and close down the stations on Sundays if they didn’t stop. In 1915, Mrs. E. S. Edwards of Bell Arthur had a three year-old child who smoked cigars for pain. He became known as “Gar-Gar Edwards.”
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Record #:
22926
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In this collection of local stories, a farmer in 1925 deposits $1,515.21 in coins in the Greenville Bank and Trust Company. It took three money counters more than three hours to sort them. In 1894, there was a bed of granite that covered three acres in Falkland township. In the 1850s the granite was worked for mill stones, door stoops and the occasional grave marker. It was judged to be of fine quality and some of it was exhibited in the 1884 NC Exposition. Also in 1884, R. A. Bynum was selling the Centre Bluff Landing in Pitt County and a coon hunt ended with the cutting down of 18 ft. 7 inch round tree and the dispatching of an 18 ½ pd. coon. A meteor passed over Greenville in 1921 heading east and then exploded. The shock wave and earth tremor scared everyone. In 1888, S. M. Jones of near Bethel, had a milk cow that hated to be tied up to be milked; so it ate the rope.
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Record #:
22927
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An 1894 newspaper article made local man Frank Skinner famous for a time when readers learned of Mr. Skinner's mishaps and adventures with his \"Billy\" goat.
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