Articles in regional publications that pertain to a wide range of North Carolina-related topics.
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for "Pitt County--History"
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22929
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In this collection of local stories, J. J. Rollins, cashier of the Bank of Winterville in 1932 , talks of the aftermath of accidently locking a cat in the vault for a night. Ed Whitehurst, head carrier boy for the Daily Reflector, drove his 12 ft. outboard boat from Greenville to Bayview in 1932 to much acclaim and had a number of adventures returning home. In 1898, Grigg T. Tyson killed 62 hogs at hog killing and the heaviest weighed 410 pounds. The citizens of Pactolus township formed the “Good Citizens League” in 1921 in an effort to curb lawlessness. In 1947, Charles Lilley of Clay Root, bought a mule and taught it tricks. It became a local sensation.
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Record #:
22931
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In this collection of local stories is a description of a local firm that promised a cure for the "liquor habit." According to the ad in 1894 for Greenville's Bedal Institute, an alcoholic could be cured in three weeks for only $60.00. W. W. Owens had an unusual turkey gobbler that would sit on chicken’s eggs. In 1894, a young man wrote a sweet note to his girlfriend and a terse note to his washer woman. He got the envelopes mixed up which led to mayhem. In 1907, grave robbers dug up the grave of Susan White near Grimesland, long supposed to be the sister of Blackbeard. At a church baptism, the minister returns to the church to find most of the communal wine missing and gives a sermon about “depraved people.” In 1901, a man came to Greenville in a new buggy. He tied his horse up and went on to his business. He later returned to find his horse tied up to a broken down buggy. No trace of the pranksters.
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Record #:
22935
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In this group of local stories writer, Kammerer notes that Shirley Worth Porter, brother of the writer O. Henry, is buried in Ayden. Shirley Porter was born on August 6, 1860 near Greensboro, NC and was the oldest son of Dr. Algernon S. and Mary Jane Virginia (Swain) Porter. Affectionately known as "Shell", he worked as a bookkeeper with a tobacco company and the Ayden Lumber Company. His wife Laura died in 1931 and was buried in the pauper’s graveyard. He died in 1945 and was too buried in pauper’s graveyard, which was later taken into the Ayden Cemetery. Another story in this article tells of Frank Edwards putting down a down payment in 1953 on a car with a deposit of $1,200.00 consisting of half dollars. In 1901, W. G. Carson was the champion hog runner of Pitt County and a balloon ascension in Greenville in 1900 went awry and caused all sorts of problems.
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Record #:
22937
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In this collection of local stories, John Handy, a black man, had a writing spider in 1887. Another story tells of a man named Lassiter from Greene County whose little seven year old son had eyes with the word "America" written around each pupil. In 1879, Gov. Zeb V. Vance helped advertise the award winning apple brandy of R. A. Bynum of Pitt County. Gov. Thomas J. Jarvis would also later do the same.
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Record #:
22946
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This group of local stories includes an account of the efforts of Mrs. Ben Lupton of Bethel to stop the sale and consumption of alcohol on Sundays. In 1896, W. W. Owens had an unusual turkey who set on chicken eggs. In 1902 someone was doing midnight shearing sessions on animals as a prank and someone sheared the horses of George Clark and Joseph Willis to look like mules.In 1897, Louis Flake came to Greenville with his wife and eight children and had 170 photographs taken. In 1884, R.S. Tucker of Raleigh was selling his Pactolus property of 2,129 acres--practically the entire community.
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Record #:
22949
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This collection of local stories includes a description of a mad dog who crossed two counties in 1892, biting 25 dogs, 15 chickens and one man. A humorous story from 1886, about 58 loafers standing around and watching 5 other men load a safe on a wagon. Grifton, Pitt County was the most divided town in the US, being divided among two counties, three townships, two congressional districts, and two senatorial districts. In 1898, Jesse Smith, age 14 opened a dry goods store and in 1888, Novella Higgs, age 12, taught dancing lessons. Other stories include a balloon ascension in 1886 in Greenville and a list of earthquakes felt in Pitt County
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Record #:
22955
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In 1888, 750 eggs were brought to market in Greenville selling at 15 cents a dozen. In 1889, two stores shipped 1,200 eggs on a single day. J. A. Thigpen and J. J. Dancy had unusual eggs. In 1888, it was reported that the women of Pitt County used about 10,000 pds. of snuff a year at a cost of 50 cents per pound. At a rat killing in 1891, 185 rats were killed in one incident. Since the Revolution, women in Pitt County used powder in rocks in Belvoir township to dye their cloth. In 1878, Mr. A. Case found a Native American skeleton in a marl bed. Other stories include strange names as "Miniya Gainer Minetty Andrews Melvin Llewellyn Silvester Sherrod" and states that the Cox family gave all eleven children names that started with the letter "Z."
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Record #:
22960
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“Astrophobia” is the fear of lightning and tornadoes or more commonly the fear of the sky. In this collection of different odd occurrences, several strange rituals are described. For example, people used to shut windows and doors and pull down the shades during a lightning storm. In 1856, Richard Williams was killed by lightning in Greenville and the Presbyterian Church spire was struck by lightning several times. In 1901, black hail fell 18 inches deep below Ayden. A meteor passed over Greenville in 1857 making a shrill noise, a meteor fell near St. John’s Church in 1935 and an Aurora Borealis was witnessed in 1859. In 1903 a tornado struck the Swift Creek Schoolhouse while it was in session. Another memorable situation occurred when many Pitt County residents witnessed a UFO.
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Record #:
22961
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Greenville Silk Company operated from February 1839 until March 1841, with a cocoonery and mulberry trees at Bensboro. Distilleries In 1810, Pitt County had 727 distilleries producing 29,400 gallons of whiskey and brandy worth around $12,000 annually. Dr. Noal Joyner attempted to raise Persian tobacco in the 1800s. In 1887, residents found gold near Bethel.
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Record #:
22968
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Kammerer presents two newspaper articles describing Contentnea Creek Country in 1905 and Tyson’s Neighborhood in 1888. The articles talk about the history, growth and farms of these Pitt County communities. Some of the people mentioned include: Benjamin May, Dr. Robert Williams, Dr. J. N. Bynum, E. S. Parker, J. C. Cobb, James H. Cobb, Lawrence A. Cobb and R. J. Cobb.
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Record #:
22973
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Alfred Forbes (1829-1905) the son of Robert Forbes and Gracey Tyson, was a Greenville businessman in the late 1800s. He was married to Clara Jane Williams for thirty-four years and was the father of seven children. Alfred had numerous business interests and had various accomplishments related to the social, educational, business life of Greenville.
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Record #:
22976
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Pitt County's first courthouse was located on what is now Highway 33 East, across from the entrance to the Brook Valley subdivision. Starting in 1924, a campaign was begun to preserve the old house, which had served as the courthouse from 1760 until 1774. These efforts failed, and the house was torn down in 1926. In October 1930, the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a marker at the site to commemorate the historic structure.
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Record #:
22990
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In this series of stories, the author recounts a funny story from 1905 of a little boy who refused to wear a puffy shirt. In 1900 there was a troubled affair between Jesse James and E. Lewis. James wanted to marry Lewis’ daughter, and when he came to forcibly take the girl, there was a terrible shootout. In 1901, parents in Greenville advertised their new rules on dating their daughters. In 1895, Mrs. T. A. Nichols owned bread baked by her dead mother from 1869 and put away as a memory of her. From 1906, there is a list of salaries for Greenville town officials. There is an exciting story from 1910 of how G. V. Smith and another man were working repairing the Pillsboro bridge and a section they were on broke loose and took them seven miles down the river. There is an interesting observation made about the Chicod Creek. It makes a several mile circuitous route dumps into the Tar River above its source on the Tar River. In 1915, there was terrible hail storm in Greenville that left 8 inches of hail on downtown streets. And lastly a funny statement about a young man that had moved so much, his chickens lie down and cross their legs to be tied, and his old cat crawls into a meal bag ready to be moved again.
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Record #:
23005
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In these series of tales, the author tells of W. L. Blount’s 16 year old coon hunting dog that could still hunt. In 1900, a shooting scrape occurred near Stokes at a young folk’s party at J. S. Whitehurst’s. A certain William Bryan incurred the displeasure of Mr. Whitehurst and was asked to leave. Bryan didn’t leave fast enough and received buckshot in his butt. In 1886, W. E. Proctor of Grimesland reported that he had cut out 37 large fish from the frozen Tar River. In 1893, R. A. Willoughby of Beaver Dam Twsp., told the local paper that during the last five months he had sold 651 dozen eggs. He received $79.35 for them, which showed that there was more money in eggs than raising cotton. In 1892, Dr. Frank Pitt and Maggie Burris married in Dr. James Dental Office in a runaway marriage. In 1884, Henry H. Moore reported he had killed a hog, 8 feet 10 inches long and 2 feet 9 inches through, that weighed 783 pounds. That Greenville had a population in 1800 of 174 people, and in 1890 had 1937 people and by 1900 had 2560 people. And finally in 1883, E. C. Gaskins told the story of how he killed some partridges by throwing a catfish at them and later a hawk stole his chickens.
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Record #:
23006
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In these series of tales, the author tells a story about Will James, manager of the Macon House Hotel in 1888, waking to find a drunken man in bed with him. There is a story about a “feather renovator” in 1888 that has the town excited. In 1890, “White Caps” put up signs saying there was a wife beater in town and gave his name. They said if he didn’t leave soon he would receive a visitation. The guilty party was seen sneaking out of town. In 1886, there were several stories about barbers, merchants and tax collector, all in jail and doing business as usual out the jail windows. There was a funny tale from the Possumtown section of Chicod township in 1886 about how hunters mistook a turkey buzzard for a bear. And lastly, there is a story from 1887 of how Isadore Lichtenstein saved a friend from drowning by throwing him a large cake of soap.
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