Tradewinds December 2018 Web Final

Northeast North Carolina Family History – and the answer is…
By: Irene Hampton - nencfamilyhistory@gmail.com
Back in November I was going through some papers
(my personal nemesis) and found a copy of a National
Geographic article I have mentioned before, “Where the
Wind Does the Work” written by Collier Cobb and published
in Volume XVII of June of 1906 on page 310. Born near
Goldsboro in Wayne County, North Carolina, Collier Cobb
tried his hand at a variety of occupations including farming
and teaching before becoming an assistant on the U. S.
Geological Survey from 1886 to 1892. In 1892 he became
an assistant professor of geology at the University of North
Carolina, eventually becoming head of the department.
My goal for January is to actually go through all the
boxes of papers and photos I have and get them organized.
I just might find the original picture featured at the beginning
of the article with Osborne D. Hampton in front of a “sail car”
used to take freight from the end of his father’s dock in Waterlily
to the shore. If you look closely, just over his shoulder
next to the sail in the picture you can just make out his sister
on the “car.” For the moment - I don’t know where the photo
is! I’ll include it in a column when I find it.
We got a copy of the article many years ago from the
Outer Banks History Center in Manteo but something
jumped out at me this time that I had not remembered seeing
before. An answer to an often asked question, “What is
the Whalehead Club named after?” On page 16 of the 2004
book “The Whalehead Club” by Susan Joy Davis, it states,
“They say that many years ago, a villager rode his horsedrawn
wagon through open jaws and directly inside the
head of a beached whale. From that day forward, people
referred to this sandy stretch of shore as Whales Head.”
But in 1906, Collier Cobb wrote, “The strong north winds
pile the sands up into great barchanes or medanos, crescentic
sand known locally as (you guessed it) whaleheads,
which are moving steadily southward. These are best developed
along the Currituck Banks, from Virginia as far south
as the Kill Devil Hills, and numbers of them may be seen
from the top of Currituck Light. These whaleheads are composed
of singularly homogenous blown sands, the horns or
cusps of the barchanes pointing leeward, which is almost
due south.” A barchan or barkhan is simply a crescent
shaped sand dune named in 1881 by a Russian naturalist
Alexander von Middendorf for sand dunes in Turkestan.
Who knew!?
Turning to a slightly more seasonal subject - this year’s
Whalehead ornament sold out in record time early in November.
I started doing the Candlelight Christmas tours in
November also. The tour talks about Christmas traditions
from the 1920’s that would have been familiar to the general
public as well as the Knights, their guests and their servants.
I asked my group if any of them had received actual oranges
in the bottom of their stockings. A few who were at least my
age and older raised their hands. An adorable young man
of perhaps twelve was absolutely mystified and couldn’t
stop himself from blurting out loudly, “WHY?” I had to laugh
as I explained that fruit was not always readily available and
considered a real treat by previous generations.
Which brings me once again to family traditions and
why we celebrate them. My mother often spoke of having
tourtiere growing up. It is a traditional French-Canadian
dish with some form of minced meat and potatoes served
at Christmas and New Years. Our orange in our stocking
became a mandarin orange which tradition I kept going with
my children until we discovered chocolate oranges. They
quickly replaced the real thing. As a side note, the first
chocolate oranges were created by Terry’s in 1932 at the
Chocolate Works factory in York, England. Where were they
most of my life??
Please take the time to talk about seasonal family traditions
before they are forgotten. The reason for the name
Whalehead being lost to time for over a hundred years is a
great example. If you don’t have any traditions to pass on -
start some this season and pass them on. Merry Christmas.
252-331-9253
634 Meadstown Road
Elizabeth City NC 27909
Check out our meats!
Locally produced honey
Variety of fresh meats
Fresh ground chicken feed
Sweet Potatoes
Bagged Chicken, Hog,
Horse, And Goat Feed
ShowTime Dog Food
Boar’s Head Meats and
Cheeses now available
Collards
Cabbage
Broccoli
Smoked Hog Jowls,
and Rib Side
Salted Pig Tails
Open 7 days a week
M-F 9 am to 5:30 pm
Sat 9 am to 5 pm
Sun 1 pm to 5 pm
Irene Hampton earned a certificate in Genealogy
from Brigham Young University and worked as
the Genealogical/Local history Researcher for the
Pasquotank-Camden Library for over 12 years. She
has also abstracted and published “Widow’s Years
Provisions, 1881-1899, Pasquotank County, North
Carolina”; “1840 Currituck, North Carolina Federal
Census” and “Record of Marriages, Book A (1851-
1867) Currituck County, North Carolina”.
You may contact her at
nencfamilyhistory@gmail.com.
Garden Buffet
2524828898
CarryOutAvailable
300VirginiaRd,Edenton,NC(FoodLionPlaza.)
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