Gabriel House circa 1880

This small painting was done about 2002. I was fascinated with the window. I had not planned to include the Gabriel House in my upcoming book because I knew nothing about its history. But, not knowing the fate of this still ramshackled house, I wanted to document it. Someone gave me a tiny clue and I started to dig.

The 1997 Ruth Little Survey noted this house as a rare Beaufort example of the Italianate Revival style. The two-story gable and wing house was built perpendicular to Ann Street. It has boxed eaves with returns, ornate cornice brackets, six-over-six single and four-over-four paired sash with segmentally arched openings with decorative lintels and caps.

Samuel Willis Gabriel, son of 1787 Emanuel Gabriel, was born in 1848, on Core Sound in Carteret County. Samuel married Sarah Haskitt in 1875. In 1880, Samuel, a dry goods merchant, lived in this house on Ann Street with his wife and four-year old daughter Minnie Coral Gabriel. Neighbors were the Charles A. Clawsons and the Samuel Howlands. 

About 1896, Minnie Coral Gabriel (1876-1947) married her penmanship teacher Claudius Franklin Bland (1871-1936).

By 1900 Charles S. Carrow and wife Mary Bell Carrow lived in the house with Mary’s parents, Eugene and Emma Julia Bell. Eugene Bell, born in 1849, was the son of Josiah Fisher Bell and Susan Benjamin Leecraft. Charles was the son of Nathan L. Carrow, the old Civil War soldier that Neal Willis remembered sitting on the porch of the former 1796 courthouse, then the home of “Nat” Carrow’s daughter, “Miss Delight” and her husband Samuel Thomas.

Charles Carrow was noted in the 1910 census as a seaman on a merchant vessel. By 1930 he was a boatman on a pleasure boat and lived alone in the house. Morgan Bell Stewart inherited the house. More in Porchscapes, The Colors of Beaufort.

The Davis House

Three houses (now 119-125 Front Street) were separate homes until acquired by “Miss Sarah” Davis in 1882. (Sarah Ann Davis, 1829-1916, was the daughter of Christopher A. Davis and Elizabeth Thamer Howland.) She joined them under one roof to become the Davis House or Davis House Hotel. From 1882 until World War II it was one of the most popular boarding houses in Beaufort. G.I. Stanton wrote in City by the Sea, 1901: "The Davis House established many years ago is comfortable and homelike, only a white shell road separating it from the water—and from its long verandas one can look through Old Topsail Inlet to the sea."

The hotel closed in the 1930s. In 1970, the property was acquired by Duke University. By offering affordable housing, the Duke University Laboratory on Piver's Island was able to encourage a large number of scientists and graduate students from around the world to come to Beaufort at various times in the year to work with Duke colleagues on a variety of endeavors.

Fortunately architectural historian Tony P. Wrenn was in Beaufort in 1970 doing a survey for the NC Department of Archives and History, and was able to save the building from destruction. It was agreed that the façade of the buildings would remain intact. The apartments became known as the Colonial Apartments.

At the time Wrenn wrote, in part: “125 Front Street (Warner House) includes part of a house built ca.1769 and retains Federal interiors. The Pigot House at 123 Front Street, was built before 1839. 121 Front Street was built in 1880 by the Donnell family and purchased by Sarah Davis in 1882. Apparently Mrs. Davis joined the three houses and three porches together in the 1880s to create her well-known hotel.”

The 1997 Ruth Little Survey recorded the Davis House (119-125 Front Street) as "three 2-story gable houses connected by an attached 2-story front porch, originally used as a hotel/apartment house. The porch is the longest in Beaufort with a total of thirteen bays, and has an exterior staircase, slender Doric columns, plain railing, and paneled and glazed early 20th century doors. The houses have been altered and exhibit various sash types, including 9/6, 6/6, 4/4 and 2/2."

The structure was neglected and eventually fell into a state of disrepair. It was, however, rescued in the last few years and converted into private condos/residences. Today the Front Street Davis House "houses" are designated as follows:

119 is now the Davis House Dining Annex ca. 1836.

121 (previously 1880 Donnell-Davis House) is now the Thomas Duncan House circa1849.

123 (previously 1839 Pigot House) is now the William Jones House circa 1813.

125 remains the Warner House circa 1769.

Carteret County Courthouses - A History

1796 Courthouse - Painting by Mary Warshaw

The building is on the Beaufort Restoration Grounds.

The Carteret County Courthouse of 1796, built at the intersection of Ann and Turner Streets, was the third Beaufort courthouse. The first was built in 1724 after Beaufort had become the "county seat" of Carteret Precinct. The second courthouse was built in 1728 by William Davis of Davis Island.

In his 1965 thesis, Colonial Beaufort, historian Charles Paul noted Carteret deed books and court minutes that referenced the first courthouses. “In June, 1724, the church wardens bought from the town commissioners a ‘Lott of land ... together with the house now erected thereon ... being at present the house appointed for a Court House....Only three months later, though, a hurricane rendered it unusable by destroying its roof, and in the next year it was completely destroyed by fire. When the next courthouse was completed in 1728, the church started holding its services there and did so throughout the Colonial period.^”

According to research by Mamré Wilson, Colonel William Thomson was in charge of building the 1796 courthouse. Thomson was a Beaufort landowner and town official. As treasurer for the county and of public buildings, Col. Thomson was able to acquire the funds.

About 1837, after the decision was made to build a new courthouse, the 1796 courthouse, setting of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions for 40 years, was moved to the northeast corner of the same streets. The building was first sold to George Denby in 1843 for $170. A year later it was sold to Dr. James Hunt, who used it as his office until his death in 1848.

When Dr. William Cramer, of Portsmouth Island, came to Beaufort in 1850 to help staff the new US Government Hospital, he purchased the old 1796 courthouse and made it his home.
Beaufort native Neal Willis, born in 1917, remembered that the building (401 Ann Street) became the home of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel H. Thomas after Dr. Cramer died in 1864. Mrs. Thomas, “Miss Delight”, was the daughter of Mr. Nate Carrow, a civil war veteran. Neal Willis remembered seeing the old soldier “sitting on the front porch while I was passing with my father in the late twenties.”

Acquired in 1976 and moved to the Beaufort Historic Site in 1977, the building, having been sectioned off as a private home, was completely restored in 2001, as a one-room courthouse and returned to its original color. Today it proudly displays an original 13-star American flag.

The 1796 courthouse is the oldest surviving wooden courthouse in North Carolina and also the oldest remaining public building in Carteret County. Today it serves as a museum and hosts an interactive dramatization program that allows school children to conduct mock trials and reenactments.

The 1837 courthouse at the corner of Turner and Broad was built for $4400 by James Ward. Ward most likely hired brick masons who had come to Beaufort and stayed after finishing Fort Macon in 1834.

The building was 50 by 60 feet with two stories and walls fifteen inches thick. One entrance faced south on Broad Street and the other faced west on Turner Street. A brick-paved area separated the street from the west side of the courthouse. Inside the west door were the stairs to the second-floor courtroom, which occupied the entire space. The judge's bench was at the north end and there was space for lawyers and witnesses, all enclosed by a rail, similar to the interior of the 1796 courthouse. Long benches were available for spectators. On the first floor in the southeast corner was the register of deeds office. Two rooms at the north end of the first floor were occupied by the clerk of court and the library.

There was no room for the sheriff in this building, so his office was the second floor of the "old marketplace" at the northeast corner of Turner and Front Street. Nearly sixty years after the courthouse and the new jail were built, the mortar began crumbling and the fear that the building would collapse resulted in hiring people to stucco the exterior of both.

In a 1900 letter, Thomas Carrow wrote about helping with this stucco work in 1895 and being paid 75 cents for ten hours of work. From 1894-1898 he helped his father in the register of deeds office as a clerk. In 1903, the county commissioners made plans to build a new, larger fireproof courthouse. This courthouse was built in 1907 at a cost $32,000 in the center of Courthouse Square. The old courthouse was used for a time as a public school and later as a library. In 1914 the court ordered the building sold and removed. When it was demolished, many of the old books and papers were still in the building.

The current active courthouse, built in 1907, designed by noted New Bern architect Herbert Woodley Simpson, is a monumental brick Classic Revival building occupying the center of the 400 block of Broad Street. Corinthian porticos face Broad and Turner streets and a tall octagonal cupola dominates the Beaufort skyline.

"Norcom House" and the Old Inlet Inn

"Norcom House" on Front Street (before 1911)

The original Inlet Inn, built in the 1850s by the owners of a dry goods store in Beaufort, was first a private residence owned by Charles Lowenberg. The 1880 census recorded Charles W. Lowenberg as a hotel proprietor of "Sea Side House."

In the early 1900s the home was sold to the Morris family who used it as a summer home. After a couple years the Morris family turned the home into a boarding house and named it "The Morris House."

In the early 1900s, Carrie Dill Norcom operated the inn, previously known at "The Morris House, and renamed it "Norcom House." Miss Dill married Henry D. Norcom in 1878 and lived in the family home at 128 Craven Street.

 

Anna Pierson Stephens

Carrie Dill Norcom

In 1911, the house was sold to Congressman Charles Abernathy who greatly expanded its size with rambling additions and named it the "New Inlet Inn." (1900 census notes Charles Abernathy, lawyer, living with his wife on Ann Street. The 1910 census recorded Charles S. Abernathy, 38, solicitor-third judicial district, was living within the first two blocks of west Front Street.)

 

Carrie Dill Norcom (1859-1949) stayed on as "keeper of boarding house, as recorded on the 1910 and 1920 censuses. 

 

From the early- to-mid 1930s, until mid- to-late 1950s, Anna Virginia Pierson Stephens (1887-1975), wife of Burett Henry Stephens, was owner/operator of the inn. The 1940 census noted her as "manager of hotel," and the 1950 census as "proprietor of boarding house." Later, she leased the inn to others, who continued its operation.

There was a ball room on the second floor. Music was provided by a small orchestra comprised of the four children of the inn operator, Mrs. Worth, and two other local Beaufort boys. There was even a dance instructor. Fresh water was pumped to the Inn by windmills.

1917 Postcard

 

1913 Sanborn Map
 

At this time a beautiful swimming beach was right at the front steps of the inn. A half-mile-long boardwalk, extending from the 500 block of Front Street and passed in front of the inn. 

 

Dredging of Taylor’s Creek and the resulting unsightly piles of sand on the south side of the channel lead to the closing of the inn. Several comebacks were attempted but were not successful. Eventually the beach in front of the inn was filled and Front Street was extended and paved.

Drummond's Pictorial Atlas of North Carolina, published 1924, noted the Inlet Inn as one of the resort hotels in North Carolina. Part of Drummond's description: "Beaufort has just installed a sewer and water system which covers the whole town. It has paved sidewalks and is now paving the principal streets. A fine seawall lies in front of the town. The city owns her own water and electric plants. Beaufort has good public schools and a large private school. Baptist, Congregational, Methodist and Episcopal churches are here. Investigation of Beaufort's numerous advantages is welcomed by the Chamber of Commerce. Beaufort's fishing industry is one of the largest in the State. Approximately one million dollars is invested in boats, nets and factories. Lumber is also one of the big industries here."

Old Inlet Inn circa 1933
The inn was then under the supervision of Mr. & Mrs. W.J. Willmott 

Sabal Palms once in front of the Inlet Inn

"Joni's Porch"
Part of the Old Inlet Inn

In 1967, at the age of 110, most of the building was torn down to make way for construction of the BB&T Bank building just east of the current Inlet Inn at the corner of Front and Queen streets. 

One wing of the original Inlet Inn was salvaged and is now used as a private residence.

Below are few images provided by Paul Stephens, grandson of Anna Virginia Pierson Stephens, owner/operator of the inn from the early- to-mid 1930s, until mid- to-late 1950s.

Unique Civil War Graphics

General Burnside on the Road from New Berne to Beaufort, North Carolina
From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper

“Log Fort near New Berne” circa 1862
James Wells Champney Sketchbook

Fort Macon - Christmas Day
Champney Sketch
State Archives of North Carolina

James Wells Champney was born in 1843 and died in 1903 in a tragic fall down an elevator shaft at the Camera Club in New York, where he had gone to develop a couple of images. Champney was a noted painter and illustrator who studied with Edouard Frere and at the Antwerp Academy in 1868.

Siege of Fort Macon by Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper artist Frank Schell

Fort Macon sketch by artist Frank Schell
Etching later published in Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper

Burnside's "March to besiege Fort Macon"

 1862 Map of Beaufort Harbor. George Woolworth Colton. Library of Congress

Whaling Images

...to help us imagine what it was like for the whalers off of Beaufort
and Shackleford Banks beginning in the early 18th century.

New England Whaler 1856 Walfang Zwischen
Published by Currier & Ives

"Dangers of the Whale Fishery" 1820 W.Scoresby
NOAA Photo Library

Links to more of Beaufort's Maritime Heritage:
A Whale of a Story

Outer Banks Windmills

 The Seaside School (Gibbs House) of Johns Hopkins University colorized sketch by Henry Osborne published in a special German edition of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper November 27, 1880

 

From Seasoned By Salt: A Historical Album of the Outer Banks by Rodney Barfield

 

Windmill at Beaufort circa 1890
Live Oak and Front Streets
NC Archives and History

"The Outer Banks of coastal North Carolina was devoid of the running water that powered gristmills in the Piedmont and mountain regions of the state. Instead, maritime communities turned to the most obvious natural resource at hand - wind.

Windmills dotted the landscape of coastal North Carolina from the eighteenth century until the twentieth. Eighteenth-century mills are documented at Nixonton in Pasquotank County (Old Windmill Point); Swansboro, Marshallberg and Beaufort in Carteret County; and on Portsmouth Island.

Swansboro historian Tucker Littleton made a survey of the state's windmills in the 1970s and documented 155 structures.

North Carolina windmills were of the 'post mill' type--framed rectangular sheds built atop a single post some twenty or thirty feet off the ground. The entire structure revolved on the post and was manipulated by a tail post that reached from the building to the ground some seventy feet away. A wheel attached at the ground end of the tail pole ran in a track. Thus, the mill could be positioned to catch the prevailing winds.

The rotation of the fans turned a huge assembly of wooden gears inside the structure, which in turn moved the stone that crushed the grain.

The speed of the four fans was controlled by sails that covered their surface. The sails were furled to accommodate wind velocity, in much the same way that sails are used on boats. Regulation of the fan revolutions was important to the quality of meal produced. Too much speed on the stones scorched the grain and ruined it.

Mills were used for grinding wheat and corn and for pumping water. The former type were primarily located north of Onslow County and the latter south of Pender County. The mills of New Hanover and Brunswick Counties were often employed in the production of salt.

Post mills were simple and straightforward structures that could be easily built from available material. If a location proved unprofitable, they were frequently loaded onto wagons and hauled to new sites.

Ironically, the greatest threat to coastal windmills was its source of power. Severe storms and hurricanes toppled many mills and lightning destroyed others. These testimonials to North Carolina's maritime heritage eventually became outdated derelicts made useless by the advent of electricity and gasoline engines, and one by one, they were destroyed."

 

Beach at Beaufort Harbor, North Carolina circa 1895  

John L. Stoddard, Scenic America  

Origins of the Marine Lab

The Seaside School (Gibbs House) of John Hopkins University 
Colorized sketch by Henry Osborne published in a special German edition
 of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper - November 27, 1880

 

 

 

    

Although many scientist and naturalists visited and documented the Beaufort, North Carolina area from the mid to late 1800s, Dr. Elliot Coues, an army physician stationed at Fort Macon in 1869-70, provided the greatest publicity for the potential of the Beaufort region for natural history research. The area became a significant place for scientist to gather information. From 1880-1886, professors and students of Johns Hopkins University maintained a laboratory at the Gibbs House, which was rented from Laura Gibbs Ramsey.

"Surface Collecting near Fort Macon" was the second image
published in this special German edition of Leslie's Illustrated

In 1880, the Johns Hopkins was provided a steam launch, which was built at Bristol, R.I., and arrangements were made to spend a longer period at the seaside. The session was opened on April 23rd at Beaufort, N.C., and closed September 30th. A house was hired and fitted with working accommodations for six investigators and directed by W.K. Brooks. Dr. Brooks supervised these advanced students.

 
During about six weeks during 1881, an elementary class in Zoology was announced. Daily lectures were to be given along with dredging and collecting expeditions. Applicants were required to attend "the whole course, and to devote themselves to study, although, bearing in mind that most of the students will probably have just finished a year's collegiate study elsewhere, the work in the laboratory will be so arranged as to leave abundant time for out-door life, and for the enjoyment of fishing, boating and bathing." The fee for instruction was $25. Those qualified would be allowed to study for the rest of the season without extra charge. "Boarding and lodging can be obtained in the town of Beaufort, within a short distance of the laboratory, for from $20 to $30 a month. The diversified fauna of this locality, together with its mild and uniform climate, renders it a desirable place for study during the hot months of summer." (Johns Hopkins University Circular)

Excerpts from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper - November 20, 1880

The Johns Hopkins Seaside Laboratory

Click to open photo viewer

We give on page 193 illustrations of the Johns Hopkins Seaside Laboratory, which has been located during the past season at Beaufort, on the coast of North Carolina. The work of the laboratory, which was organized three years ago, has been to study the marine life of Southern waters…The first season’s work, in the Summer of 1878, was carried on in Hampton Roads, Va., at Fort Wool…In the following Spring the laboratory was established at Crisfield, on the “Eastern Shore” of Maryland, a village which is the centre of the oyster trade for the Southern Chesapeake…

This season it was decided to push still further south in order to get within reach of the more Southern or semi-tropical forms of life, and, after some deliberation, Beaufort, N.C., and old and well-known collecting ground, was fixed upon as headquarters for the Summer…Our illustrations, most of which are from sketches by Henry F. Osborne, show some of the apparatus and the way it is used, and one or tow of the interesting forms of life are shown. One represents a party “dipping” and “towing” from the little steam launch, which has proved of invaluable, or, rather, indispensable, service in the work…

The town of Beaufort, though a rather out-of-the-way place,
is a well-known Southern Summer resort. The prevailing cool sea breezes render the climate very delightful, and this is itself a sufficient inducement to many. But there are many other attractions, such as fishing, bathing, boating, etc., and the town rather picturesque. The attention of the newly-arrived visitor is immediately arrested by the old-fashioned windmills which grind corn for the omnipresent “pone” or Southern cornbread. Seen from a distance, they give a decidedly Dutch look to the place—an impression which is, however, scarcely sustained by a nearer view of the battered and weather-beaten old houses of which the village is largely composed.

 

 

It is proposed to resume the work at Beaufort next Summer, and it is not impossible that a permanent laboratory may be there erected if the location is found, upon thorough trial, to be well adapted for that purpose. At present a large dwelling-house, situated at the water’s edge, is made use of for a laboratory. This mansion enjoys no little celebrity from its architectural superiority to its less pretentious neighbors, and from the fact, often reiterated by inhabitants of Beaufort—that it is built of cypress wood and copper nails.

 

1851 Gibbs House - 1972 National Register photograph

 

 

 

After renting the house to Johns Hopkins from 1880-1886, about 1893, Laura Gibbs Ramsey added the upper front porch. (N. Russell) For three years (1899-1901), before a permanent laboratory was finished on Piver's Island in 1902, Laura again rented the house to the U.S. Fish Commission.

In the May 5, 1899 issue of Science magazine, the assistant Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, Hugh McCormick Smith, announced that the U.S. Fish Commission would maintain a marine biological laboratory at Beaufort, NC. The only other permanent station at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, had been established in 1885.

Joseph Austin Holmes, North Carolina State Geologist and head of Natural History Survey from 1891-1905, was primarily responsible for gaining support of the federal government for establishing the fisheries laboratory at Beaufort. Professor Henry Van Peters Wilson, professor and chairman of zoology at the University of North Carolina from 1891-1935, pressed for the establishment of the laboratory at Beaufort.

Professor Wilson

Dr. Henry Van Peters Wilson had spent several seasons in Beaufort as a Johns Hopkins graduate student. In 1899, Wilson, who had continued conducting research in Beaufort during the summers, was placed in charge of the new laboratory, which was for the study of questions pertaining to fish-culture, fisheries and marine biology. Professor Wilson was granted $300 with which he rented a "commodius building" (Gibbs House) on the waterfront and provided it with suitable laboratory equipment and a small working library.

A steam launch was assigned and on June 1, 1899 the U.S. Fish Commission Laboratory was opened for its first season. At this time Beaufort was reached by boat from Morehead City. Twelve men, faculty and students from various universities, had come to Beaufort by September - to use the laboratory for various projects. Even though these men conducted various research projects, all contributed in the effort to determine the animals and plants in and near Beaufort Harbor, including their abundance, local distribution, breeding times, habits, etc. The foundation was laid for a museum collection and a record book was opened.

Before the Laboratory reopened for its second season, President Theodore Roosevelt had signed an act of Congress authorizing the establishment of a permanent biological station on the coast of North Carolina. Land was acquired with the help of Alonzo Thomas and others - the laboratory on Pivers Island was officially opened on May 26, 1902.

See: 1916 Article - Bureau of Fisheries and its Biological Station at Beaufort

1930-31 Beaufort Football Squad

An original photo found on eBay with ID notes on back.

Left to right – Front Row – James Potter, Leon Thomas, Dave Clawson,

Howard Hill, Johnny Wiley, David Beveridge, Henry Hatsell.

Back Row – Troy Johnson, Ralph Hassell, Wiley Lewis, Fletcher Eure.

Inez Gaynelle Felton's name is also included on the back of the photo.
She was born 13 Feb 1914 and died 25 Mar 1996 - daughter of John and Ruby Felton - granddaughter of John F. and Effie Sabiston.

Bogue Banks Lighthouse 1855-1862

Below is an excerpt from a 2004 article by Fort Macon historian Paul Branch.

“Although many people today are familiar with the lighthouses that dot the coast of North Carolina, few are aware that one of them once stood outside the walls of Fort Macon at the eastern end of Bogue Banks. Its existence was only a brief seven years. Its end was untimely – a casualty of war. Nevertheless, the story of the Bogue Banks Lighthouse remains an interesting part of the history of coastal North Carolina.

…August 31, 1852 Congress appropriated a sum of $5000 to erect a small harbor lighthouse on the eastern point of Bogue Banks to assist vessels entering Beaufort Inlet…The work was under the superintendence of Captain Daniel P. Woodbury of the Army Corps of Engineers...

To build the Bogue Banks Lighthouse, Woodbury selected a site back from the shifting beach on a large spit of stable, dry land adjacent to the marsh about 200 yards northwest of Fort Macon. Construction began in the summer of 1854.

Plans called for a brick lighthouse tower with a two-story building attached to be used for storage of supplies. The plans originally depicted the tower as being circular. When constructed, however, the tower was built in an octagon. Also included in the lighthouse plans was a small, two-story keepers house, although it is unclear if this was ever built.

The Bogue Banks Lighthouse was given a fixed fourth order Fresnel lens… stood fifty feet above the sea. The light was visible 12-1/2 nautical miles out to sea…The two lights were put into operation for the first time on May 20, 1855.

For the next several years the lights operated successfully, guiding mariners through Beaufort Harbor. The 1860 census lists Thomas Delamar* as the Lighthouse Keeper. One year later, the War Between the States began in April,1861.

…the lights in the Cape Lookout and Bogue Banks Lighhouses and the Bogue Banks beacon were all extinguished for wartime security…By June, 1861, it was decided the very valuable Fresnel lenses should be removed from these lighthouses and the beacon in order to safeguard them from any war danger. Beaufort Collector of Customs, Josiah F. Bell,** who was appointed Superintendent of Lights for the Beaufort District of the Confederate Lighthouse Bureau, had the lenses carefully taken down and placed in storage in a warehouse in Beaufort at a cost of $5 per month. He also spent $19.25 for the purchase of blankets in which to wrap the lenses.

Knowing that some manner of attack was only a matter of time, Colonel White and his men made what preparations they could to defend the fort. One of the key considerations for defense, of course, was that the fort’s cannons must have a clear field of fire in all directions. Tall structures outside the fort that in any way masked the guns, such as the Bogue Banks Lighthouse and beacon, had to go. On the evening of March 27, the fort garrison toppled the lighthouse over onto the ground. It broke apart into sections and lay in a crumpled heap in the sand. On the following morning the beacon was also pulled down.

Such was the brief existence of the Bogue Banks Lighthouse. Although the foundations of the lighthouse were mentioned as still being present in 1871, no artifacts or remains have ever been found of it. The site is now occupied by the United States Coast Guard base adjacent to Fort Macon…the Fresnel lens from the lighthouse was reused by the Lighthouse Board in another lighthouse. It probably still exists today in one of the many lighthouses that still remain guarding the coast of the United States.”

~

*Thomas Delamar - June 1860 Carteret County census: Delamar 66 with wife Abigail (Stanton) Delamar 50 (married 1855), domestic Mary Pearce and John Pearce 10 - Post Office - Shepherdsville (now Newport). The 1850 Beaufort census lists Thomas Delamar, age 56, ship carpenter, with wife Hannah Delamar 55, Nancy D. Delamar 25, James Delamar 18, with Rebecca Smith 10 and William Mosely 13 (black).

**Josiah Fisher Bell (1820-1890) - also served as an agent in the Confederate Secret Service during the Civil War. In the spring of 1862, Bell was responsible for blowing up the lighthouses on Cape Lookout; the old lighthouse destroyed, the new one only damaged.