Written History of Crab Point Dates to 1722
Porters Were First Family
To Deed Land in That Area
By F. C. SALISBURY I
Recorded on psg? one. book "A"
In the office of the Register of
Deeds. Cirteret County, is < copr
of a deed given by Katherine and,
Joshua Porter to George Coydell
for 120 acres of land on the south
aide of Newport River and Daw
ions Creek. It's dated 1722.
This acreage is believed to have :
been part, or whole of one of the
first grants (or purchase) of land
in that section known today as Crab
Point. The river and creek are the ,
only boundaries given. As the name
Porter appears many times in the .
land transfers of that section, il is
reasonable to believe lhatPorter j
and descendants may rightly be |
called the first settlers on (-rib
Point; the name of which was not j
attached to the section until over i
a hundred years later.
Eight years later, following the |
purchase by Coydell, one Sarah
Porter, wife of John Porter, de-|
ceased, ia granted 240 acres near
the mouth of Newport River, on the
south side. The land was known
by the name of "Kershaw." For
the next century the name of Por
ter appears in various alnd trans
actions, both on the Point and else
where in the county.
In 1739 Joshua Nash became the
owner of Point property through a
grant given by the Lords Proprie
tors consisting of 223 acres. It bor
dering on Shepards Creek, known
today as Calico Creek. It is this
grant most often referred to in
establishing boundaries in later
transfers. Also part of thu tract
was known in the county as the
Pigott place, which today embraces
a subdivision of the town of More
head City.
Along with Porter and Nash of
those early days appears the names
of William Dennis, George Read
and George Coydell as large land
owners. Passing years brought
John Jones, David Owens and Wil
liam Adams into the section to be
followed by Laughtons, Oglesbys
I and Willis's and their descendants.
Probably one of the earliest
tracts to be cleared and buildings
erected thereon was on the proper
; ty of Joshua Nish bordering on
' Shepards Creek. The house, torn
down several years ago, was made
of hewed timbers, joined with
wooden pegs. Interior trim of doors
and panels, mouldings and itiir
construction, were hand wrought.
The building, no doubt, wis on the
property it the time Levi Pigott
I purchased the 100 acres from Na
thaniel Porter in 1838.
Further evidence that this loca
tion was the home place of Nash,
is a clause in a deed of this prop
erty given by him to William Den
nis in 1744 which rcids: "All ex
cept the gnve yird to be reserved
for Jushua Nash." He could not
have been an educated man for his
signature is in "X".
This cemetery reserved by Nish,
known todiy is the Pigott ceme
tery, contiins the remiins of miny
of thit family, is thought to have
been a community cemetery for
families living along the southern
part of the Point. Wooden slibs
onced marked the graves of those
early pioneers.
Only one slab remains standing.
A marble marker outside the Pi
gott enclosure marks the grave of
Ester Reed Porter, 1I0S-1M4. The
families of Reed and Porter at one
time were neighbors of Nashes on
adjoining plantations.
The contour of the land embrac
ing what Is knawn as Crab Point is
almost a two-mile square peninsu
la. formed by the Newpart River
on three sides and Calico Creek. It
contains one 2,500 acres. Timber
once nearly covered the area, but
today the land i? of the best in the
county for agricultural purposes.
Several small industries thrived
on the Point at one time. During
the ten-year period of the building
of Fort Macon, 1826-1836, with the
demand for the millions of brick
which went into its construction, a
brick yard was put in operation
along the north shore where suit
able clay for making of brick was
abundant. This yard flourished for
several years.
On the William Adams tract a
grist mill, powered by one of those
old-timcy windmills, ground corn
The site of the mill was at the most
northern part of the Adams tract
where it extends into Newport
River. This point is shown on maps
of the section as Penn Point, so
named from a later owner of the
property, one Penn Adams.
Along the east Shore jutting into
the Thorofare is an area that in
years past was given the name of
Crab Point. This name, through
passing years, has designated the
entire section. The story has come
down through the years that the
quantity of crabs caught along the
east shore of the river was respon
sible for the naming of the point.
It was at this point that a lumber
concern under title of The Carolina
Lumber Co., F. W. Pelton, o I Boa
ton, president, purchased from
John Jones, Jan. 14, 1865, three
acres of land, erecting thereon a
saw mill. Operation of this mill
was of short duration. Two years
later the property was purchased
by Arthur M. Fales of Morehead
City for $15,000.
Later, he added to the property
by the purchase from Jones of six
acres. He built a large house for
his family where they made their
home for several years. During the
period the family lived at the mill
site, a daughter, Lillie Fales, con
ducted a school for young children
in the home.
Records show that Fales sold the
mill two different timea. The prop
erty must have reverted to him in
both cases for in 1890 he leased the
plant to the American Lumber Co.,
a northern concern. H was during
the operation of the mill by this
concern that it was destroyed by
fire. The home place did not burn.
Following the fire, the Fales family
moved to Beaufort.
One of the first menhaden fish
factories to be put in operation in
the county was built on the saw
mill site by C. S. Wallace in the
latter part of 1*90. Processing oil
and scrap at that time was the
crudest of methods. Presses for
Known at the oM Pigott house, long dace ton down, this home Is
believed to have been belli by Jokes Naah, who was the first owner
at the land that later became known as the rlfott farm. A family
cemetery on the land, mentioned la a deed givea by Naah la 1744,
would bear oat this belief. ?
Straight
BOURBON
Whiskey
This building Is part of the Ward house, built at the turn of the 1Mb century. It originally had two
stories with dormer windows that lighted the upper rooms. Hand-hewed timbers form the framing. Doors
and trim and the paneled side wall show remarkable hand work. All mortise and tenon are fastened by
pegs Cupboard doors swing from "H" binges, much sought after by antique hunters. The building now
serves as a storehouse on the Laugbton farm.
?xtraeting (he oil from the cooked
'ish were of the lever type operated
>y manpower.
Drying of scrap for fertilizer was
it the solar process. It was spread
>ut on large open wood flours to
x dried by the sun. Until cured,
he fcr.p had to be turned fre
lucntly. In case of storm the scrap
vas scraped into piles and covcred
a it h canvas. Like the sawmill, this
actory was destroyed by fire.
In 1936 when Cecil Nelson of
Morchead City bccamc interested
in the processing of sharks for their
skins, and oil from the livers, he
selected the former sawmill site on
which to build his plant. He con
tinued work until the start of World
War II, which stopped his boats
from going out.
In the days of brick making and
uttibering, the north shore of the
Point became a small port. Large
schooners found ample depth of
water to reach the loading wharfs.
One of the early homes at the
Point was that of John Jones who
iwned considerable land along the
:ast shore. During the Civil War,
the house was taken over by the
Federal Army for use as a hos
pital. In later years when the
property was purchased by John
Oglesby the bouse was moved to a
new location and rebuilt.
Interesting Civil War history cen
ters about the former Pigott plan
tation, (or here was the home of
the daughter Emcline, whoae ac
tivities as a spy in the cause of
the Confederacy has gone down in
the annals of civil strife. It is in
the old Nash cemetery that her
soldier boy is buried, name un
known, but carried in the heart of
Miss Emeline to her grave.
Many a Confederate soldier
crossed the Newport River, to beat
their way in the night through the
woods and past a Federal picket to
reach the Pigott home, there to re
ceive some message from their
homefolk, to get a snack to eat or
some aid for a suffering comrade.
As a wedding gift to her daugh
ter, Harriet, upon her marriage to
Joseph R. Franklin, Mrs. Pigott
gave the young coupla 30 acres of
the plantation for a home site. The
family home that was built was
later moved to Morehead City and
became known as the Royal house.
William Borden, a member of
that band of Quakers coming into
the county in 1721, purchased sev
It wis to the Adims' windmill of this type, that farmers living
on Crab Point went to hire their corn (round. This mill operated
op until about 1870. The laat operator! were Penn and Octave Adams.
(Photo copy by F. C. Salisbury)
? ? :=
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1302 Arendell St, Moraheed City, N. C
eral hundred acres along the New
port River, that in later years this
became known as the Ward home
place.
It was to his daughter, Alice,
who married David Ward, that
Borden gave a large tract of his
land along the Newport River in
1798. This became the home site
of the Wards. This family was rep
resented by their descendants in
that section up until about the time
of the Civil War.
Emanuel Jones came into the
county about the time of Joshua
Nash, 1743. He became quite a
large land owner throughout the
county. Among his descendants
was John Jones who located along
the east shore of the Point. De
scendants of neither Ward or Jones
are property owners to any extent
in this area, if any, today.
For nearly a century the name
of Laughton has been identified
with the ownership and fai m opera
tion on Crab Point. George Laugh
ton, the progenitor of all present
day families of this name, came
from England shortly before the
outbreak of the Civil War. He was
married to Mary Anne Roberts in
1859 at Sheffield, which no doubt
was his early home. He was born
in 1830.
Arriving in the states, he first
settled in Beaufort, later moving
to Morehead City where he was
it* ~
joined by hit wife. Here they lived
until establishing their home on
Crab Point.
For a short period during the
Civil War, Laughton served on a
Confederate hospital ship, carrying
sick and wounded to southern ports
where hospitals had been estab
lished. The gruesome sight a I the
maimed and wounded so affected
him that he gave up the work.
After the close of hostilities,
Laughton opened a ships' store in
the vicinity of the railroad pier. He
operated it until 1870. It was that
year he purchased from the Ward
heirs the land on Crab Point known
as the Alice Ward homestead. It
lay along the south and west sides
of Newport River and contained
550 acres.
This site became the homeplace
of the Laughtons down through the
years and is still owned by mem
bers of this family. With passing
years, his holdings of farm proper
ty increased until they consisted of
nearly 1,000 acres, almost half the
area known today as Crab Point.
Seven children were born to this
couple, four sons and three daugh
ters. The first child, a son, George,
died in infancy from neglect on the
part of his nurse from over-expos
ure in the hot sun. A son, Edwin,
died at the age of 3. From the son,
John, the present generation has
descended to carry on the name of
Laughton. The son, William, had
no issue.
In 1883 when the county became
interested in supplying the rural
sections with educational advan
tages, Laughton gave the county
school committee one acre of land,
a short distance west of the home,
on which to erect a school house.
Later, the building was moved
some distance along the north
shore where it served up until the
consolidation. Laughton built and
operated a cotton gin on his prop
erty during the years when cotton
raising was popular.
The present century brought two
brothers, John and Dan Oglesby,
from Hull's Swamp, into the Point
section. Between them they pur
chased the Jones' property along
the east shore. Descendants of
these two brothers, now engaged
in agriculture on the Point, are
rated among the best farmers of
the county.
An unusual relationship exists be
C.^666
tween the Laughton and the Ogles
by faailia*. It result* from the
marriage of Laugbton men to
Ogleaby girl* and Oglesby men to
Laugbton girls, creating a relation
ship of double couain* among the
present generation.
Two stories about changing the
name of the creek bordering the
south boundary of the Point, from
Shepards Creek to Calico Crack
have tome down through the years.
The older *tory relate* that a
schooner seeking anchorage in the
mouth of Newport River during a
severe storm was wrecked.
Among the cargo was a quantity
of calico which drifted ashore
where the wind draped long yard
age of this once popular material
on the fences and underbrush along
the creek. From this happening is
said to have come the name of
Calico Creek.
The late Fred Royal would tell
the story that the father of a large
family of girls living on the Point
bought calico by the bolt in which
to garb his wife and daughters.
See CRAB POINT, Page 7
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