MARIE OR Mtissa BEDS OF BANDON Site of the Chowanoak Indian Village By J. L. WIGGINS i Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years before Amadas and Barlow or Sir Walter Raleigh’s colonists landed on Roanoke Island, evidence shows that, many Indians from the tribes connected with this point by water ways, gathered at what is now known as Bandon on the Chowan River, eighteen miles northwest of Edenton. The tributaries of the Chowan River are the Meherrin, Weyanoke, Notta way and Blackwater Rivers. (Indian name for Blackwater River not known.) At this point on the Chowan River there is a high bank or bluff* twenty-five feet in height. The river here is about two miles wide with a sandy shore graduating in depth out' to the channel. This sandy bottom of the river is the haven and breeding ground for millions of mussels, a shellfish somewhat similar to the oys ter, but unlike the oyster in this re spect. It does not grow in clusters, but only singly. It can move from' place to place and leaves a plain track! jjjf# the sand. White or colored people j shave never used mussels as a food f as the meat has a yellow color and a nauseating taste. The Indians, how ever, evidently were fond of them or through hunger ate them from neces sity. It is assumed that the Indians from up country, for ages, made yearly pil grimages in their dug-out canoes to this camping ground (perhaps thous ands of them) to gather mussels and feast on them during the summer sea son. As evidence of this, there was a shell bank here twenty feet high and two hundred yards long. About fifty years ago, Mr. John M. Forehand came into possession of Bandon and, realizing the fertilizer value of these partly decomposed shells for agricultural purposes, sold them by the load to farmers and also fertilized his own extensive acres with them. Thousands of bushels of shells have been moved, but there still re mains thousands of bushels. In moving these shells, which the farmers called marie, they uncovered many Indian relics, such as, arrow heads, pottery, tomahawks and even portions of human sheletons. Dr. Dillard of Edenton, who was quite a historian* told the writer that legend gave the name of this Indian camping ground as Chowanoak. i In the pre-Revolutionary period, Parson Earle lived at Bandon and preached in St. Paul’s Church in Edenton, driving back and forth eigh William H. Coffield j POST 9280 1 I I I Veterans of Foreign Wars |! ANNOUNCE | I THEY WILL AGAIN THIS YEAR HAVE i i Christmas Trees FOR SALE j I I All proceeds will be used to make a more ; joyous Christmas for hospitalized veterans. ] We ask your help in making this possible by j purchasing your trees from us. . • TREES WILL BE ON DISPLAY AT | BIIL'S PURE OIL STATION Corner Broad and Ricks Streets • I FREE DELIVERY H PHONE 428-W OR 57 iX; teen miles or riding horseback. He had established quite a fishery at Bandon, in fact, he named Bandon for Bandon, Ireland. At that period, re ligion had reached a pretty low ebb in the Albemarle so the Church in Edenton became badly in need of re pairs. Cheap Alloys Replace Silver In Army Guns WASHINGTON —Silver—-which has been used in the Army’s big guns 'through two world Wars and the Ko rean conflict—soon may be replaced iby cheap alloys. Although not normally associated with weapons of war, silver is being used by the Army Ordnance Corps to make rings for the recoil systems of many artillery pieces. However, tests show that in many cases aluminum,, babbitt and other metal alloys may Ibe used successfully. * On the 105-millimeter recoils, forj \ example, there are 12 silver rings. I GREATI I ° AK I ■ BMW I pi pta * | ■Bltu 0 ! Ilflfl fifth I iuß j \W j ! Austii^ncKolsj SCuK he. THE CHOWAN HERALD, EDENTON, N. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1953. Approximately one pound of silver is needed to make them. The use of silver rings in the mech anisms of artillery weapons dates back to the old French 75 in World War L At that time, silver was hit upon as the metal best suited for this purpose because of its softness and flexibility, and the fact that it was non-corrosive and could be spun into shape easily. Silver—like most othee metals— wears and causes wear. Because of this, there comes a time in the life of every recoil mechanism when it must be re-built to assure proper func tioning. One of the first weapons to switch to the new metal rings which are 1 cheaper and hold promise of more' durability and dependability was the Army’s 280-millimeter atomic gun. Give what you have. To some one it may be better than you dare to think. —Henry W. Longfellow. “The Kimr of «wine” BIG TYPE OIC Service Boars, Bred Gilts and Pigs S. R. MINTON MERRY HILL. N, C. I ... V->— I—. rm j .-» —— nr-.r. ■ - ---- - ____ $5,331,265.25 \ Hi- *BSBSS*\ in 1953 Fiscal Year Beer Excise Tax ft w? This huge $5 million tax revenue is the result of state /'\\ \ "legal control" beer sales. One-half is retained by | /a sn, the State oi North Carolina for an amount equal to