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
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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
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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
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■ BMW I
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Ilflfl fifth I
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! 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 <F / £/
8 times the interest on the current State debt—or,
more than the ENTIRE 1952 State Board of Health /
Department expenses! j|J I 1
The remaining one-half (about $2.5 million) is dis- f \ / f
tributed ONLY to the counties and towns in North j | I l
Carolina using the "legal control" system. Generally \\\ /I;
tiiis money is placed in their General Fund and used s\ \ (J
for fire protection, law enforcement, old age pensions, Cr
money to build and maintain schools and hospitals, U)
and pay for the many other services needed for | s*
modem government. (J u I *
There is no doubt that local and state taxes would fJ' f /] i J
have to be INCREASED to maintain present budgets I J) /
if the beer excise tax revenue were taken away. ‘r* \ \r —y
This is another example of how beer— the beverage m 0
of moderation—plays a hard-working role in the ft I ff
economy of North Carolina. 1 1 I f\L.LJ axN
c *’“ l
t
P. (XBOX 1292
Meigb, N. C
HU Preference
“Say, Smith, how about spending
our vacation in the Canadian woods,
where we can see nature at her wild
est?”
“Nothing doing! I prefer to go to
the beach where one can see two men
and waves at their wildest.”
TRY A HERALD CLASSIFIED AO
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May Bring -
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Don't suffer restless ".ights with these dis
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Don’t neglect your kidneys if these condi
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it’s amazing how many times Doan’s give
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SECTION TWO—
Page Seven