Times Reporters Join List Os Edenton Admirers
Ediths : The following article
•ppeared in the . New York Times on
December 14.)
By Alfjf. Mapp, Jr., and Louise DeVere
Edenton, N. C.—Nestled among the
decp>frfiieu woods and rich fields of Tide
water North Carolina and facing out
over tie sun-jeweled waters of Albe
marle Sound is Edenton, a quiet, Co
lonial-accented community, where past
and pfesent are parts of a seamless
fabric.
Edehton’s location, sequestered and
/ yet qfien to the world, symbolizes its
place as a town removed from the turbu
lent mainstream of 20th-century life but
linked by memory and legend with stir
ring events of the great world.
Fishermen on the wharf at the foot of
Broad Street, dipping their lines in Albe
marle Sound in the shadow of the 18th
century Penelope Barker House and in
sight of clumps of grotesque-kneed cy
presses that stand offshore, express the
spirit of Edenton.
GRACE, DIGNITY, BISTORT
The town’s comfortable and unhurried
way of life is reflected in the unpreten
tious grace and relaxed dignity of other
18th-century homes that line tree-shaded
Streets, homes whose former owners sign
ed the Declaration of Independence and
spoke authoritatively in the councils of
a new nation.
Volume XXXVII—No. 1.
public Parade
To Tell The Truth
Those of us who have meandered
along the Public Parade for any length
of time (and we’re now beginning our
sixth year) many times can’t see the
forest for the trees. We just take too
much for granted!
Others come for only a short while
and what they see and experience sends
them away talking to themselves. That
was the case of two reporters, for the
New York Times, whose December 14
article we are re-printing today.
Also, we have a friend who happens to
be the best editor in the state. He too/
has had a love affair with Edenton for
several decades—retreating from a coas
tal storm one night to find refuge in
Hotel Joseph Hewes.
Little over five years ago he told us
we’d like Edenton. He said it was a
good place in which to bring up a family.
Thus far he hasn’t been wrong.
The high esteem in which Jay Huskins
of the Statesville Record & Landmark
holds Edenton can easily be noted in
the following from his Down In Iredell
column:
FITTING THE PRINT Well,
good for Edenton.
The Tpwn on Queen Anne’s Creek has
just come in for a full three-column
spread in the New York Times issue of
Sunday, December 14.
It is so good that it took two reporters,
Alf J. Mapp, Jr., and Louise DeVere to
do it. It is one of the best treatments of
a small southern city we have seen any
where.
Acouple of paragraphs will give you
an idea:
“Nestled among the deep-green woods
and rich fields of Tidewater North Ca
rolina and facing out over the sun
jeweled waters of Albemarle Sound is
Edenton, a quiet, colonial-accented com
munity, where past and present are parts
of a seamless fabric.
m. “Edenton’s location, sequestered and
yet open to the world symbolizes its
placets a town removed from the turbu
lent mainstream of 20th-century life but
linked by memory and legend with stir
ring events of the great world.”
From there, the Times story goes on
to tell about the 1774 Edenton tea party,
Its “array of gleaming white weather
boards, rose-hued bricks and emerald
. ldwns,” its historic courthouse and long
Ceatfantd oa Pag* 4
Holiday Thursday
L
/Employees of most-firms in the area
will get their second holiday in a week
Thursday as New Year’s will be cele
brated.
Alt state, county and federal offices
wffl be dosed. However, W. B. Gard
ner, town administrator, said the regular
trash collection schedule will be observed.
The Merchants Committee of Eden
w ® be no mall delivery on this
THE CHOWAN HERALD
Edenton, Chowan County, North Carolina. Thursday, January 1, 1970
Legend as, well as history unites Eden
ton with a storied past. The ™ e n who
come here several times a J g g d comb
the ground with electromaj . | devices
are not looking for oil but f 3 buried
treasure of the pirate Blac 7.!. He
once cruised these waters an '•§ ved his
claret with North Carolii F c 'egant
Gov. Charles Eden. rs 7
It is for Eden, governor 3 7 1714
until his death in 1722, tht 7 ‘2nton,
formerly known as Queen An 7 reek,
is named. During his terms, uie town
was the working, if unofficial, capital
of the colony. Eden’s remains, removed
from a family plot in 1889, now lie in
the burial ground of St. Paul’s Church.
WALKING TOUR OFFERED
A tour of historic and architectural
points of interest has been developed by
Historic Edenton, a newly incorporated
nonprofit organization. But this com
munity of about 5,000 has not converted
full time to the tourist business. ;
The tour begins at the Penelope Bark
er House, a two-story frame dwelling
about 1782 and anchored on the shores
of the sound by four tall, massive, brick
chimneys. There are housed a museum
and a small theater, which provides an
introduction by film to the history and
culture of the area.
GATEWAY OF LAWNS
The array of gleaming white weather-
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FROM THE TOP—Here is the first license plate which will be sold at Edenton Office
Supply on Thursday. And holding it are the people in charge of the motor vehicle
office—Kermit Layton and Mrs. Goldie L. Niblett.
1970 License Tag Sale Scheduled
The application cards necessary for
obtaining 1970 license plates were placed
in the mail on December 18. Depart
ment of Motor Vehicles officials expect
this huge mailing, estimated at more than
3,300,000 cards, to be delivered by Jan
uary 1.
Motorists will be paying more for their
1970 plates than they have been paying
in the past. The registration fees were
increased about 25 per cent by the 1969
Legislature. This does not apply to
North Carolina's amputee war veterans
and those war veterans having a 100 per
cent disability rating by the Veterans
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The Cupola House
boards, rose-hued bricks and emerald
lawns against the blue backdrop of the
sound makes this spot on Broad Street,
the. town’s main thoroughfare, a capti
vating gateway to the Edenton area.
But there is historical significance as
well. Tradition says that Penelope Bark
Single Copy 10 Cents
Administration. They will get their tags
free!
The new reflectorized red and white
plates will go on sale throughout the
State on January 2. The 1969 plates
expire December 31 and their use be
yond that date is permissible only if they
are duly registered by the Department
to the vehicle on which display is made.
Owners who have their vehicles properly
registered by the Department have until
February 16 to obtain new plates.
Surrounding area residents may ob
tain plates at Edenton Office Supply,
501 S. Broad Street, Edenton, N. C. Os-
Coniinued on Pag* 4
er, once the mistress of the house, pre
sided over the Edenton Tea Party of
October 25, 1774, a genteel counterpart
of the famous 1773 Boston Tea Party.
In what has been called the “earliest in
stance of political activity on the part of
women in the American Colonies,” 51
Perjury Is Charged
After Court Trial
Three men are being held in jail here
in lieu of $5,000 bond each on charges
of perjury. Bench warrants were order
ed by Judge Fentress Horner in Chowan
County District Court following testi
mony during a drunk driving trial.
Judson Curtis Wells of Snow Hill,
Jerry Wells and Jack Williams of Eden
ton were involved. Wells was charged
with drunk driving and driving after his
license had been suspended. They testi
fied Wells was not driving.
Mrs. Graham, 89,
Taken In Death
Mrs. William A. Graham, Sr., 120
West King Street, died Christmas morn
ing at her home following an extended
illness. She was 89.
Mrs. Graham was one of the area’s
most prominent civic leaders until she
became ill several years ago. She was
co-founder of Shepard-Pruden Memorial
Library and the Cupola House Associa
tion. She was a trustee of the Univer
sity of North Carolina and in 1952 was
named Woman of the Year in Edenton.
Anne Cameron Graham was born
September 10, 1880, in Hillsborough,
daughter of the late William Blount and
Pauline Cameron Shepard. She was the
widow of Dr. William A. Graham, Sr.
Surviving are two sons: Dr. William
A. Graham. Jr., of Durham; and John
W. Graham of Edenton; and five grand
children.
She was a member of St. Paul’s Epis
copal Church where funeral services were
held at 10:30 A. M., Saturday with
Bishop Thomas H. Wright, and Revs.
George B. Holmes and Fred H. Drane
officiating. Burial was in St. Mathews
Episcopal Church Cemetery.
Pallbearers were: George Capehart,
George Wood, Frank Williams, Frank
Holmes, Logan Elliott and Tom Shepard.
Williford Funeral Home was in charge
of arrangements.
prominent women of the area signed a
resol ation to discontinue their use of East
India tea.
Around the corner from the Barker
House and down Water Street on the un
hurried walking tour is the Public Green,
where an ornate bronze teapot mounted
on an upturned Revolutionary War can
non memorializes the Edenton women’s
defiance of British taxation. The house
where they met no longer stands, and the
smooth lawn surrounded by shady cy
press trees seems far removed from tur
bulence of any sort.
Presiding over the Green is the state
ly brick courthouse, built in 1767; it
still houses the court and offices of Cho
wan County. The courtroom, with wide
double doors and high ceiling, rounds to
a dramatic curve behind a tall bar where
two centuries of judges have meted out
justice from a dark, high-backed chair.
The courthouse is one of the finest
American examples of Georgian archi
tecture and is distinguished for its beau
tiful assembly room upstairs, said to be
the oldest paneled room of such dimen
sions surviving from the pre-Revolution
ary period.
The room has been used as an audi
torium for puppet shows, as a meeting
place for county commissioners, as a ball
room for dancing classes and as a ban
quet hall for community celebrations.
Continued on Page 4
State Trooper R. H. Allen arrested
Judson Wells about 11:15 P. M., Sunday
night. Terry Wheeler, who will soon
join the State Highway Patrol, was riding
with Trooper Allen and saw the men
switch drivers.
Solicitor Wilton Walker repeatedly
warned the witnesses of the penalty of
perjury. After all the evidence was in
the solicitor produced a female witness
who was riding in the car.
As she testified about Wells and an
other passenger switching places, the
three lowered their heads.
“Why are you hanging your heads
now?” the stern jurist asked. “I don’t
blame you. It is ?. shame and disgrace
the way you have acted.”
Wells was given the maximum sen
tence—six months for drunk driving ar.d
two years for driving after his license
had been suspended. They are to run
consecutively. He too faces a perjury
indictment.
Judge Horner and Solicitor both ap
peared shaken by the turn of events in
the case. The court was in recess for
some 30 minutes while the surprise wit
ness was brought to testify. A second
female occupant of the car was in the
courtroom but did not testify.
Mr. Ziegler Dies
Heywood Sawyer Ziegler, Sr., 108 X.
Broad Street, died Wednesday night at
8:45 o'clock in Chowan Hospital follow
ing a short illness. He was 73.
A native of Edenton, he was the sou
of the late Louis F. and Mrs. Ella saw
yer Ziegler. He was owner itera
tor of the Ziegler Funeral Horn, and
was the oldest funeral director in Ha .:r.n
North Carolina. ~
He was a graduate of Warr r\ u> Pre
paratory School and the Poi .'nvpsie,
N. Y. Business College.
He was a member of St. P - F.pi -
copal Church, a former member of tne
Red .Men and a former member of the
American Legion. He w r as an Army
Continued on Page 4