PAGE TWO
BOAT INDUSTRY
URGED TO AID
ITS CUSTOMERS
Rep. Bonner, Speaking in New
York Points Up Obligation
of Manufacturers
Representative Herbert C. Bon
ner (D. —N. C.), Chairman, Com
mittee on Merchant Marine and
Fisheries, House of Representa
tives, last week addressed the An
nual Banquet Luncheon of the Na
tional Association of Engine and
Boat Manufacturers at the Hotel
Astor in New York City.
The Asssciation, representing
most of the manufacturers of
boats and engines for pleasure
craft in the United States, spon
sors the Annual Motorboat Show
which is currently in progress in
New York.
Chairman Bonner, author of
the Federal Boating Act of 1958,
took as his theme the responsibili
ty of the boating industry to vol
untarily initiate an educational
program for new boat buyers.
Bonner referred to the nationwide
study of recreational boating
safety made by the Committee on
Merchant Marine and Fisheries
during 1956 and 1957. He said, “It
is almost two years now since that
report was written, and I am un
aware of any program having
been undertaken by the industry
which would have the dealers, on
a voluntary basis, give new boat
buyers some safety instruction be
fore allowing the new boat buyer
to drive that boat away. I repeat
again what I said in 1956 —that I
doubt very seriously if anyone
would contend that this situation
is proper and conducive to safe
boating.”
Bonner warned the manufactur
ers that “unwillingness or inabil
ity on the part of the industry to
give these new buyers safety in
struction before turning them
loose can have only one logical
result—some system of manda
tory testing and licensing.” Bon
ner emphasized that when he used
the term “industry” he was in
cluding marine dealers, as well as
manufacturers.
Stating that the goal of the
Merchant Marine Committee was
to strengthen existing law in the
interest of safety and at the same
time avoid burdensome or unrea
sonable restrictions on recreation
al boating, Bonner said, “It is now
the responsibility of the members
of the industry to urge the Legis
latures of their respective States
to adopt the suggested State Boat
Act, as proposed by the Council
of State Governments and de
signed to complement the Federal
Act. But don’t go too far! The
findings of our Committee indi
cate that the time has not yet
come for rigid and restrictive re
quirements such as, for example,
operators’ licenses. So you in the
industry have a double-barreled
responsibility: first, to initiate a
voluntary safety education ' pro
gram, and second, to give active
guidance to the States so that
their legislative efforts will be
simple, non-restrictive and as uni
form as possible.”
WANCHESE PERSONALS
The third break-in occurred at
the Lloyd Midgett store Thursday
night of last week. The store, lo
catd at Wanchese, formerly the
John Cudworth store, is owned by
Lloyd Midgett who is seriously ill
at his home in Manteo. As in the
other instances, no arrests have
been made, the culprits having been
too elusive for officers, and ap
parently being youths who like
cigarettes.
Mr. and Mrs. Dallas Parker and
children of Camden visited Mrs.
Ophelia Daniels.
Mr. and Mrs. Irving Williams
and son Irving, Jr. of Norfolk
r ■i.'-yy-' 1 - :J^9n^:flH
MB xygdoo,. '4
H Why all the carelessness, bad manners, outright law
breaking? Because someone's in a hurry or just isn't fhink
-40,000 died last year in traffic accidents, many because
good drivers drove recklessly just once. Keep your head I
Help stop senseless killing. Drive safely.
Insist on strict law enforcement.
Support your local Safety Council.
Where traffic laws are strictly enforced,
deaths go down.
Published in an effort to save Eves, in cooperation with fZ\
Mrs The National Safety Council and The Advertising Council.
i The COASTLAND TIMES
Written By Mattie Sanderlin Wescott and
Reprinted By Courtesy of -Hie Church Centennial Committee.
Copies of this History, together with other information about the church and its
members may be obtained by writing to the church pastor, Rev. S. S. Snead.
The first Methodist Church in the village of Kitty Hawk, N. C. had its birth
in the year of 1858 and was located in the center of a 4 acre field owned by Elijah
Sibborn, presently the B. F. Perry homesite. This church was of small dimension,
roughly about the size of the average neighborhood living room. Its frame was
hand hewn, enclosed by vertically fastened foot-wide rough boards. The inside was
unfinished and it was floored. The pews were long, wide boards resting on three up
right blocks cut from a large log.
For many years devotional services, other than prayer meetings, were con
ducted by transient ministers. The hymnals were noteless. The hymn leader was either
the minister or a member of the congregation who would raise the hymn after first
announcing its metre, such as: long metre, short metre, or whatever metre.
In the year 1887 Elijah Sibborn gave a parcel of land on the main road of the
village, the present site of Kitty Hawk Methodist Church, to the church trustees and
a new church was erected there. In the year of 1904 he submitted a deed for the
piece of land.
This church was somewhat larger than the original one, approximately 24 x 36
feet and a very nicely constructed frame building. It was finished outside with hori
zontal siding painted white and inside with horizontal sheathing painted white with a
medium blue ceiling and window trim. There were 9 windows. Three were in each
side; two in the pulpit end, (one at each side of the pulpit) and one between the
two front doors in the front end. An aisle led from each front door down to the pul
pit. Long pews were in the center between the two aisles, and half-length pews on
the opposite sides of the aisles and attached to the side walls. The pews were mill
made. Four matching oil lamps were suspended from the ceiling. One hung over the
pulpit, and the three others hung in line down the center of the room over the long
pews. Four bracket oil lamps were on the side walls, one between each two windows.
The construction of the building was directed by Life Saving Service Keeper,
James R. Hobbs, known as Captain Hobbs, and Thomas N. Sanderlin, aided by all
carpenters in the community working for free. The church s name was chosen as
"Boaz'' by Captain Hobbs, inspired by a verse of the Scripture referring to King
Solomon's Temple, which reads: "and he set up the left pillar, and called the name
thereof Boaz." First Kings, 7th Chapter, 21st verse.
The charter members of the church were Mrs. James R. Hobbs, Mrs. Sidney
Toler, Mr. and Mrs. Edward O’Neal and Thomas N. Sanderlin.
The first pastor in charge was Reverend Sanderson Payne, who came to the
Kitty Hawk Methodist Church in 1888. During his pastorate at Kitty Hawk, the Rev
erend Payne served as pastor to Nags Head Church whose membership was 4, alter
nating his Sundays between the two churches.
A Methodist church in the beach community of Currituck Inlet, 30 miles
north of Kitty Hawk with a membership of 32, entered Kitty Hawk circuit of
churches in the year of 1900. Around the same time a Methodist Church on Coling
ton Island with a membership of 24 also joined the circuit. The Kitty Hawk pastor
then conducted services one Sunday of each month in each church of nis charge.
The pastor's overland trips to his churches in Nags Head and Currituck Inlet
were made by horse and beach-cart transportation. The members of Kitty Hawk
church took turns at furnishing a horse and vehicle. Across-water passages to Coling
ton Island were made in small sailboats supplied and operated by owners of such
craft as an accommodation. Later small motorized boats were used.
In the year of 1902 the Ladies Aid Society of the church purchased by in
stallment plan for the amount of $75.00 a used organ. This organ had the appear
ance of a small pipe organ, though the pipes were only ornamental. The first organ
ist was Miss Nora L. Baum, assisted by her brother Elijah W. Baum. Following the
purchase of the organ for two or more summers, the young people of the community
took short courses in music reading, referred to as "singing school". Those music
courses of about 12 lessons each were taught by Mr. Ed Sowers, assisted by
his daughter Bernie. Thus the choir was born. The first choir director was Elijah W.
Baum.
The organ for the church was selected and the business entailed in the full
transaction was engineered by Franklin Harris Midgett, a trustee of the church. Cap
tain Harris Midgett as he was known to his neighbors entered the church as a member
in 1888. At the outset of his membership he was chosen as trustee and served in
this capacity until his death in 1929. Throughout all those years of service, a major
part of the financial responsibilties of the church rested upon his shoulders, and he
bore them with joy. During the first lean years of the church's life, he was known to
pull from his own pocket to make up a deficit after having previously given sub
stantially.
The church was enlarged in 1905 with the addition of a 45 x 25 foot room
at the pulpit end, making the church a "T" shaped structure. The inside and outside
of the addition was finished to match the old one, and at the right of the pulpit a
raised platform was built for the seating of the choir.
In 1922 the Currituck Inlet Church was withdrawn from the Kitty Hawk charge
and the Duck Methodist Church, with a membership of 6, replaced it.
By 1938 plans were perfected for replacing the frame church building at
Kitty Hawk with a brick structure, and in that year the old building was razed and in
June, 1938 the cornerstone of the present church building was laid. The "T" shaped
spent Friday night and Saturday
here, guests of Mrs. Louisa Wil
liams.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Edwards
and children have returned to Ra
leigh after visiting Mrs. Mary
HISTORY OF 100 YEARS RECOUNTED AT KITTY HAWK METHODIST CHURCH
Forbes.
Mr. and Mrs. Willie Etheridge,
Sr. visited Mr .and Mrs. George
Payne at Stumpy Point.
Mr. and Mrs. William Forbes
and son Irving were week end
guests of Mr. and Mrs. Weston
Forbes in Shawboro, and were ac
companied home by Mr. William’s
mother, Mrs. Annie Forbes.
Mr. and Mrs. W. Perry of Nor
folk spent Sunday with Mr. and
Mrs. Willie Etheridge, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Seaton Cahoon and
Mrs. Bessie Spencer and daughter
Velma Olivia of Columbia are vis
iting Mr. and Mrs. Theoff Wes
cott.
Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Daniels
spent Sunday and Monday in Dur
ham, where Mr. Daniels attended
a Conservation and Development
meeting.
Mr. and Mrs. Murray Edwards
of Hampton were week end guests
of Miss Rowena Midgett.
MIDDLETOWN PERSONALS
Mr. and Mrs. _Derwood Payne
and Lee Ann, Mr. and Mrs. Bob
Lancaster, Bill and Bobby Ann,
were week end guests of Mr. and
Mrs. W. W. Payne.
Walter Speight Burrus of E.C.C.
in Greenville spent the week end
with his parents, Mr. and Mrs.
C. W. Burrus, Sr.
Mrs. Ella Gibbs has returned
from Norfolk after a visit with
her children.
Mrs. Billy Tillett visited Mrs.
Webb Whidbee Thursday.
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Carawan
visited Mr. and Mrs. Bill Carawan
in Portsmouth.
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Thomas Spen
cer of Norfolk spent the week
end with Mr. and Mrs. Archie
Spencer.
THE COASTLANi) TIMES, MA&TEO, X. C.
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SCARBOUROUGH’S GARAGE, NAGS HEAD, N. C.
brick church was completed at a total cost of approximately $9,000. Reverend Matt
Ransom Gardner was the pastor.
Mount Zion Methodist Church with a membership of 95, and Hebron Method
ist Church with a membership of 75, both of which are located on the Currituck
mainland, were added to the Kitty Hawk charge in 1943 and in that same year
Nags Head Methodist church was withdrawn. In 1953 both Currituck County churches
requested and were granted withdrawal by the Methodist Conference, and at the
present time the Kitty Hawk charge consists of the three churches, at Kitty" Hawk,
Colington, and Duck.
SUNDAY SCHOOL
* Kitty Hawk Sunday School had its beginning in the year of 1880 in a small
room in the home of charter member, Mrs. James R. Hobbs, later known as Aunt
Eliza. Mrs. Hobbs was bom Eliza Murphy in Liverpool, England and was fairly well
educated for her time. She met her husDand, Captain James R. Hobbs, then a master
of an ocean-going vessel, in New York City before the war between the states. He
brought her as a bride to Kitty Hawk, N. C. and they made their home in a cottage
atop a hill surrounded by grass and huge oaks on the site presently occupied by
VEP power plant. For many years on Sunday afternoons she taught the village children
to read and to write and she read to them children's Bible stories and from the Bible.
Two students in her very first class of pupils were Eliza Twiford (Perry) and her sister
Nancy Twiford (Tillett),
After the second church was completed and the Sunday School classes began
meeting there, Ezekial Midgett, Sr. was elected superintendent of the Sunday School.
He served until his death in 1898. However, the person who has merited the most
credit for the perpetuation of Aunt Eliza's Sunday School is the son of Ezekiel Mid
gett, Sr., William, known as Captain Will Midgett. He was elected superintendent of
Kitty Hawk Sunday School following the death of his* father and served almost con
tinuously until his death in 1952. He gave to the youth of the church a lifetime of
tireless devotion to service and strict attendance.
PARSONAGE
The site for the first parsonage of the Kitty Hawk Methodist church was deed
ed to the three trustees, Thomas N. Sanderlin, Harris Midgett, and Edward O Neal
on July I, 1896 by James R. Hobbs. Shortly afterwards the first parsonage was built
there. It was "L" shaped. A front porch extended down the west side its full length.
A center hall opened from the front porch and led through to a back porch which
extended eastward along the north side of the back wing of the house. The dining
room and kitchen opened on this porch. On the left of the center hall was a living
room, on the right was a bedroom, and leading from it was a second floor consisting
of two bedrooms. The furnishings of the parsonage was a gift from Mrs. Hannah
Lyons. The same team of builders who built the second church also built the parson
age under the same working arrangement.
This parsonage was abandoned and razed and the site sold in the year of
1919. A similarly styled house owned by Captain W. J. Tate and on the site of the
present parsonage was purchased by the church for their pastors in the same year.
In 1928 this second parsonage was burned. Shortly thereafter the present parsonage
was erected. The site of the original parsonage is now occupied by a large white
frame house owned by George R. Fearing.
OTHER CHURCH ACTIVITIES
Though members of the Kitty Hawk Methodist church frequently attended
camp meetings in other nearby communities (and three of these were held on Col
ington Island between 1888 and 905) there appears to have been only one camp
meeting for which the Kitty Hawlc church was host. This was held in the summer of
1887 at the east end of Kitty Hawk Bay, south of the village, and for many years
that particular area has been known as the Camp Meeting Grounds.
Frequently services were conducted by men stationed in the nearby Lifesaving
Stations, and Netson Holmes and Dan ‘W. Hayman were among those early lifesavers
who conducted services prior to 1900.
Ever mindful of its responsibility toward the,unfortunate souls who do not
know the joy of a Christian faith, the church regularly has made contributions to
Foreign Missions and dispatched them to the Methodist Conference, even when the
financial problem of making ends meet was acute.
From her, also, arose at least one man of the gospel. Reverend Louis Hayman,
an ordained minister, has given and is continuing to give to the Methodist church
a dedicated and distinguished service.
THE PROPOSED EDUCATION BUILDING
In 1953 the Intermediate Sunday School Class, with Mrs. Fannie B. Perry as
teacher, started a building fund for a new educational building, and at Christmas
that year Mrs. Perry and the members of her class donated a total of SIB.OO for the
purpose. Mrs. Perry was then appointed by the Board of Stewards as Secretary-
Treasurer of the building fund, and this project has since become one of major
concern to the members of the church.
At the time of our centennial celebration the fund has grown to more than
$22,000, cash on hand, plus more than $5,000 in work pledges, and another $5,000
from the Duke Endowment Fund. Many members of the congregation have pledged
monthly donations during the coming year in order to raise the total figure closer
to the goal of $50,000, which is the estimated cost of the new building.
The new structure, to be added to the rear of the existing brick church, will
be a two story building, 60 feet long and 40 feet wide, finished on the exterior in
brick. It will include a large fellowship hall, kitchen, rest rooms, kindergarten class
room and chair storage room downstairs, and primary, intermediate, youth and
adult classrooms upstairs.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 30. 1959
PRINCIPALS LIST AND
HONOR ROLL ANNOUNCED
MANTEO HIGH SCHOOL
Principal W. H. Bunch of Manteo
High School this week announced
the high-ranking students for the
past six weeks marking period and
past semester.
On the principal’s list for the six
week period are the following:
Randy O’Neal, Wanchese; Bill
Dough, Manteo; Joyce Fields, Man
teo; Verna Mann, Kill Devil Hills;
Kathy Washburn, Manteo; Bruce
Leanard, Kitty Hawk; Ellen Perry,
Kitty Hawk; Isabel Riddick, Man
teo; Nancy Coles Basnight, Man
teo; Carol Harris, Nags Head;
Nancy Midgett, Manteo; Judy Per
ry, Kitty Hawk and Teddy De Fe
bio, Duck.
Honor roll: Billy Brown, Manteo;
Johnny Beasley, Colington; Clyde
Hassell, Manteo; Suzanne Allen,
Manteo; Terry Beacham, Kitty
Hawk; Miles' Davis, Kitty Hawk;
Lionel Shannon, Kitty Hawk; Bren
da Daniels, Wanchese; Betty Finn,
Kitty Hawk and Carol Ei-nst, Man
teo and Darlene Hines, Duck.
Past Semester
Principal’s list: Randy O’Neal,
Wanchese; Verna Mann, Kill Devil ,
Hills; Kathy Washburn, Manteo;
Ellen Perry, Kitty Hawk; Isabel «i
Riddick, Manteo; Nancy Coles Bas
night, Manteo and Teddy De Febio,
Duck.
Honor roll: Suzanne Allen, Man
teo; Joyce Fields, Manteo; Bruce
Leanord. Kitty Hawk; Betty Finn',
Kitty rfawk; Carol Harris, Nags
Head; Darlene Hines, Duck; Nan
cy Midgett, Manteo and Mary
Rogers, Manteo. *
To qualify for the princioal’s
list students must make all “A”;
for the honor roll one “B” and re
maining grades “A”.
MISS CAROL ANN ALLEN
IS FETED AT PARTIES
Miss Carol Ann Allen of Manteo
and Norfolk, Va., who is a bride-1 (
elect of February 1, was guest of
honor at a tea Saturday aftemoqn.
given by Mrs. G. G. Bonner and
Mrs. Ray Jones at the home of the
former in Manteo.
A green and white color scheme
was carried out, flower arrange
ments of white gladioli and fern •
being used. Mrs. John Allen, moth
er of the honoree, and Mrs. Ray
Jones poured tea, which was
served with party cakes, nuts and
mints. A large number of friends
called during the afternoon.
Miscellaneous Shower
Saturday night Miss Allen was
again honored, this time with a
miscellaneous shower at the Roa- 1
poke Inn Case, given by Mrs. Jack
JCaboon and Mrs. Jerry Cahoon.
! Games and contests were en
; joyed, and refreshments of party
sandwiches, potato chips, pickles
and coffee were served. The re
freshment table was centered with a
I green and silver arrangement fea
turing wedding bells. A green and t
white umbrella with green and
while streamers suspended over the
igift table carried out the shower
motif. Approximately 30 guests
were present.