Duke Endowment keeps on investing to enhance quality of life

Dr. Robert F. Durden was born the same year that James Buchanan Duke died – 1925. Separately, they spent a lot of time loving the same place – Duke University in Durham, N.C.

James Duke

Dr. Durden

James Duke’s money, channeled through The Duke Endowment beginning in 1924, built the university.

Dr. Durden, a native of Graymont, Ga., received his Ph.D. from Princeton (N.J.) University in 1952, got married and drove to Durham on his honeymoon to take a job as a Duke history professor. He never left the faculty. His academic career spanned 49 years in the classroom. 

Before his death in 2016, Dr. Durden “wrote the definitive study of the Duke family and the founding of Duke University.” 

He noted that James Duke once said: “I hated to close my desk at night and was eager to get back to it early next morning. I needed no vacation or time off. There ain’t a thrill in the world to compare with building a business and watching it grow before your eyes.” 

Judge William Robertson Perkins became James Duke’s personal legal counselor in 1913. He also observed: “Mr. Duke was a builder. He loved to create and establish.” 

“He felt it met the test of real assistance,” Judge Perkins noted. “Help others to help themselves. And he illustrated that by saying it was easy enough to give a fellow food or shelter or raiment or money, but the best of all gifts was a job.” 

Indeed, James Duke was a job creator as well as an opportunity provider. Through The Duke Endowment, he invested in higher education, health care, orphan care and the religious pursuits offered by the Methodist Church. 

When Judge Perkins asked James Duke to identify his greatest accomplishment, he replied without hesitation, “The Endowment, because through it, I make men (and women).” 

Judge Perkins would later comment in 1929 that in death, James Duke “rests from his labors, but his deeds abide to bless.” 

“And among them shines The Endowment, an enduring lighthouse of humanity which will forever send forth its beams of living helpfulness across life’s storm-tossed sea.” 

“That passage has keen imagery within our coastal communities,” said the Rev. Karl Zorowski of St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Morehead City, N.C. “I am proud to say that The Duke Endowment is working for us at the local level.” 

Rev. Zorowski

The foundation is currently underwriting a project offered through the North Carolina Rural Center to support outreach endeavors of local churches. 

“At St. Peter’s, we’re honored to be among only a handful of churches across the state to be selected in 2023 to participate in an initiative titled “Faith in Rural Communities,” Rev. Zorowski said. “It’s quite exciting, as church members are now in the process of determining how to best address existing needs within our community.” 

“Essentially, we want to leverage our assets as a congregation and direct our efforts and energies toward an achievable goal. How can we do the most good…where it’s needed most?” 

Bill Douglass, who is heading up the “Connect Church” undertaking at St. Peter’s said: “We’re looking to involve the general public. There’s a short questionnaire that can be accessed through the church website at www.stpetersumc.com. We invite local citizens to share their thoughts about community strengths and needs. We welcome all comments.” 

“Nearly a century has passed since James Duke died,” Douglass said. “His legacy is the strong belief that churches are key institutions to ensure the vitality of rural communities. We want to build on that concept in the Morehead City area.”

Let’s snoop around some on Ocracoke Island

We’ve hit the “pause button” on our journey through North Carolina Senate District 1 in order to snoop around a bit on Ocracoke Island in southern Hyde County.

Our tour guide is Philip Howard, an eighth generation Ocracoker and owner of Village Craftsmen, a charming shop in Ocracoke. He is a descendant of William Howard, who purchased “Ye Island of Ocreecock” in 1759 for £105.

Philip Howard and daughter Amy Howard. She runs the place.

 

In 1770, a member of North Carolina’s colonial assembly observed that “those lawless bankers on Occacock Island are not paying taxes anywhere.” To fix that oversight, “Occacock was annexed to Carteret Precinct.” 

After America gained its independence from England, Ocracoke remained a part of Carteret County until 1845, when the North Carolina General Assembly “transferred” Ocracoke to Hyde County. 

Philip Howard, who also serves as Ocracoke’s historian-in-residence, has identified at least 25 different spellings for Ocracoke. 

As a very young man, William Howard may have associated “with Capt. Benjamin Hornigold, an odious Bahamian pirate and mentor to Edward Teach…the notorious Blackbeard the Pirate.” William Howard may even have sailed with Blackbeard for a brief time. 

Springer’s Point is an historic Ocracoke landmark, a wooded, lovely area…but haunted by the ghost of Blackbeard.

 

“Just offshore, hardly more than a clamshell’s throw away, is ‘Teach’s Hole,’” Philip Howard said. “Edward Teach (Blackbeard) frequented these waters during his brief career. This was, in fact, Blackbeard’s favorite anchorage.” 

“In October of 1718, in the vicinity of Springer’s Point, Blackbeard hosted one of the largest gatherings of pirates ever held.” They partied for “some days, along with their motley crews. Rum flowed freely,” Philip Howard reported.

This is the pirate flag flown by Blackbeard.

 

“It was also at Teach’s Hole channel, only one month later, on Nov. 22, 1718, that Blackbeard met his fate in a fierce battle with Lt. Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy.”

 

The battle raged. “Decks were running with blood, and the air was thick with gunpowder smoke. Blackbeard, himself, was wounded 25 times,” Philip Howard said. 

“Toward the end of the battle, Blackbeard nearly dispatched his adversary,” Philip Howard said. “A mighty blow from Teach’s cutlass severed Maynard’s sword at the hilt. As Maynard stepped back…Blackbeard moved in for the kill.” 

“At that fateful moment, one of Maynard’s sailors approached the villain from behind and, with a mighty slice of his sword, severed the buccaneer’s fearsome head from his powerful body.” 

Blackbeard’s disembodied head was tied to the bowsprit of Maynard’s sloop. The gruesome trophy was carried to Williamsburg, Va., where it was stuck on a pole at the entrance to the harbor, a grim warning to Teach’s ‘Brethren of the Coast,’” Philip Howard wrote.

 

“Before departing from Pamlico Sound, however, Maynard and his men tossed Blackbeard’s body over the side of his boat. Legend has it that a headless Teach swam around the vessel seven times as an eerie reminder that he was bigger than life itself.” 

“Even today, the spirit of Edward Teach lives on in the consciousness of those brave enough to visit the area near his watery grave, especially after dark. It is not uncommon for visitors to Springer’s Point to report seeing unusual lights on the water, or among the trees and bushes nearby,” Philip Howard said.

 

People say they sense the spirit of Blackbeard, “still searching in vain for his head.” 

Several homes in Ocracoke are haunted, including a castle occupied by five ghosts. Additionally, the ghost of a village innkeeper resides in an old hotel. 

Philip Howard moonlights as the town’s ghost walk narrator. He ain’t afraid of no ghosts…but we’re scootin’ on to Dare County.

Pack your bags for a tour of N.C. Senate District 1

North Carolina Senator Norman W. Sanderson represents eight counties within Senate District 1, spreading along the coastal region – from Carteret County all the way north to Pasquotank County (almost touching the Virginia border). 

He’s a travelin’ man when he’s out visiting his constituency.

 

It might be fun to take a road trip through Sen. Sanderson’s district, beginning in his home county of Pamlico. He and his wife, Linda Sanderson, reside in the Minnesott Beach community and get their mail from the post office in Arapahoe. 

What would you like to know about Pamlico?

 

The first inhabitants were said to be members of the Pampticoe tribe of Native Americans. They named the land Pamlico or “TaTaku,” which means “where the land and the sea meet the sky.” 

This phrase has been preserved as the motto to promote Pamlico County tourism.

Sometimes, you will see it transposed to “where land and sky meet the water.” 

 

 

Either way, you get the idea that Pamlico thrives on its geographic features as a peninsula that is cradled by the Neuse and Pamlico rivers and the Pamlico Sound. Adding to the mystique are several other significant creeks and rivers that flow into these major bodies of water. 

The community of Oriental reigns as the “sailing capital of North Carolina.”

 

About 12,015 people live in Pamlico County, and they also embrace their commercial fishing upbringing and the overall agricultural heritage of the place. 

A major employer of Pamlico County residents is Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and its Fleet Readiness Center East in Havelock. The North Carolina Ferry Division “shuttles” commuters back and forth daily between Minnesott Beach and Cherry Branch.

 

Another great source of jobs in Pamlico County is the Pamlico Correctional Institution (PCI) in Bayboro, the county seat. A unit of North Carolina’s prison system, this “medium security level” facility for adult males can accommodate up to 552 occupants. The State of North Carolina employs some 240 people to operate PCI. 

The facility partners with Pamlico Community College (PCC) to offer a wide range of career and technical education courses for the inmates, with several associate degree programs included in the mix.

With an enrollment of about 350 students on its campus, PCC is the smallest of the 58 institutions within the North Carolina Community College System, but it ranks among the best in terms of “students’ educational outcomes.” One national rating service even selected PCC as the Number 2 community college in America. 

Six youth and family camps have facilities in Pamlico County along the Neuse River. Their investment is substantial, and the annual economic impact and statewide exposure that these camps bring to the county and the entire region is invaluable.

 

The major state highway serving Pamlico County is N.C. Route 55. Travelers can pass through four adjacent towns in about 8 minutes. With no space in between, they are (from east to west): Stonewall, Bayboro, Alliance and Grantsboro.

 Although they are linked almost as quadruplets, each community has its own distinctive character and flavor as well as its own U.S. post office and zip code. 

The towns do cooperate to some degree. But they enjoy their independence more. 

Stonewall is the smallest of the four linked towns with about 220 people. It was the original county seat when Pamlico County was carved out of Craven and Beaufort counties after the Civil War in 1872. The community takes its name from Confederate Gen. Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson. 

Bayboro, the county seat of Pamlico County, takes its name from the Bay River. Established in 1881, Bayboro became a hub of commerce for the region, with ships sailing in and out of the local harbor. Today, about 1,050 people live in Bayboro.

Alliance was settled in the 1890s and named for the Farmers Alliance Movement. About 675 people reside there now. 

Grantsboro was named for William Grant, a peddler from New York, who arrived around 1890, carrying “a pack upon his back.” He opened the first store in the community. Grantsboro’s current population is about 700. 

Here at Grantsboro is the “Crossroads of Pamlico County” (the intersection of N.C. Routes 55 and 306). We learn first-hand how “getting from here to there” can get a bit tricky in coastal North Carolina due to the sounds, rivers, creeks and marshes. 

 

It’s a ‘winding road’ connecting Pamlico and Hyde counties

Our next county on the Senate District 1 road trip itinerary is Hyde County, but you can’t drive there from Pamlico County without experiencing a wide swathe of Beaufort County. Here goes: From Grantsboro, take N.C. Route 306 north to Aurora and the North Carolina Ferry Division terminal. The free ferry ride across the Pamlico River to Bayview takes about 30 minutes. 

Turn right onto N.C. Route 99 and continue to Belhaven, a distance of about 16 miles. At Belhaven, bear right onto U.S. Route 264. Hyde County is straight ahead. 

There aren’t many people residing in Hyde County. Its present population is 4,223. (Only Tyrrell County has fewer folks – 2,897.) 

Hyde County’s geography is intriguing. Most of Hyde County is on the mainland, with Swan Quarter as the county seat. About 345 people live in Swan Quarter. The romantic version of the naming of the town in 1812 was a tribute to “the many swans that once frequented Swanquarter Bay.”

 

A great attraction nearby is Lake Mattamuskeet, which is North Carolina’s largest natural lake. It averages only two to three feet in depth but is 18 miles long and 7 miles wide. Its shape resembles an enormous pinto bean. Drive around the perimeter or take the long bridge to cross over. 

The Visit NC website says that Lake Mattamuskeet is a popular place for eco-tourists to enjoy “walking, biking, fishing and viewing various species of birds and waterfowl.”

 

The vast Pamlico Sound separates the southern section of Hyde County (Ocracoke Island on the Northern Outer Banks) from the mainland. It’s almost a three-hour trip on a North Carolina state ferry from Swan Quarter to Ocracoke (about 31 miles) and tolls apply. 

Ocracoke is also directly accessible from Carteret County by way of the Cedar Island-Ocracoke state ferry. This run takes about two-and-a-half hours and spans about 21 miles. Tolls also apply. 

A little-known fact is that Ocracoke was once part of Carteret County – from 1770 to 1845. The distance between Ocracoke and the historic village of Portsmouth is a tad more than 5 miles.

 

Sharing access to the Atlantic Ocean via Ocracoke Inlet, Ocracoke and Portsmouth have a kinship that dates back for centuries. The communities once combined to serve as North Carolina’s premier Outer Banks seaport. 

Ocracoke is a place where we need to idle awhile.

 

Ocracoke is a place where we need to idle awhile. 

We have come to appreciate the value of bathroom tissue

During the depths of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, when packages of bathroom tissue rolls were a scarce commodity in grocery stores, people prayed for shipments to miraculously arrive. 

In Albany, N.Y., Times Union newspaper columnist Chris Churchill went to hallowed ground and placed a coveted roll of perforated toilet paper as a memorial at the gravesite of Seth Wheeler, who invented the product in 1871.

Chris Churchill

 

The pandemic-related toilet paper shortage has since worked itself out, so this is a good time to reflect on the upcoming 50-year anniversary of the “first toilet paper crisis” that occurred in America in 1973. 

Freelance journalist Jake Rossen of Binghamton, N.Y., tells the story best. He traced the origin back to U.S. Rep. Harold V. Froehlich of Appleton, Wis., who had begun receiving complaints from constituents in the fall of 1973 “that pulp paper was getting harder to come by.”

 Harold Froelich went on to serve for more than two decades as a state circuit court judge in Wisconsin. 

Rossen said that Rep. Froelich feared “a serious paper shortage of all types” was looming. Then the congressman “discovered the federal government’s National Buying Center had failed to secure their normal number of bids for a four-month toilet paper supply intended for soldiers and bureaucrats.” 

That sent him over the edge to issue a news release on Dec. 11, 1973, stating: “The U.S. may face a serious shortage of toilet paper within a few months. It is a problem that will potentially touch every American. We hope we don’t have to ration toilet tissue…a toilet paper shortage is no laughing matter.” 

Ahh, but it did indeed become a “laughing matter” on Dec. 19, when Tonight Show host Johnny Carson made mention of the story in his monologue,” Rossen said. 

Johnny Carson yucked it up pretty good with a series of spin-off jokes, but he effectively fanned the flames for a national run on toilet paper when he said: “There is an acute shortage of toilet paper in the good old United States.”

 

Immediately, the toilet paper inventory in supermarkets vanished. “I thought I would come and stock up,” said one customer, “but I see someone beat me to the punch.” 

“I’m used to being able to go when I want to, but suddenly I think I’m going to have to start curbing my habits,” one woman said. 

“The toilet paper frenzy continued into 1974, but eventually, consumers realized Rep. Froehlich’s concerns simply weren’t materializing. 

Carson felt compelled to issue an apology. “For all my life in entertainment, I don’t want to be remembered as the man who created a false toilet paper scare,” he told viewers. “I just picked up the item from the paper and enlarged it somewhat…there is no shortage.” 

“Respected CBS broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite urged calm on his newscast and aired footage from the Scott Paper Company that demonstrated toilet paper was coming off the factory line without delay,” Rossen reported.

 

The furor soon wound down. 

Toilet paper is an important American industry. The average person in the United States uses 100 rolls of toilet paper per year, and the average household flushes about 80,000 sheets annually. 

Economists expect U.S. sales to exceed $16.32 billion in 2023, as the market is experiencing an annual growth rate of 4.91%.

 

A major milestone in the toilet paper industry history occurred in 1935. Northern Paper Mills of Green Bay, Wis., advertised the first “splinter-free toilet paper.” Its engineers solved the problem of removing even the smallest of splinters from the finished product. The process was called “linenizing.” 

Take note: Aug. 26 is National Toilet Paper Day.

Toilet tissue: ‘Most important invention of the 19th century’

Does your bathroom tissue roll go over or under? Americans have been debating this “tissue” ever since toilet paper rolls were invented in 1871.

 

Lawyers with SW&L Attorneys of Fargo, N.D., now argue that “over” is the correct and proper way to load the toilet paper dispenser. They site the original patent drawings submitted by Seth Wheeler of Albany, N.Y., that clearly show the perforated sheets rolling over the top of the roll, not tucking under it. 

See for yourself at Thyme Kitchen in Peoria, Ill. Owner Travis Mohlenbrink has framed an enlargement of the original toilet paper patent sketches. It hangs as artwork in the men’s lavatory. 

Travis Mohlenbrink

About 70% of us prefer our toilet paper in the “over” position according to officials with Cottonelle, a unit of Scott Paper Co. owned by Kimberly-Clark Corp. “Because the toilet paper is already closer to you, it makes it easier to grab from a seated position.” 

Advocates of the “under” position say their roll “looks tidier” when the paper is closer to the wall. One reader ventured a guess that “Seth Wheeler didn’t have cats.” 

The Cottonelle writer commented: “If you have a pet at home who is prone to playing with the toilet paper, then you might want to give the “under” technique a try. Because the roll hangs against the wall, there’s enough tension to keep the roll secure in its place.” 

Writing for the Albany Times Union, Kenneth C. Crowe II said people in New York’s capital city take great pride in Seth Wheeler’s contributions to America’ “public health and public sanitation.” 

Albany area historian Don Rittner said the toilet paper roll was “one of the most important inventions of the 19th century.” Toilet paper is so ubiquitous that it’s hard to imagine “what they did before.”

 

Don Rittner

The earliest attempts to manufacture toilet paper in America resulted in pre-cut flat sheets of paper that were bundled and tied together. They were quite pricey. Most consumers felt that “yesterday’s newspaper” served the purpose just as well. 

With his patents for both perforated toilet paper on a roll and the toilet paper dispenser, Wheeler caught the attention of the American public. “Each sheet will easily separate from the series as it is drawn from the roll…the waste of paper is thereby prevented,” he said. 

Wheeler started the Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Company in Albany and it became one of the city’s largest and most successful manufacturers. At its peak, the factory employed approximately 1,000 workers making thousands of miles of toilet paper.

 

At one time, more than 100 manufacturing plants were operating under licenses with Seth Wheeler and the APW Paper Company. Wheeler opened branches overseas in England, France, Germany and Switzerland. The company owned a pulp mill and 100,000 acres of forests in Nova Scotia, Canada.

 

Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan often refers to Seth Wheeler is her speeches, citing that “Albany is a place where ideas become real.”

Seth Wheeler died in 1925 at age 87, and the business was inherited by his two sons, William and Seth Jr. They sold out to a private investor during the Great Depression in 1930. The company changed hands several times but was finally closed in 1964.

The original 222,120 square-foot APW Paper Company brick building in Albany is presently being transformed into mixed-use space with 260 urban apartments and retail shops. The $65 million project is supported in part by state and federal rehabilitation tax credits. Planned amenities include a gym, a pool, a beach volleyball court, gardens and a dog park. 

Surely, developers will also want to provide public restroom facilities…equipped with endless rolls of toilet tissue as a tribute to Seth Wheeler.

Oriental has a historic marker – first N.C. school bus

Oriental’s “Porch Pirates” are a friendly bunch of locals who gather ‘round at The Bean, a legendary coffee shop in town. They love telling visitors stories about their community.

Here’s a good one that’s even true: The first motorized school bus in North Carolina ran its route in Oriental on Sept. 5, 1917. The 30-passenger bus for the Oriental Graded School was purchased by the Pamlico County Schools for $1,379. It was manufactured by the Corbitt Motor Truck Company in Henderson, N.C. 

The first bus driver was Zeb E. Brinson, who was credited with “marshalling in a new era of student transportation.” Previously, students had been carted to and from school in horse-drawn wagons. 

The school superintendent, T.B. Attmore, who authorized the acquisition of the new bus and engineered a hike in local school taxes to pay for it, ensured his place in history by taking the bus to Raleigh for show-and-tell. 

Attmore loaded up Gov. Thomas Walter Bickett and several other politicians to take a ride around the capital city in the new school bus.

 

Gov. Bickett

There’s a void of information about how that little excursion unfolded, but soon thereafter, Richard Johnson Corbitt’s small factory had orders for buses rolling in from places like Edgecombe, Wayne and Franklin counties.

Richard Corbitt

Corbitt originally intended to build automobiles. He produced 13 in 1912 but lost money on every car. In 1913, he wisely abandoned that plan, switching to buses and trucks. He built his first bus in 1916 and his first truck in 1917. 

Now, the Corbitt Company was making some serious money, and contracts to supply 4,000 trucks to the Army and Navy during World War I set the wheels in motion for the company to succeed over the long haul.

 

One source said: “The military loved doing business with Corbitt; his small company was flexible and able to do quick modifications.” 

Richard Corbitt is enshrined in the North Carolina Transportation Hall of Fame. (Read more about the Corbitt Preservation Association online at corbitttrucks.com.) 

Moving right along, the Porch Pirates gang also has nice things to say about a fellow who grew up in Oriental and has entertainment industry hall of fame credentials. 

He is Kevin Williamson, who created the television series “Dawson’s Creek,” named after a Pamlico County tributary to the Neuse River near Oriental. The show premiered in January 1998 and struck a chord with high schoolers and young adults. It ran for six seasons through 2003, totaling 128 episodes.

 

“Dawson’s Creek” catapulted Wilmington’s film industry into the national spotlight. Although filmed in North Carolina, the series was set in the fictional small seaside town of Capeside, Mass., and later in Boston, as the cast entered adulthood.

 

Williamson’s Outerbanks Entertainment production company in Los Angeles reflects his strong ties to coastal North Carolina. 

The Porch Pirates roll out the red carpet to welcome boaters who are cruising up and down the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), especially the northern “snowbirds” who head south during the winter months. Oriental is a favorite stopover. 

We just missed Oriental’s annual Croaker Festival. It’s a really big deal and occurs on the first weekend in July. Atlantic croakers are tasty fish that can grow up to 20 inches in length and weigh up to 5 pounds, but on average are 2 pounds or less. 

There’s a big parade and pageant to crown Miss Croaker and little Miss Minnow.

 

Coming up soon, though, is The Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival in Oriental on Oct. 6-7. Organizers promise “21 or so” bands. Admission is free.