Sea Level community adds to N.C.’s rich heritage

You can learn a lot of good stuff at the “History Museum of Carteret County, North Carolina,” located in downtown Morehead City. Especially entertaining are the educational lectures delivered by Rodney Kemp, an esteemed “fish house liar.” 

However, Kemp’s stories usually have at least some measurable shred of truth…along with a boatload of humor.

 

“Did you know that Sea Level, N.C., used to be known as Wit?” Kemp asked. 

The story goes: It seems they were having a big meeting about getting a post office for the little community situated in Down East Carteret County at Nelson Neck, between Nelson Bay and Styron Bay.

(The Post Office Department reportedly turned down “Nelson Neck,” because it already had a post office at “Nelson,” a small village in Durham County.) 

At the community assembly, the Nelson Neckers were unable to reach an agreement about a suitable different name. 

“Finally,” Kemp said, “an elderly woman rose and declared: ‘I’m at my wit’s end.’” 

“That’s it,” Kemp stated. “They agreed, then and there, to the name ‘Wit.’” And so it was. The post office opened in 1891 with Wallace Willis as Wit’s first postmaster. 

Alice Lupton was responsible for changing the name to Sea Level in 1915, Kemp said. The elevation at Sea Level is just a few ticks above sea level…on a dry day.

This is Shell Hill Cemetery in Sea Level overlooking Nelson Bay. Kemp reminded his audience: They always built the cemetery on the highest ground in the community. 

Kemp said two outstanding Sea Level community men were brothers Valentine and Maltby Taylor. “Everybody knew ’em as ‘Tine’ and ‘Malby,’ because that’s the Down East way, to make words shorter and easier to say.” 

“Tine ran a store and had a mullet and oyster packing business, V. Taylor Packing Company,” Kemp said. 

“Malby married Sabra James (Miss Jimmy) Rose, and their four boys grew up peddling fish, both inside and outside of Carteret County,” Kemp said. “From oldest to youngest, the Taylor brothers were Dan, William, Alfred and Leslie.” 

At age 19, Dan ventured off to Norfolk, Va., looking for work in 1915. Someone told him there was money to be made in the merchandise brokerage business. So, he invested and began dealing in commodities, including sugar, flour and salt. 

That’s how the Taylor brothers began to build a family business empire. 

Thirty-five years had passed when a correspondent for The State, a weekly North Carolina news magazine, contributed an article on the Taylor Brothers. It ran March 11, 1950.

 

Readers were informed that Leslie was the only one of the boys to receive a college education – at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. “It hadn’t seemed to hurt him any…he has as much sense as the other three,” according to the writer. 

From their base in Norfolk, the Taylor brothers branched out into manufacturing salt, other chemicals and wire hangers. They also acquired and managed assorted warehouses. 

The Taylors established the West India Fruit and Steamship Company in 1934 (WIF&SS Co.), and they began sending ships into the Caribbean region to transport bananas back to southern ports at Norfolk, New Orleans, Mobile, Jacksonville (Fla.) and Charleston.

 

During the World War II years, the Taylor brothers moved the WIF&SS Co. headquarters to West Palm Beach, Fla. 

By and large, Dan and Leslie Taylor tended to business interests in Florida, while William and Alfred Taylor looked after the Virginia holdings. 

Even into his 80s, Maltby Taylor shuttled from Sea Level to oversee both operations…and give his sons encouragement.