people, places and traditions · 9/26/2019 · production joseph gaskins, susan simmons, k.c....

PEOPLE, PLACES AND TRADITIONS 2019

JIM & PAT CARTER REAL ESTATEMatching People and Chesapeake Bay Homes Since 1957

only a couple of dozen years removed from when steamboats came calling, moving people and cargo in the time-honored, centuries-old way – by water.

road, but still the deeply historic peninsula remained a land apart. It developed slowly as a destination locale. Few people detoured from major

history.

ever-growing family.

match them with your desires.

Please visit and share our tradition.

EMILY CARTER349 CHESAPEAKE DRIVE, WHITE STONE, VIRGINIA 22578

804-436-4949ECarterCountry.com

On the coverPhoto by Lisa Carol Rose

From left, Lacy Rose, Jr. and son, Captain Shawn Rose, harvest wild native Rappahannock River oysters from the Lady Lindsay.

This family of watermen harvest in the Rappahannock, Great Wic-omico, York and James rivers as well as Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds during the public oyster season which occurs October through February.

The Lady Lindsay was built in 1979 by Kenneth Hall of Gloucester. Rose purchased her in 2005 and since had her overhauled at Jennings Boat Yard in Fairport.

Lisa Carol Rose, a fifth generation waterman and avid photographer from White Stone, captured this photo of her brother and father in their element while she was working aboard another vessel.

For years, Lisa worked alongside her family harvesting oysters and catching crabs. Recently, she and her boyfriend, Captain Tony Ferguson of Poquoson, opened Miss Mary Seafood in White Stone. Fresh seafood right from the boat is featured daily. More of Lisa’s photographs illustrat-ing life on the water can be viewed at Miss Mary Seafood.

F E A T U R E S 2019

6Safe HavenThe migration of Tangier watermen

12Potomac PilothouseRestoring a relic

16RootedFarming through generations

22Young and Determined1969 baseball champions

28A Past With A PresenceWindows to our heritage

Historical photos from Middlesex, Lancaster and Northumberland counties appear throughout the publication.Photos courtesy of Larry S. Chowning, Kilmarnock Museum, and Northumberland County Historical Society

September 26, 2019 HERITAGE 3

4 HERITAGE September 26, 2019

Heritage and history are synonymous. Our heritage includes valued objects and qualities such as traditions passed down from generation to generation, items valued enough today to save for tomorrow. Our history includes events that determine our present and will shape our future.

Within the pages of Bay Heritage, the newest supplement from the Rappahannock Record and Southside Sentinel, we explore the culture of living local and celebrate it by paying homage to what makes our area special. We highlight the industries at the heart of our heritage: seafood, farming and tourism. And honor the people, places and history of the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula.

We hope you enjoy the in-depth stories about the fabric and roots of our community, the pro-files of the people that have shaped our culture and the businesses that have endured.

Our heritage and history make our rural, water-front community more than just a place to live, but make it a place to proudly call home.

Susan & [email protected] & [email protected]

HERITAGE is published jointly by the Rappahannock Re-cord, P.O. Box 400, Kilmarnock, Va. 22482, (804) 435-1701, and the Southside Sentinel, P.O. Box 549, Urbanna, Va. 23175, (804) 758-2328. Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

News Tom Hardin and Robert D. Mason Jr., editors; Larry S. Chowning, Tom Chillemi, Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi, Megan Schiffres and Jackie Nunnery

Advertising Jessica Bell and Hannah Abbott managers; K.C. Troise, Marilyn Bryant, Susan Graves and Gloria Abbott

Production Joseph Gaskins, Susan Simmons, K.C. Troise, Amy DeWolf, Stephanie Feria and Ray Rose

Publications Coordinators Susan Simmons and Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi

Account Managers Geanie Longest and Lisa Donant

Publishers Fred and Bettie Lee Gaskins

photo by Robyn Charles

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Safe haven

by Larry S. Chowning

The Tangier Island migration in 1933 led to generations of local watermen


T ony, Thomas Lee, Donnie and Ricky Walton and Ross and Henry Payne are fourth generation Urbanna watermen, while Lee, Thomas Lee’s son, and Brian, Tony’s son, are fifth generation. Their ties to Urbanna go back to the August Storm of 1933 when

their grandparents, Avery and Dora Payne, left Tangier Island searching for higher ground and a better way of life for their family.

Right after the 1933 storm that flooded Tangier, 13 families and over 30 people from the island moved to Urbanna. The Paynes and others came via a boat convoy with everything they owned piled high inside of several small boats. Upon arriving in town, the Payne family moved in with Henry and Rebecca Dize in a two-story home on Howard Street. The Dizes had moved to Urbanna prior to the storm, in 1928, and had established a home in town.

When on Tangier, the Dizes had helped raise Avery and, although they were not biological kin, Avery’s children referred to them as their grandparents. Avery’s mother had died in a cholera outbreak on the island when he was 8 years old. Afterwards, Avery and his father boarded with the Dizes who took young Avery under their wings.

Avery and Dora had four sons, Melvin, Ed, Jonesey and Carey, and two daughters, Catherine and Beatrice. They all, boys and girls, grew up in Urbanna and worked the water at some point in their lives. Avery founded Payne’s Crab House in Urbanna in the 1960s and Catherine and Beatrice ran the business until they retired in 2012. They are both deceased.

Catherine’s sons, Thomas Lee and Tony, started their own crab shed-ding and oyster packing businesses and established seafood houses on Old Virginia Street, just outside of Urbanna. Catherine’s youngest son, Ricky, is a full-time waterman and her son Donnie helped his mother at the crab house. Lee and Brian continue to work in the family seafood businesses. Ed’s sons Ross and Henry are also commercial crabbers.

Their heritage is steeped in local seafood tradition; anecdotal history has Henry Dize as the first Urbanna waterman to harvest hard crabs with crab pots. For generations crabs were caught on baited trotlines until Dize introduced the pot to this area in 1937. He made his own pots that were laced together with cotton twine and wire…no pig rings and no interior upstairs as used today.*

Instead of today’s traditional buoy and line system to mark each pot, Dize set stakes and tied his crab pot lines to the stakes. While Henry worked his 36 pots in the Rappahannock River his wife ran a trotline in Perkins Creek to help increase the day’s catch.

Henry Dize kept a double sharp-ended skiff powered by a hand oper-ated sculling paddle on Perkins Creek. He oystered and crabbed in the skiff for years, until he had Rob Dudley of Deltaville build a 38-foot round stern deadrise for him.

In a 1987 interview, Henry’s grandson, the late Ed Payne, who was 2 years old when he arrived in Urbanna in 1933, said of his grandparents: “He (Henry) was originally from Smith Island [Maryland] and he had

The late Ed Payne (above) is hauling crab pots in the 1980s on the Rappahannock River with his grandson, Ryan. Ed was 2 years old when his parents moved to Urbanna from Tangier after the August Storm of 1933.

Henry and Rebecca Dize at their home in Urbanna.The Charlotte Catherine was built in 2013 for Thomas Lee and Lee Walton and named after their mother and grandmother, the late Catherine Via. Catherine moved to Urbanna as a child with her parents, Avery and Dora Payne, after the August Storm of 1933. Grandson Lee Walton, at the helm, is a fifth generation Tangier Island/Urbanna waterman.


Henry Dize

Ancestors of Avery and Dora Payne, who moved from Tangier to Urbanna after the August Storm of 1933, are, from left, Thomas Lee, Lee, Tony and Donnie Walton; and Jonesey, Ross and Henry Payne. They have followed in the footsteps of their Tangier ancestors as commercial fishermen. Ricky and Brian Walton are also ancestors of the Paynes and continue to work on the water.

JC Kinnamon of Tilghman Island, Maryland, delivered the Charlotte Catherine, a new fiberglass-over-wood 40-foot deadrise workboat, to Urbanna in 2013. In the corner of the stern in a smaller size is “Nano” - the name that Catherine’s nine grandchildren affectionately knew her by.

an old sharp-ended skiff that he could scull as fast as most men could row. I hear from some of the old-timers on Tangier that when Grand-daddy was young he would pole and scull in that same skiff from Smith to Tangier to court Grandma.” His dedication to Rebecca led to a life-long nickname: On Tangier they called him Henry “Loving” Dize.

“He was using that same skiff when he was potting hard crabs on the Rappahannock. He would get up early and scull over to Buster Fergu-son’s Seafood dock [on Lagrange Creek] and buy a box of fish for a dollar. A box had 100 pounds in it then. After he got his bait, he’d pole out into the river where he had 36 pots tied to wooden stakes. Grand-daddy would come to a stake, tie his boat to it, pull the pot up, and empty her. He’d take his time. It wasn’t like we are today - going as hard as we can to catch as many crabs as we can.

“While Granddaddy was potting, Grandma each morning would run a little trotline in the creek to help out and they would ship their catch to Baltimore. A truck would come to Urbanna each day to pick up crabs. In the early spring, they would get $7.50 a bushel for jimmies (male crabs). That was good money back then. During the summertime, the price would get as low as $3.00 a bushel, and sometimes they didn’t get enough to pay freight. Times were tight but we kids didn’t know it. We were all happy-go-lucky and thought everything that shined was gold.”

Henry Dize’s Deltaville deadrise was a step up from his double sharp-ended skiff. A new boat is a generational sign for watermen that working the water is paying off. In 2013, Thomas Lee had JC Kinnamon of Tilghman Island, Maryland, deliver a new fiberglass-over-wood 40-foot deadrise workboat. The 40-footer was named Charlotte Catherine in honor and respect for his mother, a long-time waterwoman, and up in the corner of the stern in a smaller size was the name “Nano” - the name that her nine grandchildren affectionately knew her by.

Northern Neck communities also blessed with the arrival of Tangier Island residents after the ‘33 August Storm were Reedville, Morattico, Irvington and Weems.

Over the years, these communities became home for other Tangier Island residents as relatives moved from the island to be closer to family. Dora Payne’s father and mother, John Ross and Lottie Parks, moved to Urbanna in the 1950s to be closer to their family.

The August Storm of 1933 wreaked havoc on the region but when the skies cleared and tides receded it brought those with island surnames — Dize, Payne, Shores, Pruitt, Crockett, Parks, Murphy, King, and Thomas — to Urbanna.

As time has revealed, the Tangier Island migration of 1933 turned out to be a generational blessing, in more ways than one, for the Town of Urbanna, Middlesex County and those other communities who became a safe haven, and later home, for those Tangier Island families.

* The crab pot was patented and invented in 1928

by Benjamin F. Lewis of Harryhogan in Northumber-land County. He had a second patent in 1938 which established the section inside the pot referred to as the upstairs, which is how they are built today.

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Kilmarnock’s Main Street after the fire of 1915.Merry Point Ferry

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Marshall’s Drug Store and the 5 and 10 cents store in Urbanna can be seen in this photo taken in the 1930s. The 5 and 10 cents store building was torn down in the 1960s to enlarge the drug store to what it is today. The town post office was located in what is today the Bay Design building.

Enoch Post Office was started in 1885 by Moat A. Jackson and was in Jackson’s store near Jackson Creek Steamboat Wharf. The post office closed in 1913 but commerce continued at the wharf until the August Storm of 1933 when the wharf and canning factory were blown away.

H anley Electrical was formed in 2005 by Chris Hanley. The first van was purchased on a credit card believe it or not and is still used from time to time as a backup. Ray Lewis & Richard Pittman were the first employees and are still there to this day. Based in White Stone, they work all over the state, however prefer to stay in Lancaster, Northumberland, & Middlesex. They have experienced electricians for all types of work. Service calls and answering the phone are the backbone of the company. They balance commercial & residential home wiring

& specialize in dock wiring. Hanley Electrical is a Class A contractor and longstanding member of the Better Business Bureau. They don’t promote their company on social media, letting their work speak for itself.

Chris Hanley is a lifelong resident (46 years) of Lancaster County. He has been a volunteer fireman for 27 years. His maternal side of the family dates back several hundred years to the Westland (Windmill Point) area. He has a 13-year-old son, Ethan, and a 12-year-old daughter, Catherine.

What LOCAL means to Hanley Electrical:

“Local means the

interaction with all our

customers on a daily

basis whether it be at

Lee’s, Tri-Star, Noblett’s,

or the Library; knowing

everyone personally and

professionally. Our work

must be executed in a

neat and timely manner

or those interactions

would be awkward. Our

business contributes to

over 10 local charities

and non-profits yearly.”

CHRIS HANLEYowner and founder of

HANLEY ELECTRICAL230 Sandline Dr., White Stone VA804-436-7378

LOCAL


Restoring a relic to tellthe history of a bygone era in the Northern Neck

The Potomac pilothouse:

by Jackie NunneryPhotos courtesy of Michael Geissinger

The pilothouse was hoisted over the museum and placed inside an opening in the rear of the building.

Walk into the Steam-boat Era Museum in Irvington and you will see the Potomac pilot-house prominently displayed in its new

as if the museum was built around the

deceiving. There was a whole lot of

luck that brought the pilothouse to where it stands today.

The journey of the pilothouse from its beginnings in a Philadelphia shipyard to

much like the routes of the steamboat that the pilothouse once stood on.

The story of the Potomac lines the

-

newspaper account of the launch in The Philadelphia Times referred to it as “the most modern and handsomest steamer in Baltimore.” The steamboat traveled the

-pahannock rivers from Baltimore to Nor-

Its time as a steamer came to an end

with another ship in foggy weather near

the necessary repairs to the hull and -

tion in West Point. While at the Colonna Shipyard being converted to a pulpwood

Ben and Willoughby Colonna brought it to White Stone to be used as a guest-house for visitors to their family’s Taft Beach Fish Factory.

windows were broken and weather took its toll. The Mariners’ Museum took an

-


The Potomac pilothouse as a guest cottage on Taft Beach in White Stone.

The Potomac pilothouse and surrounding exhibits tell the story of steamers and their importance in moving people and products around the Northern Neck.

“It’s a huge project” requiring “about 4,500 skilled labor hours to do this. Every piece has to be touched and dealt with.” –– John Morgenthaler

The curved window sashes and trim of the wheelhouse have all

been carefully rebuilt or restored by John Morgenthaler.

nial Beach. But each new owner found the task of restoring the pilothouse too resource intensive.

museum found out about it in Colonial

has been restoring the pilothouse for the past few years.

not owned by the museum but the town

home off the Irvington Town Commons.

and stored in White Stone for another -

Morgenthaler grew up around boats

great-grandfather started a trim carpentry

that was ending right about the time that Morgenthaler was born. That history initially discouraged Morgenthaler from pursuing the craft.

laugh.

certainly not something in this condi-tion.

“It’s a huge project” requiring “about

Every piece has to be touched and dealt

-

before even beginning the restoration

pilothouse—2 crew cabins—so the struc-


We invite you to join us!

Pastor: John Howard Farmer

The pilothouse now consists of the front

two crew cabins.Aside from getting materials that could

to all of that demolition. “It becomes a

Morgenthaler said.

deck and roof beams to make it structur-ally sound and refurbishing or creating raised panels to cover the outside of the structure. Though they are designed to

were alike.“These are curved and angled raised

panels. And then I had to build the curved and angled windows. That all

-genthaler said.

was the lack of reference material to work from. There are pictures of when the pilothouse was a cottage and interiors

interior of the Potomac pilothouse itself.

Steamboat Era Museum board member Phil Williams observes the late Ed Thurber’s restoration of the ship’s wheel.

John Morgenthaler removes the protec-tive wrapping around the pilothouse to

begin the work outside his shop.

John Morgenthaler assembling one of the numerous curved raised panels of the pilothouse exterior. All curved pieces, and there were many, were bent into shape with steam.

from.”Although much of the restoration has

the museum instead of Morgenthaler’s

-ing in the back of the museum. Once on

-

can catch Morgenthaler at work on the pilothouse’s interior. Among other

-ing touches to the wheelhouse. At the center is one distinctive element that Morgenthaler did not have a part in its restoration—the ship’s wheel—which


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The pilothouse on its final voyage to Irvington.Through planning, skill and teamwork, the pilothouse enters the museum through a specially constructed back entrance.

was painstakingly restored

furniture restorer who passed away in June of

completing the work. Mor-

engineer a mock steering system so visitors get a more realistic movement when they “steer” from the wheelhouse.

is also more trim to be

-thaler just laughed and shook his head.

-

support of many. With a price tag of -

-

restoration effort to bring the Potomac pilothouse home in all its glory. In addi-tion to the generosity of individual com-

donations from the Nettie Lokey Wiley

Mary Morton Parsons Foundation and the Carter C. Chinnis Charitable Trust.

restored.

will complete a coffee table book about

pilothouse and its long journey home.


You’ve got to love farming to do it.

Allen Welch, co-owner of Welch Farms in Lancaster County, likes to say you won’t get rich or much in

the way of down time working as a farmer, so you’ve got to really love the work to be part of the agricultural industry.

Northern Neck farmers like Welch rise with the sun, sometimes earlier, and toil in their fields long after daylight fades away. They’re on the clock 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for at least 10 months out of every year because on a farm there’s always work to be done.

Farmers in the region are currently in the har-vest season for one of the top crops produced in the Northern Neck and across the country—corn. For the next few months corn farmers, including Welch, will be working to gather up thousands of acres of their tall leafy stalks using combines which reap, thresh and winnow the grain within a single, roving machine. The har-vested corn is then transferred from the combine to a grain elevator to be stored. From there into a truck bound for Purdue or another food dis-

tributor. “It takes all day. We’ve got over a thousand

acres of corn still to harvest and we’ll be doing this for the next month,” said Welch. “When har-vest starts, adrenaline will take over and I just, you know, you just keep pushing and keep push-ing and keep pushing. But then when you finish you just kind of sit back and have to take a few days off and collapse.”

During planting season, farmers face an entirely different but no less daunting challenge, battling the elements to seed miles of tilled soil.

“If we start planting in the morning we just keep going until that evening. We have to stop and fill up seed and things but we’ll keep on planting all day,” Welch said. “In another month from now we’ll be harvesting corn and planting winter wheat at the same time so it will be a lot going on.”

To survive, farmers have to be adaptive in order to meet the constantly changing needs of their crop, caused not only by the season shift from planting to harvesting season, but also to the weather.

“We depend on the weather and that’s the bad part about it. You can put everything into the crop right but if you don’t get the rain or don’t have the weather then it’s all for nothing,” said Welch.

Uncertainty is a prominent force in the life of a farmer every year. Without warning the weather can shift from providing nourishment and encouraging growth to causing destruction and devastation. It’s an unpredictable and uncon-trollable force that, for farmers in particular, can alter their lives permanently. Additionally, the value of a farmer’s crop at any given moment is dictated by the Chicago futures exchange, an agriculture commodities market that distribu-tors and investors use to determine the worth of products. According to Welch, farming can have both a physical and emotional toll.

“Maybe the prices would get a little better and it wouldn’t be so challenging, or so emotional, when prices aren’t meeting what your expenses are and when your yields aren’t meeting what your expenses are,” Welch said.

Like many who work in the Northern Neck,

in heritage of the Northern Neck

Farmers

ROOTED

The entrance to Welch Farms in Kilmarnock showcases acres of corn and soybeans grow-

ing on either side of its long winding driveway.by Megan Schiffres


Allen Welch takes a brief break from harvesting and hauling grain on a sunny late August afternoon.

The grain towers which store the farm’s harvest

throughout the year.

Countless soybeans sprout, grow and are harvested on Welch Farms.

Welch comes from a long lineage of farmers. Beginning in high school he began working the fields with his father, and later became the fifth generation in his family to grow crops or raise animals in the region. After decades of working the land, Welch says the business of agriculture has become much easier and more efficient with the invention of innovative farming technology.

“It’s changed so much but it’s all changed for the better,” said Welch. “When I started farming, everything you drove you drove yourself. You had to keep your head, you had to stay awake, you had to pay attention to what you were doing. Now the tractors drive themselves, the sprayer going down the field will cut itself off when it gets to somewhere it’s going to overlap.”

Like his father, Welch raised his family on the farm and shared with his children both his love of farming and his expertise.

“Both my son and daughter were running a combine when they were 13 years old,” Welch said.

Today Welch works in the fields every day with his son Justin as co-partners of Welch Farms Inc., which Allen says will one day be taken over by his children, the sixth generation of Welch farmers.

“I worked with my father and I guess it’s…. I’m proud of both of us working together, getting along together, making decisions together,” said A. Welch.


804-436-4828

Creating jobs and opportunities

as we handcraft fine homes.

33 Years Strong!

The Pilothouse Has Landed!

The Pilothouse has Landed!Experience a rare piece of Chesapeake Bay history – the 125-year-old pilothouse from the steamboat Potomac. This newly-restored artifact now anchors our exhibits. You can explore how steam-driven vessels influenced lives and livelihoods and built our local communities.

Steamboat Era Museum156 King Carter Drive | Irvington, VA 22480804-438-6888 | Steamboateramuseum.orgTuesday-Saturday | 10am-4pmAdults: $5 | Children 12 and under free

John Morgenthaler working on the restoration of the Potomac Pilothouse. (May 2017)

Driving by the Northern Neck Farm Museum, it looks like something out of a fairy tale or children’s book. The turbines of a single windmill spin lazily in the breeze alongside a classic red barn with a white roof, situated in a picturesque field of grass and wildflowers.

The museum, which was founded in 2006, tells the story of the region’s agricultural heritage through exhibitions of the tools and machinery which farmers have developed and used over time to tame the wild terrain of the northern peninsula. Exhibitions include several farm tractors manu-factured as early as the 1920s, equipment used by early farmers to manually plow and seed, and sewing machines used by the wives of farmers to create clothes and cut costs on the farm.

The museum also features a gift shop and a variety of educational programs throughout the year. These programs teach children about the history and importance of farming in the region and reinforce classroom lessons on agriculture and environmental appreciation.

The museum was founded by Luther Welch, a Northern Neck farmer who collected farm equipment over the course of his life and wanted to share the agricultural history of the region with others. Allen Welch, Luther’s son, today carries on the legacy of his family’s collection as chairman of the museum’s board of directors.

On October 12, the museum will host a “Fall Farm to Fork” event; and October 26-27, a fall festival.Admission to the museum is $2 per adult and $1 per child ages 6-18. Children younger than 6

can visit the museum for free. The Northern Neck Farm Museum, 12705 Northumberland Highway, Heathsville, is open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays and 1-4 p.m. Sundays May through October.

The entrance to the classi-cally red and white painted

“barn” at the Northern Neck Farm Museum is flanked by

two antique tractors.

The wind turbine that identi-fies the farm museum from a distance is inscribed with

the organization’s initials.

Northern Neck Farm Museum teaches historyof the industryby Megan Schiffres


Celebrating 70 years of inspiring artin the community and the community in the arts.

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Rice’s Hotel/Hughlett’s Tavern around the turn of the century.

Turk’s Ferry Farm, above, near Stormont was built as a home and tavern at Turk’s Ferry on the Piankatank River. The first public crossing at Turk’s ferry was established by order of the Colonial Coun-cil in 1664. The ferry remained in operation until 1900 and it is believed George Washing-ton used the ferry to travel to Williamsburg after visiting his cousin, Henry Washington, at Hampstead in Middlesex.

Since 1975, IsaBell K. Horsley Real Estate has been a leader in our community’s real estate needs. Horsley has been family-owned for three generations, and has over 30 brokers/agents who work throughout the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula.

IsaBell and her son, Nelson Horsley, Jr. (now the principal broker) began working in an old gas station in the heart of Urbanna. The old gas station was replaced with a beautiful Charleston-style brick building that remains the main office location. Horsley has grown over the last 40+ years with four office locations including White Stone, Deltaville, and Mathews.

“We cover a lot of territory and waterfront, which makes us unique to sellers and buyers in these broad regions. We love what we do in making real estate transactions run smoothly, plus making life-long friendships and selling in the areas we care so much about,” shares

Katie Horsley Dew.IsaBell K. Horsley Real Estate is very

involved in the community through multiple boards. They know how important it is to be involved in keeping our community growing and successful, plus involvement keeps the company up to date and knowledgeable on the trends in our areas.

“I have worked for the company since the mid 90s. After college, I became a real estate agent in 2004 and currently hold my broker’s license. I not only sell with our firm, but help my father and husband, David Dew, support and assist our agents. To be successful, we are always exploring and growing with new programs, marketing and more. I love to be there for our agents and see that Horsley Real Estate continues to grow in the generations to come.” ––Katie Horsley Dew, a third generation realtor and IsaBell’s granddaughter.

What LOCAL means toIsaBell K. Horsley Real Estate“We have been asked many times to join a large franchise, but we know how important the small details can be and work together as a team to provide the best “family” services that you might not get from a larger firm. We come to inspections, we make marketing decisions, and we are there for our clients.”

61 Cross StUrbanna, VA 23175(804) 758-2430www.horsleyrealestate.com

LOCAL


History and romance meet where the Potomac River meets the Chesapeake Bay

… come stay in one of our historic inns and

and pristine nature.

www.NorthernNeck.org

The Perfect Getaway…is Not so Far Away.

Members of the Norge Saddle Club muster prior to competing in a rodeo staged behind the Kilmarnock High School in 1962. This is the only rodeo ever held in Kilmarnock.

These young ladies put on their Sunday best in the

1930s to come to Urbanna. Saturdays in town could mean a banana split at

Marshall’s Drug Store, pop-corn and drinks at the town theater or roller skating at

the River Rink at the foot of Watling Street. There was

plenty to do and the town buzzed on Saturday.

Students of the Reedville School in 1926. From left are, front row, John Lowry, Hugh Robinson, Fred Bid-dlecomb and Pratt Haynie; next row, Luther Bowles, Emory Dahl, Owen McFarland, Paul Robertson, Milton Bowles and Irvin Dahl; next row, Ruby Jett Hammock, Ruby Saunders, Elizabeth Lampkin and Ruth Michell Crowther; next row, Verna Haynie Rice, Dorothy Saun-ders, Ethel McFarland, Julia Francis Robinson, Lucy Barbara Blackwell and M. Butler; next row, Elva Haynie Jett, Rebecca Beyor, Ms. Pearl Robinson Williams, Lil-lian Lewis Haynie and Mary Douglas.


The 1962 Country Music Jamboree at the Kilmarnock school grounds featured the Purcell twins.

The beloved Dr. William R. Gwathmey of Ruark, today part of Delta-ville, was that community’s doctor from 1905 until his death in 1933. He is pictured here, wearing the brown coat, in the carriage he used to visit patients.

Miller’s Photographic Parlor Car, standing in the Courthouse Square in Heathsville around the turn of the century.

Michael Marketing Real Estate, Inc. is a full-service real estate company. Mike & Nancy Prince Jackson formed the company in 1998 and have both been realtors locally for 33+ years. The company covers real estate needs in the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck. Nancy specializes in homes and waterfront while Mike focuses on farms, land, timber and marshes. Mike, Broker/Owner has lived in Middlesex for 45 years. He enjoys fishing

and hunting in this area which has given him extensive knowledge about the properties he sells. Nancy grew up in Deltaville. After graduating from VCU with Bachelors and Masters degrees, she taught in Middlesex and Gloucester school systems for 12 years before becoming a realtor full-time. She has been very active in the local Board of Realtors, serving two terms as president and on the board of directors for over 14 years.

What LOCAL means to Mike and Nancy Prince Jackson:“We are happy to serve the localities in which we live and work. Our goal is to help clients sell their properties in an efficient and stress free manner and to introduce our purchasers to the wonderful life we have here in Middlesex and the surrounding counties in which we work. Many of our clients are repeat customers and we receive many referrals due to the attention to detail and service to our clients. We have made many long lasting friendships through these relationships and we are proud of this accomplishment.”

MICHAEL MARKETING, REAL ESTATE, INC.

566 Gloucester Rd, Saluda, VA 23149804-758-3093

LOCAL Kathleen M. Hall, CPA, PCCERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT

The Local ChoiceOur team believes the local businesses and people

in our community deserve the tradition of exceptional service, personal care, and peace of mind…

And that’s what you get when you choose us!

Are the worries and challenges of financial reporting and taxpreparation causing you unwanted stress?

We do all we can to remove the hassle and stress of meeting deadlines, filing the correct forms, and providing accurate information.

We do the work while you use your time to do what you do best!

Call us or drop in to take advantage of our accounting, payroll, trust and tax services.

51 Cross Street, Urbanna, VA

804-758-2352www.kmh-cpa.com


The year was 1969.

Astronauts Neil Armstrong and “Buzz” Aldrin landed on the moon. Mem-bers of a cult led by Charles Manson murdered five people in California. More than 500,000 music lovers gathered in New York for the epic Woodstock

Festival. And across the country, states worked to dismantle segregated school systems. In the Northern Neck, where blacks and whites still attended separate schools and the

racial divide was apparent, a group of young, determined baseball players won the state crown, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since.

“We did what we had to to become champions. The boys put in overtime to accom-plish what we’d been trying to do for a lot of years,” said assistant coach of the team Richard Ruffin. “It was a time when we felt like we could do anything.”

It was on May 21, 1969, 50 years ago, that 16 young men and their coaches captured the state trophy on a baseball diamond in Petersburg. They took a 7-2 record into the state tournament at Virginia State University, where they beat Central of Charlotte, 5-4, in the semifinal and captured the state Group II, District IV baseball championship,11-5, over G.W. Watkins.

“We had the hitting, the base running, everything just came together. All of us pulled together,” said Stanley Gaskins of Weems. Gaskins was a freshman pitcher for the Brookvale Fighting Warriors and combined with William Lee for “some brilliant pitch-ing” in the championship game, according to a May 29, 1969, article in the Rappahan-

nock Record.“We were jumping up and down and hollering. It was some-

thing,” said Gaskins. “And all of our parents were there, too.”The win marked the end of an era as Brookvale closed its doors

for good that year. Full integration took place in the 1969-70

1969 Brookvale High Warriors baseball team

stands out among championship teams

YOUNG & DETERMINED

Wardell Carter was the starting catcher as a sophomore on the 1969 state champion-ship team. That inspired him to embark on a career in recreation. He continues to work with children as the unit director at the Boys and Girls Club of the Northern Neck. Photo by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi

by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi


The following appeared in an article in the May 29, 1969 Rappahannock Record regarding the Brookvale Fighting Warriors baseball team.

Brookvale High School, with brilliant pitching from William Lee and Stanley Gaskins, and timely hitting by Frank Carter, Jesse Davenport, Melvin Harris and James Carter, captured the State, Group II, District IV baseball championship by defeating G.W. Watkins 11 to 5, Wednesday, May 21, at Petersburg.

Brookvale advanced to the final by eliminating Central of Charlotte 5 to 4. In this victory, William Lee tied a state record by striking out 16 batters. In the finale, Stanley Gaskins overcame some early inning control problems and coasted to an 11 to 5 verdict.

Brookvale was led during the regular season in hitting by James Carter (a .429 batting average), Frank Carter (a .400 batting average, 2 homers, 20 runs batted in), Melvin Harris (.391 batting average), and Jesse Davenport (a .346 batting average).

Defensively, the Warriors were led by Dean Nickens, Wardell Carter, Bradell Thompson, Ronald Smith and Elwood Henderson.

On the mound, William Lee finished with 5 victories and 1 loss. Stanley Gaskins, along with breaking the school record with 15 strikeouts, also won 4 games and lost 0. William Lee also broke a school record with eight consecutive strikeouts in a regular season game.

This was the first time that a VIA school had won the state baseball crown from this group and district.

From left, members of the 1969 Brookvale High School baseball team, which captured the state championship, were, (front row) Wardell Carter, Melvin Harris, William Lee, Elwood Henderson, Frank Carter and Donald Sanders; (next row) Theodore Thomas, Mozell Carter, Stanley Gaskins, Dean Nickens, Ronald Smith and Irvin Coleman; (next row) assistant coach Richard Ruffin, trainer Carroll Jones, James Carter, Jesse Davenport, coach Maurice Savoy, Bradell Thompson, Wilbert Lee, Wardell Veney and assistant coach Walter Webb.

Stanley Gaskins reads an article about the Brookvale Warriors baseball team that appeared in the Rappahannock Record 30 years ago. Photo by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi

Championship season markedby teammate accomplishments


Lloyd Hill places a commemorative medal around the neck of Wilbert Lee at Sharon Baptist Church during a recent ceremony honoring the 1969 Brookvale baseball team.

The state championship trophy won by the Brookvale baseball team was on display recently at Sharon Baptist Church.

Players of the 1969 Brookvale team came together a few years ago at the funeral of a teammate. From left are Wilbert Lee, James Carter, William Lee, Jesse Davenport and Stanley Gaskins.

“We did what we had to to become champions. The boys put in overtime to accomplish what we’d been trying to do for a lot of years.It was a time when we felt like we could do anything.”

––assistant coach Richard Ruffin

school year, replacing freedom of choice, and schools were consolidated countywide. Brookvale High School became Mantua Intermediate and now still serves the county as Lancaster Primary School.

The baseball field behind the school, where the successful Warriors played their games against teams from Richmond County, King George, Essex, Westmoreland’s AT Johnson, Northumberland Central and Colonial Beach, is no longer.

“I don’t believe we had any seniors, maybe one on the team, to my recollection,” said Ruffin of Connecticut. He’s a retired science teacher who now has a ministry with his wife and runs a summer camp for at-risk youth.

“It was a very young team,” he added. “But I think that’s one of the reasons we were so successful. They were willing to work hard and put in that extra effort.”

Gaskins had a 4-0 record that season and broke the school record for 15 strike outs in a game. His record was short-lived, however, and was broken by teammate Lee, who won a state playoff game with a 16-strike-out effort. That tied a state tournament record.

Calling the pitches for Lee and Gaskins was sophomore catcher Wardell Carter. His twin brother, Mozell, also played and was in the pitching rotation as a sophomore.

“We were all young,” said W. Carter. “But our coach trained us like major league players. If you were a pitcher, that’s all you did. You only played in that position and you batted ninth.”

That final, championship team was under the leadership of first-year head coach Maurice L. Savoy.

“He was about discipline and leadership,” said W. Carter. “He was just out of college and was a hard-nosed guy. There was no talking back, not even a funny look at the coach.”

According to W. Carter, Savoy and assistants Ruffin and the late Walter Webb never emphasized the state championship as a goal. But it was evident after the state final.

“After every game, he would have us holler, “it shall be done” and when we came back from Virginia State, when we went to yell that, he said “no, it has been done!” And that was the first time we realized he had a goal.”

When Brookvale closed, most of the players continued to play baseball at Lancaster High School under coach Boyd Kidd.

When Carter and his brother were young, blacks weren’t allowed to play at the local Little League park. That was hurtful, he admits. It led him to defy the stereotypes of the period and he said he learned to swim, and to play golf and tennis.

“I tell kids all the time, don’t be defined by stereotypes. For me, coach Savoy had a major effect on me more than anybody in my life except my parents,” said W. Carter. “He was a very strict disciplinarian with a tough work ethic but we had fun afterward.”

W. Carter made recreation his career and has served as the Lancaster County Parks & Recreation director, a volunteer Little League coach and a volunteer high school baseball and softball coach. He continues to mentor youth as a unit director for the Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Neck.

“Working with the Boys & Girls Club is like a dream come true,” he said. “It’s so important to give everybody an opportunity.”

Only a few things have brought most of the players back together: funerals, a reunion six years ago and a recent 50th anniversary celebration at Sharon Baptist Church in Weems, where the trophy was displayed and commemorative medals distributed. But when there is an instance for a reunion, it’s more like a family reunion than a gathering of former teammates.

“That bond is still there even after all this time,” said W. Carter. “We were like a big family,” said Ruffin. Recently, Ulysses Turner, teen director at the Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Neck,

reached out to the Virginia High School League to right a wrong. According to Turner, the Brookevale team has not been recognized with inclusion in the state annals for its championship. The team will soon be listed in the championship records, said Turner.


The largest store in Middle-sex County for years was

R. S. Bristow and Son in Urbanna. The store was founded in 1876 by R. S. Bristow Sr. who came to

Urbanna from Stormont to clerk in his uncle’s store.

Still operating, Bristow’s is the oldest commercial busi-

ness in Middlesex County.

BROOKVALE MINI STORAGE

10436 Mary Ball Rd., Lancaster804-435-1209

Temperature Control & Regular Units RV Parking

Moving Supplies & U-Haul Dealer

The Warwick High School Band

marches in the 1962 Kilmarnock

Spring Festival.

Chesapeake Homes is the subsidiary of Dilday Builders, Inc. (DBI) which has been in business since 1979 serving the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula. The company started out constructing stick-built spec homes, then transitioned into custom homes. As the market has evolved, Chesapeake Homes almost exclusively provides systems-built homes for a discerning client base that demands quality homes delivered on-time and on-budget. When the company was formed, Lloyd Dilday and Evelyn Dilday were the officers. Now, Jennifer Dilday, daughter of Lloyd and Evelyn, is the Secretary/Treasurer joining

Lloyd who remains the president. “We started as a family business and remain so today. Most of our employees have a lengthy tenure with DBI and are considered an extension of our family. They are conscientious, hard working and talented, and only provide the best in every project at hand,” shares Jennifer. Although most homes are custom designed, Chesapeake Homes offers two fully furnished model homes for inspections and inspiration. The homes, as well as the company headquarters, are located in Kilmarnock, directly across the street from Kilmarnock Town Centre Park.

What LOCAL means to Chesapeake Homes:“We like to see homeown-ers be able to build the homes of their dreams. At Chesapeake Homes we work very hard to design the perfect home. We construct your home, and more importantly - after the home is completed, we’re very likely to meet you on the street, in the local stores, restaurants and other venues, and want to be able to look you in the eye and know we went above your expecta-tions during and after the construction process.”

LLOYD DILDAYowner and founder of

CHESAPEAKE HOMES201 N. Main St., Kilmarnock, VA804-435-7706

LOCAL

H E SA PE A K EOME S

CH

10880 Gen. Puller Hwy., Hartfield, VA


The Urbanna Labor Day speed boat races were part of Urbanna’s culture from the 1930s to when it ended in 1966. Pictured above are Dr. Thomas F. Marshall Sr. placing a buoy, Carroll Chowning Jr. at the wheel and Margaret Gerdts getting the next buoy ready.

804-435-37661 mile north of Kilmarnock on Rt. 3

of Quality Service forAmerican and Import Vehicles

Casual Dining on the Waterfront

Happy Hour Mon - Fri4pm - 6pm

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Courthouse Square in Heathsville nearby what is now Northumberland Highway, with the town pump to the right, around the turn of the century.

The 1964 Kilmarnock Texacos prepare to depart Reedville for a game on Tangier Island.

Willis Wilson of Deltaville and his father, Obie, haul seined for fish on the Rappahannock River. One

year they caught a dolphin and took it to their dock on Broad

Creek and sent a boy out into the neighborhood to tell all the people.

When people started coming to the dock, Obie stopped them

at the shore and charged each person a nickel to come out on the dock. They had 160 people

come and made $8.


$635,000

BYRL TAYLOR, GRI, CRSAssociate BrokerCell: [email protected]

Point of Interest

Two homes for the price of one

S ydney H. Speight opened her Saluda law practice in February of 2014 and has remained in private practice since that time. She spends the vast majority of her time in Court trying cases. Speight practices in the areas of criminal defense, guardian ad litem work for children, custody and visitation, and juvenile defense.

Speight opened her office after passing the bar exam and has been self-employed since that time. “I have chosen to remain local and provide legal services to clients in the tri-county area of Middlesex, Gloucester

and Mathews. It is important to me to provide thoughtful, dedicated, quality representation to my clients,” shares Speight.

Speight was born and raised in Middlesex County and it was her goal to return to and help her community. Her husband, Josh Speight, is from Gloucester and is an assistant golf professional in Kilmarnock at Indian Creek Yacht & Country Club. The couple intends to stay local and raise a family in Middlesex. They currently reside in Locust Hill with their two dogs, Mulligan and Birdie.

What LOCAL means to Sydney Speight:

“Both myself and my mother, Kim Harris, were born and raised here. We are both self-employed, local small business owners. That is a legacy that I am very proud of and one that was undoubtedly taught to me by my mother’s example. The cases that I work on touch the lives of this community. That, of course, is very meaningful and important to me as I am a part of this community as well.”

SYDNEY H. SPEIGHT, Attorney at Law, PLLC

18 New Street, Saluda, VA804-758-0400

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NEW location: 17387 General Puller Hwy. 804-776-0604

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Sheep were grown locally for wool and meat. This photo was taken in the early 20th century at Woodport on the Piankatank between Hartfield and Hardyville.

Alexander Powell and his family aboard their boat, the Mary Jane, at Water View Steamboat Dock in Northumberland County in 1930.


Not so very long ago, most food was grown on farms just a few miles from where it was con-sumed.

Barns and outbuildings were essential to farming. Cows were milked in them. They stored food for people and ani-mals. They held nourishment for the food chain—grains fed hogs, and hay that sustained cattle through the winter. Grass is a resource harvested by cattle and other animals. Grasses are the single most important plant species to human evolution.

Trees felled in local forests were hewn into timbers with hand tools and muscle to become barn skeletons. Logs were hewn from a single tree. Later, boards would be sawn.

Wood’s character is etched in its gray patina. Weathered wood makes buildings look like they grew where they have stood for thousands of days.

Time has claimed many relics from the last days of muscle power and most of what our forebears worked for is gone.

However, in some instances their legacy is left behind in a surviving building. Barns are getting rarer every year as they succumb to the elements, and with them go the memories of those who labored to just get enough food to eat.

A saying goes, “My grandfa-ther had a farm, my father had a garden. I have a can opener.”

These photos, collected over 15 years, are windows to our heritage.

They represent a time that won’t come again.

Back when hay was bailed in “square bales,” it was loaded into lofts like this

one at Corbin Hall Farm in Waterview. It was built in the 1940s by John Jackson who was a vice president of U.S. Steel,

which is why the barn has a steel silo. Under this loft were milking stations

and stables for draft horses and even a thoroughbred race horse.

A past with a presence

Story and photos by Tom Chillemi


Invented about 1865, barbed wire was a cheaper alternative to wooden or stone fences. Sharp barbs kept cattle from breaking from pastures. Electric fences are more common today. These barbed wire strands were coiled on a leaning post in 2013 that marked the corner of a field in Locust Hill, until gravity claimed the marker.

Horses and draft animals cannot back up a wagon. Barns were designed so draft animals could walk through. This building, with a cedar shake roof, stood at Route 17 and Old Virginia Street until about 2010.

Sickle bars like this were used to cut hay and grains. Pulled by a tractor, it’s

an adaptation of similar ones pulled by horses. The turning motion of the steel

wheel powered the cutting blades.


This corn crib at Belle Isle State Park was a monument to farming life, until it disappeared sometime after 2004.

An all but forgotten farmhouse near Warner in Middlesex was photographed in 2003. The barn behind is no longer.

A steel hinge holds vintage wood.

Produce was processed in sheds, like this one that’s still standing near Churchview. Pea plants were pulled from the field and placed in a shallow “pea box” and transported by cart to a shed where a thrashing machine would separate the peas from the shell. The peas would then be sent to Lord Mott cannery near Urbanna, and on to grocery store shelves.

Pea boxes like this one were used to transport pea plants to a processing shed.


Boat maintenance was done on a railway like Morton Clark’s Railway on Locklies Creek. Travel lifts have replaced them for all but the larger boats.

Forgotten artifacts of the era of muscle- powered farm implements stand outside of a dusty barn. Known as “singletrees,” they hitched the horse to a wagon or carriage.

A tenon shaped on a cedar tree once fit into a mortise as part of a building frame.

Mason Realty Inc.Serving Tidewater Virginia’s Middle Peninsula

and Northern Neck Area

Your Local Realtors Since 1957

Farms, Land, Homes, Acreage, Waterfront, Cottages, Estates, Lots and Commercial Properties

www.masonrealty.com

3 Convenient locations

SALUDA804-758-2777

URBANNA804-758-5372

DELTAVILLE804-776-9295

people, places and traditions · 9/26/2019 · production joseph gaskins, susan simmons, k.c....

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