18" x 24" Print

GABRIEL HOUSE circa 1880

       Samuel Willis Gabriel was born in 1848 in Core Sound to Emanuel Gabriel and Caroline Willis. The 1880 census recorded dry-goods merchant Samuel Gabriel in this home with wife Sarah M. Haskitt, daughter Minnie Coral and Samuel's sister Caroline W. Gabriel. By 1900, Eugene J. Bell owned the house. Son of Josiah Fisher Bell and Susan Leecraft, Eugene married Emma Julia Bell in 1869. The 1900 household included Eugene, Emma and children Kenneth A., Emma Julia and Mary L. with husband Charles Sylvester Carrow, and toddler Eugene Josiah Carrow. 

      By 1910, Charles Carrow was noted as a seaman on a merchant vessel. The 1920 census enumerated: Charles, Mary, Eugene (with wife Olivia Elease Taylor) and Mary's mother Emma Bell. The 1930 census noted 58-year-old Charlie as a "pleasure boat" boatman, alone in the house. Son of Civil War soldier Nathan Lafayette Carrow and first wife Emeline W. Brooks, Charles died in 1960 at Crab Point, Carteret County. Morgan Bell Stewart (1938‒2009), grandson of Emma Julia Bell and Alexander Brogden Stewart, lived in the home until death.

HAMMOCK HOUSE 1800

     In 1764, Samuel Leffers came to Beaufort from Hempstead, Queens County, New York, as schoolmaster. Over the years, Schoolmaster Leffers became a surveyor, clerk of court, merchant and an investor in real estate. In 1795, Samuel Leffers purchased the 25-acre White House property, including house, windmill and other improvements, from Elias Albertson Jr. for 350 Spanish dollars. 
     In an October 19, 1800 letter to his brother John in Long Island, New York, Samuel Leffers wrote, "My situation at present is agreeable, my new house is calculated to my fancy and pleasantly situated, we have a fine prospect of the Sea, in front have a good garden and spring of water and are about 200 yards from the eastern most boundary of Beaufort town." (Leffer's new house was built about 300 yards east of the White House, which was 100 yards west of the town boundary, the boundary described earlier as "100 yards to the eastward of the hammock that Thomas Austin formerly lived on.")

ARENDELL HOUSE circa 1847

     In 1843, Michael Fisher Arendell, son of Bridges and Sarah Fisher Arendell, married Zilphia Ann Leecraft, daughter of Benjamin Leecraft and Mary Fuller; at their marriage, Mary Fuller Leecraft deeded Old Town Lot 75 to Michael and Zilphia. In 1847, Michael sold this house to mother-in-law Mary Leecraft.

     Michael studied medicine under Dr. James Lente Manney. After graduating in 1843 from the University of New York City, Dr. Arendell returned to practice in Beaufort until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he served the surgeon general's office in Raleigh. He then practiced in "Morehead Village," helped organize the Carteret County Medical Society, was a stockholder in Shepard's Point Land Company and helped build the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City. In 1872, this Ann Street house was sold to Thomas Noe, who sold to the Guthrie family. Since 1874, Guthrie descendants have occupied the home.

JAMES DAVIS HOUSE circa 1829

     James Davis was born in the Quaker colony north of Beaufort on the east side of the Newport River, the eldest son of Joseph Wicker Davis and Susanna Stanton. About 1802, James married Elizabeth Adams, daughter of Nathan Adams and Mary Canaday. A skilled carpenter; James often referred to himself as an "ar-chē-tech."  
     Though unique with its center chimney, five fireplaces and raised basement, Davis built a traditional, Beaufort-style coastal cottage. Floors were laid with 12-inch pine but the construction was simple—built with hand-hewn pegs and hand-wrought nails. Framing members were marked with roman numerals. The original oyster-plaster walls, including those above the mantle-free fireplaces, were most likely whitewashed.

DAVID RUMLEY HOUSE circa 1843

   One of eleven children, David Hall Rumley was born to Gilbert Rumley and Rachel Hall. At the age of 19, in 1832 David Rumley carried on the family tradition and began work as clerk of court. Shortly after his 1841 marriage to Susan Leecraft Manson, David Rumley dismantled this early 19th-century cottage and moved it by barge from Diamond City on Shackelford Banks. The 1843 plaque date indicates the year Gilbert Rumley gave Old Town Lot 58 to son David - thus, the cottage is much older.

WARD-HANCOCK HOUSE 

In Richard Rustull Sr.'s 1760 Will, he left acreage to grandchildren Mary Rustull and John Rustull, children of Richard Rustull Jr. who died in 1746. In 1785, Mary Rustull Kirtland West and brother John sold 300 acres to Benjamin Cheney. Two years later, Cheney purchased another 125 acres. In 1796, Cheney sold acreage and premises to Thomas Ward. This is the only deed that mentions a premises, or track of land, including a building. As noted in Early Domestic Architecture in Beaufort, North Carolina, Summer Field Study 2011: "Although a date of  'c. 1726' is painted on a plaque on the front porch, evidence suggests this house was most likely constructed at a much later date,  probably in the late-18th or early-19th century." The home was purchased by the Beaufort Woman's Club who donated it to the North Carolina Maritime Museum's Gallants Channel Annex.

HATSELL HOUSE circa 1827

     About 1778, William Hatchell brought his family from Virginia to the White Oak River area of Carteret County. His son William married Esther Green and lived on Bogue Sound until his early death in 1816. Esther and William's son Andrew Lee Hatchell came to Beaufort and married Charity Fuller in 1826. In his 1827 will, Belcher Fuller left Old Town Lot 55 to daughter Charity. A few years after Andrew Lee Hatchell died, in 1844 Charity married clerk, turned carpenter, William Read; the couple remained in the house and had daughters Julia Franklin Read and Charity A. Read.  
      Son, George Andrew Hatsell, was one of the Confederates at Fort Macon when it was taken by Federal troops. On April 25, 1862, it is said that "Miss Charity" and sympathetic neighbors watched the shelling from her second floor piazza. After Charity Hatchell Read's death in 1891, her spinster daughter "Miss Julia" Read (1847-1932) became head of household; she used the outside kitchen as a private school. 

WATSON HALL circa 1905

Watson Hall, named for Alfred A. Watson, former bishop of the Diocese of East Carolina, was once part of St. Paul's School. The school operated from 1899 until the 1936 death of head mistress Nannie Pasteur Davis Geffroy. Though used as a dormitory, Watson Hall, completed in 1906 on Ann Street between the James Davis House and St. Paul's Episcopal Church, functioned partly as lodging for teaching staff. The unique stacked corner front porches once overlooked what is now the newer part of the St. Paul's Cemetery and the school courtyard to the east. In the mid-1940s, this and two other buildings were saved from demolition, moved nearby and converted to private residences. When moved to Orange Street, the "teacherage" was home to James Noe, a Midgett family and others. Purchased for historic restoration in 2000, the home was moved forward on the lot, the interior rebuilt and a 2-story rear addition added.

DAVIS-DUNCAN HOUSE circa 1815

     In 1963, the Duncan House received the first plaque, noting 1790 as the building date. In 2003 the plaque was changed to 1728. Both dates represented early deeds for the lot, with no documentation of a premises. More research (by this author) found an 1853 court record, which documented James Davis as builder; tax records confirmed 1815 as the building date. In 1804, Nathan Adams deeded this lot to daughter Elizabeth, wife of James Davis, who built the eastern half of this Beaufort-style home in 1815.  
     In 1820, James sold the house to Capt. Benjamin Tucker Howland for $1000. In 1832, Capt. Howland sold the house and part of their business to daughter Elicia and son-in-law Thomas Duncan for only $600. Using ship masts as supporting pillars, Capt. Thomas Duncan (1806-1880) added a structure just west of the house; this was a ship chandlery that became known as "Duncan's Store." The two structures were later joined, with no door between the east and west sides until the 20th century; access between upstairs bedchambers was by way of the front porch. As late as 1900, a windmill and slave cabins were still located behind the house.

OLD INLET INN circa 1911 

     The earliest part of what became the old Inlet Inn was built in the 1850s as a private residence. Noted on Gray's 1880 Map as "Sea Side House,” proprietor Charles W. Lowenberg sold to the Morris family in the early 1900s.  Known as "Morris House" until Carrie Dill Norcom operated it as a boarding house, the building became "Norcom House." Purchased by Congressman Charles Abernathy in 1911, the house was greatly expanded and named the Inlet Inn. 
     There was a ballroom on the second floor. Fresh water was pumped by windmills. The beach and boardwalk of the 1911 Inlet Inn disappeared as a result of the dredging of Taylor's Creek and extending Front Street. In 1967, before preservation guidelines were in place, most of the inn was torn down for construction of the BB&T Bank building just east of the current 1985 Inlet Inn. One wing of the original Inlet Inn was salvaged and is now a private residence.

JOHN M. WOLFE HOUSE circa 1895 

      In 1891, John Forlaw sold this property to John M. Wolfe, who either built the original portion of the house or remodeled an existing structure. The original home was a single story L-shaped house with a porch across the entire front, and a porch on the south side. In 1908, octagonal façades and the second story were added.

     John Marshall Wolfe was son of Alice P. Marshall and John B. Wolf; born about 1820, John B. immigrated about 1853, married Alice in 1860 and operated a bakery in a 4-room cottage on Queen Street. John  Marshall Wolfe was a barber as well as a jeweler, who repaired watches. He married Mary F. Garner and had five children: Joseph Price, Evanna Baldwin, John Christian, Mamie Alice and William Franklin Wolfe. Many remember this as the "Swain House" due to Mamie's marriage to William Leon Swain.

BUCKMAN HOUSE circa 1848

In 1852 David B. Wharton and Susan Davis Wharton purchased the property from Guy Buckman for $600. Susan, daughter of James and Elizabeth Adams Davis, had married David twelve years earlier. The original house was a very simply built two-story structure with six rooms, each measuring 16’ by 16’—three on the lower level and three on the upper level, all parallel to the street, with double front porches running the entire length of the house. Although this home has been referred to over the years as being a "hotel" during the Civil War, it may have been built as a single-family home when first constructed and shortly afterwards became a boarding house.

JOHN E. IRELAND HOUSE circa 1887

     The lot on which this home is located was originally owned by William B. and Emily F. Duncan. John E. Ireland purchased the lot from the Duncans in 1887. Ireland, a mariner from Portsmouth, who married Nancy J. Simmons in October of 1858, most likely built this home in 1887. Records show John E. Ireland, age 32, living in Portsmouth in 1870 with his wife and 5 children. In 1880 the whole family was living in Beaufort, including Nancy’s father.

     It is believed that John E. Ireland was lost at sea. Ireland’s children sold the house and lot to J.B. Jones in 1893. The house was most likely turned, moved a short distance and added to in 1904. It was sold in 1927 by J. B. Jones and David M. Jones to J.F. Duncan. 

NELSON HOUSE 

     On Old Town Lot 30, this house was likely built for Micajah Pigott by local builder James Davis. Micajah Pigott, born about 1770 to Elijah Pigot and Sevil Fulford, first married Sally Chadwick in 1795 and had three daughters: Elizabeth married Elijah Whitehurst; Sevil married William Fulford and Abigail married Absalom Fulford. After Sally died, in 1803 Micajah married Jane Gaskill, widow of James Wallace. Micajah died before 1808. Jane G. Wallace Pigott died in 1810, leaving the home to Esther Mihetable Wallace and husband Thomas Cooke.
     In 1815, 28-year-old Capt. Thomas Cooke perished in a storm near Cape Lookout. When Esther died, she left the property to children, James Wallace Cooke and Harriet Wallace Cooke, who went to live with Uncle Henry Marchant Cooke at the Hammock House. Fifteen in 1827, James Wallace Cooke attended the US Naval Academy and eventually commanded C.S.S. Albemarle. Going to sea in 1834, James designated his portion of Old Town Lots 29 & 30 to sister Harriet, who sold to Benjamin Leecraft Perry in 1838.
     In 1875, John Hancock Nelson (1814-1876) purchased this home from Thomas Duncan for $2000. John's widow, Mehitable Mason Nelson, lived here until her death in 1916, when it was inherited by daughter Laura Closs Nelson and husband Thomas I. Duncan; they sold the property to Joseph House in 1922.

MASON COTTAGE circa 1904

   Joseph Mason was born in Hyde County to Ichabod Mason and Lavinia Roberson. About 1899, Sophronia Styron, daughter of Stephen Styron and Hannah Willis, came from Hatteras Island by mail boat to visit her brother George. During her visit, 19-year-old Sophronia met Joseph Mason.  
     Married August 13, 1901, fisherman Joseph Mason built this cottage on a lot purchased in 1899 for only $45. He and Sophronia spent 50 years in the home and reared seven children: Addie married a Robinson; Lovie Hannah married Sterling Price Johnson; Marcus Dale married Laura Sadler; Stephen Robert married Velna Mae Wetherington; Annie Durwood married Harry Thomas Willis; John Styron married Miriam Earl Murphy; and Preston Loftin Mason never married.  

WHEATLEY HOUSE circa 1891

     Fifteen years after fisherman Charles Wheatley built this cottage, his family witnessed the first train into Beaufort, only yards from their front porch.

     When Charles Franklin Wheatley (1868-1943), son of George W. Wheatley and Mary Jane Ramsey, married Emily Noe in 1891, Emily's parents, Isaiah Benjamin Noe and Lydia Ann Johnson, sold the couple the lot next door for $75. Emily and Charles became parents of Raymond Benjamin, Esther Tuttle, Bernice L. and James Rolen Wheatley.

     The original home was only two rooms with 10' ceilings. A detached kitchen overlooked a vegetable garden, outhouse and barnyard. During the Depression, Orange Street neighbor Jean Kell kept a cow at Noe's barnyard.

LEECRAFT HOUSE circa 1856

Built by William Leecraft (1830-1858) two years before his death, this and 305 Ann were inherited by heirs, including William's wife Henrietta, who later sold to Eli Sanders, who sold to Solomon N. Adams in 1866.
In 1912, this became home to railroad conductor William King Hinnant (1879-1936) and bride Nannie Davis Taylor (1893-1965), daughter of Mary Buckman and Nelson Whitford Taylor; "Pa" Taylor bought the house and gave to Nannie for $1.
One joist, near the cellar entrance on the east side of the building, has '1856' lightly inscribed on its side, likely the date of the construction.

OWINS-BEDFORD HOUSE

    Thomas Bedford and William Owins purchased this lot in 1729. The next known owner, Thomas Duncan, purchased from commissioners in 1806.   

    20th-century owners included Jean Bruyere Kell, Amy Bradley Muse, as well as David and Kathryn Cloud, who purchased the house in the 1970s. When the "Cramer House" (1796 Courthouse) was moved to the Beaufort Restoration Grounds, Kathryn Cloud rescued lumber, that had been added when the courthouse was converted to a residence, and used the wood to build kitchen cabinets.

    Though plaqued 1730, the Summer Field Study 2011 reported, "If the house dates from the 18th century, only some of its framing members are of that age. It is likely the building started out as a one-story dwelling with an integral shed, built sometime in the late-18th or early-19th century."

JACOB HENRY HOUSE circa 1800

     Though plaqued with the first houses plaqued in 1963 as the Easton House circa 1771, this house was built for Jacob Henry between 1794 and 1802. 
     Jacob Henry was elected a member of the North Carolina Legislature in 1808. In 1809 he was challenged to step down because, as a Jew, he denied the Divine Authority of the New Testament. The debate, and Henry’s speech in his own behalf, was widely reported and important in the American fight for constitutional religious freedom.
     Legend tells us that the cellar, constructed of large ballast stones, may have been used by Federal troops during the Civil War, as a prison for Confederate soldiers captured at Fort Macon. This is, however, not documented. This cellar does include a huge fireplace. When first built, meals were cooked here and passed up through a dumbwaiter into what is now the living room. It is said that the cellar was also used, at one time, for barrel making by a Beaufort cooper.

JAMES NOE HOUSE circa 1828

     Of Finnish descent, James Noe came to Beaufort about 1800. A turpentine distiller and fisherman, James married Mary Cocks in 1799. The first recorded deed conveyed the lot and home of "James Noe, deceased," sold at public auction. James and Mary Noe both died in Beaufort. Son, James G. Noe, married Mary Paquinet; they were parents of Sarah H., Rachael James, John West, Thomas D., and perhaps Charity S. Noe.
    In 1837, Col. John Hatch Hill bought this house for $500. Married to Hannah Fuller, Catharine Fuller, then Abigail Ward, Col. Hill was a member of the General Assembly and served as sheriff, coroner and clerk of court. During the War of 1812, Hill was 2nd Major in Capt. Nelson's Company, Robert's Regiment.
    In the home by 1900, John Henry Skarren, son of Louis Skarren and Sarah N. Smith, married Susan Ann Phelps about 1891. Susan was daughter of Mathias Chrispen Phelps and Elizabeth Canaday Dill. Susan and John were parents of William Dill, John Pasteur, Winfield Chadwick, Mathias Phelps, Norman C., and Sarah Elizabeth Skarren. John Henry became Police Chief Skarren; he died of heart disease. Susan died from 3rd-degree burns suffered when the kitchen stove ignited her clothing.

WHITEHURST HOUSE circa 1892

     In 1812 Patrick Ward purchased this lot for 30 shillings. Ward and Hancock heirs sold lot 95 Old Town in 1891 to John Forlaw for $100. In 1892 Forlaw sold the lot to two people. The northern half was sold to John M. Wolfe and the southern half to James Whitehurst.
    This fisherman’s-cottage style home has been added to over the years, especially since it sits on a very deep lot that backs up to St. Paul's Cemetery. It is named for James E. Whitehurst and his son. James E. was born in 1831 and married Frances A. Duncan in 1855. Edward C., his son, was born in 1859 and married Mary Noe.

J.B. JONES HOUSE circa 1870 

     John Benners Jones' father, Thomas Redding Jones, was born in Carteret County about 1815. In 1836, Thomas married Nancy Guthrie. Thomas and Nancy became parents of the following: David M., born in 1837, married Susan F. Dill; Hannah, born about 1840; John Redding, born about 1843, married Margaret A. Guthrie; Mary, born about 1844; and John Benners Jones (1848–1925) married Hannah Delamar. While returning to Beaufort from a trip to the West Indies about 1850, Capt. Redding Jones was lost at sea. 

     John Benners Jones Sr. (1848–1925) was a grocer and was also involved in real estate. He and Hannah raised four sons and three daughters in this home. In 1916, J.B. Jones Sr. married Elizabeth M. "Lizzie" Jacobson, widow of Ansil Burdette Chapin and lived at 607 Ann Street. On February 1, 1925, John Benners Jones Sr. died of chronic Bright's disease.

ANN WADE HOUSE circa 1831

     The original part of this charming early Beaufort cottage was what was known, at that time, as a “story and a jump.” It consisted of the entrance hall, a front room, and an attic. For its first hundred years, it was owned mostly women. When, where, and by whom it was built remains an on-going puzzle.
     In 1813 records show Beaufort Commissioners Joseph Bell, Jechonias Pigott, and George Reed deeded that lot #85 to James Coe for 50 shillings. The next mention of the lot was in 1829 when the trustees of the University of North Carolina sold it to James Hart for $105. In 1830 James Hart sold the lot to Ann Wade.

REV. JONES HOUSE circa 1840     

     Rev. John Jones, son of Captain John Jones and Sarah Fisher, married Susan Jane Bell in 1832. The 1850 census recorded widower Jones on Bogue Sound with seven children. Married in 1856, Rev. Jones and Sarah Caroline Davis were in Beaufort by 1860 with daughters Mary and Emily.

     During the Civil War, the house is said to have been used as an auxiliary hospital morgue. In 1874, Rev. Jones sold the house to son Benjamin Leecraft Jones and wife Orpha Neal Gibbs for $600; they became parents of John Leecraft, Hugh Cole, William Howard and Mary Gibbs Jones. With Winfield Scott Chadwick, Benjamin Leecraft Jones formed Chadwick & Jones Drygoods, and later Carteret Fish Oil and Guano Company.

     Summer Field Study: This Greek Revival house was probably built in the 1850s, based on the copious use of circular sawn framing members combined with sash sawn material.

JAMES H. POTTER HOUSE circa 1910

     In 1910 James Hollister Potter Sr. (see 707 Ann) built this home for James Hollister Potter Jr. (1879-1971) and bride Ada Matilda Rhodes (1886-1980), born in Onslow County to William Daniels Rhodes and Eliza Shepard. Ada and James were parents of James Robert Potter (1912-1913) who died of meningitis, J.H. Potter III (1914-2009) and Gilbert Murray Potter (1917-2012). J.H. Potter Jr. owned Potter's Pure Food Store and Potter's Toy Shop on Front Street; he also helped organize the Beaufort Fire Department.

     During the Depression, James H. Potter III delivered mail for $100 a month. He later owned Potter’s Grocery and Potter’s Dress Shop, and was a real estate broker. In the 1970s he was the appraiser for the downtown waterfront renewal project. The home remained in the Potter family until 1964.

ALLEN DAVIS HOUSE circa 1774

     The original structure was a small cottage, now the back room and rear hall of the house. About 1850, the cottage was expanded and survives as an intact example of a mid-19th century Beaufort house.

     Though not documented, it has been said that General Ambrose Burnside occupied the house in April 1862, immediately before or after the siege of Fort Macon, thus the second plaque.

     Gray's 1880 Map noted Allen Davis Jr. (1834-1904) as owner of the Queen Street home. Davis was born in Lennoxville to Allen Davis Sr. and Mary Chadwick. About 1870, Allen Davis Jr., a druggist, married Laura Frances Barrow and had four children. The house remained in the Davis family at least 150 years.