I remember Mr. Adrian and Ms. Hope as owning the cafe and grocery at the corner of Lowland Rd. and Horne Rd. As a young girl, I remember going there to eat with Daddy sometimes. I think the shrimp plate was the best shrimp dinner I had ever got in a restaurant. Few years later, the cafe closed but Mr. Adrian and Ms. Hope continued to operate the small grocery. Me and Carolee would find ourselves walking down to the Mr. Adrian's store to buy a candy bar. If we didn't have enough money for a candy bar, we always had some pennies. Mr. Adrian always kept a big jar full of "penny candy" and each piece cost a penny.
Mr. Adrian's memoirs is a true account of his life and I am so thankful that he had the insight to record his memories.
 |
| Adrian & Hope Watson with Family - Tara Watson Zunn Photo |
Things That Come To Mind
by Adrian Watson
1992
Preface
When you go in the yard there are pecan trees, figs, grapes, apples, peaches, blueberries and apricots. Plus, a half acre garden. Yes, we have our disadvantages, but we know how to take advantage of the disadvantages more here than anywhere else.
Adrian Watson
Lowland, North Carolina
Summer 1992
Things That Come To Mind
I had a stroke, two heart attacks, and now a pacemaker; all during 1990-1991. I want to write down some of these memories in my head before they are forgotten and so my family will know them too.
My mother's name was Nancy Ann "Ban" Brothers Watson. My mother's grandmaw was a full blooded (Cherokee) Indian. My Dad's name was Hyram Stilley Watson. He loved people!
The house I live in was built in 1849 by grand-dad David Watson, farmer, carpenter and brick mason. Grand-dad David Watson made his own brick. My great-grand-dad, a farmer name John Watson, was born in 1774 and died in 1825 and left us the Watson Cemetery.
Job's that I have had include carpenter, fisherman, boat builder, farmer, tugboat captain, cafe operator, storekeeper, and carver.
I have been married for 57 years on September 10, 1991. Hope Rowe Watson, wife, has stood by me all the way. Thanks!
We had four kids and raised two more (Hope's brother and sister). I love them all very much. Evelyn, A.E., Bruce, Rodney, Orien Rowe, and Sammy Rowe Lamb are all fine people. Bruce was named for my sister's son that was killed in World War II.
I told my children if I had anything they wanted that I did not use, I wanted them to have it. The first to ask for it is the one to get it. I had eight old ducks. One was a Labrador, extinct over 100 years. Do not know who made them. There was no name on them but they were well made hunting decoys. Gave all of them to the kids.
Hope and I were married before TV, before penicillin or polio shots, before frozen food, xerox, plastic contact lenses, frisbees, and "the pill". You just took your chances then. It was before radar, credit cards, ball point pens, before pantyhose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners. We got married first and then lived together.
In our time, closets were for clothes, not for "coming out of". Bunnies were young rabbits and rabbits were not Volkswagons. Designer jeans was a girl named Jean. Having a good relationship meant getting along with your cousins.
We were before day care centers, nursing homes. We never heard of FM radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings. Back then, "Made in Japan" meant junk. The term "making out" meant how you did on your exam. Pizzas, McDonalds, and instant coffee were unheard of.
There were 5 cent and 10 cent stores and that was what they charged. You paid 5 or 10 cents for everything! You could get a Pepsi for a nickle or mail a letter and buy two postcards. You could buy a Chevy Coupe for about $600.00 and gas was 11 cents a gallon. Cigarette smoking was the "in thing". "Grass" was something you mowed, "Coke" was a drink, "Pot" was something you cooked in, "rock music" was mama singing a lullaby in the rocking chair and "Aids" was somebodies helper.
Then, we knew the difference between the sexes. We believed you had to be married to have children. With all of these changes in our life time, no wonder there is a generation gap. We have survived, but sometimes I wonder how.
Fishing Experiences
Mr. Ed Ireland was the only man I ever knew that sat on his shoulder and took his buns in his lap. He died in Oriental on a boat with his brother Plum.
Started catching oysters with a sailboat. At 14 years old I worked with Brother Cola on the skipjack 'Hazel'. Aboard 'Hazel', I worked for two years and then bought a sharpie named 'Lucy May'. My next boat was a skipjack, the 'Susie Dryden'. She sank up the Neuse River. Had power boats for oystering too. There were plenty of oysters until the NC Fisheries Commission planted oysters from polluted waters here. That was the end of oysters. Now we can't catch a mess.
Worked on a sailboat oystering one time that leaked so bad, I had to put a dish pan over my head to keep the water from dripping on my head. I would feel the cabin floor to see if water was on the floor. If it was, it was time to pump. Would roll out of the bunk and it would be so wet it would steam. If the sun was out, I would hang my bedding out to dry the next day.
Went up Durham Creek to peddle oysters one time, and sold enough to make 40 cents plus a old hen. What a trip!
Did crab with a rowboat for two years. I tried to save enough money to buy an outboard motor. They cost $14.50 from Sears Roebuck.
Haul netted for three or four years and then started trawling at sea. I worked from the Gulf of Mexico to Newfoundland. Went in at Lynchburg, Halifax, Canso, and Sidneymines, Nova Scotia. I had a lot of experiences at that job. One time, it blew 120 miles per hour. It was a rough time. I have crossed the Bay of Funday in an 85 mile wind. That was no fun. Off Hatteras one night, it blew out the south east so hard the lightship drug off station FIVE MILES. Boy it was ROUGH.
In all my workin' on the water I never lost anybody, thank the Lord. I think of myself as lucky to have been able to care for my family all these years.
We lined haul nets on the lane - which was our road from the house to the main road. We stretched out the lines, which was two lines to the net. We would mark the top line and then line up the bottom line with the marking on the top line. Nets would be 150 to 200 yards long each. There would be 6 nets to a stand. We would get the kids to fill our net needles.
Decline of Fishing
The first rod and reel I ever saw...a man from Greensboro came down here fishing. There were so many fish that every time he cast out, one would have it. The old people in the neighborhood used to set home and tie nets to catch the fresh water bass, redfin, robins, and jack pike. These new sport fishermen could not stand to see the nets set where he wanted to fish, so he got the legislators to pass a law of no more net fishing to catch fresh water fish. The law was enacted. The next summer the shoreline was lined with dead fish. The old people had been fishing with nets for a hundred years and there were plenty of fish. But the man got greedy, so I reckon the fish were taken away.
Croaker would come ashore between Hatteras and Wimble Shoal ever since man had been on the Outer Banks. It never failed that the croaker showed up. We were out there catching them, trying to make bread for our family. Of course, the Virginia boats were there too. The marines came and run the Virginia boys off. The next spring, the showed up off the hotel at Virginia Beach. The Virginia Marine Fisheries came and ran off the North Carolina fishermen. Croakers haven't showed up there since.
Around here there were plenty of oysters for years. One time the Marine Fisheries decided that they wanted more input in the oyster business, so they came up with a plan. You had to have a 32 foot boat, and 100 pound dredge, could not unload after sundown, and several other things. The next fall, in October I think, a hurricane came and destroyed the oysters, at least according to the Marine Fisheries. But, I caught twelve tubs in one day....my biggest catch all that winter. Things don't seem to sink in. I think we have people educated beyond their intelligence. Now they have done it again. They brought the oysters from Calico Creek (Morehead City), the creek where Morehead dumps it sewerage in. Those coon oysters plus the disease they carried wiped out all oysters. Never had coon oysters in the Pamlico Sound until now. I know this from twenty-five years working in the oyster business.
I worked sailboats to catch oysters years ago, and then power boats. So, I feel that I know something about oysters in the Pamlico Sound.
Working in Hard Times
My dad taught us to work and not accept things we did not work for. When I was fourteen years old, I had to work or not eat. I knew how to work and that was all I ever did. I remember the hoe we started with. The handle was cut short to fit we small ones. We could not do much but had to be there. Dad was teaching us to work and be responsible.
I worked for 75 cents a day clearing new ground. I sold oysters at 20 cents a tub. (A tub is 5 pecks). Built several houses at one dollar a day. Labor was cheap but so was what you had to buy. Back then, I bought 50 pounds of lard for $3.25 and 24 pounds of flour for 30 cents. A Model T Ford sold for $450. I primed tobacco and bought my first car, a 1930 Essex for $35. It was a HONEY and it had a rumble seat. For Hope and myself, I bought a bedroom suite from Sears for $51.00. The bed was ready to sleep in...even the pillows, sheets and everything. The $51.00 included freight and trucking it from the railroad station. The whole thing! I bought a dining set table and four chairs. They cost $14.00
Someone gave me a power boat with no keel and no motor. I asked Mr. George Leary to fix a keel for me. He said he would not do it. He said I could do it. I had no tools, was my excuse but he said he had all the tools I would need. So, I went to work and had it fixed in about two weeks. That boat worked fine. After that, I did all my carpenter work myself, thanks to Mr. George.
In the 30's (1930's), Mr. Clifford Lewis taught me to sharpen saws. Did it for myself and other people until the stroke in '91 (1991). I have had real good friends.
Shrimped in Key West, Florida in 1950-51. For one year and a half I did not make much money. Sent $50 a week home from Key West. Had one good trip and put $100 bill in my pocket book. Told myself when I got down to that again I would use it for the trip home. And I did that in '54. Went tug boating after that. Worked at that for 10 years. Came home and farmed for two years. Made good money but could not put enough away to buy a new tractor. The old one was wearing out. So, I bought a store and started the cafe. Did real good. Hope got so tired and we had to stop. Went into the general store business. Did good in that. Sold out to Vernell Ballance and Joey Ballance.
Started carving ducks and geese in the 70's. Someone asked me how I did it and I said it was simple. Just take off all the wood that did not look like a duck!
I worked most of the time from could to could not; could see until could not see.
When I was a kid, all our freight was carried by boat. The boat's name was 'Pungo'. Mr. Johnnie Hodges was the captain. That boat would carry cotton and fish, potatoes or anything anyone had to sell. Mr. Hodges would sell it and bring back the cash or anything else ordered. All the stores would give him their order and he would get for them. I remember 60 gallon barrels of molasses and vinegar and one man, Mr. Jim Jarvis, would unload those heavy barrels. In the spring of the year, the 'Pungo' would bring fertilizer which was in 200 pound bags. It was called 'guano' then. Soft drinks came in long wood crates, 48 to a crate. Strawberry, chocolate, grape and orange at 5 cents each. There was no ice to drink with them, had to drink them as they were. I carried a jug to the store for molasses and vinegar and paid for them with eggs. Eggs was 12 cents a dozen, most of the time. Finally, we got ice in 300 pound blocks. We would shave it with a hand ice shave. We would make pineapple sherbet. To us, it was better than any ice cream is today.
I have lived through the bomb shelter time. I have lived through four wars: World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and the Gulf War. My son Bruce, was in the Vietnam War. I also lived through the Great Depression. Talk about hard times, now that was hard times. I remember one time I had one dime in my pocket. That was all the money I had. Don't know what I did with it but we made out. I did not know that I was poor because everybody I knew was just the same way....broke for money but not in spirit. I think everybody came out of the Depression stronger because they knew what it was to be down.
Some of My Favorite Stories
A friend of mine, Plum Ireland, thought to be very lazy, was asked, "As much as you sit down, why don't you wear the seat of your pants out?" "Because son," he answered, " I sit still!"
One day working in the cafe, a friend, Ben Potter, came in and said to me, "Do you think a two by four would do?" I had no idea what he was doing. So I said, "I don't think it would but a two by six would do her!" - whatever it was he was doing.
Bill Daniel Watson went to where Mr. Amber Fulcher from Atlantic was building a boat for Kelley Watson. Daniel was asked how he liked Mr. Kelley's boat. He said he did not (like it), that the boat was big-sided. This man had built over one thousand boats, but said "It could be". So he measured it and the sides were out a half inch. Now Bill had never been to school and could read or write but he had a good eye, that was for sure.
Buying a car - A friend of mine, Roland Styron, went to New Bern to buy an old Buick to drive to work. He haggled with the sales manager all the morning trying to get the price down to $100.00. The sales manager was charging $250.00. When lunch time came, Roland bought a can of pork-and-beans and a box of crackers, and sat down on the curb in front of the place to eat. Well, the salesman thought that this feller must be in bad shape for money. So, he came down to the $100.00 price. My friend went through all of his pockets and found a dollar here and 30 cents there until he finally came up with $100.00. When they got the paperwork done on the Buick, Roland told the man that he wanted the Cadillac on the showroom floor. The salesman said, "Man, that will cost you $5000.00. That all right?" Roland ran his hand in his pocket and pulled out a roll of thousand dollar bills and peeled off 5 and giving no argument. Later on, the salesman told me he felt like killing him. This story was told to me by Burk Taylor, Cadillac dealer, about Roland Styron of Hobucken NC.
Mrs. Lydia Willis had a saying. Tillman, her husband, could not do. Lee, her son, would not do. And she, did not have the means to do with.
Easton Potter said he ate so many okra that he could not keep his socks up!
Mr. Rob Popperwill asked his wife what they were having for dinner. She said they were having fried onions. "Great God Etter!", he says to his wife, "I have eat them till they have sprouted in me!" Them onions did not do too much damage. He lived to be 102 years old.
Indians of Tuscarora - There must of been quite a lot of Indians in this area. I have found a lot of arrow heads in the field. There was an old Indian oyster shell mound at Mouse Harbor and one in Jones Bay. A Mr. Bateman found a canoe drifting in Jones Bay one time. There was an Indian boy in it almost starved. Mr. Bateman carried him home, fed him and named him Leyman Bateman.
Lathel Leary and his drinking buddies were riding around one Saturday when they spotted a small cub bear. Lathel decided that it would be fun to catch the cub, which he did, but the cub did not like being caught. So, the cub began to claw and bite. Those boys said "Lathel, turn him loose!" Lathel said, "Tell him to turn me loose!!!"
A woman asked me what I thought was the reason the guggle was gone from her water closet? It was so funny to me, I told her "Probably the guggler has gone on vacation."
Mr. Johnnie Hodges went to Rufus Alcock's store with his mule and cart. One day Johnny told Rufe that his mule was sick. His mouth was sore and he would not eat. People back then called it 'lampers'. So, Mr. Rufe got a paddle and filled it full of lard. He went out, lifted the old mule's tail and greased under it good. Mr. Johnnie said, "That is doctoring a long ways from the disease." In just a little while the old mule was better.
A friend of mine, Henry Voliva and his dad were oystering on a small sailboat. Henry was cook. His dad asked him if he had washed his hands. Henry said, "No, I have not got the bread made yet."
A tale told to me by Pritcher Lewis with that downeast brogue - Captain Beveridge was hauling molasses and rum from Puerto Rico to Beaufort with an old sail boat. They ran into a hurricane that sank the sailboat but the captain and crew got in a lifeboat and rode out the storm. Several days later, their water was gone and they had nothing to eat. They were in a bad way. Captain Beveridge said, "Sam, you are the most religious one, so how about a little prayer?" Sam stood up, pulled his hat off and his prayer went something like this. He said, "Lord, we are in a bad way. Water gone, food gone. We have just gone through one bad storm and here is another showing up. Please, Lord, help us. You come yourself. Don't send your son, this is no place for a boy. AMEN."
This woman went to the welfare office for some help. She had three kids. They wanted to know the father of them. She said Bill's dad was her pastor's kid. John was her former pastor's kid, and Old Butch's dad, "I don't know his dad's name", she said, "I got him 'fore I got religion."
A preacher was preaching about the evils of whiskey. He had two glasses, one with water and one with whiskey. He put a worm in the glass of water and it just swam around. He put one (worm) in the glass of whiskey. The worm died right away. He asked the crowd did they see what he did. One old man said, "Yes, if you drink the whiskey, you will not have worms."
The difference in the kids today than when I grew up is that they think they have to have a clean suit of clothes everyday. I had three options; put on, pull off, or go naked.
.....to be continued..
Mr. Adrian has written plenty more about old sayings, some advice for our younger generation, and lots of family history. I will print the remainder of his booklet for another story. I hope his memoir's will inspire more of our Island folks to record their history. This is OUR history of OUR Island.
