My father had a very large arrow head collection that he assembled in the first half of the 1900 in and around Grimesland and Laughinghouse (Oaklands) plantation. Many of these arrow heads got donated to "The Bug House", a sort of impromptu musuem in Washington, NC supported by many of the young men of Washington, NC - Bryan Grimes, June, Alston and their ancestors. My father, Alston, claims to have found a gold spanish piece of eight under the still existing at that time,. giant cypress that grew on the Grimesland farm down by the river where the cotton and other crops were loaded on to boats and sailing ships for shipment. This tree was rumored to have been used by Blackbeard when he had one or more of his ships careened on the banks of the Tar/Pamlico River to put pitch in the holes of the hull created by Torrido Worms. They would run the ships up onto the sand at high tide, when the tide went out, the ships would be left high and dry and laying on one side or the other, careened as it were, so the crew could get at the bottom. After Alston's father (John Bryan Grimes) died the family pretty well broke up and their home in Raleigh (across the street from the Governor's Mansion) was rented out and finally sold and later torn down. Some of Alston's collection and the gold piece of eight just disappeared in the all the family displacements. John

In reading old deeds in NE NC, I have occasionally come upon some in which the property was paid for in Spanish Gold. The type of money being used to purchase the property is almost always mentioned in deeds dated before the Revolution. Jo Prytherch ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 6:37 PM Subject: Re: [NC-PCFR] Indian Heritage > My father had a very large arrow head collection that he assembled in the > first half of the 1900 in and around Grimesland and Laughinghouse > (Oaklands) > plantation. Many of these arrow heads got donated to "The Bug House", a > sort > of impromptu musuem in Washington, NC supported by many of the young men > of > Washington, NC - Bryan Grimes, June, Alston and their ancestors. My > father, > Alston, claims to have found a gold spanish piece of eight under the > still > existing at that time,. giant cypress that grew on the Grimesland farm > down by > the river where the cotton and other crops were loaded on to boats and > sailing > ships for shipment. This tree was rumored to have been used by > Blackbeard > when he had one or more of his ships careened on the banks of the > Tar/Pamlico > River to put pitch in the holes of the hull created by Torrido Worms. > They > would run the ships up onto the sand at high tide, when the tide went > out, the > ships would be left high and dry and laying on one side or the other, > careened as it were, so the crew could get at the bottom. After Alston's > father > (John Bryan Grimes) died the family pretty well broke up and their home > in > Raleigh (across the street from the Governor's Mansion) was rented out > and finally > sold and later torn down. Some of Alston's collection and the gold > piece > of eight just disappeared in the all the family displacements. > > John > > > ==== NC-PCFR Mailing List ==== > Post to this mail list at: [email protected] > Visit the PCFR website at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncpcfr > Browse our rich collection of old family photographs, private documents, > and public records. > > ============================== > Census images 1901, 1891, 1881 and 1871, plus so much more. > Ancestry.com's United Kingdom & Ireland Collection. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13968/rd.ashx >

Dear Interested Folks - I received a couple of 'private' emails yesterday after my response to Mr. Langley's post on this fascinating subject, then responded with a little more info I'd now like to share with all. At the same time, I'm sharing responses to me yesterday from Jo Prytherch and Sharon Dean Lee because they both contain useful (and even necessary, legal) info, again, to those who are interested in this subject (and I'm fairly confident they don't mind... if they do, I'll hear about it I'm sure!). Also thanks to John Grimes for his additional input, which was so good it's copied again at the bottom of this string. Right below this intro is my response to Jo and Sharon followed by an article I dug up on the oldest archaeological site in Pitt County, which, as I mentioned yesterday, may also be one of the oldest in the eastern US. Those who are not interested in reading more on this subject should promptly delete this post! __________________________________________________________________ From Bob Forbes to my "Indian Cousins" Jo and Sharon: Thanks Cousins Jo & Sharon; I'm guessing we three are likely related via our unknown Indian lines;-). I sure hope Sharon doesn't try to nab me with a citizen's arrest regarding those artifacts that I DREAMT I had found in my boyhood (my childhood dreams could be so realistic)... Anyway, I did find an article about that really old Indian site that Calvin's post reminded me of, and I pasted it below since it has disappeared from the Internet and was hidden in a Google cache. Folks interested in this stuff should read on, for I think you'll find it quite fascinating... ECU ARCHAEOLOGY SITE IS "GIANT SAND TIME CAPSULE" An archaeology site near the Tar River in Pitt County has turned up evidence of human occupation going back more than 11,000 years and the dates could be pushed back even further as an archaeology team from East Carolina University continues its work. "The site contains the prehistory of the coastal plain in a nutshell," said Dr. Randolph Daniel Jr., an ECU archaeologist, in describing a location on Barber Creek where numerous settlements of Native Americans lived. Daniel calls the site, just east of Greenville, a "giant sand time capsule." He says the stratified layers of mostly sand covered by topsoil serve as a measuring stick to show a series of occupations over time. So far, the artifacts and other materials found at the site have been dated to the early Archaic Period of 11,000 years ago and continuing forward through the Woodlands Period that began about 3,000 years ago. As the archaeologists dig deeper, the remains of human life at the location could extend further back in time. Another unusual aspect of the site is that its location was once a fairly large sand dune. It's nothing compared to Jockey's Ridge, the famed dune on the Outer Banks, but it's a dune none the less, built over eons of time by blowing sand. With a sand dune that is gradually expanding in size, the oldest materials are found at the deepest levels. Thousands of years of human occupation can be stacked on top in measurable layers. Daniel is leading a summer field school of ECU students in conducting work. The initial efforts to investigate the site began two years ago when a team led by Daniel dug square and rectangular pits into the sand and uncovered materials as old as 9,000 years. This summer, the team has carefully scraped to a depth of more than three feet into the earth. "We have materials that date back to 11,220 years," said Daniel. "To the best of my knowledge, this is the oldest radiocarbon dated component (archaeological site) in the state," he said. Radiocarbon dating (Carbon 14) is done with organic materials such as pieces of charcoal, chips of bone and bits of hickory nutshells. The Barber Creek site is particularly beneficial to archaeologists because these materials are found in layers combined with stone tools and pottery that early people used with their campfires and food items. Among the artifacts found at the site are pieces of pottery and stone tools such as hammers, scrapers and projectile points. Some of the stone implements and the flakes of stone removed to sharpen the edges of the stone tools include rocks from the coastal plain region as well as from the Piedmont sections. A scraper found in one pit may have come from as far away as Morrow Mountain near Albemarle in Stanly County. "It indicates that there was movement of people during these periods," said Daniel. He said life at Barber Creek was an intensive operation or there were repeated visits by hunters and gatherers from other places. The archaeological site was discovered about 20 years by Dr. David Phelps, a former ECU archaeologist who is now retired. The location is close to where the creek empties into the Tar River. The property is part of the Greenville Utilities Commission's Wastewater Treatment Plant. Daniel said the sand dune may also hold information useful in understanding floods and periods of drought that have occurred on the river over time. He said geologists have also been studying the sand dune with hopes that the layers will provide more insight about such things as the frequency of major flooding. Both archaeologists and geologists find the place ideal for their work because it is in an area that has never been plowed for agriculture or used for construction. The archaeological materials are embedded in layers of undisturbed earth that can be literally measured in time. And so far, as the archaeologists dig deeper into the sand time capsule on Barber Creek, the time period for Native American occupation in North Carolina slips backwards, further and further into a past that can only be imagined and dreamed about. WHOOPS... there go those dreams again! Bob Forbes _________________________________________________________________ From Jo Prytherch: Thanks, Bob. Here are two sites that I think may be the ones you referenced. http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/northcarolina/ http://www.lost-colony.com/ I have also missed the opportunity to hear Fred Willard speak several times. Hopefully, one day I'll be able to get to one of his lectures here in Eastern NC. Like most people with early colonial roots, I'm supposed to have "Indian blood" - supposedly through my Roberson or Ayers line. The subject interests me, but proving any Native American Ancestry would be difficult if not impossible. Bits of information like these posted by you and Calvin are fascinating. I'm so sorry the history of this area has not been better preserved. It's a pity so many historians in the past seemed to believe that history only included the records of events, mostly wars, rather than the records of people and how they lived their lives. Jo Prytherch _______________________________________________________ From Sharon Dean Lee: As an added note (as you well know, I'm sure): while arrow-head collecting was legal when you were a boy, now the laws are very protective of Native American artifacts. Anyone wishing to hunt for these Indian treasures should familiarize himself/herself with these laws. SDL ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] ; [email protected] Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 6:37 PM Subject: Re: [NC-PCFR] Indian Heritage My father had a very large arrow head collection that he assembled in the first half of the 1900 in and around Grimesland and Laughinghouse (Oaklands) plantation. Many of these arrow heads got donated to "The Bug House", a sort of impromptu musuem in Washington, NC supported by many of the young men of Washington, NC - Bryan Grimes, June, Alston and their ancestors. My father, Alston, claims to have found a gold spanish piece of eight under the still existing at that time,. giant cypress that grew on the Grimesland farm down by the river where the cotton and other crops were loaded on to boats and sailing ships for shipment. This tree was rumored to have been used by Blackbeard when he had one or more of his ships careened on the banks of the Tar/Pamlico River to put pitch in the holes of the hull created by Torrido Worms. They would run the ships up onto the sand at high tide, when the tide went out, the ships would be left high and dry and laying on one side or the o! ther, careened as it were, so the crew could get at the bottom. After Alston's father (John Bryan Grimes) died the family pretty well broke up and their home in Raleigh (across the street from the Governor's Mansion) was rented out and finally sold and later torn down. Some of Alston's collection and the gold piece of eight just disappeared in the all the family displacements. John