The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-06-07
CAPE COD ALBINOS.
AcOLONY OF PINK EYED AND WHITE
HAIRED PEOPLE.

Since the appearance of albino girls
in side shows and dime museums the
general public has INDUCED in consid-
cradle speculation as to where the man
ayers of these freak agsrcgations pro-
cure their frizzy haired specimens. Al
though seldom met with at other places,
there is at Cape Cod a settlement of
these pink eyed and white haired peo-
pie. For generations the Pittsley fam
lily, known in the section as the "white
haired Pittsleys," have been albino.
They have intermarried, and, although
clannish in the extreme, years ago took
into the family fold a man named Rey-
holds, in whose children the popularity
cropped out, and added the "white
haired Reynolds" to the little army of
Cape Gods human curiosities. Until
quite recently a dozen or Is Pittsley
albinos might have been found within
half as many miles Of each other and
sometimes under the Same roof. But the
families in which there are albinos have
scattered lately and spread over the
most lonely parts Of the country from
Freetown to Wareham, at the entrance
to Cape Cod.
The museum albino and the albino in
real life have little in common. The
albino at home is disappointing. His
or her hair isn't crimped to the muse
um limit. 1t doesn't stand out a la Cir
cassian. In the natural Pittsley state
the albino hair is dingy, because they
don't know any better, and If they did
they probably wouldn't adopt the mod
ern methods Of washing hair.
The eyes of the albino in this region
prove their albinism beyond question.
They are usually described as pink, like
rabbits eyes. They are extremely weak
and almost closed, so that it is difficult
to get a square look into the eye itself.
When the eye is opened, the lid is lifted
only for a second, and it takes a quick
look to discover that the pupil is dark
red and surrounded with a lighter red
ring, while the ball Of the eye is pale
pink and surrounded with the pinkish
rim of the eyelid. The effect would be
thoroughly pink if the eye remained at
rest. 1t is almost impossible to obtain
a direct look into the eye, because from
the eye of the healthy albino red lights
seem to dart, while the pupil quivers
and dilates and seems to unceas-
ingly.
1t is over a century and a half since
the appearance Of the first albino was
recorded in the Pittsley tribe. Since
that time probably more than 100 have
been born bearing this name or having
mothers from this family. At one time
it is estimated that only a few less than
80 albinos were living within a radius
of IS miles. Barnum might here have
held an albino congress if he had been
able to engage all of these people with
the wonderful wine red pupils. 1t has
always been among the legends of the
county that the great Snowman did re-
cruit his collection from this locality,
but today the proud Pittsleys deny in
dignantly that Barnum ever had money
enough to engage even n Of them to
pose in public.
The origin of the family is connect
ed with one of the wickedest episodes
of the early history of the new world.
There is even a chance that perhaps
some Pittsley was a relative or friend
of the sweet and pious EVangeline.
When the English deported from tile
wales Of Acadia the families of. French
neutrals and scattered them in almost
every settlement from the mouth Of the
Penobscot around to Louisiana, Free
town, which was neal the colony Of
Plymouth, had not been able to send its
full quota of men to the army. So in
the distribution Of the French from
Acadia 10 men, with some women and
children, were left in Freetown. The
bitterest Of all was the separation and
splitting up of families. The people
were filed with detection, and the poor
est of them apparently built some rude
lodges in the forests and took no care
how they lived. None spoke their Ian
guage. They were strangers in habits
and manners. Men had been separated
from wives and daughters, and wives
left without their husbands.
Just what the name Of the French
neutral ancestor of the albino Pittsleys
may have been no research has ever re-
vealed. On the town records, until with
in so years, the name has been Piggsley.
In many cases the name Piggsley has
been corrupted into "Hoggsley."
The first appearance Of pink eyes and
white hair was in a Robert Pittsley
somewhere in the first half of the eight
eenth century. Some place it as early
as 1871. From that time down the al
bino characteristics have been contin-
ually reproduced. 1t is believed that
continual intermarriage has been large
~ instrumental in handing down the
pink eyes and white hair. The Pittsleys
were clannish. They wouldn't mingle
with other families, much less take
wives from them. They dubbed by
themselves, but oftener one family made
a home for itself in some deserted house
or jucket house in a lonely part Of the
woods or out of the way end Of a town
ship. They rarely came to town to live.
In their ways and their love Of outdoor
life those people show many Of the char
acteristics Of the gypsy, and another
point which allies them to the wander
ing clans is their ability to "swap'