The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1954-12-17
MARINER
Continued from Page Six

fore l was horned" That is, before
1868.
Not that l worried about it..
You just don't worry and search
in this county. If you know any,
thing at all you know that it will,
sometime come to you.
1t came this week. Captain Dan
iel Hayman entered Hatteras In
let with his barrel of yams on
December 10Th, 1859.
And how can be so certain of
it?
Simple enough. In 1858 John w.
Robinson became Collector of In
ternal Revenue for the port of
Hatteras and he set down in his
angular, almost gothic handwrit-
ing, with goose-quill in ink man
ufactured from poke berries, the
records of his office. By the grac-
iousness of his granddaughter.
Mrs. Harry Kramer of Elizabeth
City, the record is at my elbow as
these lines are set down. Every
ship that entered the inlet, her
name, master, cargo, point of de-
parture and point of destination
it is all there.
Often enough it has been hard
going, deciphering some of the
words, and accounting for the
rolling of the ship as Captain Roll
inson wrote with his goose-quill.
But it has been infinitely reveal
ing. l doubt that there is in exist
ence a more graphic and detailed
picture of life in this region a
century ago. But the real pay dirt
appeared on a morning when |
was about dizzy from deciphering
and copying:
The entry:
! Sch. Sally Smith, 1O5 35/95
tons. Daniel Hayman, master.
From Barbados to Edenton. 35
tons of ballast. puncheons of
molasses. 8 barrels of molasses,
900 oranges (sic) ship stores,
part of a puncheon of molasses, a
bottles of Gin, part of barrel of
sugar. l barrel of yams.
The Hayman potato.
There is a lot more that | would
like to know, if l were a historian
writing history. Who owned the
Sally Smith, for instance. She
sailed the Inlet regularly as long
as the record keeps. 1t ends rather
precipitately with the beginning
of the bombardment of Fort Hat
teras in July, 1861, when Captain
family. He was Confederate
Robinson fled the Island with his
sympathizer. (He dutifully set
down, though it had no direct
bearing on his official duty, the
fact that Lincoln and Douglas
divided the vote in Hatteras
evenly: each got 43 votes.)
| What became of the Sallie
Smith? Who was her owner, wher
and where built? She was one OF
more than & score of ships that
sailed regularly through Hatteras
Inlet in the middle decade of a
century ago. Elizabeth City, Eden
ton, Plymouth, Washington, New
Bern. Molasses, sugar, rum-and
ballast. When there was ballast il
meant there was gold to be de-
clared, inward bound. Outward
bound there is no record of pass
age or of cargo.
Casually l have mentioned Hay
man potatoes among the more eld-
erly of my neighbors. Warren
Spencer's face glowed and his rs
years fell away and his eyes
kindled. Yes, of course. He had a
peck or so of genuine Hayman po-
tatoes. Seed been in the family
since-''well, before l was born.
Got peck of them now. Saving
them for a Christmas pie.
And l could wish that my mother
and Annie Mcleod were here to
make it-and that l might be
back, learning again to spell and
to explore anew the splendor Of
the language and the worlds inf
mite and unending wonder.