The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1956-02-17
THE COUNTY OF HYDE
One Of the 81 Counties Still Existing Which Were Formed
Before I77b
BY The Late Col. Fred A. Olds

stealing the land records from the
court house at Bath and carrying
them off. The Assembly "raised
the hue and cry" against him. In
1874, the Hyde precinct people
prayed the Assembly for "court
and magistracy" in this precinct
as in other precincts in the county
of Bath. The first court house was
at Woodstock, in what is Beaufort,
the second at Germantown, in
what is now Currituck, the third
at Lake Landing in Hyde.
The Assembly in 1876 appointed
a committee to look into the cost
of building a court house and see
how much poll tax should be levied.
Such tax was always used in build
ing court houses and jails. The
quit-rents for Hyde were still pay
able at Bath Town but there was
warehouse for Commodities" at
Mrs. Webster's. The Assembly in
1889 decided to appoint" town
on William Webster's plantation
on the west side of Matachapungo
river. The office of sheriff was
abolished in all the counties and
precincts in 1889 and William Har-
ris was elected by the Assembly
the sheriff for Hyde. The people
of the part of Currituck called
Mattamuskeet" asked in 1744 to
be annexed to Hyde and the As
sembly acted favorably. The sher-
if in 1749 was Aaron Tyson.
The number of the Hyde militia
in 1855 was 248; number: of white
taxRbles, 237; blacks, 1873. The
colonel of the county militia was
Samuel Sinclair, and there were
four companies in his regiment,
the captains being Henry Gibbs,
Hanson Taylor, Ben Martin. He
was also clerk of court. In 1851,
Rev. Alexander Stewart, the mis-
sionary at the church of St.
Thomas, Bath Town, visited the
Mattamuskeet section of Hyde and
reported that the few remains of
the Mattamuskeet, Hatteras and
Roanoke Indians appeared mostly
at the chapel anc seemed fond of
hearing the Work of the true God
and of being admitted into the
church, and 2 men, 8 women and
two children were baptized by me.
l could have wished the adults
were better instructed but theil
surety, who had been bred a Chris
tan, promised to take care of them.
To have refused them altogether
might have meant the stopping of
the remainder of these tribes, who
have very little notion of religion,
living among a sort of people who
want very near as much informa-
ton as they themselves"
Governor Tryon in It'll called
on Hyde for so men from it's mill
tia to march against the "Regula-
tors" in Orange County. Col. John
Smith commanding the Hyde regi-
ment of militia received this call.
George Barrow was at this date
both clerk and register of the
county. A bill was, introduced in
the Assembly in 1878 to cut a
navigable canal from Mattamus-
keet lake to Wesokin (Wysocking)
creek in Hyde, also to build court
house and prison at SHADES Creek
and remove the court house from
Woodstock thereto, but it was re-
jected. A field return of the county
militia in 1774 of the regiment
commanded by 1t. Col. Samuel
Smith, with William Russell as
major, showed four companies,
commanded by Captains Thomas
Jordan, Benz amin Parmelee,
Thomas Jones, and Thomas Gay
lord. A return by the receiver-gen-
eral of the Kings quitrents John