The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1959-09-04
ROANOKE ISLAND MAN GETS
$40 MILLION MINE BECAUSE
HE AIDED AN AGED WIDOW
Fantastic Story of Tom HowIe+t's Fabulous Gift
Of Mercury Mine in Alaska, From Woman He
Provided With Rocking Chair in California
Village After Joining Pen+ecostaI Holiness
Faith

CASTLE AIR FORCE BASE,
Calf, August 27-Technical Serge
ant Thomas L. Hewlett is probably
the only multi-millionaire in the
United States Air Force. But all of
the enticements and possibilities of
his newly-found fortune have not
laffected his determination to COM
plete his Air Force career.
Sergeant Hewlett, crew mem
Der on one of the Strategic Air
Commands giant B-52 bombers at
Castle Air Force Base, California
is the heir4to what may be the
largest mercury mine in the world.
And yet, in the face of this man.
moth inheritance, he will continue
his career as a tail gunner in SAC.
His explanation is deceivingly sim
pie. "I've been in the service for
10 years, like to fly and it would
be foolish to throw away all the
experience I have had and time in
grade / have earned"
Tommy Hewlett grew up in the
home of his grandparents, Mr.. and
Mrs. Thos. T. Hewlett near Manteo,
after he was orphaned by the death
of his mother, leaving seven small
children. His father, Atwell How
lett, now in the printing trade in
Norfolk, worked with the Coastland
Times as a printer in 1887. After
his grandfather's death, the lad re-
moved to Norfolk. A sister,
Frances, honor student in the Man
teo school married Watson Drink
water Jr., and now resides in
Portsmouth, Va.
Some people might think, and in
deed many have told him, that it
would be anything but foolish to
give up his career for which he is
presently making about $3.50
month (including flight pay) and
devote his complete attention to
turning millions into more millions.
With Hewlett, however, the deci-
sion is based on conviction that
| the pursuit of money is definitely
not the ultimate goal in life. In his
thinking, it doesn't even come close.
| This intriguing, sometimes UNI
believable story of how Tom How
lett and his young wife, Nova,
came into such a vast Inheritance
gives new credence to the old adage
that truth is stranger than fiction.
All events in a persons life APP
pear, in retrospect, to have been
part of whatever is happening at
the present, so it is hard to go back
to the true beginning of the story.
Suffice it to start with Howlett's
assignment to Castle as student
in SAC's training school for B-52
and KC-135 crews. This was in
January of 1857.
After completing the II weeks of
training, Hewlett was kept at
Castle as an instructor in the tail
gunner phase of the training pro-
gram.
A Religious Man
A deeply religious man, Hewlett
made a habit of spending some
time in the base chapel almost
every night of the week. On one oc-
casion he met a member of the
Pentecostal church in MERGED,
California, who was also frequent
visitor to the chapel. In the con-
versation that ensued between the
two, Hewlett was invited to attend
the services of the Penacostal
church.
/ Hewlett had been dissatisfied for
some time with his own church and
was eager for an opportunity to
learn more about other faiths.
This decision to visit the Pente-
coastal church was the real begin
ming of his fantastic inheritance.
Hewlett liked the church, liked
the people and the way they wor-
shipped. He began attending the
services regularly. 1t wasn't long
before he met Nova Mayberry, the
l18-year old daughter of Delhi,
California, turkey grower Clyde
Mayberry and his wife Maude. On
June IL, 1857, Tom and Nova were
married in Carson City, Nevada.
For many years Nova and her
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