New book highlights Ocracoke Island characters

By Peter Vankevich

One of the appealing aspects of living on Ocracoke is meeting or hearing about a cast of characters that visit or have lived here, sometimes briefly.

Then there is the metamorphosis of, over time, becoming one. Not that that is bad. In fact, some aspire to reach the status of an eccentric or free spirit.

Philip Howard has had a life-long fascination with those who could be described in the title of this book, published by Black Squall Books.

He has been writing about Ocracoke history for more than 50 years. Much of his research and many colorful stories can be found in his two online publications “Ocracoke Newsletter,” launched in 2000, and “Ocracoke Island Journal,” in 2004.

His new book depicts 22 people who run the course of island history from Manteo, an Algonquian Native American who was first encountered on July 4, 1584; World War II; Bohemian culture and business types whose ingenuity had impacts on making Ocracoke what it is today.

Those with an interest in Ocracoke history will recognize some of them: Stanley Wahab, the entrepreneur who, among many initiatives, ran the Spanish Casino in Wahab Village; Frazier Peele, who started a ferry service crossing the Hatteras Inlet in 1950; Captain Marvin Wyche Howard, the scout master of the Ocracoke’s famed mounted Boy Scout Troop No. 290; and the legendary Joe Bell.

What we realize after reading this book is how much we thought was true, was incorrect.

Take the legend of Joe Bell, a name used on the island for the wildflower Gallardia, a drought-resistant, sand-loving flower that remains in bloom in winter that goes elsewhere by several names, including Indian blanket, fire wheels and paint brush.

Born in 1850 in Washington, North Carolina, Joe Bell led an adventurous life, joining the Confederate Army by lying about his age, 14, only to be returned home once discovered; searching for gold in the Yukon; working off fishing boats; and following his father’s trade as a watchmaker and jeweler. He lived in San Francisco when the great earthquake struck in 1904 and moved to Ocracoke in 1920.

 Howard notes there are variants to this legend. One is that, seeing these flowers growing out of a whelk shell at his wife’s grave, the broken-hearted widower decided to take the seeds and spread them throughout the island.

Howard says Bell, in fact, never married, nor did he plant them out of the remorse of a broken heart. He did love these plants that grew in California and when he moved to Ocracoke, he took some of its seeds and planted them in his yard.

The plants spread beyond his yard, to neighbors’ yards and eventually throughout much of the island and throughout the Outer Banks.

The legend of Joe Bell flowers will continue, in part, due to a beautiful song by Coyote, the musical duo, Marcy Brenner and Lou Castro, composed as a tribute to the strong women of Ocracoke.

Each of the people in this book has fascinating stories.

In 1940, Helene Scheu-Riez arrived on Ocracoke. A novelist, intellectual and activist in the emerging Austrian Women’s movement, she had emigrated from Austria to North Carolina in 1937, correctly fearful of the impending horrors already underway that would become World War II.

She had met Vernon Ward, a young UNC-Chapel Hill graduate and aspiring poet. Ward moved to Ocracoke and became manager of Wahab’s Spanish Casino. Together they formed the Island Artists’ Colony and hosted a two-month session for writers to get away from society and have an opportunity to write without the normal distractions of life in a big city. 

Although the colony was active for just two summers, it emphasizes how the island can be a retreat for writers, especially in winter.

Others portrayed are Aunt Hettie Tom, the island midwife; The Rev. Mr. Dunn, a rum-running parson; Charles (Vera) Williams, a local girl who really was a man and who became a national news story in the early 1920s.

The book has many historical photographs that add to the writings.

For those who lament that these days they do not have time to read books, this is the one to get back into the game. Each chapter is a standalone and one is not required to read each chapter consecutively. It is a perfect companion to have in one’s vehicle and read while taking the ferries to and from Ocracoke.

I imagine it was difficult for the author to select the 22 in this book. There are many more, and Howard could easily come up with a Volume 2 and even 3 that would have equally fascinating eccentrics, innovators and free spirits. 

The book is available at the Village Craftsmen on Howard Street and other stores on Ocracoke that sell books.

Philip Howard is the author of “Digging Up Uncle Evans” and “Howard Street Hauntings.”