Tangier
[Written by George W. Nock, around 1889. George Nock lived and taught on Tangier Island. He was born June 11, 1843, died September 12, 1922.]
At the time of the discovery of America, Tangier was doubtless covered with large forest trees and inhabited by bipeds as the rest of the continent was. And as evidence of these facts, large stumps of trees are to be found now, beneath the salt meadow land, and the writer has seen in his boyhood days while attending the famous camp-meetings at the Tangier Island, some large pines, the remnants of the forest trees. As evidence that the island was inhabited by Indians, a few of their relics have been found, and bones have been seen that are supposed to be portions of their remains.
Some portion of the land now under cultivation is a mere pile of oyster shells, with the surface shells broken up fine by continued effort at cultivation. No one knows when or by whom the shells were put there, but it is supposed that the Indians ate the oysters and piled up the shells. The land on the island is not all as above described; in fact, a very small portion is so. There are several hundred acres of meadow, covered by water during the high tides. The arable land lies somewhat near the center of the island and is not, as some suppose, a series of sand hills, but has a dark, nice soil like much of the soil on the main land, and will produce anything that is grown in the soil nearby, except fruit. Most varieties of fruit do not do well here, but figs, grapes and plums flourish.
The only sand here is what is known as the beach, which lies south and across the harbor from the inhabited portion of the island, and skirts the marsh land on the west side.
The harbor is an excellent one, when the wind comes from the north, south, or west, but when it comes from the east it is not so good, as the wind and waves come in at the entrance with no breakwater to check the force of the sea. But the vessels generally ride out the storm in safety. The greatest drawback to the island is that deep water does not make it near the shore. We have no horses, carts, or carriages, but boats take their places, and when we ride or transport goods it is done in nice canoes that the world cannot beat, and many of them are handled dexterously, as the owner is trained to it from early boyhood.
We have moats or small canals that run up to our garden fence, and our fuel and heavy articles are put out there.
Some of our visitors object to the way we get ashore from the wharf when the steamer lands them there, but it is the best we can do. We come ashore in small boats which in good weather is a nice little sail which many persons enjoy very much. The wharf is so far from the shore that is would not justify the owners in extending it to the land.
When Captain John Smith was first exploring the Chesapeake Bay in his frail craft, no white man's boat had sped across these waters until then, and as he ascended between the shores and first beheld the island, tradition says he exclaimed, "There is Tangier!" The trees in the distance reminded him of a place he had seen while sailing in the Mediterranean Sea. It is not known whether he landed here or not. As he continued his voyage, the next island he saw he gave to his own name -- that of Smith. From the historical description of Smith, he must have been stern, bold, and truthful. He is recorded as being a man of few words and could always be counted on to do what he said he would do, which is an inestimable trait in anyone's character that possesses it. One writer of the times said of Smith: I never knew a warrior but thee, From wine, tobacco, debts, dice and oaths so free.
The Indian name for the Chesapeake Bay, as history asserts, meant the Mother of Waters. The Indians of the island were probably a portion of the Eastern Shore Indians, who were doubtless a branch of the Powhatan tribe controlled by sub-chiefs. The Powhatan people called the Eastern Shore Indians the Accomacks, which word with them meant "across the water," and from which our county received its name. The Indians of the island doubtless visited the Western Shore in their canoes, as well as the Eastern Shore. When the country around the shore of the Bay began to fill up with white people, it is to be presumed that the Indians here became alarmed and thought it time to seek homes elsewhere, and tradition says they sold the island for two overcoats.
The first white man to build a house here was a man named Crockett, which accounts for the name being so predominant here at this time.
We have one hotel on the island. There is one doctor. There are three schools with four teachers, and a population of about one thousand. We have seven stores, one confectionary and ice cream saloon, one millinery, and one dress making establishment, and one church which is sixty-two feet long and thirty-six feet wide, and is nicely frescoed. The minister's salary is one thousand dollars per annum, and our present minister, Rev. W. R. Gurim, is very eloquent and preaches some splendid revival sermons. The parsonage is as large and nice as can be found in any country places. The famous Rev. Joshua Thomas, know as Parson of the Islands, spent much of his life and labor here, but moved to Little Deals Island and is buried where he spent his last days. Many of his posterity reside here.
No rum is sold here; the inhabitants would not tolerate it.
The first church built here was in the year 1838, though camp-meetings had been held annually for about twenty-five or thirty years, and preaching had been held at private houses for a long time by local and visiting ministers.
The first time a minister was stationed here was in 1883, the Rev. C. S. Baker being the first. The first church was about eighteen feet square. In 1842 the second church was built, which was twenty-two by twenty-six feet. In 1850 eight feet were added to the length of the church. In 1870 another church was built, which was thirty-six feet wide and fifty feet long, and in 1890, twelve feet and a recessed pulpit were added to the length of it. All these new churches and additions have been built to accommodate the ever increasing population until now we have a church thirty-six by sixty-two feet, which is not large enough to accommodate all the people. The church is of the Methodist Episcopal denomination.
The reader will probably like to see both sides of the picture, and as everyone has his joys and sorrows wherever his lot may be cast, we will endeavor to describe some of ours. As I look out upon the snow-clad earth and our rugged, ice-bound coast and hear the shrill whistle of the bleak west wind as it sweeps across a dreary waste of ice, as far as the eye can see in every direction, and which shuts out our mail and stops the steamer, which cuts off our supply of groceries occasionally for four of five weeks at a time and causes one to think of the far away arctic regions, and wish for sleds, reindeer and dog team to go for his mail. While I write these lines, we have been shut in for two weeks and no sign for early communication with the outer world. We have a little kingdom to ourselves, and the most formidable navies of the world could not reach us while the ice lasts. But as everything in nature changes, the ice will leave us after a while.
In summer we have some mosquitoes, but not as many as formerly, on account of the meadows having been drained of the stagnant water which produces them. They sometimes annoy us with their unwelcome song and probing instruments hovering about us to disturb our pleasant nocturnal dreams, but happily they let us know when the are on the wing ready for business, and we can put them to flight with a little smoke, or we can get behind the mosquito bar for protection and allow the gentle, cooling and refreshing zephyrs to play around our couch at night and lull us away to dreamland, which on a sultry night is something to be coveted and makes one feel in the early morning like a new being. The bleak winds of Tangier in winter and the hot breezes of Arizona in summer remind on of the hymn:
From Greenland's icy mountains, From India's coral strand; Where Africa's sunny fountains Roll down their golden sand.
The time has been, and not very far in the distant past, that the inhabitants here had all the nice wild fowl and diamond back terrapins almost at their doors, and in abundance. While some are to be had yet, they are getting scarcer in these waters. Of course it is to be supposed that fish are as plentiful in the boundless ocean as they ever were, but for some unknown cause they do not visit these waters in as large schools as in the days of yore. It may be that their feeding ground has changed, or the trapping business may help to frighten them away; yet right many nice ones are still caught.
Crabbing in summer is sometimes very lucrative, but not always so. They are caught in nets and scrapes. There are no clams near the island, except a few in deep water on the oyster rocks; a few are caught while the men are oystering. Sometimes they go to or around Cape Charles and catch some, which they bring home and sell. The luscious soft crabs just spoken of are here in abundance when in season, and the writer thinks they are about as toothsome as any viands ever spread before him.
There is another shell fish here that is dug up along the shore and is a great dainty with some persons, but the writer can't praise them, for they came nearer killing him on one occasion than the Indians ever did.
Next comes the far famed and much mooted Chesapeake oysters, one of the greatest luxuries in the world and apparently inexhaustible. It is not only the chief industry, but the financial life of many places in and around the Bay. Many boats and thousands of men are engaged in the business of taking them from their natural beds. Many millions of dollars change hands through and by the oyster business from the time they are caught until they are eaten. Catching oysters is hard work and no one can do it successfully unless he is trained to the business. Boys can do much of the work in separating the shells and small oysters from the salable one after they have been caught. Tangier has her share of the business and profits.
(This old manuscript, written around 1889, ends here. Apparently there were one or two more pages, but they have been lost through the years.)