From the Hyde County Historical and Genealogical Society

SCRANTON — The Hyde County Historical and Genealogical Society held its fall meeting at the Scranton Christian Church last Sunday, with close to 60 people attending.

President Linda Mayo welcomed all, and after a short business meeting, introduced the first speaker, Bill Griffin, who grew up in Scranton. His visual presentation focused on early days in Scranton, particularly in the late 1800s and early 1900s when logging in the area was a major industry. The photographs he showed presented the area as a very different place from now.

The second speaker for the afternoon was Catherine Anderson, a specialist in historic gravestone care, who gave proper methods for cleaning and preserving grave markers in her presentation. A handout summarizing dos and don’ts for cemetery marker care with appropriate contacts was available.

Available at the meeting was the fall issue of the society’s journal, “High Tides,” which has selected marriage records from the society’s recently published “Early Hyde Co. (NC) Marriage Records: 1735-1899,” edited by Linda Gray Mayo. In addition, journal editors R.S. Spencer Jr. and Betty Mann have included a brief history of the Scranton Christian Church and other short articles from the late 1800s looking at Sladesville/Scranton history.

A well-documented account of an incident of lawlessness in Currituck and a comprehensive Foreman Cemetery listing, both researched by Linda Mayo, are also a part of the issue. Included as well is an article on cemetery preservation by Roderick Kevin Donald, archaeologist and cemetery preservationist, along with abstracts of “Deed Book H, Part 1.”

Copies of the journal, as well as any society publications, are available at R.S. Spencer Inc. in Engelhard. For information, call 252-542-0000.

The Hyde County Historical and Genealogical Society’s mission is to preserve and record the history of Hyde County and its people. To that end, the society holds spring and fall meetings in different parts of the county and publishes an edition of its historical and genealogical journal, “High Tides,” twice a year. New members are always welcome.

For information, contact the society at P.O. Box 517, Engelhard, N.C. 27824, or online at www.genweb.us/hyde/HYDE.HTM.