Contents
Story
Decoys
Credits
🟡 LIMITED RESEARCH VOLUME
OWNERS
Various owners
1920s- till Park established
OTHER ASSOCIATIONS
Doily Fulcher, Ivey Willis, Alfred and Fernie Gaskill
LOCATION
Southern Core Banks–soundside
Story
do you know more? contact me.
Title
“Peeler Camps”comprised many of the shoreside camps prior to WWII. Soft-shell crabs were the result of capturing crabs about to shed their shells, watching them in enclosures till the hard shell was shed, and then removing them from the marsh water environment that allowed hardening of a new shell exoskeleton.
Doily Fulcher
interview 12-5-21
Watermen from Stacy left Sundays and stayed till Saturday at their “peeler camps” for their “springtime crabbing’–starting in the 30s and likely as early as the 20s. There were 5 camps in the Swash area, near Horse Island and South of Carolind? Creek.
From March 20th to May first, crabbers had their greatest hauls. Even then, they got 5 cents a crab.
Ivey Willis and his two sons, Alonzo Willis and Eldon Willis, Irvin Fulcher, Kyle Gaskill and Alfred Gaskill / Fernie Gaskill had camps there. Small crabs emerging from the mud in spring all moved north up the banks and as they moved up the banks where they would naturally be ready to shed, crabbers met them, especially in Great Island Creek (till the ’33 storm closed of many interconnections). Pairs of men would pull a 20 foot long crab net along the bottom during the night–pull in the crabs, break off the claws so they could not damage each other and then sleep during the day in the camps till the next evening. Buyers would come out and purchase the crabs and move them to mainland sites to finish the monitoring and processing.
In preparation for them shedding out on the mainland, they were put in wooden enclosures half into the water with bottom boards and sides and a net top to protect from gulls. Doily still has one small enclosure built by Roy Willis.
They slept in their camps during the day. One crew slept in their boats anchored off the Core Banks Club and another crew (Doily’s uncle) slept in the decoy house at the end of the Banks Club dock (?Leroy Davis). then they crabbed in teams.
Later, with the advent of better gas lanterns, they would pole a 12 foot shore skiff and catch in scoop nets. Once, Doily’s uncle happened to be in the right spot when the tide “ebbed out” leaving a solid sheet of crabs exposed. He gathered select crabs about to shed that time–144 dozen prime crabs–a memorable windfall.
“They all had their own area that they monitored/crabbed. people from Sea level worked Turnagen Bays area. Folk from Atlantic, worked from the CG station northwards.
There were many small spring time crabbing camp on Core banks in the 1920’s 30’s 40’s but most were gone in the 50’s. All the men from the fishing villages Down East had crabbing camps on Core Banks for spring time peeler crabbing. These camps were small one room cabins that had a pot belly or tin stove that burnt wood, a two burner kerosine stove for cooking, a small eating table with chairs and a place for 2 or 4 men to sleep. Some of the camps had no windows. None of them were bigger than 16ft by 16ft and most they’re smaller 12ft by 12ft. These camps were built over the marsh on posts next to the water. They had little docks out in front of them. These were rebuilt after being destroyed by hurricanes. Stacy men had seven or more crabbing camps on the Great Island Creek in the 1920’s-1940’s. These were all gone by the 1960’s, except for the Alfred Gaskill camp on the north mouth of Great Island Creek.
——————–
9-2-21
Ray Davis, Zack Davis’ great grandfather, had a camp on the banks since the 30s. The camp was situated in the marsh and was used for “peeler crabs” in the spring. Tide flow moved water well at the selected area–later, the family kept a houserboat nearby the area. Peeler compounds were 8 by 4 feet and a foot deep in the water–they would drag the sound by boat to get the crabs. They kept just one blind off the marsh–walking across the marsh to get to it
Mark Hooper came to area to fish in 1981 and here to live in 1982.
He remembers Morton Davis’ camp and the Lewis’ Camp–Mark would trawl in that area for peeler crabs–Horsepens Creek.
He remembers many marshes still having the posts in place where the pens had been placed–not sure if they checked by lamplight thru the night or just late and early best they could–no ice–packed the crabs in eel grass to preserve them.
There were 10-12 different crews working that general area of the banks. Most or all later moved the operations to mainland.
Mark had worked with Amie Riggins and Randy Davis (Zack Davis’ uncle) at different times.
Davis peeler camp—Lewis Creek
from Gray Kittrell interview:
On my mother’s side, the Davis’, had what they called their “crab camp” over on Lewis’ Creek, just off Marshallberg. Ray Davis and grandfather, Gerald Davis—had a “crab camp” over there before I was born—the stakes were still there in my lifetime—I was born in 1965.
They did a lot of soft crabbing and hard crabbing—they’d bring the crabs back to put in their floats to peel out—between Brown’s Island and Marshallberg.
Tilmon Taylor, Jr.’s parents had not had a camp on the Banks prior to building their camp in the early 50’s , along with help of Milton Lewis (1905 birthdate).
Milton had been a commercial fisherman and had longstanding work camps on the banks for fishing and “peeler” crabbing–”he had always had a camp on the banks to stay in when he worked over there and he felt it gave him right “ to build another. At some point, Tilmon “let Walter Kittrell have it”/ sold it to him–Kitrell kept it till they burned it.
Tommy Jones:
We would go from Mullet’s Cove thru Sheep Pen Slough to Codds Creek (sometimes called Mundens Landing)–at the head of the creek was the camp of Maurice Moore and James Gillikin, nicknamed Judge, Maurice was the postmaster-Walker’s camp was 12 by 16 with green tarpaper on exterior walls and thick green tarpaper on the roof. a single room with a door front and back but the back door –Walker had built this camp–likely as a peeler camp initially.
John Sewell interview excerpt:
Multiple generations of the Salters and Sewell’s used the camp–as did friends–”anyone who wanted to go”–especially those connected in the Stacy community.
The Elmer Salter camp was about 50 yards from the back of the marsh and Monroe Nelson’s camp was about 25 yards to the north and slightly closer to the marsh–the peeler camp/hunting camp was out of sight-a quarter mile or more north and out in the marsh–
The peeler/hunting camp was reached thru shallow water by skiff and then walking on boards to get to the structure–had to regularly “kick out” a channel to reach the shack–
There were several stake blinds used from the shed–at least one could be walked to, because John remembers Elmer stepping into a hole on the way there and soaking inside his waders on a cold day–made for a rough trip–there were poles/stakes in the area-mostly for guiding thru the channel–no obvious site for working “peelers”–this shed had an old wooden bench, wood barrels for seats and a Coleman stove–the bathroom was in nature outside
Elmer had “a few fires going” always–crabbing/ ran a little store in Stacy, drove a truck delivering fish to inland areas, worked as a carpenter–would carve decoy heads sitting around the stove in the store….
Leon B. Lewis (along with his sons-Grant, Leon and Vernon-used their camp on the eastern shore of Caggs Creek as a base for peeler crabbing–(Grayer Keith Willis interview)
Gallery
Two examples of Binney decoys to be replaced by photos depicting peeler camps)
Credits
- Doily Fulcher–Stacy and Virginia ( His book–The Fulchers Of Carteret County –talks about the Fulchers living on the banks from the 1700’s until 1870’s.)
- Zack Davis–Carteret County
- Mark Hooper–Smyrna, NC
- Gray Kittrell–Carteret County
- NPS archives and files
- Grayer Keith Willis-Davis
- Tommy Jones–Davis
- Other references within text