Elmer Salter Camp

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John Sewell interview–

John’s only picture of the camp–the second camp (the first burned) with screen porch facing the ocean.  Back windows faced the sound–unsure of windows on the sides.  

Sound side, two bedrooms with bunk beds for the kids and an adult bedroom to the south of the central kitchen-family room.  Un-named–just called “the camp”.  The screen porch was a frequent sleeping spot.  Bead board vertical siding covered the structure.  This camp had a slant roof, the original had an a-frame roof.   They used kerosene hurricane lanterns or Coleman pump-up lanterns for light.  The small deck to sound side was little used.

The camp photo probably was taken in about 1965-66.  The original camp dated to ______?/ .  The camp was about half-way between Drum Inlet and the Lighthouse at the head of Horse Island and alongside Monroe Nelson’s camp–reached by Lewis Creek.  The camp car is seen to the left and the old A-Model is seen behind that–rusting away, but a vehicle for play.  The camp car would often overheat on the way to Drum inlet for an outing–they stopped, opened the hood and allowed it to cool before going further.

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Photo of Ethel Salter, Elmer’s wife and John Sewell’s grandmother standing alongside  the pitcher pump table. The beach, telephone pole and sand fence are behind her.  There were then about 200 yards of sand beach south of the camp.  John describes her as a “kidster”

The camp was “ a family place to go, a refuge–to enjoy fishing, shrimping and time in nature–but they weren’t taking pictures”–these are all John could find to date –between his cousins and self.

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There was a 2-hole outhouse over a pit dug in the sand–positioned to the south of the camps structure.  A dusting of lye was always maintained. The waste seemed to dissipate well.  John always was on the lookout for snakes–seen only once, and likely a corn snake.

Unsure of how the first camp burned, possibly lightning but also, occasionally people would break off the lock and go inside–and such an event may have led to loss of that camp.

The “Gun Club”  was to the right of the photo about s mile away.  It had a flagpole affixed atop a wooden tripod.

Monroe Nelson’s camp was to the right/ or north and a little closer to the marsh.  There was a small winter hunting camp in the marsh  a quarter mile or more to the north and out of sight.  Possibly an original “peeler camp, it was used as a winter hunting camp.  john only went there once.  

It was a place to go–gather/be with family–John was amazed that there were so few photos

Multiple generations of the Salters and Sewell’s use the camp–as did friends–”anyone who wanted to go”–especially those connected in the Stacy community

the structure 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( John relates that he has learned Elmer did not enjoy sanding–he cut out heads with band saw then chopped with hatchet to round them–Eldon, his carving partner, sanded his heads much smoother.

John’s sister Evelynn Sewell was the first female pharmacist in Carteret /county

—there was a large list of family that gathered at the camp in John’s day. Elmer and Ethel Salter had Papa Mac living with them for several years when he was up in age–John’s parents were Jack and Evelynn Sewell

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Free-hand drawing of the camp layout

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what did they eat?

mullet, clams, netted shrimp, flounder–if were short of something important to them,  they would go across to Atlantic to Hill’s store–yes turtle also

any kind-John remembers green meat, sweet tasting–cut up and made into a stew with potatoes, onions, corn dumplings and a chowder-like soup like down-east style

“they will have to do some digging if they are going to prosecute”

John can still taste it, tho it has been since the 60s 

once, grandfather ? Sewell—–? decided he was craving some biscuits–the camp had only a Coleman like gas stove–they “went over to visit Ole Man Hill” and asked if he had a stove top oven–”eh, I’ve got one of those here”–he went into the back dusty shelves to pull out a new boxed stove top oven–

James and John would grab the surf casting gear and head to the ocean–using identical rigs with pyramid sinkers, every cast had James pulling in a good size fish–when it struck, he would not bother reeling in but instead began running toward the dunes–dragging the fish ashore–”he had the luck of the Irish”–they were standing 5 feet apart and after repeated catches and John with none, “finally, I said, “dang it, how about switching with me”–”ok”–in no time, James was pulling in fish with John’s gear–”I got the luck of a bad fisherman”, John related—-”just having the freedom to do(be spontaneous) and go into the marsh or get the surfcasting gear and head to the ocean”–it was special

No amount of sunscreen spared us–we were burnt by he sun at days end–we took an outdoor shower from the drum elevated upon wooden base (caught rainwater)—after dinner, grandmother would break out the cards–and we would play rummy the rest of the evening–lots of laughs–she taught us all how to play–sometimes she’d get a grin and the kids would implore–Grandma, are you getting ready to go out–she would deny it but next turn she put down her cards, going out

alcohol was not a part of this family camp–with exception of hunters coming in at night and having some “to warm up”–seeming less than today

Other camps?

Algier Willis’ camps were to the south-we would walk down–one afternoon we went down late, there was no moon and no lights–we had one time finding the camp, but we did

We would sit on the porch–like an “Andy Griffith moment”–quiet-prolonged quiet, till occasionally someone would break the silence “think it’s going to rain tomorrow”–long silence, then another one replies “yep”–another pause, then, ‘well, might not”—–the lively conversation broken up at times by “see the lights?’–and they would all watch a car running down the beach from Drum Inlet o the south–might be an hour–cars had to move slow

Speaking of cars, abandoned cars were remembered—”ecologically, with oil and all, they were an issue”–using a car that broke down over there, they were often left there at site of the breakdown–”how many times I can’t say that we saw an abandoned car–we checked it out and played on and in it–and the next year, it was a sand dune”  (my thought, worked better than Christmas trees?)

JT Salter took ownership after Elmer’s passing.  When the Park Service was to destroy the camp since ownership had ended, the camp of Monroe Gaskill to the side was burned by mistake instead–causing loss of desirable possessions.

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