Walker George

Story

---

Interview with Grayer Keith Willis, Jr. and Tommy Jones–2-8-22

---

Core Banks camps–used to go over with my uncle Walker George–starting about 6yo and until 16 or 17–we would go in winter and he would put me in a blind and he’d go scalloping–leaving me with my Sears and Roebuck shotgun–when he was finished, he would come pick me up.

In spring and summer, we would go over in his 16 ft skiff which he had built–”the Sal” after his daughter Sally–he had an air cooled outboard–the camp was on Mullet
Cove.

(Tommy Jones remembers he and friends squatting on that camp site–repairing the roof and hunting out of it for several years.  Tommy loved that camp–had good memories–they had found it abandoned in the early 70s.  Grayer confirmed Walker had abandoned it— prior to his death.

They 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  They were in on the camp together–from that camp, in spring/summer—they would walk over to the beach and surf cast all day.

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 opened to nothing (Tommy thinks it was closed off when they were there and a stove sat in that site.  Walker had a kerosene space heater, a table and two chairs, two double bunk beds.  On the south side was a counter with a small kerosene stove–the stove had glass containers that you inverted, spring loaded-there was a single light bulb hanging from a rafter and an outside lean-to shed (on the east side) held a generator.  Walker had built this camp–likely as a peeler camp initially.

As for a toilet, Grayer cannot remember.  Likely used a bucket.  Tommy remembers the remnants of an outhouse, he thinks, but they never used it, using a bucket instead.

There was a 25 gallon drum on the porch that caught rainwater for dishes and bathing.  Walker brought his drinking water with him.  There was a dock all along the front, over the water and a finger pier extending from that. (see drawings by Grayer).

Walker loved peanut butter.  There was always a jar of peanut butter sitting in the middle of the table–seen in the drawings.

Grayer describes floundering in the “Sal” as a 6-7 year old with his uncle telling  him ghost stories -while the light reflected off the marsh grass.

Credits

---

1. Grayer Keith Willis, Jr.–Marshallberg
2. Tommy Jones
3. Other references within text