 North
Carolina had an important local
shore-whaling operation on the
Outer Banks that flourished
around the turn of the century.
Historic
photographs of North Carolina
shore whaling and a few whaling
irons and flensing tools from
the local industry are held
by the North
Carolina Maritime Museum
in Beaufort.
For
those who wish to read about
it, our Librarian can provide
citations for the small scholarly
literature on the subject.
Incidentally,
a young immigrant from Belfast,
Ireland, named Hampton P. Wilson,
who was working on a farm in
McDowell County, enlisted in
the Confederate Army in 1862.
He was taken prisoner, spent
a few months of forced service
in the Union Navy, and wound
up in a Union military hospital
in 1864, where -- by means and
for reasons unexplained -- he
produced some very fine, very
orthodox engraved scrimshaw
on pair of walrus tusks (now
in a private collection; illustrated
in the book More
Scrimshaw Artists).
Where
he obtained walrus ivory, and
how he learned the scrimshander's
art, remain unclear. Perhaps
there was a Yankee whaleman
in the same ward.
|
|
