Ponies and Cemeteries

    Because the weather was kind of cold and windy, Keith and I biked over to the Pony Island restaurant for breakfast.

   Why the name Pony Island you ask?   Ponies have quite a history here on the outer banks and Ocracoke, which is sometimes called Pony Island.  Legend has it that the ponies are the descendants of Spanish or English horses that came ashore after the ships they were on became wrecked on the many shoals around Ocracoke.  They may also be offspring of livestock owned by early islanders.  No matter.  Just as "Banker ponies" did farther north on the outer banks, Ocracoke's ponies ran free for centuries.  Ocracoke's horses are slightly smaller than most and thus the term pony.  However, they also have some unique features.  Ocracoke ponies have 5 lumbar vertebrae instead of 6 like most horses and 17 ribs instead of 18. All very interesting if you are (or were) a veterinarian.
    Their free roaming days of course have come to an end.  Over time, as the island grew and modernized, they became somewhat of a nuisance.  After WW II when highway 12 was paved, they were in danger of being struck by cars.  One solution came from an unlikely source.  Boy Scout Troop 290, the nation's only mounted boy scout troop was created in the mid 1900s by islander Marvin Howard.  This was a way of keeping and caring for some of the ponies so they could stay on the island and not all have to be relocated.  Most of the island's boys joined the troop and they raised money for a coral and fence midway up the island.  Each trooper also had to catch, train, and care for at least one pony.  The troop and its ponies became well known and was even featured in a 1956 Boy's Life magazine article.  They also were the basis of a 1959 children's novel, Wild Pony Island by Steven W. Meader.
    The troop eventually disbanded but the ponies are still an attraction.  The National Park Service has taken over the care of the ponies and they stay on a 180 acre fenced area along Highway 12.  Regular veterinary care as well as outside breeding help to keep the herd strong.  Since the ponies are about 8 miles up highway 12, I may not be able to make the 16 mile round trip to get pictures of them.

    I do have some pictures from the British Cemetery here on Ocracoke and the history behind it might be interesting for some.
        A little known war was waged off our Atlantic coast.  Particularly in the early part of WWII the Germans perched dozens of U-boats along our east coast waters.  They sank over 400 tankers, freighters, and even several passenger ships resulting in the loss of some 5,000 lives.  At least 87 vessels went down off the Outer Banks from U-boat attacks or mines set by the Germans.  Most of America was unaware of what was going on, but islanders heard explosions offshore, had bodies and wreckage beginning to wash ashore, and were even told to draw curtains at night or use blackout shades and to partially black out car headlights.  In March of 1942 some 25 ships were sunk off the Outer Banks a rate of nearly one a day.  Even the Ocracoke light was turned off.  Islanders reported routinely seeing the glow of burning ships offshore.

    The British had begun sending antisub trawlers into the Atlantic coastal waters to aid the US in fighting the German subs.  One such trawler was the HMS Bedfordshire.  She was on loan to the US with a British crew of 38 and she ran patrols from Cape Lookout, NC to Norfolk, VA.  Her commander was Lieutenant R.B. Davis.  On March 11, 1942 she was just southeast of Ocracoke when she encountered the U-558.  At 11:40PM U-558 fired and made a direct hit on the Bedfordshire.  All 37 on board at the time were lost.  She never even got off a distress call.  One crewman, Sam Nutt, was not on board as he had been arrested the night before during a stopover for the Bedfordshire in Morehead City. (Probably  drank too much.)  When he was released from the local clink the next morning, he did not get to the docks in time to catch the Bedfordshire and she left without him.  He boarded another boat and was to join the Bedfordshire at sea, but when they got to her expected location, there was no trace of her.  Saturday March 14^th, 1942 two bodies washed ashore on Ocracoke.  A few days later 2 more bodies were found in the waters off Ocracoke.  The first two were able to be identified as Lieutenant Thomas Cunningham and Stanley Craig the telegraphist.  The other bodies were Bedfordshire crew but could not be identified.  All 4 were buried with a formal service on land donated by an Ocracoke family.  Below are headstones of the 4 lost sailors.

       In 2001 with the aid of preservationists, the original crosses that first marked the graves in 1942 were returned and placed just at the entrance to the cemetery.

 

    The land is considered British soil now and an annual memorial service is held on March 11^th and attended by British officials.  A plaque at the cemetery reads:  If I should die think only this of me, that there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England.

    In keeping with the island cemetery theme,  a small plot located at Springer's Point is also notable.  This is the final resting spot for a unique islander.   Sam Jones was somewhat of a local legend on Ocracoke.  He made most of his money in Norfolk, VA but saw entrepreneurial potential in Ocracoke as it began to grow in the 1950s.  He moved to the island and built 3 houses including the enormous Berkley Manor and Berkley Castle.  He also had a beloved horse named Ikey D and was known to have the horse in his house at times even when entertaining friends.  He loved the horse so much that during a park service interview he said “ take a note.  I want my horse buried here.  I want a white picket fence put around it.  And when I die- you people are witness to this-I want to be buried standing up with my horse.” 

  The townspeople did try to adhere to Jone’s request, however when he died and they tried to bury him standing up; they couldn’t.  The water table was too high and he kept popping up.  (No lie.  Old timers are still around who were there to see it.)  The laid him down and he is still there near Springer’s Point with Ikey D.