N.C. Archives and History photo 



the activity. "As long as I could see the 

 whale I was satisfied," Moore says. 

 "But I was scared when the whale 

 went under because you didn't know 

 where it was going to surface." 



Some say the whaling activities of 

 the Bankers have been overglamo- 

 rized. And indeed it was just one of the 

 ways the Bankers made their living. 

 Moore says he ran fish to market and 

 raised sheep to sustain himself. The 

 sheep ran free on the island and were 

 rounded up each summer for shearing, 

 Moore says. The fine silky wool was 

 sold to Leaksville Woolen Mills, out- 

 side of Charlotte, where it was woven 

 into blankets. 



But Murrill says the poor Banker 

 families could not afford to own sheep. 

 She remembers her uncle saying that 

 when a poor family needed wool for 

 socks the mother would send her 

 children to chase a few sheep through 

 the briars. "Some of the sheep's wool 

 would snag on the briars, where it 

 could be collected for weaving," Murrill 

 says. 



Before Barden's Inlet was carved by 

 a 1933 hurricane, Bankers could walk 

 from Shackleford to Core Banks. 

 Moore says a storm caught him and his 

 father by surprise while they were 

 crabbing along Core Banks. Strong 

 winds and a frothy sound forced the 

 pair to walk home. They walked 17 

 miles, passing the lighthouse and Dia- 

 mond City, before reaching home, 

 Moore says. "Mama was standing out 

 in the rain watching for us when we 

 came into sight," he says. "I've never 

 seen anyone happier to see two bodies 

 than Mama was to see us that night." 



— Kathy Hart 



One whale yielded as much as $2,000 in oil and bone 



Divine Guthrie, a Shackleford boatbuilder , near the turn of the century 



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