NCBERTIE-L Archives

From: Crilley <>
Subject: [NCBERTIE] Snakebite
Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2000 13:43:57 -0500

If anyone on our list would like to add any names of families that they
know of who lived in the Snakebite area, please let me know!
This is on-line on our section on "Towns" of Bertie County.

Article by Francis Speight. April 1963. Bertie County Historical Association

SNAKEBITE

When Bertie County was subdivided into townships in 1868, the township in
its west central area was named
SNAKEBITE after a crossroad of the same name situated near the center of
the area which had probably been, as it was
later, a polling place.

[Another version is from B.F.Bazemore from his niece, Sarah. He said the
name of Snake Bite came to be named that
because, a man was walking at the cross roads when a Water Moccasin Bite
him and it make him so mad he grab the
snake and bite his head off and they named the place SnakeBite.. This is a
story that was told by all the old timer. He would
be about 90 if he was still a live. ]

The crossroad is called SNAKEBITE because, according to legend, one of a
group of men waiting for the muster of the
militia, having nothing better to do, bit off a snake's head. The muster of
what militia, or when, is not made explicit in the
legend. The name SNAKEBITE is mentioned in deeds dated around 1840.

Snakebite is the only township completely surrounded by other Bertie
Townships. Its borders form roughly a rectangle eight
by nine miles whose longer axis points to the Northwest. The CASHIE SWAMP
runs through the township along this axis.
The bridge across the swamp at SNAKEBITE is called LUMBER BRIDGE. It is
shown on maps as early as 1775.

MILLS

There were formerly three grist mills within two miles of SNAKEBITE and
LUMBER BRIDGE. The oldest mill of record
was probably built by JONATHAN STANDLEY around 1745-50 on Harris' Branch,
later called MILL Branch, one mile
east of SNAKEBITE. The dam can still be seen from the road. Around the time
of the Revolutionary War this mill was
owned by David Standley, who was one of Bertie County's delegates to the
Assembly at Hillsboro in 1775.

About 3/4 of a mile further from SNAKEBITE on CONNARITSA SWAMP stood what
was possibly OUTLAW's Mill.
The old dam here can also be seen from the road. There is a deed dated 1850
which describes land as bordering on the
road which leads from SNAKEBITE to OUTLAW's old mill. It is said that a
place near the old dam was at one time called
Outlaw's quarters where, according to accounts, there were about twenty
houses. There are now no remains of these
buildings.

The mill now remembered as BURDEN's Mill was located on the Cashie Swamp
about a mile and a half upstream from
Lumber Bridge. In 1823 it was owned by JESSE EASON and was known as Eason's
Mill. It was a saw and grist mill.
Other owners of this mill were John ROBBINS, Jeremiah BUNCH, Sheriff John
FREEMAN, James BURDEN, William
COWAN and Thomas BRIDGERS. The last two were the oners and operators of the
mill when the dam broke during the
heavy summer rains of 1928.

The mill was down by 1940. This was a pretty and picturesque place. The
road along the top of the dam was lined with
large trees on both sides. At the mill, on slightly hilly ground, was a
store, a residence, an office with a latticed porch, a
spring and spring house and other buildings.

Rice's Mill, formerly Tayloe's Mill, was on White Oak Swamp just north of
the Windsor-Aulander Road, route 305, about
six miles from Windsor. WHITE OAK SWAMP is a part of the boundary between
SNAKEBITE and WINDSOR
townships.

CHURCHES of SNAKEBITE

In the past, the churches located in the Snakbite Township area were either
Methodist or Baptist. At present, as far as I
know, they are all Baptist, and Assembly of God or Holiness.

ROBBIN's Chapel, a Methodist-Episcopal church, may well have been the
earliest church in the township. It was four and
1/4 miles east of Lewiston on the Lewiston-Windsor Road, route 308, and a
quarter of a mile east of the present Mt.
OLIVE Church. Robbins' Chapel was founded by John ROBBINS who lived nearby
at what later became known as the
Ben GILLIAM house. The church was discontinued about 1840 and most of its
members moved to St. Frances Church in
Woodville.

EBENEZER CHURCH was established about 4 miles NE of Snakebite in 1803. It
was active until around 1935 when it
was discontinued. The church building, now houses the Church of the
Assembly of God.

REPUBLICAN BAPTIST CHURCH for many years had the largest membership of any
church in the township. It is
located at a fork of the alternate Windsor-Lewiston Road that follows
closer to CASHIE SWAMP. It is about 8 miles
from Windsor, and 1 1/2 miles from Snakebite.

One source states that the church was organized in 1834. A later account
gives the date as 1803. According to tradition,
there was, before the founding of the church, a public meeting house used
for worship which was located near the site of
the present church building. It is supposedly from this public meeting
house that the church received its name.

MT. OLIVE NEGRO BAPTIST CHURCH has long been the largest Negro Church in
the Township. It certainly now has
the largerst number of members of any of the churches in the township.

HOMES

Homes in Snakebite township, large or small, that were built in the 18th
century and the first 60 years of the 19th were, as a
rule, well designed and finished. A large number of these, of course, have
disappeared. A few are still standing; only 2 or 3
or still occupied by their owners. Others are empty or used for storage of
farm produce and some are hardly more than
ruins.

One was destroyed by fire in March 1962. This was the W.C. Askew house
which at one time was the home of Dr.
George O. ASKEW, a member of the NC State Senate (1827-32) The house was
located about 5 1/2 miles east of
Lewiston, 1/4 mile south of Route 308. The Askew land adjoined the Ben
GILLAM land.

The Ben GILLAM house is of special interest as the birthplace of Thomas
GILLAM and John GILLAM of Windsor,
banker and merchant respectively. The house probably was built around 1825.

One and 1/2 miles east of the Gillam place and 10 miles from Windsor is the
SPEIGHT house. My guess is that one part of
this house was built around 1775, the other about 1825-30. The older part
was remodeled in 1908. The wainscoting,
doors and all the old inside woodwork is exceptionally fine. Names
associated with this house are REV. THOMAS T.
SPEIGHT at one time pastor of Republican Church, and a member of the State
Senate (1912-14), JAMES SPEIGHT,
who represented the county in the State Legislature, (1954- 60).

Also A.V. COBB, county treasurer (1908-12), Dr. Whitmel S. Cobb, Dentist;
Whitmell Sharrock: John Freeman, sheriff
of the county around 1840-50, and his son Dr. William George Freeman who
was a physician in Murfreesboro. There is
reason to believe that this was the home of Charles King, Sr., who died in
1817.

There was a school house in the yard and the school continued until 1907.
This school was going in 1858 and probably
was there much earlier. (This was the home of Francis Speight)

Two miles west of the Speight house, a small road leads south toward the
Roquist Pocosin and ends at the KING house
built by William KING in 1763, two hundred years ago. It has a gambrel roof
and Flemish bon brick ends. It is in good
original condition. Mr. and Mrs. JAMES WARD, whose house it was around
1915-40, declined to sell the paneling to
colelctors fromother parts of the country. The house was bought by REV.
STEPHEN BAZEMORE (1775-1862) in 1820.
It is now owned by his great grandson, C.D. BAZEMORE. Rev. Stephen Bazemore
was for many years pastor of
Republican Church.

On the south side of Route 308 one mile east of the King House Road, is the
THEOPHILUS CHERRY house. WILLIAM
SPIVEY PRITCHARD lived here around 1905. He was Bertie County Register of
Deeds for several years. The house
was built during the late 18th and early 19th century, is one of the best
in the township. This is BUCKFILED, a one time
CLARK home. I judge that the Clarks were os some importance in the early
1800s, for on a map of NC, published in
1808, the only owrkds put down in the area that became Snakebite Township
are Lumber Bridge and J. CLARK.

David Stone's home was the Hope house which is not in Snakebite Township.
The line runs from the Windsor-Lewiston
Road up to the front of the house, and then follows the cart path around
the house a little to the West.

Back from the Windsor-Republican road, toward the south and 5 miles from
Windsor, is the JEREMIAH BUNCH house
dated 1807. It is a most interesting old house. REV JEREMIAH BUNCH was
pastor of Republican Church around
1862-78.

One mile toward Republican, on the left is the AARON CHERRY HOUSE. On the
left one mile further on toward
Republican is the birthplace of R.C. BAZEMORE.

A mile east of EBENEZER is the COWAN house dated 1790. Back from the road
on the left a little further on is the
childhood home of Arthur TAYLOE of AULANDER, which, like the next two
houses mentioned, appear to have been
built in the first half of the 19th century. They are the SHERIFF BOB
TAYLOE place, (3 miles East of Ebenezer on Guy's
Hall Swamp, the northern border of Snakebite Township) and the JOSEPH
PRITCHARD place one mile north of
Snakebite.

The BRIDGERS house 1 1/2 miles west of Snakebite was older. It appears to
have had fine woodwork and is nicely
placed.

RAILROAD

In the 1880's a railroad from Austin to Lewiston ran through Anakebite
township on a well-graded track. DREW's
STATION was the only known stop in the Township. There was a post office, a
store, and a cotton gin at Drew's Station.
The railroad was owned by Branning Manufacturing Co.

OTHER RESIDENTS

WAYLAND SPRUILL was living at Republican for at least a few of the many
years he was a member of the State
Legislature. Rev. CYRUS W. BAZEMORE, assistant Editor of the Biblical
Recorder, was born at Republican. Among
others who were reared in Snakebite Township were: Thomas N. PEELE of
Lewiston, member of the State Legislature for
one or more terms around 1930. Dr. Alden HOGGARD who was a physician in
Perquimans County. Dr. John
PRITCHARD of Windsor and the late Dr. Frank GARRIS of Woodville. (This
house is part of the Historical Woodville
Project)

Dr. Thomas WHITE, PhD now retired, formerly a professor at Clemson College
is living at his old homestead near
Ebenezer.

Rev. GEORGE LEE who was the leading Negro Baptist minister in Washington
D.C. around 1920, came from the
Republican area. His father, Rev. Bryant LEE owned land in this
neighborhood in 1875.

The King-Bazemore House was moved to Hope Plantation several years ago, and
is now completely restored and
maintained by Hope.
Virginia

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