Another WorldBy

Grayson Mattingly

Copyright 2011

Another World

By Grayson Mattingly

Growing up one of my fondest memories was going to visit Grandma and Grandpa on the

Northern Neck. My grandfather died when I was young, about 6 years old, but my grandmother

lived on into her nineties so I was able to enjoy her for a long time.

What I have done here is put together a collection of paintings and drawings that provide a look back at those early years when the old Prentice Creek house was standing. In some cases, I have done the art work from old photographs; in other cases,

just from memory.

This is my grandmother, Ethel Grayson Hall (called Etta), and my grandfather, William Broun Carter (called Captain

Broun which was pronounced “Brown”).

They lived in a house located on Prentice Creek on the Northern Neck of Virginia. This is a picture of the mouth

of Dividing Creek. Prentice Creek branches off of Dividing Creek just above where it empties into the

Chesapeake Bay.

This is their house painted many years after it had been deserted and Grandfather had passed away. This is the house

where my mother was born and raised. Once widowed, Grandma lived in my aunt’s house that was nearby.

Etta and Captain Broun had four children: two boys, Linwood and Bill, and two girls, Daisy and Elsie. Elsie was my mother. Three of

the children are shown here at the well pump..

Captain Broun was a waterman and had numerous boats that he kept tied up at the dock at the Prentice Creek house. The house was about two miles from the Chesapeake Bay.

The life of a waterman is not easy. My grandfather had several pound net traps and hired men to help him fish them – in all

types of weather.

Once the net was fished, a lantern would be placed on one of the poles to keep boats from running into the trap in the night.

Grandfather also caught crabs and oysters. Here we see him with his helper steaming hard-shell crabs in his steamer that

was located next to his oyster house on Prentice Creek.

Although still young when Grandma and Grandpa lived in the Prentice Creek house, I can remember Grandma

cooking at the wood stove. Her fried chicken and apple turnovers were delicious!

I would sleep in one of the upstairs bedrooms that overlooked the meat house. Since there were no indoor bathrooms, I had a chamber pot I used and emptied every morning in the outhouse.

Grandfather was also licensed to operate vessels carrying passengers. Here we see one of the “party boats” -- popular at

the time -- tied up at the Prentice Creek house.

My grandparents also had a large farm they operated. They had cows, chickens, and hogs. They also raised

corn and tomatoes. Here we see the corn house that was used to store corn.

This This was the meat house where Grandpa stored the

slaughtered hogs.

This is the Steamboat Piankatank approaching Ditchley Wharf that was located about 1.5 miles from the Prentice Creek house. My “future” father would take the Piankatank from Baltimore to visit my “future” mother. Grandfather would pick him up at the wharf.

The steamboats were the lifeline to the Northern Neck up into the late 30’s.

This is the White Stone Pavilion located in White Stone, Virginia about 10 miles from the Prentice Creek house. It was the place

to go for dancing, swimming, and just having a good time.

And so was the life for Etta and Broun Carter’s family -- as well as many others

who lived on the Northern Neck of Virginia into the early 1950s. Today the steamboats are gone, folks have running water in their

homes, and White Stone Pavilion has vanished, as have most of the watermen. But it was a time that I was fortunate to

glimpse through young eyes and now can fondly recall in my old age. It was, without a doubt, a world far different than the one in

which we live in today.