Interview with J.C.Gray
November 28, 2006 Interview by Les Ward
GROWING UP IN ECLIPSE: (Possum Holler)
J.C. was born in the Gray family home in Eclipse Virginia on February 19, 1933. His mother was Eleanor Windslow Gray and his father was Johnnie C. Gray who was born in Eclipse. J.C. doesn’t know the name of his maternal grandmother, but his maternal grandfather was Windslow Gray, who ran the shoe shop in Smithfield Virginia. His paternal grandmother was Nannie Moore Gray and paternal grandfather was Madison Monroe Gray. J.C. had one brother – Harry Lee Gray, and two sisters – Frances Gray Cary and Hulda Gray Holland. J.C. married Joan McCarty of Roanoke Virginia in May, 1953. They have five children; Mike, Pat, Barry, Shawn, and Mary Kay. J.C. attended the Crittenden School in through the third grade, and then Chuckatuck School through high school.
J.C. had the following friends while growing up in Eclipse; Eddie Wright, Charles Wright, J.R. Dixon III, Bernard Wright, Buck Lewis, J.S. Madre, Morona Scarborough, Sally Beasley, Hunter Mathis, Eleanor, Delma, and Dickey Goodrich and Louise Trench.
J.C. remembers that at age ten, he and his dad Johnnie C. Gray cut down some pine trees in the back yard of their home and built a 10 x 12-foot log cabin. After nailing the eight-inch logs in place, they added cement between the logs to keep out the cold. J.C. told me that the log cabin became a clubhouse for him and his siblings and friends over the years. Darlene Alexander told me that she remembers playing in the log cabin while she was young. J.C. told me that his father added a King Heater to provide heat during the cold months, and that he and his father built double hard bunks out of hard oak. He added that the log cabin had a regular roof. It also had one door and one window. J.C. said that his dad ran power to the log cabin so the children could enjoy the one overhead light. He said that the log cabin lasted many years and a lot of neighborhood children enjoyed playing there. J.C. told me that while he could not specifically remember; either his son Pat or Joe Hicks fell through the roof one day after warnings not to play on the roof. Fortunately, whoever fell didn’t get hurt. J.C.’s daughter Mary Kay told me that she always wanted to play in the log cabin. But before she was old enough, the wood deteriorated to a point where the log cabin had to be torn town. J.C. added that his son Pat was five or six years old when the log cabin was torn down. J.C. said that after tearing down the log cabin, he and his brothers built a go-kart track on the site, which was enjoyed by all. The site now houses J.C.’s nephew Bill Cary’s home.
MARINE RAILWAYS:
Teddy Fields Railway:
This marine railway was located on what is now knows as Sheffield’s Point at the end of Dixon Drive. The original Sheffield House use to be the railway’s shop. The one railway was located besides the shop. J.C. told me that the property ran from Sheffield’s Point to the James River. Teddy later sold the railway end of the property to Henry Sheffield and the James River end to Frank Woods. In fact, the house eventually finished by and lived in by Frank Woods was started by Teddy Fields, but never finished. Teddy intended to live there, but his wife refused to leave Churchland, and “live in the country.” Teddy used a herd of goats to keep the property clean.
Teddy Fields lived in Churchland but owned and ran the railway in Eclipse. J.C. believes Teddy also had some association with the Pritchard Railway on Constitution Avenue in Portsmouth. J.C. worked there at age 14 or 15, after quitting school. He was so young that he needed a worker’s permit before starting work at the railway.
J.C. said to see Willard Moger for pictures of this railway; Willard’s father Shelton Moger worked at the Fields Railway. J.C. said that Petesy Post also worked there. J.C.’s daddy, Johnnie Gray also worked at this and other local marine railways along Chuckatuck Creek. J.C. told me that Johnnie use to earn fifty cents per day working at the railways.
J.C. told me that while he was employed, the Fields Railway rebuilt an old Navy PT boat which was owned by Southern Oil Company. He added that the hull was mahogany. Also, the plywood deck had to be removed and replaced. The PT boat had three Packard engines, according to J.C. J.C. said that Bill Keeling, a local boat builder removed the wheels from the old railway to build his first railway, located at what use to be known as the L.L. Johnson Lower Yard (Thomas Hazelwood’s Red Oyster House property).
Adams Oyster Company:
J.C. told me that he worked for the Adams Oyster Company when it was located at the end of Moore’s Point in Hobson Virginia. He estimated that he was 15-17 years at the time. He said that Charles Gray Adams and Carl Bagnell ran this oyster company at the time. When it was closed in (1950), J.C. said the oyster company was moved to the other side of the Crittenden Bridge (current Volvo Plant location) in Crittenden Virginia.
J.C. also worked for the Adams Oyster Company after it was moved to Crittenden. In addition to Charles Gray Adams and Carl Bagnell operating this business, J.C. told me that Selby (Boosey) Madre moved his Nansemond Fish and Oyster Company from Bleakhorn Creek to and merging with the Adams Oyster Company. The new combined company was then known as the Nansemond- Adams Oyster Company.
J.C. told me that he worked in the clean or packing room. Here, he strained oysters and then packed them for shipment. He added that oysters were divided into two categories; standards went into one vat and selects went into another vat. Before placing oysters into different vats, J.C. had to count the oysters and mark his count onto a board.
J.C. said that during the time he worked for the oyster companies, he also worked at Charles Gray Adams’ store in Hobson during the off season.
J.C. told me that Charles (Sparky) Mason use to run a buy boat when J.C. was young. The boat was called the Anna P. Parks and was owned by Linwood Mason. He said to talk to Thomas Hazelwood for more information.
J.C. told me that the Goodrich family, who lived across the street from the Gray’s, were farmers. He remembers that Mr. Goodrich lived in this area; he used to farm some property in the vicinity of the Walnut Ridge Farm near the current Nansemond River Bridge. He added that he Mr. Goodrich later either purchased or leased the Monogram Field, an old World War II Navy airfield in Driver Virginia (currently known as the Navy Transmitter Station). The family moved to Monogram Field, where J.C. believes Dickey Goodrich still lives today in one of the family-built homes.
HISTORY OF THE AREA:
WORLD WAR II:
The Army located a search light battery on Dixon’s Hill during World War II and had many soldiers stationed there and at the artillery battery at the Rivershore. The Artillery Battery was known as “Fort Fustis,” which was located at the end of Darden Clubhouse Road in the vicinity of the current Wigniel Street in Eclipse. Fort Fustis officers used the Darden Clubhouse (a private clubhouse), and enlisted soldiers lived around the clubhouse in 8-man platform tents. The fort also had a garage and workshop for Army trucks. J.C. estimated there were between 200-300 soldiers stationed in Eclipse during the war. J.C. remembers soldiers digging “fox holes” around the property for use in case of attack.
John Brown Bush, who lived at the top of Devil’s Gorge in Eclipse, also owned a lot next to the Mt. Zion Cemetery. One day, while burning leaves, the fire got away from him and it jumped across Eclipse Drive setting fire to the woods located there. No houses or other structures were located on this side of the road at the time. The fire soon spread, consuming woods all the way to where Bill Cary lives today. Soldiers from the Army camps in Eclipse soon arrived and helped residents get the fire under control. J.C. said that if it had not been for the soldiers, the fire would have spread all the way to the James River.
After the Army pulled out of the area at the end of World War II, the Darden’s employed a caretaker named Cicero Curtis. He married the Kemp sister and they lived in a house near the top of the bank overlooking Rivershore Beach. Cicero retired from the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth Virginia. J.C. said that the Mr. Darden that owned the clubhouse also had a yacht that he kept tied up to a stake off the end of what is now known as Thomas Hazelwood’s pier. J.C. said that Melvin Wright’s dad use to take care of the yacht and pump the bilges. He doesn’t know where Mr. Darden came from or who he was. He added that Virginia had a past governor named Colgate Darden and he guessed that he might have been the owner.
As a youth after World War II, J.C. and J.S. Madre use to walk the Rivershore and pick up “stuff” that washed ashore. He added that it came from Pig Point across the Nansemond River where a U.S. Marine Corps Ammunition Depot operated during the war. J.C. told me that he and J.S. would get up early before school and comb the Rivershore for the treasures. He added that treasure hunting was especially good after a nor’easter.
He mentioned that he and J.S. would pick up flare guns, ships lockers full of sleeping bags, wool inserts, etc. He continued by stating that the two of them would shoot the flare guns into the water to kill fish, and onto the Rivershore bank, just for fun. He added that he thought he still had an old flare gun around his garage.
Korean War
At the start of the Korean War in 1950, J.C. went to a recruiter and tried to join the Air Force. He was told that he would have to wait a short while. However, he told the recruiter that he wanted to leave right away and was shown the Army recruiter, which immediately helped J.C. enlist. J.C. enlisted in the Army on February 20, 1950. He was sent to Korea, where he was wounded in battle. J.C. was discharged on March 4, 1953 at the war’s end and returned to live and raise a family in Eclipse.
When J.C. returned to Eclipse, jobs after the war were hard to find. The Veterans Administration sent J.C. to work at Harrell Electric in Suffolk. J.C. next worked for the Virginia Electric Power and Light Company (VEPCO) for a short time. However, when Hurricane Hazel hit the area in 1954, and a lot of VEPCO poles were damaged, J.C. soon learned that he could not climb due to his war injuries. He next went to work for the Ford Motor Company Norfolk Plant, where he stayed for the next 5 ½ years, until getting laid off. J.C. and a boy named Harrell then opened a service station for a short while, until he was called back to the Ford Plant. He next went to work for the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, where he worked as an electrician for the next six and a half years. During this time, J.C. attended three years of night school to better his education. He then started working for the Norfolk Naval Shipyard as a first class electrician, working for the next 28 years. J.C. retired on August 24, 1990.
Hurricane Hazel
J.C. remembers Hurricane Hazel in 1954. He was recently out of the military and working for the Virginia Power and Light Company at the time. He told me that while he remembers working all over the area repairing downed electric lines and poles, he mainly remembers the hurricane almost pushing over a large pecan tree in his front yard. A few years ago, during Hurricane Isabel, J.C. had hoped the storm would either blow down the tree completely, or at least straighten it upright, but neither happened. Instead, Isabel blew down another pecan tree. To this day, the Hazel damaged pecan tree still leans in the same direction.
Jamestown Replicas
J.C. told me that when his father retired from the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, he went to work for Dunn Marine in West Norfolk. He remembers that in 1955, his dad, Johnnie Lee Gray helped construct the first replicas of the Jamestown fleet of three vessels. J.C. added that when the ships were first launched, they did not have ballast, so immediately flipped over in the water. Shipyard workers then added cement to the bottom of each vessel, thereby creating ballast which made the ships ride upright in the water. J.C. believes that the water in the cement caused these first ships to rot, causing their replacement in later years.
1968 KLONDIKE ACCIDENT:
J.C. said the Klondike accident took the lives of two local boys, which he knew well. He mainly remembers talking a lot to Bertram Hazelwood Sr. after the accident about what could have caused the oyster boat to go down. He told me that Bertram, father of Bert Jr., captain of the Klondike, and Lawrence Moger both dove on the wreck looking for the boys. They found Gray Adams the next day, but it was several days later when a Navy ship located the body of Bert Jr. J.C. said that Bertram always told him that he believed that the Klondike hit a submerged object causing it to sink during a storm.
1970 ECLIPSE OF THE SUN:
J.C. said he remembers the 1970 Eclipse of the Sun in Eclipse Virginia, but that is about all. He added he remembered the fear that a bunch of crazies would invade the area during the eclipse, but not much more. He did tell me that when he was in the military, people would ask him where he was from, whereas he told them Eclipse Virginia. When they then asked, “where is that,” J.C. would ask if they ever had heard of the eclipse of the sun. Upon hearing yes, he would tell them that Eclipse Virginia was where the eclipse of the sun began.
BUNKLEY’S STORE:
J.C. said he mainly remembers Bunkley’s Store burning one night. He said that Peter Causey, S.B. Bunkley’s grandson and an Eclipse resident often visits him. He added that he would ask Peter for pictures of Bunkley’s and his growing up in Eclipse.
EDITH MARTIN STORY:
Edith Martin was Sally Martin’s daughter and led a colorful life in Eclipse. Her story is told here because there is a lot of local history of the area in telling of her many marriages. It should be noted that Edith was a beautician, who ran a beauty shop in the family home for many years.
Sally Martin, who ran the Sally Martin Store, located across the street from the Gray home (old green painted TV store on Eclipse Drive), owned a two-story brick home next to the J.C. Gray’s house. Edith Martin grew up in this house and eventually lived there after marrying her first husband, ______ Beasley, who was an auto mechanic. Sally moved to Georgia when Edith got married. The couple had two children; Martin and Sally, who was J.C.’s age. J.C. said that Mr. Beasley eventually died. J.C. also said that he remembers when the Sally Martin Store used to be right on the road. It was eventually moved back from the road by Edward Gayle to its present location.
After Mr. Beasley’s death, Edith married another auto mechanic, Mills Hingerty, who built a garage next to the family home. Mills worked on area automobiles in the garage, but later converted it to two apartments (it currently houses a duplex of two apartments). Mills then built a second garage between the family home and the old garage/new apartments, where he continued to work on area automobiles. This marriage produced two children: Becky and Randy Hingerty. J.C. told me that Becky worked in her mother’s beauty shop.
At some time during this marriage, Mills and Edith built the Tip Top Restaurant on Bridge Road (intersection of Bridge Road and Eclipse Drive and location of many old banks and now a closed car dealership). J.C. remembers this restaurant being in operation during the late 1940s until _______. He added that it was a good restaurant with an automotive garage behind the property. It also sold Richfield gasoline with pumps in front of the restaurant. However, when Bridge Road was widened (a wider two-lane road), the restaurant, as well as Keeling’s Service Station across the street had to both be moved back from their locations, which were closer to the road. It was at this time that Mills and Edith built another home next to the restaurant (between the restaurant and the future Tasty Freeze). Mills and Edith moved into this new home and rented the Martin family home. Also, at this same time, Mills and Edith leased the restaurant to Mr. and Mrs. Wall. While J.C. doesn’t remember the date, the restaurant was eventually torn down. J.C. also told me that the dirt road that runs in front on “Christine’s Market”(old Keeling Service Station) was in fact the old Bridge Road, before it was widened to a larger two-lane road. Mills eventually left Edith and built Bunny’s Restaurant with his son. His mother and Bunny cooked for the new restaurant.
Edith then married James Holland, who had retired from the U.S. Air Force. However, this marriage did not last long according to J.C. James then married Fannie Mae Turner, living with her in a trailer at the end of the dirt road leading to the old Dixon Oyster House (Thomas Hazelwood’s Red Oyster House property).
J.C. said Edith remarried again after James Holland to a man named John Evencheck, who was her husband at the time of her death.
PICTURES:
1. Helen Briggs 1st and 2nd Grade Class at Crittenden School
a. 1st Row: Dickie Goodrich, Eddie Wright, Sally Beasley, Hunter Matthews, Unknown boy, Unknown boy.
b. 2nd Row: Unknown girl, Louise Trench, Charlotte Mayo, Elenor Goodrich, Etta Martin, Delma Goodrich (Goodrich girls were twins), Unknown girl, J.C. Gray, and J.R. Dixon III.
2. Bill Cary on J.C. Gray’s 1947 Harley motorcycle (model 4774 – biggest Harley made that year).
3. J.C. Gray, about age _____.
4. Frances Gray in her Navy Nurse Corps uniform during World War II.
5. Nannie Moore Gray in 1958, J.C.’s grandmother.
6. Nannie Moore Gray, Joan McCarty Gray, and Eleanor Windslow Gray (J.C.’s grandmother, wife and mother).
7. Johnnie Lee Gray aboard his boat the Eleanor.
8. J.C. Gray and future wife Joan McCarty.
9. Sister Frances Gray Cary with her sons, Neal and Billy Cary.
10. J.C. Gray and wife Joan McCarty Gray.
11. J.C. Gray in Army uniform and future wife Joan McCarty.
12. J.C. Gray in Army uniform.
13. Grandma Nannie Moore Gray and mother Eleanor Windslow Gray.