This site is dedicated to my mother, Avis Styron Gorges, a true native of the real downeast section of coastal North Carolina.  Born in Hunting Quarters, now called Atlantic, North Carolina as a fisherman's daughter in February 24, 1911, she lived a long and full life stretching into a new millennium passing from this life at age 92.  Her spirit was that of a hard-working and proud pioneer spirited individual, selflessly dedicated in life to those she loved, never seeking anything material for herself.  She was one of the last of a breed of humanity rapidly vanishing from this earth.  With her local brogue sounding to outsiders like she was from England or Scotland, many would not realize she was, in actuality, more native to North Carolina than they or their kin could ever be.

    She was, as it is said, the true salt of the earth.

    Avis Styron was delivered by midwife at the family home on Core Sound in Atlantic, the eldest daughter of Wallace and Alexinia Hill Styron.  Wallace was the son of Jones Willis Styron (June 4, 1850-1934), who was the son of Wallace Day Styron (January 20, 1826-June 2, 1906) and Eliza Rose Willis (November 5, 1830-December 13, 1909) who moved from Core Banks and Cedar Island to Hunting Quarters (Atlantic) a decade or so before the Civil War.  The deed to the property on which Wallace's home was built was recorded in 1896 but the land had been owned and lived on by the Styron clan for over a century and a half before that.

    Wallace D.'s father, Wallis, had several parcels of land in Hunting Quarters, Cedar Island, Hog Island and on Core Banks which had originally been granted from George II, King of England, to his direct paternal ancestor, George Styron. George, whose emigrated from Yorkshire in 1635,  sailed from Grovesend, England, to Barbados via the ship "Expedition". He had a parcel of ten acres on the island which was abandoned in 1728.  His grandson, also named George (1691-1766), had left in 1714 and moved to Princess Anne County, Virginia, where he married Mary Cason.  George received his first North Carolina land grant of 100 acres near his uncles property in Hunting Quarters September 24, 1741. He received another for 100 additional acres in Carteret County December 1, 1744, and at least one more of 120 acres early the next year.  Over the years and through generations, the land was divided up between relatives or sold to many who married into the family.  Today, less than 5 acres of the original 320+ remain in the direct family line.  A right fair amount lies beneath the waters of Core Sound, carried away by hundreds of storms over the centuries.

     There were seven children in Wallace and Alexinia's home that lived:  Boyd, Dale, Avis, Aron, Eura, Alma and Hugh.  All of the children had four letters in their names because Wallace truly disliked Alexinia's long name! None of them were given middle names, either.  Aron had a twin, Leon, who died in infancy.  Many of them are buried in the Over the Brook Cemetery at the apex of Core Sound Loop Road (formerly US 70).  Hugh was wounded in Europe in WWII but survived.  Boyd (who signed his name "Boyd L.", for Leon, his brother who died) spent most of his adult life with the Corps of Engineers on a dredge boat, and Dale, at one time, went to St. Louis to learn to be a car mechanic--but ended up as a fisherman like his ancestors before him.

    The 1850's homesite of Wallace D. Styron now resides scores of yards from the shoreline under the shallow, salty waters of Core Sound, a victim to the natural erosion of the coast.  The house of my Grandfather Wallace, too, is long gone--its bones and fragments made up parts of several other houses built around WWII by family members and neighbors.  In the attic of the home my wife and I purchased from my Uncle Aron and Aunt Grace are many of the rough hewn, pegged and notched beams from the house built by my Grandfather Wallace before he married Alexinia--and some of those may even be from his father's house.  The beams and wide chestnut floor boards in the shed in back of our house came from the home of Josie Hill, brother of Alexinia, who lived on the other end of the community.  Josie never married and was the son of Joseph Hill and Alexiner Jane Ives.  The shed was built by my uncles Aron and Boyd as a net house.  Like memories, the old wood is there to remind us of those who came before and are witness to what they left behind.  One of the earliest artifacts I have found so far is a hand wrought door hinge made in the style of the early 1700's era.  Pottery fragments and other similar artifacts are scattered across the high sandy hill and pop up from time to time.  I have found no information guiding me to any home prior to 1850, but there had to have been several--and probably in the same general area, or under water now.

    My mother told me that as children,  she and her siblings would often find human bones and even skulls sticking out of the large bank in front of their house.  She thought they were Indian bones but I would daresay they were probably those of the generations of the Styron family long lost to time.  Headstones were often simple cedar posts and simply did not survive.  There are no natural rocks in eastern North Carolina--the few that are found are generally ballast stones from early sailing ships.

    Hurricane Ophelia blew over three large trees in front of our house and, in the twisted roots of a large cedar, I found several bottles which had been buried for over or close to a century--they will be pictured as I continue to develop this site.

    In front and to the left of our house is a gradual rising mound of sandy earth where my grandfather's house stood facing the open water, slightly south.

Some Basic Family History , Mostly Fact

    George Styron (1691-1766), married Mary Cason (daughter of Henry Cason, who shows up in records as early as 1643 in Princess Anne County, Virginia), had seven children:  Adonijah (1737-1798) married Anne Smith (????-1799)(daughter of Henry and Judith Smith of Princess Anne County, Virginia, and had three children--Samuel, Richard (1758-1806), and Wallace (died 1809); Henry, John (not sure who he married, but his son was Lemuel (born 1774), and Lemuel married Winnifred Gaskill (born 1812) and had ten children: Lory, Sarah (born 1799), Penney, John (born 1812), Bernice (married George W. Emory), Phatama (married Simeon Day), William (born 1828 and married Clarissa, last name unknown, also born in 1828), Wallace (born 1819 and married Polly Riggs), Hezekiah (born 1809 and married Elizabeth Gaskill--they had 8 children: Mary, John Stanley, Evaline, John W., Lydia, Stephen A., Isiah and Quilliman) and Anna (died 1850), Cason, George II (married Mary Salter, died before 1767, and had at least one child, George III, born 1803, who married Sarah Nelson--they had at least one child, Christopher Styron, (who died in 1818 and was married to Mary Gaskill)(Christopher and Mary had four children, Euphemia (married William Dixon and had one child, Malsey, who married a woman by the name of Frances--last name unknown),  Wallace (1806-1888)(first married Maria, who was born in 1813, last name unknown; second marriage to Clarissa Willis--they had 8 children--Eugene,(born 1847), Christopher F., William S. (born 1832), Wallis K. (born 1835), Ambrose J. (1839-1900), Zilphia A. (born 1840), Charles S. (born 1842), and Benjamin (born 1844);  Thomas Wahab (born 1809)(married Rebecca Whitehurst) and Benjamin (1815-1866)(married Zilphia Jones (born circa 1815) and Amelia Day) (born circa 1818)(they had three children by Ziphia: Tilman (born 1838), James (born 1841) and Abisha (born 1836) and five by Amelia: Hannah (born 1843), John W. (born 1844), Simon (born 1846), William W. (born 1848) and Delaney (born 1849); Elizabeth and Joyce. 

    The land adjacent to Hog Island on Cedar Island was specifically left to Adonijah and Cason.  Adonijah and Ann had three sons: Samuel, Wallace (died 1809) and Richard (1758-1806) who married a woman named Grace (last name unknown).  I have been unable to determine her last name.  Richard and Grace had four boys and three girls:  Wallace  (1786-1835) was married twice but there is no record of his first wife's name (in the first marriage, had at least four children, Richard ((born 1807)(married Anna, born 1807))last name unknown, and had four children--Oliver (born 1836), Mary (born 1839), Jane (born 1841) and Sidney (born 1842)); , Benjamin (born 1813), Elizabeth (born 1824) , Mary, William (died before 1817), Zachariah (1810-1885), George (born 1785)(married Mary Bateman and then Louise Blake--their children were Louis, Cornelius, and Richard, born 1807, who married Anna Goodwin), Nancy (married John Simmons in 1806), Lydia (married William Gaskill in 1804) and Elizabeth (married Steven Sermon in 1822).  Richard's will was recorded May 10, 1798, and proved November, 1806. 

    The will specified the "boat and rigging" were to be shared equally between the two oldest sons, William and George.  In family tradition, when my Grandfather Wallace sold his last fishing boat, he divided the proceeds equally between the two oldest sons as well--Boyd and Dale.

    Zachariah (1810-1885) married Martha "Patsy" Roberts (born 1812) September 3, 1833, and had TWELVE children:  Mary (born 1833), David (born 1845), Stephen R. (1835-1909)(married Hannah Willis (1842-1920), George W. (born 1854)(married Hannah Roberts, daughter of Alex and Sarah Roberts), Sabra (born 1837), Matilda (1839-1892), Sidney (born 1841), Marina (born 1860), Martha A. (born 1843), John Bartimus (1845-1911)(married circa 1875 to Louisa "Miss Dude" Willis: they had five children, George W. (born 2-1-1878 died 9-16-1950), Stephen (born 5-15-1882 died 11-23-1974)(married Alice Fulcher (born 9-9-1883 died 1-21-1951) September 10, 1903), David (born 1886), Mary (born 1895 and married Charlie Daniels), and Charles (born 1897); Nancy (born 1847), and Zachariah (born 1844).

Wallace's first wife died around 1825 and he married a woman half his age, Asenith Day (1805-1881), daughter of William Day of Cedar Island, and they had one child, Wallace (Wallis) Day Styron (1826-1906).  Wallace died in 1835 and Asenith  married Christopher Lupton (1800-1880) November 25, 1836, bearing him three children: James, Jane and Acenith.  Lupton's first wife, Brittania Styron (born 1801) had died the same year.  Both of Lupton's wives are buried next to him on Cedar Island.  Wallace D. married Eliza Rose Willis (1830-1909) April 8, 1849, and had four children:  Jones Willis Styron, (1850-1934) was born on Portsmouth Island while his mother and father lived with his maternal grandfather, Martin Willis, in 1850; John Day Styron (1852-1912), Zilphia (1856-1883), and Cena (1865-1940). One son, John Day Styron, had a mental infirmity and never married. By 1860, they had moved to Hunting Quarters (Atlantic) on property that had belonged to the Styron family decades before that had been passed into the hands of the Willis family. Wallace D. entered the Confederate Army in November 7, 1861, and served until March 31, 1862, in Battery G of the 2nd North Carolina Light Artillery.  The unit officially disbanded April 11, 1862, and was mustered out.

    Jones Willis Styron (1850-1934) married Elizabeth (Eliza)(Lizzie) Jane Willis (1857-????), daughter of Mason and Rebecca Ann (Mason) Willis, and they had two children, Martha (who married Caleb Mason and had three children, Lotimer, Della and Avon) and Wallace.  Jones and Martha parted in the 1930's and Jones lived with Wallace while Eliza lived with Martha.  Wallace was my mother's father, and hence the connections.

    The Styron clan was fruitful and multiplied--the family links cross back and forth over many generations, mixing and blending first settler names like Willis, Hill, Emory, Ives, Day, Gaskill, Goodwin, Wallace, Mason, and a host of others like Fulcher, Guthrie, Lupton, Riggs,  Ireland,  Roberts, and Jones--all names from counties in adjacent areas as well.

    The Styron (Stiron) lineage can be traced far back to those with a strong love and link to the sea.  Genealogical research has gone back as far as 700 AD to a Swedish Viking known as Styr the Strong.  The line continues through Styrbeorn I, Eric Beornson I, Beorn Eriksson, Erik Beornsson, Kings Erik and Olaf circa 900 AD, Styrbeorn II in 960 AD, and blending into the lines of King Harold Bluetooth of Denmark, Thyra, King Ethelred II, Ulfhild, Earl Ulf, Earl Thorkel Spraakaleg (1000 AD to England), Astrid (sister of King Canute), Strybeorn III, Ulf, Stry of York, William Stry prior to 1396, and into Robert Styring of York.  From there, the line becomes even more distinct with John Styring in 1420, then Thomas, Robert and another Thomas leading into a documented will and testament of Thomas Styring in 1569.  The line passes to Edward Styring in 1586 and the present line can be directly traced to William Styring who married Elizabeth Hill--and who died in 1610.  In 1611, William Styring was borne a son by Mary Bland named George.  In 1635, George arrived in Barbados at the age of 24 seeking the prosperity and challenge of the New World.  From there, the present family moved from Virginia to North Carolina, with a host of relatives populating Virginia and South Carolina--and within 3 generations, all kinship ties were lost forever.

    It does not take much time.  How many of our children even know the names of their great grand parents, or where they were from?  How many cousins and aunts and uncles have faded into the mists of time, obscured simply by the nature of mankind in the world?

    Here is a fragment of one family lineage.  I hope more will follow.  If we knew where we all came from, maybe we would learn to treat each other and tomorrow a little differently.

    There is an interesting deed on file in Raleigh, NC, Grant 13050, Book 187, Page 483, made out to Wallace D. Styron (my great-great grandfather) which is very confusing in many ways.  The deed clearly lays out the property that my grandfather, Wallace, built his home on in the late 1880's to early 1890's, but the deed was recorded in 1896!  There is a small , hand colored map drawn as well which clearly shows the houses on the north east end of Atlantic.  From west to east, the homes are identified as belonging to Wallace D. Styron,  J.L. Smith (slightly North), Martin Willis and Kilby Mason.  By actual record, the property and considerably more would have already belonged to the Styron family for over 200 years, so I have to assume the deed was made up to protect the remainder of the family land for Jones and Wallace.  In the small community, marriages were often between neighbors, and boundaries were not as they are today.

    Much of the land owned by the Styron clan was on Core Banks, diagonally across from Atlantic.  My mother would recall spending summers on the banks as a child, where her father kept pigs and cattle.  She often told tales of her mother milking a cow, and letting the milk settle in a pail overnight.  In the morning, the children would skim the cream from the top and her mother would make hot biscuits for breakfast.  The family stopped spending summers on the banks after Leon, Aron's twin, died.  My mother had the responsibility of taking care of Aron while her sister, Eura, took care of Leon.  Cruelly, the older children picked on Eura, saying she let her twin die.

    My uncle Dale was blind in one eye, the result of an errant BB fired towards a lighter wood fence post by his older brother, Boyd.  Probably because of this event, my mother would never allow my father to buy me an air gun.  Finally, one Christmas when I was about 13, my oldest sister, Vickie, bought me a slide action Crosman air rifle!  I still have it, tucked away in the back of my closet.

    My oldest sister, Vickie, was born in 1943 in Tampa, Florida-- one of the many places my father was stationed during WWII.  He was a member of the US Army Air Force, Signal Corps, Radar Division.  All of the soldiers had been told that they would become sterile working around the new technology equipment, but I reckon that was just a rumor.  After the War, my parents moved to Atlantic and my daddy opened up a radio and television repair shop, the only one of its kind in the area.  He helped form the local fire department, too, called the "Downeast Fire Department."  I found several of the old vanity plates he had made up for the organization several years ago, still in their wrappers.  He also started a movie theatre in the volunteer fire station and would show 16mm films on Saturday night.  He later got a job as an aviation electronics technician and instructor at the Navy Air Rework Facility at Cherry Point, NC, and commuted each day for many years down those long, desolate stretches of road known as US 70 and Highway 101.  Vickie was a senior in one of the last high school classes at Atlantic  School,  graduating in 1960.  She married Gerald ("Jerry") Daryl Austin of Beaufort and had two children, Alicia Dare and Daryl.

    My other sister, Virginia ("Ginny"), was born in 1947 in Morehead City Hospital, where I, too, was born.  It is now an elder care retirement facility.  Ginny first attended East Carolina University and was in the last senior class of Morehead City High School, graduating in 1964.  We moved to Mansfield Park, a small community a few miles west of Morehead City, after Vickie graduated from Atlantic School.  Ginny married Wilson Lawrence ("Larry") King of Faison, NC and moved to Baltimore after her second year of college.  She graduated from Towsen State with a degree in teaching and taught for many years in Fayetteville, NC and later in Morehead City and Havelock.  She and Larry had three children, Tiana LaRamie (who married Robert "Skip" John) and a set of twins, Jason and Joseph.  The relationship did not last and Ginny later married Randall "Randy" Talton of Newport, NC.

    I graduated from West Carteret High School in Morehead City in 1971 and attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, graduating in 1975.  I married Lynn Dora Lancaster of Patetown, NC, in 1980 and have three children.  William Christopher Gorges was born on his mother's birthday in 1984 and as of this writing is a 2006 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School.  Mark Lancaster Gorges, my middle son, is a well-tanned surfer boy and a rising sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.  He currently works on my nephew's "Parasail" boat located on the waterfront in Beaufort.  My youngest is Nora Elizabeth Gorges, who is an avid soccer player and a rising sophomore at New Bern High School.  She works part-time as a booth girl for her cousin Daryl's parasail business. 

    Like my mother's ancestors, we ALL love salt water!  I guess it truly is "in your blood."

Page Created 08/23/06  Last Updated10/30/2006