Even slaves had right to frolic;
whiskey barrels supported bridge;
“everybody” came from Perquim¬
ans; still merchants after 130 years
Jacob Boyce, a planter of Per¬
quimans County, always permitted his
slaves to dance on holidays or at log¬
rollings and quiltings. Sometimes they
made so much noise, so the patrol (or
pattcroll, as the darkies called it)
claimed, that they could be heard three-
quarters of a mile away. The Negroes
danced in their quarters and occasion¬
ally Boyce would call them in to dance
for the amusement of his visitors and
the children. On one such occasion, the
patrol, angered by the noise, burst open
the door of Boyce’s residence, began
tying the Negroes, and, despite a fight
with Boyce's son-in-law, they whipped
fourteen of the slaves and brought suit
against Boyce for keeping a disorderly-
house.
Chief Justice Ruffin, in reviewing the
case when it came to the Supreme
Court, rebuked the patrol: "It would
really be a source of regret if. contrary
to common custom it were denied to
Highway 17 run» alongside ihc Perquimans River
oi Hertford
slaves, in the intervals between their
toils, to indulge in mirthful pastimes."
The keepers of the law should expect a
Negro dance to be accompanied with
"hearty and boisterous gladsomeness
and loud laughs."
“If slaves would do nothing tending
more to the corruption of their morals
or to the annoyance of the whites than
seeking the exhilaration of their simple
music and romping dances, they might
be set down as an innocent and happy
class. We may let them make the most
of their idle hours, and may well make
allowances for the noisy outpourings of
glad hearts, which Providence bestows
as a blessing on corporeal vigor united
to a vacant mind.”
historic bkiik;k
Hertford's bridge across the Per¬
quimans River is the fourth generation
of across-thc-narrows transportation.
Original ancestor was the ferry service
between Phelps and Newby Points.
I hese two families were paid by the
precinct to carry officials across the
river during sessions of court and
council.
The first bridge was built in 1758.
It was a pontoon type, sturdily borne
by empty whiskey barrels. This pic¬
turesque float bridge lasted through
peace and two wars until 1 898. It had
a hinged draw- to let through trading
vessels from the West Indies and New
England ports. During the Civil War
when Hertford was harrassed by Union
forces from land and sea, the bridge
temporarily delayed at least one Yankee
j detachment. Some patriotic citizen se¬
cretly removed the pens from the hinges
on the draw, and when the New York
Mounted Riflemen came thundering
across, eight men and horses suddenly
found themselves in the water.
The whiskey barrel bridge was re¬
placed in 1898 by a steel and wood
structure, which served until 1928. The
Familiar tight on the Pcrquimon* are the home¬
made pleoturc raft*, which Hertford people u»e
to loot on the brood river. Some aro content
with the minimum requirement* to heep afloat —
merely
о
floor lothed to oil drum*. Other* hove
«oily colored cobio*. chorcool gr.Ut oid other
furnnlmg*.
present modern bridge, instead of
traveling straight across the river,
meanders around two curves on its
way. We think it is the longest S-shapcd
bridge in the world.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Hertford's volunteer fire department
membership elects its own officers (ex¬
cept the chief, who is named by town
and county). They have an arrange¬
ment with the county whereby the
county contributes one truck, and a
3
Holy Trinity Epiicopol Church, Hertford.
tanker, and the department fights rural
fires in return. Hertford provides an
additional two trucks and pays the
salaries. The department has one of
the best per capita loss rates in the
State.
WEATHER
Perquimans is blessed with Indian
summer weather just about all year
round. They have about three real cold
THE STATE. SEPTEMBER 1. 1962
