Tom
Angell
Of
Hatteras
A unique citizen of the
Outer llanks.
By LOll ANGELL
In the lale summer of 1874, a white
Massachusetts family landed at Hat-
tcras. They had traveled by schooner
from New Bern and had brought a
young and apprehensive black boy
with them. Nelson Paul Angell, his
wife. Inez, and son. Louis, had come
to live at the new lighthouse on a shoal
called Oliver’s Reef, at the edge of the
Inlet channel. The lighthouse wasn't
ready when they arrived, but when
completed. Nelson Angell would take
charge as its first keeper. The young
Negro would be a part of the rather
unusual household, and would be
trained as their servant and general
handyman.
It marked the first time ever a black
would live in the Hatteras Village area
(the lighthouse was listed at the local
post office), and he would remain, as
the only black resident in the all-white
community, until his death more than
sixty years later.
This effort is a sketch about that
"little colored boy" who grew to be an
accepted and respected member of the
Island settlement. Some, in a later
time, would call him a legend of sorts,
and maybe in a way. he was. His name
was Thomas Vince, and he'd been
born in New Bern a few years before.
Eventually, his family surname would
be forgotten, and he would be known
for the rest of his days as Tom Angell.
It is not clear just how the Angells
"acquired" Tom. The details of the
THE STATE, JUNE 1911
arrangement made with his parents,
that they bring him to Hatteras and
rear him. have been clouded for sev¬
eral generations. Certainly, no attempt
to speculate will be made here, al¬
though the opportunity to do so is a
temptation. It is sufficient to say how¬
ever it came about, it was satisfactory,
and produced a bit of unique history
that's part of the story of Hatteras Vil¬
lage's past.
Lighthouse Years
The foursome moved to the light¬
house in the fall, and w ere settled into a
regular routine before the light was
first "officially shown to mariners."
on September 30. 1874. Normal duties
and Tom’s training went hand-in-hand
in this newest of some fifteen "inside"
lighthouses. They were located at
strategic points in North Carolina’s
sounds and rivers to mark shallow and
dangerous areas, and most were set on
screw-pile foundations. It is interest¬
ing to note, those same pilings, put
down more than a century ago. arc
visible today, out on Oliver's Reef, still
holding their own beside the beacon
that has replaced the original struc¬
ture.
The Angells lived on the lighthouse
until Nelson's death in July. 1887.
They served for thirteen years, and
this may be a record for one individual
on a single station such as that one.
During those years. Tom not only be¬
came a proficient servant and excellent
cook, but was a familiar and welcome
figure around the community, and
made many friends among the native-
born Hattcrasmen and their families.
A Rare Taxpayer
Prior to Angcll's death, the couple
had built a house in the Village, that
someday would be their retirement
home. It was a rather imposing place
for the period and the location. Larger
and more decorative than most houses
in the area, it sat on spacious grounds,
with several outbuildings nearby. A
fifteen acre tract had been put together
from five separate land parcels over a
period of some eight years. It is said
such an undertaking was done so the
property could have "regular cor¬
ners." with none of the oddehaped
19
Tom Angell in hi* “china clo*et“, from an article in the December, 1933 mue ot the NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE (c) Not.oaol Geographic Society.
