by Earl Swift
Smith Island, 14, 39, 113–14, 120, 233, 338
soda, 229
soft crabs, 99–101, 132–34
Solomons Island, 95
Solomons Lump Light, 187
Somers Cove, 119, 122
Somers Cove Marina, 115–16
sooks, 11, 29, 82, 316–17
Southern Living (magazine), 154
Sparks, Nicholas, 279
spawning grounds, 26, 27, 29
sponge, 27, 82
Spottie (cat), 165–66
squirrels, 49–50
Sreedevi, 24, 82–83, 84, 147, 250, 293, 361–64
“Star-Spangled Banner, The,” 63
Steamboat Harbor, 129–30, 171
Steele, Gregory C., 263–64, 270–74
Steven Thomas, 161
stewardship, 299–300
storms, 161–68, 172–77, 370–71
Stover, Patricia, 238–40, 244, 245
Sunset Inn, 282–83
Susquehanna River, 12, 64, 114
Susquehanna River Valley, 64–65
Swain, Arthur, 170
Swain, Charles P., 69–70, 71–72, 168–70
Swain Memorial United Methodist Church, 5–6, 14, 36, 57–58, 237–46, 320–21, 327, 356
church split up, 238–46
Daley wedding, 88–92
funeral of Henrietta Wheatley, 70–73
history of, 168–70, 199–200
robbery, 204–5, 284–85
Virginia Conference and, 199, 240–41, 243
Tangier
author’s kayaking trip, 18, 162–63
author’s 2000 stay, 15–20
barge project, 251–53, 407n
climate change. See climate change
corps proposal to save, 262–74
demographics, 18, 19–20, 46, 49, 52, 104, 131, 171–72, 176–77, 228, 238, 372
economy of, 131–32, 170–71. See also crabbing; oystering
erosion. See erosion
geography of, 12–13, 35–36, 47–52
geological history of, 63–66
history of, 53–57, 61–63, 102–4, 129–31, 170–72
language, 38, 58, 100
map of 1850, 66–68, 130
naming of, 53
religious faith. See Christian faith; New Testament Church; Swain Memorial United Methodist Church
riprapping, 212, 213, 216–17, 260, 273
seawall, 212, 213, 214–15, 217, 218, 258, 372, 377–78
water tower, 27, 292, 305–8
women of, 145–57
youth of, 73–77, 223–28
Tangier Channel, 211–12, 213
Tangier Combined School, 47–48, 155
enrollment, 232–33
graduation ceremony, 73–77
Kayes and, 304–5
teachers, 233–34
Tangier History Museum, 51, 303–4
Tangier Island Airport, 211–12, 213–14
Tangier Island Family Tree, 303
Tangier Light, 97, 304
Tangier Oil Company, 156
Tangier Sound, 65, 104
Tangier Town Council, 118, 221, 286, 290, 295
Tangier Volunteer Fire
Department, 155
telephone system, 190
theocracy, 198
This’ll Do, 184
Thomas, Beth Parks, 154–55, 230, 231, 232, 280, 314–15, 336
Thomas, Brett, 14, 15, 45, 135, 154–55, 322–23, 336
Thomas, Eulice H., 230
Thomas, George “Hambone,” 138, 372
Thomas, Hanson, 301
Thomas, John W., 230
Thomas, Joshua, 55–57, 58, 61–63, 68–69, 70, 102, 122, 169, 196, 230
Thomas, Rachel Evans, 55, 61
Thomas, Rudy, Jr., 166, 230–31, 280
Thomas, Rudy A., Sr., 230
Thomas, Stella, 199–200
Thorne, Donald, Jr. “Thornie,” 131–32
Thorne, Grace, 46
Thorne, Jack, 46, 170, 173, 176, 177, 281, 353
Tommy James & the Shondells, 92
Tom’s Gut, 220, 221
tour buggies, 51–52
tourists, 51–52, 154, 314
Transmitter (osprey), 32
trotlining, 188, 189, 190
Trump, Donald, 234–35, 310, 311–12, 321–23, 367–68, 369–70, 373
Tuck, William, 202
tugboaters, 76
Turlington’s Balsam of Life, 2
Tyler, Renee, 264
Tylerton, 39, 113–14, 118
United Methodist Church, 239–40
University of Maryland, 254, 298
University of Wisconsin, 299
Uppards
author’s kayaking trip, 18
the breach, 208, 212–13, 220–21, 377
erosion, 208, 212–13, 217, 218, 220–21, 253–54, 256–59
geography of, 67–68, 212
Moore’s discovery of graveyard, 3–4, 5, 6
Moore’s pilgrimage to, 1–4
USA Today, 133–34
Valerie Faith, 290
Valliant, 259–60
Vane Brothers, 76
Vietnam War, 33, 90
Virginia, border dispute, 129–31, 394n
Virginia Airport Authority, 212
Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, 98
Virginia Conference, 199, 200, 240–41, 243, 244
Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), 328–29
Virginia Lottery, 15, 251
Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), 85, 167, 263–64, 272, 296–97, 316–17, 330
Virginian-Pilot, 15–16, 115, 162, 167, 211, 215
Virginia tubs, 332
viscoelastic, 64
Wallace, Adam, 122
Wallace Road, 48
Walmart Supercenters, 229
Walter, Jefferson F., 202
Walter, Maggie, 138
Ward, Keith, 280
Warner, John, 214–15
Warner Bros., 279–80
War of 1812, 61–63
Washington Dulles Airport, 152
Washington Evening Star, 169
Washington Post, 218, 280, 364
Watermen’s Stewardship
Covenant, 300
water quality, 85, 116
Water Resources Development Act of 1980, 214–15
waterspouts, 161–62
water temperature, 293–94, 334–35, 346
water tower, 27, 292, 305–8
Watson, Steve, 326, 330–34
Watts Island, 10, 65, 121–22, 180, 362–63, 394n
weather, 43–44, 159–68, 172–77
West Ridge, 47–49, 212
West Ridge Road, 47–49
Whale Point, 251–52
whales, 97
whales (crabs), 133, 135, 140, 361
Wheatley, Freddie, 347, 348–49
Wheatley, Harold “Spike,” 277
Wheatley, Henrietta, 45–46, 70–73, 136
Wheatley, Kelly, 342, 346–47
Wheatley, Matt, 326, 330–34
Wheatley, Paul, 342, 347
White, Paula, 323
Willey, Paul, 119–21
Williams, Homer, 137
Windmill Point, 329, 334
winds, 159–60, 179–80, 192
Wine Rack, 196–97
winter crab dredging, 91, 315–18
Wise, Henry A., 68–69
workboats, 84
Working Dog, 229
World War I, 9, 171–72
World War II, 33, 46, 209–10
Wright, Robin, 279
Yankee Stadium, 105
“yarnies,” 113–14
Year 2000 (Y2K) problem, 16–17
Yeocomico River, 188
yoke of bondage, 196, 197
York River, 12, 263–64
About the Author
Virginia-based journalist EARL SWIFT spent two years researching Chesapeake Requiem and has circumnavigated the Chesapeake Bay by sea kayak. He h
as written six previous books, among them Auto Biography and The Big Roads. A long-time reporter at the Virginian-Pilot, Swift has contributed major features to Outside and numerous other magazines. He has been a residential fellow of Virginia Humanities at the University of Virginia since 2012.
earlswift.com
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Also by Earl Swift
Auto Biography:
A Classic Car, an Outlaw Motorhead, and 57 Years of the American Dream
The Big Roads:
The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways
Where They Lay:
Searching for America’s Lost Soldiers
Journey on the James:
Three Weeks Through the Heart of Virginia
The Tangierman’s Lament and Other Tales of Virginia
One Buck at a Time:
An Insider’s Account of How Dollar Tree Remade
American Retail (with Macon Brock)
Copyright
Portions of this book previously appeared in Outside magazine.
CHESAPEAKE REQUIEM. Copyright © 2018 by Earl Swift. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Cover design by Elsie Lyons
Cover photographs: © Alan Gignoux / Alamy Stock Photo (manned boat); © Asya_mix / iStock / Getty Images, © HolyCrazyLazy / Shutterstock and © Ratana21 / Shutterstock (textures); © freedomnaruk / Shutterstock (sky); © Hong Vo / Shutterstock (crab); © Usanee / Shutterstock (water)
Map illustration by Paul Pugliese
Photograph here courtesy of the author
FIRST EDITION
* * *
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Swift, Earl, 1958- author.
Title: Chesapeake requiem : a year with the watermen of vanishing Tangier Island / Earl Swift.
Description: First edition. | New York, NY : Dey Street, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018024659| ISBN 9780062661395 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780062661401 (trade paperback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Crabbing—Virginia—Tangier Island—Pictorial works. | Blue crab—Virginia—Tangier Island—Pictorial works. | Tangier Island (Va.)
Classification: LCC SH400.5.C7 S95 2018 | DDC 639/.560975516—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018024659
* * *
Digital Edition AUGUST 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-266141-8
Version 06282018
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-266139-5
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*Just for confusion’s sake, this pairing is also called a “doubler” throughout most of the Chesapeake region. On Tangier, however, the term most often refers to the female peeler.