Pray had conceived the idea of accumulating a great tract of North Carolina land on and near Currituck Sound, and of organizing a duck-shooting club which should take over these holdings from him.  He had bought lands and options to purchase lands on the shores of Currituck and other sounds and broadwaters to the southward; and professed to be able to deliver shores and marshes aggregating many thousand acres of land and controlling a wide water frontage.

Soon after reaching New York, he met a number of duck shooters, and his representatives led some of these men to become enthusiastic in behalf of his project, though none of them knew much about Currituck Sound.  Pray proposed that the headquarters of the club should be at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to be reached by boat from Elizabeth City; and that the club should be called the Kitty Hawk Bay Sportsman's Club.  The Norfolk and Elizabeth City Railroad had only just been completed.

The Kitty Hawk Bay Sportsman's Club was organized July 18, 1881, but in September of that year the name was changed to Kitty Hawk Club.  It was publicly announced that the association controlled 240,000 acres of land in North Carolina, with 170 miles of waterfront, to be used for hunting and fishing purposes.  There were twenty-four charter members, as follows:  John H. Reed, Bayard Dominick, Thomas J. Barbour, Norman Peck, W. G. Dominick, C. R. Purdy, R. V. R. Schuyler, J. T. Harper, W. H. De Forest, Jr.,  E. Everett Pray, B. F. Huntting, Henry Sampson, Geo. Bird Grinnell, D. G. Elliot, A. N. Beadleston, J. A. Hewlett, Chas. T. Barney, Chas. P. Frame, Frederick W. Leggett, John B. Lawrence, Jr., R. H. Robertson, G. G. Munger, Emile Dorler, and E. Pope Sampson.

The capital stock of the club was $50,000 in fifty shares of the par value of $1,000 each  Mr. Pray had already offered to sell the property he had bought, or on which he held options, for $12,000 cash and five shares of the club's stock.  At one of the early meetings, Bayard Dominick, Norman Peck, and E. E. Pray were appointed a Committee on Membership, and Thos. J. Barbour was made Trustee to take over and hold for the club the property and other rights to be purchased from Pray, and to pay him $12,000 from the first moneys received from memberships.

At a meeting held July 22nd, temporary officers were elected; G. G. Munger as President; E. E. Pray, Secretary; and Thos J. Barbour, Treasurer.  The Committee on Membership reported and the charter members were as given above.

Pray had already engaged Major E. H. Baily of North Carolina to represent himself and the club on the grounds, and Bailey was in correspondence with the club as to matters of detail.  That autumn a number of members visited the settlement on Currituck Sound, then known as Van Slyke's Landing, and for that season occupied a house belonging to H. H. Halstead.  The settlement was reached in a variety of ways.  One member came from Norfolk by tug-boat through to the canal to Coin Jock, and proceeded thus to Van Slyke's by cart.

That autumn the redhead shooting was very good, and the old score books show that the birds fed along the mainland shore in considerable numbers.

The following year, arrangements were made to occupy the Van Slyke house near the landing; and this was the club's local habitation until the year 1884 when the club-house on Narrows Island was completed and occupied.  Before this the Nye property had been offered to the club and the offer accepted, though the purchase was not completed until somewhat later.

During the first year and a half of the club's existence, there were some changes in its membership.  Of the original twenty-four charter members, three - Norman Peck, R. V. R. Schuyler, and G. G Munger - had dropped out, and J. W. Alsop, D. W. Cross, A. L. Foster, Geo. F. Dominick, Chas. Greer, and Frederick Jones had joined the club, so that its membership was now twenty-eight.

It gradually appeared that the titles to much of the land that Pray had passed over to the Kitty Hawk Club were without value and could not be held; and for the next fifteen or twenty years, the club had a more or less hectic time in the effort to hold and secure title to so much as was possible of the vast territory it had supposed it owned.  These difficulties continued up to about 1905, and it is only since then that the club has really known what it possessed - the property on which taxes are now being paid.

The first president of the club was B. F. Huntting, who was followed by J. A. Hewlett, he by D. G. Elliot, and he by J. B. Lawrence.  Some details and dates are these:

At the first annual meeting of the club, held April 10, 1882, Benjamin F. Huntting was chosen President, and J. B. Lawrence Jr., Secretary.  At this meeting it was determined to buy the Nye property, and later the purchase was made.  About this time, E. H. Bailey's services terminated.  D. W. Cross was elected to membership in May following; and in December of that year the name of the club was changed to its present title - Narrows Island Club.

In October 1882, R. H. Robertson was requested to prepare plans for a clubhouse.

The purchase of the Nye property called for assessments of $500 on each share of stock of the club; and it was determined to incorporate the organization  Elliot, Frame, Lawrence, B. Dominick, and Huntting were made incorporators to secure from the Legislature of North Carolina a charter incorporating the Narrows Island Club.

In 1883, D. G. Elliot was re-elected President, Leggett, Vice-President, and Lawrence, Secretary and Treasurer.  The Treasurer read a memorandum showing the total spenditure by the club since its organization had been more than $80,000, or about $2,800 per share of the twenty-nine shares outstanding.  During this year, Dr. J. C. Barron, T. S. Young, Jr., and Chas. Hathaway were elected.  B. F. Huntting found it necessary to sever his connection with the club.

In September 1883, it developed that E. E. Pray had never paid any dues on his five shares of stock and he was notified that unless these dues were paid within sixty days his shares would revert to the club.  He did not pay his dues, and thereafter ceased to be a member of the club.

Capt. E. H. Ryder, of Long Island, was engaged to act as Superintendent sometime in the summer of 1883, and first went down to the club's property in October of that year, for on October 16^th he met the members of the Executive Committee in New York and received instructions from them.

In October 1883, Lewis Edwards and Henry E. Jones were elected members.  At this time the club voted to make a contract for the building of a club-house at a total cost, including furniture, of $14,600.  Yet the building of the clubhouse on Narrows Island seems to have been going on for some time before this and the edifice was apparently now nearly completed.

In December 1883 and January 1884, the question came up of purchasing the Walker marshes, and after long correspondence and negotiations, this was finally accomplished.  The purchase of Brant Island was also under consideration.

At the annual meeting held April 14, 1884, D. G. Elliot was elected President, C. P. Frame, Vice-President, and W. G. Dominick, Secretary and Treasurer.

When the buildings at Narrows Island were completed, it was found that they had cost over $5,000 more than the estimates, or nearly $20,000; and it became necessary to assess each share of stock $300, payable at once.  The club, up to this time, had had heavy expenses and, for the most part, had scraped along pretty close to the bottom.

In 1890 David Dows, Jr., was elected to membership, and in that same year Hewlett was elected President and J. B. Lawrence, Jr., Vice-President; and in 1891 Lawrence was chosen President, an office which he has filled ever since.

In the summer of 1891, Capt. Ryder, while in a boat on the Little Narrows, was killed by a stoke of lightning, and Ashley Corbell was appointed Acting-Superintendent in his place.

In 1892, Van Slyke's wharf was leased to J. W. Bennett, of Norfolk; and in this year also G. B. Bliven, who had bought Duck Island in Dare County, when it was sold for taxes, offered to deed the land to the club for $25.00 and costs, which offer was accepted.

In 1894, application was made to the club by residents of Powell's Point, for permission to cut a canal through the Devil's Elbow in the Little Narrows; but the proposition was defeated.

For some years past there has been a good deal of trouble with natives who poached on the club's property and quarreled with and threatened the marsh guards.  At the end of 1894, or in January 1895, Apollos Owens, a guard at Burroughs, was shot at by poachers, and came to the club-house about nine o'clock at night in a high state of alarm.  The result of this was that the Superintendent was authorized to put another man with Owens, and to offer a reward of $200 for the detection and conviction of the man who had shot at him.  Some members have always doubted whether Owens was actually shot at, but no doubt a gun was fired in his general direction, for a few pellets of shot were found in his boat.  There have been two guards at Burroughs since that time. 

 In September 1895, it was determined to purchase corn for baiting  This apparently is the first time baiting was practiced.          

In 1896, the Superintendent of the Currituck Club filed an entry on lands supposed to be owned by Narrows Island Club, and inquiry about this was made of the Currituck Club.  After some discussion and various threats of litigation by one or both of the clubs, an agreement was reached by which Thoroughfare Island, belonging to the Currituck Club, was exchanged for Dowdy's Pond tract, which was in dispute.  This transfer seems to have taken place in the summer or autumn of 1897.

During the summer of 1895, W. G. [William Gayer] Dominick, long a very efficient member of the club, died suddenly in August.

The Poyner's Claim to Brant Island was purchased in 1897, and that year Mr. W. J. Boardman was recommended as a member of the club.

At the annual meeting in 1898, the authority to decide as to disposing the club's property in Dare County, North Carolina, was given to the Executive Committee; and in 1901, after an unfavorable report by the President as to the situation of the Dare County properties and their sale for unpaid taxes, it was generally agreed that the property was of no value to the club.  It probably was then abandoned.

In 1899, it was proposed to amend the by-laws so that persons not paying their assessments should "ipso facto" forfeit their shares to the club.

 The cabinet in which the mounted birds now at Narrows Island are preserved, was presented to the club by Henry Sampson in 1901.

At the annual meeting held in 1903, Mr. Trotter reported what he had done in the way of purchasing maps and furniture to be presented to the high school at Poplar Branch.  In past years many members had regretted the lack of education among the population of Poplar Branch, and some of them had made efforts to induce their boatmen to learn to read and write; but there was practically no schools in the community on the mainland.  Two or three years before 1903, Mr. Trotter had taken up this matter with activity and in connection with S. M. Beasley, Col. Woodhouse and P. Y. Joyner, had kept the thing going and laid the foundation for the good school now in operation at Poplar Branch.  Following Trotter, W. H. Wheelock later took up the work with interest and for years carried it forward with great success.

During all these years, members had been dropping out of the club and others coming in:  and in 1903, Messrs. S. W. Fairchild, J. C. Barron, and A. L. Foster transferred their shares to Frederick Jones, W. H. Wheelock, and the club.

In January 1904, Mr. Trotter resigned as Secretary and Treasurer, and Mr. Wheelock was appointed in his place.  The great value of Trotter's work in behalf of the club was keenly felt, and resolutions were passed expressing this feeling.  Somewhat later, Trotter was made an honorary member of the club.

In 1905, Bayard Dominick and Henry Sampson offered their shares to the club, and they were accepted and put in the club's treasury.

Mr. Austin became Secretary about 1907; and this year Dr. Markoe and Chas. T. Barney both died.  W H. De Forest must have died the next year.

During all this time members had been driving over from Snowden to Poplar Branch, and telegrams for members were sent over by a special messenger at a cost of $5.00 each.  In 1909 the question came up of procuring a motorboat to carry members from Munden Point to Poplar Branch or to the clubhouse, and a little later such a boat was bought and used for some years.  The purchase of the boat and the employment of an engineer were expensive, and called for another assessment.  In 1909 or 1910 it was learned that John Gallop had filed a claim on two acres of land under water in front of his property to the north of the club's dock at Poplar Branch; and lawyers were consulted to find out what could be done in the matter.  A suit was brought against Gallop, in which the club was defeated.  In this year Mr. Edgar became a member, having bought De Forest's share.

Meantime, Ashley Corbell had died and John T. White had been appointed Superintendent of the club.

In 1911, E. N. Lawrence, Fred Jones, Chas. W. Ogden, and F. S. Mead offered their shares for sale, and these were bought by four Boston men, who held the shares and used the club for some years, and then offered them for sale in 1916.  At the same time, C. R. Purdy offered his share, and the club bought all five shares and put them in its treasury.

 In February 1922, the shares owned by Shearson and Ritter were purchased for the club, several of the members underwriting the purchase.

In 1923 John T. White resigned as Superintendent of the club and Cleveland Aydlett was appointed in his place.  Frederick C. Havemeyer sold his share, and D. C. Adams and George D. Pratt became members of the club.

In all this account, little or nothing has been said of the shooting which is in fact the reason for the club's existence.  The score books tell the story of the work of each shooting year.  The season of 1885-6 was a particularly good one, and 2,655 birds were killed.  1902-3 was also a good year, with 2,542 birds.  On the other hand 1907-8 was a poor year, with 1,475 birds; yet there have been some years much worse than this.  Perhaps the best shooting the club ever had was in the season of 1909-10, when 3,210 birds were brought in.

More than thirty years ago, when the supply of wildfowl wintering on Currituck Sound seemed to be constantly diminishing, an eminent ornithologist, then a member of the club, prophesied that in twenty years the "blue peter" would be the game bird of Currituck Sound.

We know that this prophecy was not fulfilled.  The Federal Migratory Bird Law has done much to improve the shooting.  It has caused the general cessation of spring shooting, put an end to the common selling of game, and has greatly added to the annual breeding stock of wildfowl.

It is true that it works a serious hardship on men along the shore who in winter always gunned for a living, because it takes from them a certain income on which formerly they depended.  This is a real hardship, and most of the club members feel a sincere sympathy for these men.  But after all, the law has to do with the greatest good of the greatest number, and it is obvious that we must all obey the law.  All must be treated alike.

Since the passage of the Federal Migratory Bird Law, the abolition of spring shooting, the prohibition against the sale of game, and the limit to the bag, the shooting has become constantly better.  During the season of 1921-22, some men secured their legal limit every day, and often early in the day.  This was a great thing for the shooting, because when the ponds are left undisturbed in the afternoon and early evening, the birds tend to return earlier and to spend more time in the ponds and other feeding places.

Of late years there has been no very great amount of poaching on the club's property; but on the other hand, there has been much night shooting and fire lighting near it.  When appropriations shall be given to the Bureau of Biological Survey sufficient to enable it efficiently to police the country at large, the birds will very greatly increase in numbers  This increase of funds might have been brought about by the passage of the New-Anthony Bill of the 67th Congress.  Some similar act will pass later.

In the early days, there was great redhead shooting and sometimes good canvasback shooting on points which the birds no longer frequent.  Such points were on the west side of the Big Narrows; Long Point, Rattlesnake Point and Straight Creek being especially favorable places for redheads  Big Pond, Brant Island, and Sheep Island, in freezes, often gave good canvasback shooting.

The little ruddy duck, in those days commonly called booby, was enormously abundant in early years, and so gentle and unsuspicious that we never shot them.  Often they used to fly or swim up to our decoys, move about among them and even go to sleep there.  During one very hard winter in the early '90's, the Sound in January and February was frozen completely over for seventeen days, and most of the ruddy ducks starved to death.   After the ice had melted, the dead bodies of these ducks were found in great numbers heaped up on the shores of the Little Narrows from the north mouth to the house; and they could be seen lying thick on the bottom at many places from the house to the south mouth  Soon after that, the ruddy duck became a fashionable dish in restaurants and elsewhere in large cities, and the high prices they brought led to their being killed everywhere in great numbers.  Ruddies have never been abundant since that time.

At different times unusual birds have been killed at Narrows Island, and some of these are preserved in the bird cabinet in the club's living room.  One of the most interesting is the dovekie secured from John Doxie.  The Hutchins goose killed by Lawrence, the white-fronted goose by Fox, and the goosander by Cass are odd and unusual.  There are some hybrids and some northern birds worth noting.

The shooting for the season 1922-23 was the best we have ever had, being more that 19 birds to each gun day.   August, 1923