Located near old North River Landing on Grandy Back Woods Road.  The house was originally built to face the water but the original back is now the front and the porch room, still intact, now faces the back.  Note old milk house at far right.

Addendum by Roy E. Sawyer, Jr.--      This house was called the Forbes Home by Alma Roberts because Samuel T. Forbes lived there for a brief while when he was married to Georgiana Forbes Bray Aydlett Forbes.  She was from Jarvisburg, the daughter of Thomas Woodhouse Forbes (1824 - 1878) and his wife, Julia Ann Harrison Forbes (1830 - 1918).  Georgiana Forbes was born 15 Sep 1855 and died 6 Jun 1921. She first married W. H. Bray (d. 1897), second to John Aydlett (1849 - 1906), and third to Samuel T. Forbes (1841 - 1926).  Samuel T. Forbes was from Roanoke Island and he was the son of John P. and Euphema Forbes.  Georgiana never had any children.      This property was known locally as "the North River Farm", and it was acquired or inherited by Nathan Etheridge (1827 - 1898), who married Loudica Dudley (1824 - 1879).  This property was originally part of the William A. Jarvis tract.  Alma Roberts stated that an adjoining property, the Jesse Saunders house, was "purchased from Caroon in 1859", and this implies that the Nathan Etheridge who married Loudica Dudley and Ann Susan Etheridge who married Joseph Caroon in 1855 were brother and sister, and further that they were the children of an earlier Nathan Etheridge (b. 1812), who was married to Luraner O'Neal, originally from the Rodanthe area of the Outer Banks.  The property was inherited by their daughter, Ann Elizabeth Etheridge (1863 - 1935), who married William Littlejohn Owens (1858 - 1929).  They built a house east of this house and it was known in later years has the Henry Garrenton House.  William L. and Ann E. Owens had five children which reached maturity, Loudica Owens, Mary Elizabeth Owens, Neva Etheridge Owens, Ida Frost Owens, and Dr. Zack Doxey Owens.  They sold their property in Jarvisburg and moved to Elizabeth City, where they resided on Church Street, and William L. Owens was engaged in the mercantile business.  William L. and Ann E. Owens were charter members of Poplar Branch Baptist Church and later were members of Blackwell Memorial Baptist Church in Elizabeth City.  The William L. Owens farm in Pasquotank was north of Knobbs Creek and was given by their son, Dr. Zack Owens, in 1960, for the new Albemarle Hospital site.  Dr. Owens also bequeathed the nursing school at Albemarle Hospital in memory of his wife, Martha, and he also presented a medical fellowship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  More recently, the family trust of Dr. Owens built the new YMCA in Elizabeth City.      Ann and William L. Owens sold their property to Willis H. Gallop who farmed it until he moved to Florida in 1929.  The property was seized by First & Citizens National Bank in Elizabeth City, and Marshall and Eula Gregory Aydlett lived there and farmed for a few years.  Later it was acquired by Orville Scott, from Florida, who was a commission merchant and farm labor organizer.  After Scott died, the property was acquired by Orville L. Woodhouse who owned it until in the mid 1960's.  Since that time it has been through several ownerships and is used primarily for hunting purposes.  The homeplace of William L. and Ann E. Owens was eventually acquired by Henry and Sallie Garrenton, whose heirs own that portion today.

 

This photo and information are from the project "Old Homes in Currituck County to 1860" originally compiled June 1960 by Alma O. Roberts and Alice Flora of the Currituck County Historical Society.   We are indebted to Barbara B. Snowden, president of the Currituck County Historical Society for permission to reproduce this collection on the internet, and also to Gerri Andrews and Diane Ferebee of the Currituck County Public Library who provided digital copies of the photos.  No part of this document may be used for any commercial purposes; however, please feel free to copy any of this material for your own personal use and family research.  Images are for personal use only, not for redistribution.