Bell Ringer

[corn-fed-erate]

I had a visitor come into the museum at Ft. Branch today that stated that his GG Grandfather was with the 70th NC Infantry (1st North Carolina Junior Reserves). He stated that the one story that has trickled down through the years was that his ancestor was one of the "bell ringers." As he described it, they posted themselves at intervals down river from Ft. Branch to look out for the US Navy coming to attack. The bells were their signal device rather than relying on visual signals. He said that an alarm could reach Branch very quickly, day and night. I can't find any info on the technique. Has anyone heard of this or does anyone have info for this being used on the Roanoke? This tid-bit of info walked in and hit me out of left field, you never know!

 

[Patrick H]

I think this is pretty interesting. It also strikes me as something that the gentleman's grandfather did not just dream up on his own. I couldn't hazard a guess whether the bell ringing method was ever widely used...or just once in the memory of this gentleman's ancestor. I am just expressing my reaction to hearing the gentleman's family lore repeated here. I think there is probably at least an element of truth in any story like this.