Captain Albert Games of Deltaville and his haul seine crew landed 2,000 boxes (200,000 pounds) of croaker one night in 1952 on Boss’s Bar near Stingray Point — a $12,000 haul.
The catch was documented in my book “Harvesting the Chesapeake — Tools and Traditions” that was published in 1990. Tim Haley of Hartfield is the grandson to Hevey Norton who was one of the crew members. Tim’s grandfather received $2,000 that night for his share. Tim’s version of the story is written up in the chapter “Haul Seine Tales.”
“Those were the days when the average man was making $2,000 to $3,000 a year,” said Haley in the interview. “An unskilled worker would bring home $40 a week. So, when my grandfather made $2,000 that night, he had made some bucks.”
Haley’s grandfather took his share and bought a brand new 1952 blue DeSoto that cost $1,850 and it all came from that catch, said Haley.
On Saturday, May 6, at the Deltaville Maritime Museum’s first market of the year I was selling books when Donald and Don Nobles (son-in-law and grandson of Albert Games) walked up. “I think I have some of your books,” said Don.
“Yeah, I’ve got that one with Dink Miller on the cover (“Harvesting”) but I think I have it in hardback” he said. “You wrote the story about my grandfather Albert Games and that big catch.”
The conversation went back to that day. “There was a Black man in the crew named Harcum and when my father-in-law started counting out his money, Harcum said, ‘That’s too much money for a Black man and pulled his hand away,” said Donald.
“My father-in-law pulled his hand back and counted out the full amount $2,000 and said” ‘Every man in this crew gets an even share.’ ”
Harcum took his $2,000 and bought himself a brand new Buick, said Donald.
When I was a boy growing up in Urbanna in the 1950s, I attended the Urbanna Baptist Church and the only Cadillac in the parking lot on Sunday morning belonged to haul seine fisherman Alvin Daniels. No one else could afford one. When I returned home to stay from the University of Richmond in 1972 Mr. Daniels was still driving that same 1948 Cadillac to church.
The big catches and purses that went along with the big hauls went away and have never returned, but fond memories recalled by the children and grandchildren of the men who “struck-it-rich” in one night are still spoken about.
It happened here in Rivah Country!
