It Happened Here

…in Rivah Country!

by Larry Chowning

It Happened Here: Purse Boat Chanteymen

Larry Chowning - August 27, 2026

It Happened Here: Purse Boat Chanteymen

In a 2006 interview with Mathews County waterman Robert Roland Hudgins, he shared his first trip aboard a menhaden vessel in 1950, of working alongside Black fishermen hauling nets to the surface in a purse boat and listening to the songs of the chanteymen. Chanties were used to coordinate hauling up together the heavy purse nets full of menhaden fish. Robert Roland was a young White boy aboard a purse boat with mostly all Black fishermen. During that time, segregation of...

It Happened Here

It Happened Here: Low-Voltage Electrical Pranks

July 30, 2026

(Editor’s note: It should be noted the use of electricity described below involved low-voltage electricity. However, readers should definitely not try to replicate these...

It Happened Here: 1904 letter from Palmer to plasterer

June 25, 2026

The following letter was written by Charles Henry Palmer, builder and architect of Urbanna Baptist Church and other structures in Urbanna. It was addressed...

It Happened Here: John William (Bill) Ryland

May 21, 2026

John William (Bill) Ryland of Urbanna died on Sept. 2, 2000 at the ripe old age of 93. Mr. Ryland was the son of...

It Happened Here: Steamboat captain Archie Long of Weems

April 22, 2026

Steamboat captain Archie Long of Weems was beloved by the people of the Northern Neck and many believed he was super human when it...

It Happened Here: Leased oyster grounds & growers

November 20, 2025

With the Virginia Legislature in 1894 authorizing a survey of an underwater state bottom to establish public and private oyster beds, new problems arose. Oyster...

It Happened Here: Duck, Gum Boots and those dogs

October 2, 2025

Virginia marine policemen Duck Ruark of Deltaville and the legendary Bill Ryland of Urbanna went down on the Nansemond River to inspect several James...