Duck Carvers

January 23, 2012. Comment Wanda Romm. It is so amusing to me to read about the Dudley decoys and surely would have been amazing to those two plain, ole Joe guys, Leonard and Lee. I have no idea if this is true and surely hope it is an exaggeration, but heard it said many a time that the old decoys were in the barn and used for firewood as no one thought twice about them being worth anything.

Comment Jimmy Cason. How true, I've heard my Dad talk many times about using decoys for fire wood at the end of hunting season. He said that back then no one would have thought they would ever be worth anything. Another thought to keep in mind about the old decoys, the men who were carving them all those years ago were not artists. They were not intrested in making art, they were concerned with feeding their familes and killing ducks. Hence, the phrase sometimes used "Working Decoy"

Comment Jane Brumley. I have been told that, while the Dudley decoys were quite artistic & lovely, they were not good out in the water as they rolled too much in the waves. So, they landed up in folks barns & outside buildings. That may be why so many of them landed up in wood stoves. How sad. It also caused them to be scarce. I really do not think many of the Island decoys & carvers were appreciated until they "were discovered by collectors". So many wooden swans were burned for firewood when it became illegal to hunt them. How many are left today? And, if found, would be very costly. I remember when folks used them for yard decorations. Certainly, a scene from years past.

"GW" Decoy was given to Janet and Billy Simons by William Grimstead, Janet's Dad. Jimmy Waterfield confirms that George Waterfield is the carver and as reported in The Washington Post (Washington, DC), July 16, 1926, was also the alleged killer of Bertha Ansell and shooter of William Tatem on Knotts Island.

"ORR" Decoy. One of three given to Billy Simons by Janet's Uncle Harvey Grimstead, a guide and caretaker of the Flyway Club (on right before Mackay Island Wildlife Refuge) owned by the Ogden Reid family of New York. Reid was publisher of the former New York Herald Tribune and the ambassador to Israel during the John F. Kennedy administration.

Harvey Grimstead, who died in 1982, branded each decoy. Carver(s) unknown at this time.

By John Williams White Jr. Brenda's GreatGreatGrandfather

November 6, 2011. From Jayne Fentress. Donald Ewell. In later years he lived on the northern end of the island in Virginia. In his earlier years he lived on Knotts Island, NC. He was a duck carver. Virginia Beach Duck Show March 1994.

June 11, 2012. From the Carole Strawhand collection.
The Virginia Beach Beacon, February 2, 1994.