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Robert E. Harrill, known as the Fort Fisher Hermit, lived for 17 years under the stars, living off the land and visitors’ contributions. These visitors came by the thousands each year to meet “The Hermit.” A misnomer from almost the beginning, “The Hermit” treated anyone who came by with a warmth and friendly appreciation that was contagious.
The following is from Wikipedia:
Robert E. Harrill or Robert Harrell, (February 2, 1893 – June 3, 1972), was known as “The Fort Fisher Hermit”. He became a hermit in 1955 at the age of 62 after a string of unsuccessful and unsatisfying jobs and a failed marriage. Harrill hitchhiked to Fort Fisher on the North Carolina Coast from Morganton, North Carolina, a distance of 260 miles. He had been committed to a mental hospital in Morganton by his in-laws, after his wife, Katie Hamrick, left him and asked for a divorce. Harrill apparently walked away from the hospital or made a key from an old spoon and used the key to escape the facility.
Harrill becomes the Hermit
The name “The Fort Fisher Hermit” came from Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, where he settled after leaving the mental institution in Morganton. Soon after arriving at Fort Fisher, Robert Harrill was arrested as a vagrant and sent to his hometown of Shelby by the sheriff’s department with the help of the Traveler’s Aide society. He returned the following summer and set up a simple home in an abandoned World War II era bunker near the Cape Fear River along a salt marsh. He was able to gather much of the food that he needed from the salt marsh and the nearby oyster beds. Harrill learned many of his survival skills from Empy Hewitt, a true hermit, who also lived in the salt marshes of the Fort Fisher area.
The Fort Fisher Hermit was not a hermit in the truest sense of the word. A hermit (from the Greek ?????? er?mos, signifying “desert”, “uninhabited”, hence “desert-dweller”) is a person who lives to some greater or lesser degree in seclusion and/or isolation from society. Harrill was far from isolated, and in fact had many visitors every year. His guest registry, a notebook held down by sea shells, recorded a total of over 100,000 visitors[2] from all fifty states and at least 20 foreign countries.
Harrill planted a vegetable garden to supplement his diet (what he grew and what he was able to gather in his surroundings). Visitors also provided the Fort Fisher Hermit with monetary donations that were placed in a frying pan that he left out for just such a purpose.
The Hermit becomes an attraction
Robert Harrill became the second greatest tourist attraction in the state of North Carolina, trailing only the USS North Carolina in number of visitors. Visitors to Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, Fort Fisher and Southport would routinely take time to visit the man living in the salt marshes. Many of them were simply curious, others were attracted to his wisdom and words, but others went out of their way to harass him or to try to steal his money. There were rumors that he had thousands of dollars hidden somewhere in his bunker. He was also arrested by the local authorities on charges of vagrancy. Each trip to court saw the Fort Fisher Hermit defending himself, most times successfully. A group of men who beat him up and stole his money were convicted on the strength of the hermit’s testimony against them, in a trial that saw the hermit serve as both lead prosecutor and star witness.
The Fort Fisher Hermit also attracted a large number of journalists to his bunker with his lifestyle and beliefs. He explained his popularity in the New Hanover Sun in 1968, ”
“
Everybody ought to be a hermit for a few minutes to an hour or so every 24 hours, to study, meditate, and commune with their creator…millions of people want to do just what I’m doing, but since it is much easier thought of than done, they subconsciously elect me to represent them, that’s why I’m successful…”
Robert Harrill greeted as many visitors as possible and agreed to pose with them in pictures for a small fee. The Hermit saw each visitor as an opportunity to spread his “common sense” beliefs.
Robert Harrill told his visitors that he was writing a book entitled “A Tyrant in Every Home”. His book was a byproduct of his previously stressful life: his mother and two brothers died of typhoid fever when he was a young boy, and his father remarried to a woman that Robert described as “the tyrant in my family. The Hermit’s troubled youth and equally troubling adulthood were the primary reasons that he “dropped out” of society nearly ten years before the hippie movement began in full force. Robert Harrill stated that he finally achieved the peace and happiness that he sought for so long. He enjoyed living with nature and said, “My life here goes up and down like the tides of this old sea out here… Only nature determines my existence.”
Death
The Fort Fisher Hermit died under “mysterious” circumstances in June 1972. His body was found by a group of teenage boys on an early Sunday morning. It was covered in sand, bloodied, covered in wounds and laid spread eagle on a pile of rubbish. Some people believed that he was killed by a group of rowdy rednecks, others believed that it was a prank gone horribly bad. The New Hanover County coroner ruled that the cause of death was a heart attack. Heart attack remains listed as the official cause of death and an official investigation into a possible murder has never been conducted.
Memorial and legacy
The story and legacy of Robert Harrill lives on today through the efforts of The Hermit Society, founded by Michael Edwards, Edward Harrill, Harry Warren, Gaile Welker and Vergie Harrill. The Fort Fisher Hermit Society was formed on February 2, 1993 (What would have been Robert’s 100th birthday) and has members in numerous states. The President and founder is Michael F. Edwards, currently of Satellite Beach, Florida. Since the passing of Edward Harrill, the son of the Hermit, members elected Fred Pickler, a former friend of the hermit, to fill the spot. In the spring of 2007, Pickler co-authored the book “Life and Times of the Fort Fisher Hermit, Through the Lens of Fred Pickler.”
The hermit bunker is still standing and can be reached from the Fort Fisher Hermit Trail at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area.
The Hermit Society and the “Friends of the Fort Fisher Hermit” work to continue telling his story and a film directed by Rob Hill, The Fort Fisher Hermit, was produced by Wilmington, North Carolina-based Common Sense Films partners Hill, Richard Sirianni and Scott R. Davis in 2004.
It has won numerous independent film making awards and airs on American Public Television on PBS. . The film was nominated for a 2007 Mid-South Regional Emmy Award.
Heading to beach and looking for a great summer read?
Check out Islands-Art.com for some unique books by nationally renowned local authors and artists.
The works of the writers include romance Novels, Mysteries, History and fun. All have ties to this very special place along NC’s Coast.
Jacqueline DeGroot Romance Novels
Islands Art brings you novels by renowned local Romance Novelist Jacqueline DeGroot.
Jacqueline’s books take place right here on the beaches of Sunset Beach and Ocean Isle – with many local landmarks as back drops.
Sit in your beach chair and lose yourself in a Jacqueline DeGroot Romance Novel!
Click Here To preview 8 of Jacqueline DeGroot’s best:
Jacqueline DeGroot Romance Novels
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Tom Rieber’s “The Nine Irony”
For men there’s the latest in the Nick Thomas Mystery Series “The Nine Irony” by local author Tom Rieber. A powerful. suspense driven thriller!
Nick Thomas is a little bit of all of us; believable, lovable, tough when need be and sensitive. He is a man who got a second chance at life after hitting bottom and turned his life around. And life was good, that is until one fateful day the walls of his life came crashing down and he finds himself framed and wanted for the murder of his estranged ex-wife.
Nick has no choice but to go underground and try and find the real killer before the police find him.
Click here to preview:
Tom Rieber’s “The Nine Irony” – A Nick Thomas Mystery
Miller Pope’s Book Of Pirates
For kids of all ages there is Miller Pope’s series of Pirate Books. Richly illustrated in full color and historically accurate, Miller’s pirate series are engrossing and entertaining. With nearly 150 original illustrations, this volume is sure to please and inform pirate fans of all ages.
• Race for Riches: a history of the origins of piracy
• Greed and Gold: a pirate’s life aboard ship and in battle
• Tools of the Trade: weapons, vessels, and pirate culture
• Rogues and Raiders: profiles of pirates through history
• Other Pirates, Other Times: the past and future of piracy
• A Roster of Infamy: a list of pirates and their vessels
Click here to preview:
Miller Pope’s Series of Pirate Books
Tales OF The Silver Coast
Hard Cover or Soft Cover Edition – A Secret History Of Brunswick County – From the earliest days of European exploration to the golf courses and beach resorts in this fascinating and fast-growing region, Brunswick County has attracted settlers, invaders, and visitors of all descriptions.
In these pages you’ll read about Steve Bonnet, the “Gentleman Pirate,” who hid his ships in Brunswick’s moss-draped creeks but unfortunately underestimated the ebbing tide; “Mrs. Calabash,” who’s said to have lent her name to the famous sign-off for Jimmy Durante’s classic radio shows; and Topsy the Elephant, who swam for the Brunswick riverbank after breaking loose from circus handlers in the 1920s.
Click here to preview:
Tales OF The Silver Coast
The History Of Ocean Isle Beach
Written to preserve and bring to life the history, character, and charm of Ocean Isle Beach is for people of all ages to enjoy the rich history of this area, from the lives of Cape Fear Indians to the explorations of Verrazano.
This book illustrates and describes the exploits of Ocean Isle Beach pirates, the rise of large plantations, our Revolutionary War fighters, the salt mills, the dueling matches, the Civil War wrecks, the Prohibition years of Ocean Isle Beach liquor smuggling, the 1920’s Ocean Isle Beach dance hall, the World War II shipwrecks here, the hard work of Mr. Odell Williamson (founder of Ocean Isle Beach), and the town’s public servant individuals today.
Click here to preview:
The History Of Ocean Isle Beach
Sunset Beach – A History
A full history of Sunset Beach NC with stories from many of the “old timers” who were eye witnesses to events. Some are funny, some are shocking – all are fascinating. No true Sunset Beach Lover should be without this book!
This is the second collaboration between Author/ Illustrator Miller Pope and celebrated novelist Jacqueline DeGroot. World renowned nature photographer Ken Buckner’s photos are used through out the book in addition to the photographs and illustrations of Miller Pope.
Click here to preview:
Sunset Beach – A History
A 3,000 pound anchor has been recovered off the North Carolina coast on Friday, by Archaeologists from what they believe to be the wreck of the pirate Blackbeard’s flagship! It is hoped that this might change plans regarding how to save the rest of the almost 300 year old artifacts from the central part of the pirate ship.
Divers had planned to bring up the second-biggest artifact on what is thought to be the Queen Anne’s Revenge however they discovered it was too well-attached to some of the other items in the pile of ballast, according to the project director, Mark Wilde-Ramsing. So they pulled up another anchor instead that is the third-largest artifact and was most likely the anchor for the ship.
The anchor, which is 11 feet, 4 inches long with arms that are 7 feet, 7 inches across, was covered with a mixture of shells, sand and other debris that has been attracted by the leaching wrought iron. Its estimated to weigh approximately 2,500 to 3,000 pounds.
The size of the anchor is typical for a ship the size of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, with the two other anchors probably used in the event of an emergency, like a storm.
Archaeologists were planning to remove the second-largest anchor, which is 13 feet long with arms that are 8 feet across, from where it is located on top of the ballast pile. But found it to be too well-attached, so the divers went in from the side instead retrieving the “everyday anchor”. This means that in the future other dives may require going in from the side of the shipwreck rather than the top.
Divers are continuing to work for four days next week, then they’ll decide how best to move forward. The dive team hopes to recover all the artifacts by the end of 2013.
North Carolina state officials are hoping the anchor as well as the other artifacts will attract tourists. The shipwreck was discovered in 1996, causing world wide attention. The largest exhibit of artifacts from will be on view at the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort starting June 11.
The timing of the recovery of the anchor couldn’t be better for North Carolina tourism interest in the shipwreck. The Disney film “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” starring Johnny Depp was just released earlier this month featuring both Blackbeard and the Queen Anne’s Revenge.
