R. Stanley Wahab and Family Papers, PC.5114

[identification of item], PC.5114, Collection on R. Stanley Wahab and Family, Outer Banks History Center, Manteo, NC, U.S.A.

The Collection on R. Stanley Wahab and Family, 1908-2005 and undated, consists of family history files and photographs created by the Wahab Family and Jean Edwards Carr, the donor of the collection.

The Family History Files series contains genealogical information and family papers. Included is a large general ledger of R. Stanley Wahab's business and personal affairs, which appears to have been maintained well after his death. The ledger is organized into the following sections: Journal, 1950-1990; Assets, 1950-1994; Notes Received, 1959-1994; Stocks, 1943-1987; Real Estate, 1949-1975 (Cottages and Hotels); Furniture and Fixtures, 1931-1980; Liabilities, 1949-1993; Profit and Loss, 1955-1988, 1990-1992; R.S. Wahab Capital Account,1951-1993; Income, 1952-1994 (Sale of Lots: Wahab Village, Parker's Hills, Beachside, Silver Lake, Beachland, Portsmouth, Frisco/Pamlico Sound Shore, Kennekeet (sic)/Roanoke Island); Expenses, 1948-1994). Also included is a promotional brochure for the Wahab Village resort promoting cottages, a campground, a hunting and fishing club, and boating, circa mid-1930s.

The photographs in this collection primarily depict scenes portraits of individuals, including numerous photos of Stanley Wahab, and scenes around Ocracoke Island during and shortly after World War II. Some of the photographs depict images of waterfowl hunting and Wahab's air taxi service, which he operated on the island for a short time. Also included is a rare image of the Diamond Shoals Lightship.

The collection is arranged into two series: Family History Documents and Photographs. Folders are arranged alphabetically within series.

Robert Stanley Wahab was born 3 February 1888 on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, to Hatton and Martha Howard Wahab. He spent his youth on Ocracoke Island, and his father served in the U.S. Lifesaving Service at the Cedar Hammocks station. In 1904, Wahab went to sea on the menhaden schooner "Fanny Sprague" followed by a tour as a seaman on Dredge Number Three of the Norfolk Dredging Co. in 1905. Wahab then joined the crew of a luxury yacht owned by industrialist T. Coleman du Pont, which was sailing from Florida to Delaware.

At du Pont's urging, Wahab attended the Goldey Business College in Wilmington, Delaware. This training opened the door for a succession of jobs in businesses specializing in provisions. In 1910, he returned to Ocracoke and married Fanny McWilliams the following year. Following his wife's death, Wahab taught mathematics at Norfolk's Maury High School and served as principal of the public school in Ocracoke and at the lake Landing School in Hyde County. After unsuccessfully running for public office, Wahab left Ocracoke and completed more college coursework in accounting and law. He also met and married Lucille Grandy of Norfolk, Virginia. Together, they had two sons, Robert S. and Wilson H., and a daughter, Lillian E.

From 1920 to 1924, Wahab served as comptroller for a retail chain based in Baltimore, Maryland. His second wife died in 1924. In 1927, he and an associate formed the company Retail Store Services, a furniture buying cooperative for high-end furniture stores that have limited buying power alone. In 1947, due partly to declining eyesight, Wahab sold his interest in the company he founded and returned to Ocracoke. Throughout his life, Wahab had continued to keep ties to Ocracoke Village and engaged in a number of business ventures there. In 1936, he built the Wahab Village Hotel, the island's first modern hostelry. The Wahab Village Hotel expanded to become a resort, including a campground, hunting and fishing club, rental cottages, and a dinner and dancing club, the "Spanish Casino." Wahab was also responsible for bringing modern amenities to Ocracoke. He was instrumental in the building of the first electrical and ice plants, helped to finance telephone service, and saw to the improvement of roads and the ferry service.

Wahab married Myra Edwards of Belhaven and they lived out the remainder of his life in the Wahab family home. He died 20 November 1967 at the age of 79 and is buried in the Howard-Wahab Family Cemetery in Ocracoke.

1. Family History Documents, 1908-2005 and undated

2. Photographs, circa 1900s-1989

Donated by Jean Carr, February 2006.