Ethel Blanche (Fulford) Pigott
This site is dedicated to the memory of Ethel Blanche (nee Fulford) Pigott. Ethel was born August 23, 1906, in her parents' house on Sleepy Creek in the small farming/fishing community of Straits on the shores of Core Sound in Carteret County, North Carolina. She was one of eight children born to Joseph Manley Fulford and Sarah (Sallie) C. Chadwick. The Fulford, Chadwick and Pigott families were early settlers of the Straits area of Carteret County and their descendents continue to live in the area today.
Ethel attended Smyrna School, where she was the center forward on the girls' basketball team and was valedictorian of the 1924 graduating class.
After graduation, Ethel joined her sister Mattie in Wilmington, NC, where they were employed as salesladies in a local women's apparel shop.
Ethel met her future husband, John Elwood Pigott, while still a young girl in Straits. Elwood eventually wound up in New York City with his uncle and he and Ethel carried on their romance by correspondence. They were married on May 14, 1926, in Wilmington.
After living in Florida and Baltimore for a while the couple settled down in the Chicora section of what was then known as Navy Yard, SC (now North Charleston). Ethel then concentrated her talents on raising their children.
After her children were grown, Ethel returned to the work force. She was for a time an inspector for the Manhattan Shirt Company in Charleston Heights and later was a clerk for a small loan business for a number of years.
Ethel was very talented with a needle. She was well known by family and friends for her beautiful crochet work and in later years became an expert in cross-stitch. Her handiwork is the prize possession of numerous folk who received the pieces as birthday, Christmas, and anniversary gifts.
Ethel was an excellent cook. No one could beat her stewed chicken and sweet potato pie! She enjoyed preparing sumptious meals for her family and friends.
Ethel was active into her mid-80s; keeping house for herself and her husband, playing bridge, entertaining friends and relatives, and doing her beloved needlework. She suffered a stroke and spent the last 8 years of her life in a nursing home. However, thanks to her devoted son, Carl, and daughter-in-law, Terry, she was able to come home for a few hours each week to partake of her favorite foods and share life with her family.
For many years, Ethel was very active in the Eastern Star, the Amaranths, the Daughters of the Nile, and the White Shrine; having held the highest office in each of these organizations at one time or another. She was an early member of Cherokee Place Methodist Church, and had been a member of the West Ashley Southern Methodist Church since the 1980s.
Ethel passed away Dec. 31, 1998.
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