By Amy Kilgore Mangus 2 Photography by Allison Potter t h e etween 1905 and 1912, six planned farm colonies were developed in southeastern North Carolina by Wilmington utilities magnate Hugh MacRae. His plan was to set up colonies rich in European culture and transform Southern agriculture from share cropping and tenant farming into a viable economy. North and west of the city, those communities — Castle Hayne, Marathon, St. Helena, Van Eeden, New Berlin and Artesia — were anomalies in the rural South. They were tiny melting pots for European and Russian immigrants who flocked to America in the early 1900s. Today, only three remain: Castle Hayne, New Berlin (which became Delco) and St. Helena. According to Ann Mizerak’s family history, Elias DeBaylo emigrated from the Ukraine to the United States in 1921. After making a living with his stepbrother on a New Jersey farm for a few years, DeBaylo saw an advertisement circulated in the North by MacRae. It claimed “Little Farms, Big Profits” in the Wilmington region. One could buy a 10-acre farm with a three-room cottage for $240 payable over three years. Recruited by MacRae’s agents to farm the land, DeBaylo settled in rural St. Helena, 10 miles south of Burgaw in Pender County. Anastazia Dmytruk also came to America from the Ukraine in 1921. She lived with her brother in Castle Hayne. It was there she met DeBaylo, who she married in 1925. Ukrainian families in the St. Helena area wanted to practice their Orthodox beliefs in a place of worship. MacRae donated 10 acres of land and Elias DeBaylo helped build Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church in 1932. It was the first and remains the only one of its kind in North Carolina. Above: Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church in St. Helena, near Burgaw, North Carolina. Opposite: From left, David Mizerak, Ann Mizerak and Mary Bakan. www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com 33 WBM
2014-4
To see the actual publication please follow the link above