author

Catherine Albertson

1868–1954

Best remembered for In Ancient Albemarle, this North Carolina writer helped preserve the stories, places, and legends of the Albemarle region. Her work blends local history with a clear affection for the people and landscape she wrote about.

1 Audiobook

In ancient Albemarle

In ancient Albemarle

by Catherine Albertson

About the author

Born in North Carolina in 1867 or 1868, Catherine Seyton Albertson is known as the author of In Ancient Albemarle, published in 1914 by the North Carolina Society Daughters of the Revolution. The book is a regional history of early North Carolina, especially the Albemarle area, and it remains the work most closely associated with her.

Available records also connect her with the cultural and educational life of North Carolina. A contemporary yearbook listing identifies her as Catherine Seyton Albertson and shows her serving as Dean of Students at Saint Mary's School in Raleigh in 1930–31, while an obituary notice describes her as a cultural leader in the Elizabeth City region.

Because the surviving online information is fairly limited, many personal details are not easy to confirm with confidence. What does come through clearly is her lasting role in recording the history and character of coastal North Carolina for later readers.