Fishing, oystering, and crabbing were popular. Virginia made its own attempts to fight illegal oystering. Muir spent childhood summers on Lewis Island in a mansion built by an oystering fortune. The Maurice River supports such industries as commercial crabbing, eeling, net fishing, and oystering. After the Civil War, Freeport became a center for commercial oystering. They were both centers of the oystering industry, as their names imply. The sound also supports local commercial fishing, crabbing, shrimping, clamming, and oystering. Over time it became a center for "oystering" (harvesting wild oysters) and was renamed Oysterville. The oystering industry has not recovered since. Absecon's earliest European settlers were English who earned their living clamming and oystering. They were traditional fishing boats used for oystering, and later appeared in other areas. It was founded in the 18th century as a fishing and oystering village called Dragon. The bay is also a prime oystering ground. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was known for its oystering. Oystering or oyster veneer is a decorative form of veneering, a type of parquetry.