LookingGlass

I know of two sources for the statement that surgeons were forcibly retained aboard the French slaver formerly named La Concorde--one secondary source and one primary source.

The secondary source comes from "In Search of Blackbeard: Historical and Archeological Research at Shipwreck Site 003BUI," Richard Lawrence and Mark Wilde-Ramsing authors, published in Southeastern Geology February 2001: "The cabin boy and three of his fellow French crewmen voluntarily joined the pirates, and ten others were taken by force including a pilot, three surgeons, two carpenters, two sailors, and the cook."

The primary source comes from the signed deposition of La Concorde's former captain, Pierre Dossett, given upon his return to Nantes on 13 October 1718 after surrendering his ship to Edward Thatch in the Windward Islands. Dossett listed the fate of his crew members including those who died enroute. Dossett indicated that Jean Dubert d'Arzal, "chirurgien," returned to Nantes aboard an English vessel. The two "aides chirurgiens," Marc Bourgneuf and Nicholas Gautrain, remained with the newly named Queen Anne's Revenge. Therefore, based on the Dossett deposition, it would seem that only two surgeon's aides were conscripted by Thatch.

Yes, writers such as Konstam and Woodard have suggested that Blackbeard threatened to sail across the bar and attack the town of Charleston. When a source is cited, the source is often Johnson's GHP. However, 19th century historian Edward McCrady wrote, "It is altogether improbable that Thatch would have ventured his 40 guns against 100 which lined the fortifications of the town, and risked his vessels in the harbor where they would have had him under such a disadvantage" (McCrady, The History of SC Under the Proprietary Government 1670-1719). I am more inclined to trust McCrady.

As for the colorful account of the bombardment and burning of Guadeloupe town found in Woodard, p. 216, the Calendar of State Papers provide the following information.

Governor Hamilton to the Council of Trade and Plantations. "In my turning up to windward we did see another pirate ship and a large sloop which we were informed when we came off of the Island St. Eustatius by a sloop sent express from St. Christopher's were two other pirates that had two days before taken some of the trading sloops off of that Island and sunk a ship loaden with white sugar etc. just under Brimstone Hill which they had taken under Guadaloupe shore. The ship is commanded by one Captain Teatch, the sloop by one Major Bonnett an inhabitant of Barbadoes, some say Bonnett commands both ship and sloop. This Teatch it's said has a wife and children in London, they have comitted a great many barbarities; The ship some say has 22 others say she has 26 guns mounted but all agree that she can carry 40 and is full of men the sloop hath ten guns and doth not want men... Signed, W. Hamilton. Endorsed, Recd. 7th, Read 11th March, 1717/18"

Deposition of Thomas Knight. "These and the ship they had taken out of Guardalupa spying some vessels in Nevis, and among the rest took one for the man of warr, they said they would cut her out, but the Captain being ill prevented it etc. Confirms preceding. They report the Captain of the pirates name is Kentish and Captain Edwards belonging to the sloop, and they report the ship has 150 men on board and 22 guns mounted, the sloop about 50 white men, and eight guns, and that they burnt part of Guardalupa, when they cut out the French ship. Signed, Thos. Knight."

The "man of warr" Knight referred to has been suggested to be the HMS Scarborough, which Johnson claimed Teach had engaged "for some hours." We're reasonably certain that did not happen. Unless someone can produce a French document that verifies the burning of the town by Thatch, Teach, Teitch, Capt. Kentish, Blackbeard, etc., we can't be certain that happened as well.

I'd like to refresh my memory about the Guadeloupe event. What is your source for the statement that Blackbeard attacked Guadeloupe?

As for Charleston, I don't think it can be said that BB attacked the town. None of his vessels crossed the bar and entered the harbor.

If Blackbeard had captured the slaving vessel for the main purpose of selling the slaves, it makes no sense whatsoever that he would simply throw away 87% of his "loot" at the very moment he captured it. His interest in La Concorde must have been its sailing and combat capabilities, not its human cargo.

The aforementioned "evidence" cited in Woodard (p.213) hardly makes the thesis "very dubious." The statement that because Blackbeard did not retain all 455 slaves means that his interest in La Concorde was in "it's combat and sailing capabilities" can be said to be just as speculative. No author or historian has yet to cite source documents that prove one way or the other why Blackbeard sailed from the Delaware capes directly to the north of Barbados in November 1717 and captured an inbound ship from Africa. Woodard's notes offer no sources for the statement, "As he looked over his new prize, Blackbeard knew he had finally found a proper flagship..." There also seems to be little consideration as to how the addition of 455 slaves to Blackbeard's company of 200 to 250 pirates (letter of Charles Mesnier, Intendant of Martinique, and deposition of Thomas Knight,Jan. 6, 1718, CSPCS Vol. 30, #298. ii) would have stressed the ship's provisions and water, nor does it take into consideration the physical condition of the majority of the slaves. It is possible that the value of the 61 slaves Blackbeard's company gleaned from the La Concorde's cargo were worth considerably more than a greater number of slaves they left behind with Captain Pierre Dosset. Furthermore, it might safely be assumed that the 61 Africans from La Concorde's cargo could not speak English nor had useful skills other than performing the laborious, menial tasks. They were unlikely to have been assimilated into the pirate crew. As for the question of whether the capture of La Concorde was for her cargo or her fighting capabilities, it must be noted that the slaves remained with Blackbeard longer than the ship. Granted, it could be argued against the "true treasure" thesis that once the QAR was wrecked, there was no longer any need for the majority of the slaves, hence they were sold at Bath. However, I submit that neither argument is superior as in providing the best explanation for why Blackbeard and the 40 or so crew who sailed with him from Beaufort Inlet delivered slaves to Bath, a plantation community that had few slaves.

Other questions remain unanswered. How were the slaves accommodated aboard the QAR during the 7 months after departing from Bequia? So far, few shackles have been recovered from the wreck, although much of the wreck remains on the ocean bottom.

There is little uncertainty as to possibility that "the slaves escaped en masse." A pamphlet attributed to the Virginia House of Burgesses reprinted in Virginia Magazine of History and Biography (XXII, pps. 414-415, 1914) states, "Understanding that there was a good deale of money and a great many Negroes in the case, [spotswood] persuades the King's Men of War to surprise and Kill the men within the Country of Carolina."

I suspect that someone of authority has finally faced the reality (after 15 years of stewardship) that they can't effectively seek private funding to support the recovery of a ship the identity of which is uncertain. The evidence hasn't really gotten any stronger in recent years but taxpayer funding has substantially diminished and is soon to disappear. The confirmation could, and should, have been announced 10 years ago. Unfortunately, NC has always been slower than her neighboring states when it comes to developing her historical resources.

Was Blackbeard's Caesar hanged? That's a good question that cannot be answered with absolute certainty. I'm not sure he was.

The only source that states that Caesar was hanged was Johnson's GHP. The "King's warrant for payment of 710 British pounds to Captain George Gordon and others for capture or killing of 'Thatch a Notorious Pyrate' and his crew" (1722 Sept. 19, PRO-T 52/32) lists a Caesar as a convicted pirate along with four known Africans, Richard Stiles, Thomas Gates, James Blake and James White (identified as African slaves in NC Council Journal, hearing of evidences against Tobias Knight Esq., Secretary of this Province, May 27, 1719, NC Col. Rec. II, pps. 341-349).

In his testimony, Knight states that evidence presented against him by the four Africans "ought not to be taken against him for that they are (tho cunningly couched under the names of Christians) no other the four Negro Slaves which by the Laws and customs of all America Aught not to be Examined as Evidence."

Later in his testimony, Knight said, "neither did the said Tobias Knight or any of his family contract any acquaintance with the said Thache or any of his crew nor did deal buy or Sell any with or any of them dureing their whole stay Save only Two Negroe men which the said Knight purchased from Two men who had left the said Thache and had rece'd their pardons and since are gone Lawfully out of this Goverment."

Tobias Knight died within the following few months because the inventory of his estate (Beaufort Co. Deed Book 7, entry 403) was appraised by September 15, 1719. Listed in the inventory are the entirety of his slaves: "negro man Jack age 60 £10, negro man Tom age 40 £20, negro man Pompey age 27 £60, negro man Caesar age 24 £60, negro girl Phillis age 12 £35, Indian boy Scipio age 8 £15." It seems to be most probable that Knight purchased the two men in their 20s from the two members of Thache's crew, who were each valued at a significantly higher price than the others.

Johnson's GHP lists a James Robbins as having been hanged at Williamsburg but Robbins's name does not appear on the King's warrant. A James Robbins first appears in the Beaufort Co. Deed Book on Sep. 9, 1718, when he and fellow "mariner" Stephen Elsey purchase the former 400 acre plantation of Gov. Charles Eden for 3 male negro slaves (this plantation adjoined Tobias Knight's plantation along Bath Creek). This same James Robbins was identified in a deposition (Beaufort Co. Deed Book 4, entry 262) as having, sometime in January 1718/1719 bedded with "both Elizabeth Goodin and Sarah Montague & said Elizabeth asked him why he came to bed with his breeches on and he removed them." If this was the same James Robbins identified by Johnson as having been hanged at Williamsburg, he would seem to have somehow 'slipped the noose.'

A discussion of the repetition of names listed on the King's warrant of convicted pirates, appearing in Johnson as hanged pirates, and appearing in the Beaufort Co. Deed Books during the years following the so-called executions, has appeared here in Twill previously, especially the story of the pirate-cooper Edward Salter. This post is limited to the Africans on Blackbeard's crew and their respective fates.

On the 11th of March 1718/1719, Lt. Gov. Spotswood addressed his Council "that five Negroes of the crew of Edward Tack and taken on board his Sloop remain in Prison for Piracy... [and] whether there be anything in the Circumstances of these Negroes to exempt them from undergoing the same Tryal as other pirates." The Council concluded that "the said Negroes being taken on Board a Pyrate Vessell and by what yet appears equally concerned with the rest of the Crew in the same Acts of Piracy ought to be Try'd in the same Manner." Unfortunately, the trial records have been lost and we don't know the actual disposition of the cases of the five Africans, whom we can fairly assume were Richard Stiles, Thomas Gates, James Blake, James White, and Caesar.

In his History of North Carolina, Vol. II, p.8 (PHILADELPHIA: THOMAS DOBSON, 1812), Hugh Williamson wrote, "The pirates, who survived the action, were tried in Virginia. One of them, Basilica Hand, turned king's evidence; and four of them were executed." Similarly, Rev. Dr. Shirley Carter Hughson (The Carolina Pirates and Colonial Commerce, 1670-1740, Johns Hopkins Press, 1894) wrote, "They [the trials] were held at Williamsburgh, and four of the accused were condemned and afterwards hanged." The sources for both Williamson and Hughson's statements that "four" were executed are not known. Again, the Virginia trial records of the pirates are no longer extant.

It is worth noting that Tobias Knight stated in his testimony that only four of the five "Negroes of the crew of Edward Tack and taken on board his Sloop remain in Prison for Piracy" presented evidence against him. Why did not the fifth man testify against Tobias Knight?

Were there two Caesars? I don't think so.

Should we accept Johnson's word that Caesar was hanged? I'm not so sure.

"In other words, the author has an unprovable and somewhat controversial theory and he's going to amass a whole mess of circumstantial evidence that doesn't prove it, but sounds pretty good when strung together with helpful explanations of how the scattered data fits his theory."

I am not sure I understand your point. This article is about how Blackbeard departed Beaufort Inlet with 60 Africans (David Herriott deposition, Charleston trial of pirates captured with Stede Bonnet, Nov. 1718), but only had six Africans aboard the sloop Adventure during the Battle at Ocracoke. Members of Blackbeard's crew were known to have sold slaves to Bath residents (Tobias Knight testimony in 1719) or had slaves in their possession when captured (William Howard). The conclusion is that not all of the 60 Africans who were taken with Blackbeard from Beaufort Inlet were free men. What is unprovable or controversial about that? What controverting facts have been ignored?

I'm posting the entire contents of the article in the event that it is not archived by the newspaper:

RALEIGH--The whereabouts of the mythical pirate treasure of the notorious Blackbeard has bewitched folks ever since the smoke cleared following the Battle of Ocracoke 292 years ago. Minutes after Blackbeard's death, Royal Navy sailors began a search for the bearded pirate captain's ill-gotten gains. They were soon disappointed. They found no treasure chests of gold, silver or jewels. And despite many enticing claims, nor has anyone else found Blackbeard's lost treasure since that historic November day on North Carolina's Outer Banks.

However, there was a treasure, and it likely survives to this day in eastern North Carolina.

North Carolina's Department of Cultural Resources proudly boasts – and rightly so – that it has retrieved over the past 15 years more than 250,000 artifacts from the Queen Anne's Revenge, including the anchor recently brought to the surface. Few experts, however, have considered the cargo of flesh and blood transported by the famous ship.

This is not the pirate history you will see on the silver screen, find on roadside historic markers, read on museum walls or heard at our state's historic sites. But it is our history.

In November 1717, north of Barbados, Blackbeard positioned his flotilla in the path of slave-trading ships arriving from west Africa, where he captured the French slaver La Concorde, renaming her the Queen Anne's Revenge. Historians have surmised that he wanted to capture a big slave ship in order to mount up to 40 guns aboard, making her as powerfully armed as any Royal Navy warship patrolling the West Indies.

I believe it was to serve a different purpose.

Six months later, near the end of his two-year career of piratical mayhem, Blackbeard sailed to North Carolina and purposely wrecked the Queen Anne's Revenge in the entrance to what is today, Beaufort Inlet. There, records say, he disbanded his 400-man company, marooned some men on an island and tricked all but his closest allies out of all of their communal treasure, and left aboard a fast and nimble sloop he named Adventure. About 10 days later, Blackbeard arrived at Bath, where he surrendered to Gov. Eden and applied for a royal pardon.

Depositions filed in Charleston, S.C., later that year by former members of Blackbeard's crew – the ones he left behind at Beaufort Inlet, are well-preserved and very detailed. When Blackbeard and his inner-circle of associates sailed to Bath, they had with them 60 African men. Some pirate historians wax lyrical at the apparent racial diversity of Blackbeard's crew, marveling that 6 out of 10 of Blackbeard's pirates were black. But what the pirate historians don't tell you is that six months later, when Blackbeard was killed at Ocracoke, he had aboard his sloop only six Africans. What happened to the 54 other African men?

I believe they were the pirates' secret treasure, a labor force delivered to the impoverished plantation society of the Pamlico region, which was desperately short on manpower and far from the slave markets at Williamsburg, Va., and Charleston.

The colony of North Carolina had been wracked by years of political strife, punitive trade restrictions, drought, sickness and war with Indians. As her wealthier neighbors, Virginia and South Carolina, began to grow due to navigable, deepwater ports, the northern colony of Carolina was severely constrained by the vagaries of shoaling inlets, shallow sounds and great distances between her plantations and the travelled byways of the sea.

From the beginning, North Carolina settlers struggled to produce the volume of commodities necessary to support their economy because, compared to South Carolina and Virginia, North Carolina had few slaves. "For the want of suitable ports negro slaves were not imported directly into North Carolina, and the planters there were forced to buy from Virginia and South Carolina. And in this very important particular North Carolina was at great disadvantage," wrote Colonial Records editor William Saunders.

There is wide gulf of opinion among those who have studied the question – historians such as David Cordingly, Kenneth Kinkor and Marcus Rediker – regarding the status of blacks among pirates and whether they were treated as equals, servants or slaves. Rediker wrote that "Negroes and mulattoes were present on almost every pirate ship, and only rarely did the many merchants and captains who commented on their presence call them slaves." Kinkor even presents examples of blacks who were leaders of predominantly white crews.

Conversely, Cordingly wrote that "pirates shared the same prejudices as other white men in the Western world. They regarded black slaves as commodities to be bought and sold, and used them as slaves on board their ships for the hard and menial jobs."

Having analyzed the references found among the primary sources pertaining to Africans among Blackbeard's crew after June 1718, I would have to agree with Cordingly's assessment. The 60 blacks who departed Beaufort Inlet aboard the sloop Adventure were most certainly treated as commodities to be bought and sold, and were used as servants to do the hard and menial jobs.

For example, four blacks named Richard Stiles, Thomas Gates, James Blake and James White, accompanied Blackbeard on an arduous 36-hour, 95-mile round trip journey across the Pamlico Sound for a mysterious midnight visit to Bath on Sept. 14, 1718. Records indicate that the black crew member's jobs were to row the Adventure's launch. They were in all likelihood Blackbeard's servants or slaves – men who were perhaps trusted to carry arms, but servants or slaves just the same.

As an example of the value that slaves held in the 1718 economy of Bath, the Beaufort County deed book shows that Stephen Elsey and James Robins, two mariners who appear in the records shortly after Blackbeard's arrival in North Carolina suggesting that they may have been former members of his crew, purchased Gov. Eden's former 400-acre plantation, house and outbuildings on Bath Creek, for the price of three slaves named Barsue, Lawrence and John. This same property was sold again eight years later to Blackbeard's cooper-turned-merchant, assemblyman and patron of Bath's St. Thomas Church, Edward Salter, for £600.

Records reflect that other slaves were sold by members of Blackbeard's crew, including two to Customs Collector Tobias Knight – probably 26-year-old Pompey and 23-year-old Caesar, each valued a year later at £60. Former quartermaster William Howard was apprehended in Virginia with two African slaves after having retired from Blackbeard's crew at Bath. According to a letter from Virginia's Lt. Gov. Spotswood, Howard admitted that his slaves had "been piratically taken."

Over six months, Blackbeard's company acquired, traded and gleaned the healthiest, fittest, strongest African men and then delivered them to North Carolina's destitute settlement of Bath – the very place in colonial America that needed them the most. Using a popular calculator for measuring worth of historical prices (MeasuringWorth.com), Blackbeard's flesh and blood "treasure" in 1718 would be worth millions in today's dollars.

It has long been whispered among a number of eastern North Carolina families that they consider themselves descendants of pirates. Until now, few people have taken the time to remember the untold numbers of black families whose roots might lead to the 60 African slaves brought in by pirates in the summer of 1718.

The importation of African slaves is the forgotten legacy of the Great Age of Piracy, and an unappreciated but important part of North Carolina's heritage. Who knows who might be related to Barsue, Lawrence and John, or Tobias Knight's Pompey and Caesar, or the pirate-cooper Edward Salter's Priamus the shoemaker, Toney, Aberdeen, Cimrick and Tom? I list their names here so that they might not be forgotten. It was by their heartache, their labors, their suffering, and by the sacrifices of their families and others who shared their plight, that eastern America was wrought out of wilderness.

The slaves brought to North Carolina by Blackbeard in 1718 were a true treasure, indeed. Perhaps someday they will be so remembered by our historical community.

Kevin P. Duffus of Raleigh is the author of "The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate – Within Every Legend Lies a Grain of Truth."

RALEIGH--The whereabouts of the mythical pirate treasure of the notorious Blackbeard has bewitched folks ever since the smoke cleared following the Battle of Ocracoke 292 years ago. Minutes after Blackbeard’s death, Royal Navy sailors began a search for the bearded pirate captain’s ill-gotten gains. They were soon disappointed. They found no treasure chests of gold, silver or jewels. And despite many enticing claims, nor has anyone else found Blackbeard’s lost treasure since that historic November day on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

However, there was a treasure, and it likely survives to this day in eastern North Carolina.

North Carolina’s Department of Cultural Resources proudly boasts – and rightly so – that it has retrieved over the past 15 years more than 250,000 artifacts from the Queen Anne’s Revenge, including the anchor recently brought to the surface. Few experts, however, have considered the cargo of flesh and blood transported by the famous ship.

This is not the pirate history you will see on the silver screen, find on roadside historic markers, read on museum walls or heard at our state’s historic sites. But it is our history.

More here: http://www.newsobser...e-treasure.html

WASHINGTON, NC—It is the 287-year-old book that launched pirate history, turned ordinary rogues and thieves like Blackbeard and Calico Jack Rackham into world-famous legends and provided the basis of historical knowledge which has since been perpetuated by hundreds of books, dozens of movies and pop-culture’s perception of pirates. First published in 1724 during the waning days of the Great Age of Piracy, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates is considered to be the ‘bible’ of pirate history. The author, Captain Charles Johnson, has been called the “famous historian of scoundreldom” despite the fact that nobody really knows who he was or from what sources he derived his information. Johnson later wrote a second volume, completing chapter-length biographies of 35 of the western hemisphere’s best known “highwaymen” of the sea. The books were so popular in London they could not be printed fast enough.

A rare, 2nd edition 1724 copy of the first volume and a 1728 copy of the second volume from East Carolina University’s Joyner Library will be on display in the lobby of the historic Turnage Theatre on Main St. in Washington, NC, on May 21, 2011, as part of an exhibit titled, “Interpretations of Blackbeard In Fact, Fiction & Folklore.” The exhibit will feature books, movie posters and artwork depicting North Carolina’s infamous pirate captain. The exhibit is a feature of the inaugural PIRATE PARLEY on the Pamlico, a one-day symposium and river cruise on Saturday, May 21, 2011, at Washington and Bath, North Carolina. The PIRATE PARLEY was created to offer more accurate historical views of pirates than pop-culture, Hollywood depictions, coinciding with the premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean—On Stranger Tides which features what Disney Studios describe as "the real-life" Blackbeard teaming-up with Captain Jack Sparrow, mermaids and zombies in a quest for the Fountain of Youth.

Much of what the public believes is true about pirates such as Captain Kidd, Anne Bonny, Henry Every, Black Sam Bellamy and Edward Teach, hinges of the veracity and scholarship of Charles Johnson. However, pirate scholars like England’s E.T. Fox, who will be a presenter at the PARLEY, have found numerous factual errors in Johnson’s books, including an entire chapter devoted to a pirate who never actually existed. Most of the best known images of Blackbeard—slow-burning fuses under his hat to frighten his victims, his pact with the devil over the location of his hidden treasure, and his purported 14 wives—are all the result of Johnson’s books.

At 3 p.m. on May 21, 2011, the Parley will convene at the historic Turnage Theatre for two fascinating presentations. Noted historian E.T. Fox from Brixham, England, curator of the Sir Francis Drake-Golden Hind museum ship and author of The King of the Pirates—The Swashbuckling Career of Henry Every, will explain the historical realities of pirates and their differences from pop-culture depictions in film and literature. Kevin P. Duffus, a North Carolina filmmaker, journalist, decoder of maritime mysteries, and author of The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate, will present a new, provocative program titled, “Bloodthirsty Pirates or Hapless Marionettes?”

Following the afternoon sessions, attendees will be encouraged to dine at their downtown restaurant of choice from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. At 7 p.m. the doors of the Turnage will reopen for music, a presenter book signing, and the exhibit “Interpretations of Blackbeard In Fact, Fiction & Folklore.” At 7:30 p.m., the PIRATE PARLEY on the Pamlico will resume with a spirited, free-wheeling roundtable discussion of pirates, Black Beard, archaeology, history, folklore and legends, featuring E.T. Fox, Charles Ewen, Kevin Duffus and questions from the audience.

Tickets for the Parley sessions at the Turnage Theater are $20 per person, $15 for groups of 10 or more, and $10 for students. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Blackbeard Adventure Alliance (BAA) office at 252-948-0550. Media inquiries should be directed to 919-845-9244. Additional information may be soon found at BAA’s website: http://blackbeardsloopadventure.com/

Parley presenters E.T. Fox, Charles Ewen, and Kevin Duffus are available for interviews, quotes or additional information. Call 919-845-9244 for media inquires.

"I hope you are going to have audio visual capability... slides of reality vs Myth would be cool."

Mr. Foxe is going to have a 12,000 lumen projector at hand, which should be sufficient to shed light on the subject.

We are also hoping to have a 1724 2nd edition of Johnson's GHP present in case we run short of myths!

Now thats something I want to go to. I'm off to check airfares

What airport you flying in to Ed?

Raleigh-Durham.

WASHINGTON, NC—The Blackbeard Adventure Alliance (BAA) of Beaufort County, NC, announces the inaugural "PIRATE PARLEY on the Pamlico," a one-day symposium and river cruise on Saturday, May 21, 2011, at Washington and Bath, North Carolina. An international panel of pirate scholars will present groundbreaking and startlingly different historical perspectives of Carolina and Caribbean pirates against the pop-culture backdrop of Hollywood's latest depiction of two of the world's best-known fictional and historical pirates—Jack Sparrow and Edward Teach. Featured among the PARLEY's provocative presentations will be titles such as: "Bloodthirsty Pirates or Hapless Marionettes?—How colonial North Carolina's wretched economic conditions, political discord and ministerial treachery may have contributed to the demise of the infamous pirate Black Beard and the Carolina Pirates;" and, "Pirate Myths and Realities—Exploring the origins of some of the most fascinating lies we have been told about pirates."

The PIRATE PARLEY on the Pamlico begins on Saturday morning in the footsteps of Black Beard the pirate with a bus trip of 75 ticket holders departing Washington's waterfront followed by a walking tour of Bath led by ECU's Dr. Charles Ewen, author of X Marks the Spot—The Archaeology of Piracy. A noted scholar of colonial-era archaeology, Ewen will discuss discoveries of recent archaeological excavations and historical research and what has been learned about the size, sophistication and daily life of the town where Black Beard and his cohorts surrendered to authorities in the summer of 1718.

The tour of Bath will be followed by a one-of-a-kind narrated and catered pirate cruise aboard the 85-foot-long Belle of Washington, departing the Bath town dock and passing important sites like the famed "secret tunnel" plantation of Gov. Eden and later, the pirate-cooper Edward Salter at Beasley Point, Blackbeard's purported residence at Plum Point and the plantation of suspected pirate patron Tobias Knight at Archbell Point. During this three-hour cruise up the Pamlico River, 75 passengers will be treated to lunch, refreshments and a cash bar while chatting with the PARLEY's presenters.

At 3 p.m. near Washington's waterfront, symposium ticket holders will convene at the historic Turnage Theatre for two fascinating presentations. British historian E.T. Fox from Brixham, England, curator of the Sir Francis Drake-Golden Hind museum ship and author of The King of the Pirates—The Swashbuckling Career of Henry Every, will explain the historical realities of pirates and their differences from pop-culture depictions in film and literature. Kevin P. Duffus, noted North Carolina filmmaker, journalist, decoder of maritime mysteries, and author of The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate, will present a new, provocative program titled, "Bloodthirsty Pirates or Hapless Marionettes?"

Following the afternoon sessions, attendees will be encouraged to dine at their downtown restaurant of choice from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. At 7 p.m. the doors of the Turnage will reopen for a presenter book signing and exhibit in the reception area of the theater titled: "Interpretations of Blackbeard In Fact, Fiction & Folklore," featuring books, movie posters and artwork depicting Beaufort County's infamous pirate captain. At 7:30 p.m., the PIRATE PARLEY on the Pamlico will resume with a spirited, free-wheeling roundtable discussion of pirates, Black Beard, archaeology, history, folklore and legends, featuring E.T. Fox, Charles Ewen, Kevin Duffus and questions from the audience.

Tickets for the bus trip to Bath, tour and return to Washington by catered river cruise cost $75 per person. Tickets for the Parley sessions at the Turnage Theater are $20 per person. Members of recognized historical societies and genealogical organizations will be offered special seating; all other ticket holders will be seated on a first-come, first-serve basis. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Black Beard Adventure Alliance (BAA) office at 252-948-0550. Media inquiries should be directed to 919-845-9244. Additional information may be soon found at BAA's website: http://blackbeardsloopadventure.com/

Blackbeard Adventure Alliance (BAA), is a Beaufort County non-profit organization composed of sea loving history enthusiasts who desire to restore a piece of "pirate history" to North Carolina. BAA plans to build a replica of the Blackbeard sloop Adventure, and use it as an educational vessel, including the design and construction process. Through the PIRATE PARLEY, BAA hopes to remind the world that Bath in North Carolina's Beaufort County was Blackbeard's last homeport, his objective and ultimate destination following his two years as a "pirate of the Caribbean," and place of residence for most of his inner circle of pirates.

As this seems to be the Foxe fan page, I thought I'd post this here. I'll also include it on the Raids, Boarding Parties, Pyrate Events Page. I hope many of you can attend!

WASHINGTON, NC—The Blackbeard Adventure Alliance (BAA) of Beaufort County, NC, announces the inaugural "PIRATE PARLEY on the Pamlico," a one-day symposium and river cruise on Saturday, May 21, 2011, at Washington and Bath, North Carolina. An international panel of pirate scholars will present groundbreaking and startlingly different historical perspectives of Carolina and Caribbean pirates against the pop-culture backdrop of Hollywood's newest depiction of two of the world's best-known fictional and historical pirates—Jack Sparrow and Edward Teach. Featured among the PARLEY's provocative presentations will be titles such as: "Bloodthirsty Pirates or Hapless Marionettes?—How colonial North Carolina's economic conditions, political discord and ministerial treachery may have contributed to the demise of the infamous pirate Black Beard and the Carolina Pirates;" and, "Pirate Myths and Realities—Exploring the origins of some of the most fascinating lies we have been told about pirates."

The PIRATE PARLEY on the Pamlico begins on Saturday morning in the footsteps of Black Beard the pirate with a bus trip of 75 ticket holders departing Washington's waterfront followed by a walking tour of Bath led by ECU's Dr. Charles Ewen, author of X Marks the Spot—The Archaeology of Piracy. A noted scholar of colonial-era archaeology, Ewen will discuss discoveries of recent archaeological excavations and historical research and what has been learned about the size, sophistication and daily life of the town where Black Beard and his cohorts surrendered to authorities in the summer of 1718.

The tour of Bath will be followed by a one-of-a-kind narrated and catered pirate cruise aboard the 85-foot-long Belle of Washington, departing the Bath town dock and passing important sites like the famed "secret tunnel" plantation of Gov. Eden and later, the pirate-cooper Edward Salter at Beasley Point, Blackbeard's purported residence at Plum Point and the plantation of suspected pirate patron Tobias Knight at Archbell Point. During this three-hour cruise up the Pamlico River, 75 passengers will be treated to lunch, refreshments and a cash bar while chatting with the PARLEY's presenters.

At 3 p.m. near Washington's waterfront, symposium ticket holders will convene at the historic Turnage Theatre for two fascinating presentations. British historian E.T. Fox from Brixham, England, curator of the Sir Francis Drake-Golden Hind museum ship and author of The King of the Pirates—The Swashbuckling Career of Henry Every, will explain the historical realities of pirates and their differences from pop-culture depictions in film and literature. Kevin P. Duffus, noted North Carolina filmmaker, journalist, decoder of maritime mysteries, and author of The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate, will present a new, provocative program titled, "Bloodthirsty Pirates or Hapless Marionettes?"

Following the afternoon sessions, attendees will be encouraged to dine at their downtown restaurant of choice from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. At 7 p.m. the doors of the Turnage will reopen for a presenter book signing and exhibit in the reception area of the theater titled: "Interpretations of Blackbeard In Fact, Fiction & Folklore," featuring books, movie posters and artwork depicting Beaufort County's infamous pirate captain. At 7:30 p.m., the PIRATE PARLEY on the Pamlico will resume with a spirited, free-wheeling roundtable discussion of pirates, Black Beard, archaeology, history, folklore and legends, featuring E.T. Fox, Charles Ewen, Kevin Duffus and questions from the audience.

Tickets for the bus trip to Bath, tour and return to Washington by catered river cruise cost $75 per person. Tickets for the Parley sessions at the Turnage Theater are $20 per person. Members of recognized historical societies and genealogical organizations will be offered special seating; all other ticket holders will be seated on a first-come, first-serve basis. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Black Beard Adventure Alliance (BAA) office at 252-948-0550. Media inquiries should be directed to 919-845-9244. Additional information may be soon found at BAA's website: http://blackbeardsloopadventure.com/

Blackbeard Adventure Alliance (BAA), is a Beaufort County non-profit organization composed of sea loving history enthusiasts who desire to restore a piece of "pirate history" to North Carolina. BAA plans to build a replica of the Blackbeard sloop Adventure, and use it as an educational vessel, including the design and construction process. Through the PIRATE PARLEY, BAA hopes to remind the world that Bath in North Carolina's Beaufort County was Blackbeard's last homeport, his objective and ultimate destination following his two years as a "pirate of the Caribbean," and place of residence for most of his inner circle of pirates.

Not a primary source, but perhaps what you're looking for.

http://www.ushistory...street_dock.htm

Dock Street

From the Evening Bulletin, January 27, 1919

BY PENN (WILLIAM PERRINE).

"In the early days of the city, when Captain Kidd and other freebooters in the West Indies and along the American coast were well known, it was not uncommon for those of them who were not under the ban of the law to make their appearance on the river-front when seeking diversion. King Street, which afterward became Water Street, and the vicinity of Dock Street, were full of hospitable taverns and coffee houses for seafaring men. It was said that one of the most famous of pirates, the enterprising and fearless Teach, known everywhere as "Blackbeard' and not yet forgotten as such, was at times a familiar figure in these resorts, and, therefore almost undoubtedly he was also a denizen of the Blue Anchor."

I wish to thank the much respected Ed Fox for the time he invested in reading my book and writing his thoughtful critique. I also very much appreciate what has become a rare opportunity to participate in an open, polite and honest discussion of the merits of my research and the relative truths of the history of Edward Thatch, aka Blackbeard. (I prefer “Black Beard” as the historian/Congressman Hugh Williamson wrote it in 1812, or even “Black-beard” as printed in the 2nd edition of Johnson’s GHP, but here I will yield to the preferred modern usage.)

There are some lesser issues warranting my attention which Fox has raised which I will address later, such as my “bemoaning” how folklore has claimed “spurious connections” to Blackbeard at various places up and down America’s eastern seaboard, while I, at the same time, accept the “grain of truth” of local, North Carolina legends. To conserve time--mine and yours--this topic and others I will discuss in a subsequent post.

I would like to limit this post to what I feel is the most consequential revelation in my book and the information which led me to an important contradiction of established history: the fate and identity of Blackbeard’s crew members who were arrested either at Ocracoke or Bath. If Fox didn’t find my arguments entirely convincing, then I must have been ineffectual in presenting them my book. Let’s see if I can do a better job of it here.

Fox: “To my knowledge there is no empirical evidence that the trial of all the survivors took place in March 1719, nor that all of the convicted were hanged.” True, there are no extant records of the trial(s) of Thatch’s crew. There are only references to the proceedings in the letters of Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood and the minutes of the Colonial Council of NC.

However, the absence of records did not stop previous authors (Lee, Konstam & Woodard) of writing emphatically that the trial of all of the crew occurred on 12 March 1718/19. This is despite the fact that Spotswood had already written to Lord Cartwright a month earlier (14 February 1718/19) that the “prisoners have been brought hither and Tryed, and it plainly appears that the Ship they brought into Carolina was, after the date of his Majesty’s pardon.” Spotswood’s statement that a trial had already taken place (prior to 14 Feb.) can be inferred to be in reference to the Caucasian members of the crew because on the day prior to the March 12th trial Spotswood called a special meeting of his council to specifically address the status of the five African crew members (Stiles, Blake, White, Gates and Caesar), whether or not they should be treated as free men.

In the absence of empirical evidence, our knowledge of what transpired at the Virginia pirate trials has been at the mercy of Charles Johnson and his adherents. Johnson wrote that all of the surviving crew members with the exception of Samuel Odell (acquitted) and Israel Hands (pardoned) were hanged. This is what most everyone has accepted and believed for 286 years. This is the story, unfortunately, taught in many NC schools by hardworking, well-meaning teachers. But that doesn’t make the history correct.

Contrary to Johnson’s GHP, Hugh Williamson wrote in his History of North Carolina published in 1812 that only four pirates were executed in Virginia. The same figure was used by Rev. Dr. Shirley Carter Hughson in his 1894 publication “The Carolina Pirates and Colonial Commerce 1670-1740.” Regrettably, neither Williamson nor Hughson shared with their readers the source for stating only four pirates were hanged. Obviously it didn’t come from Johnson’s GHP. Their source was likely the NC Colonial Records. In the testimony of Tobias Knight presented at a meeting of the NC Council on May 27, 1719, Knight confirms that four “Negro Slaves” from Blackbeard’s sloop had been condemned and executed in VA. (Note that four were executed--Stiles, Blake, White, and Gates--while five African “pirates” had been presented for trial on 12 March 1718/19. This would suggest to me that Caesar was pardoned.)

In 2003, Maryland genealogists Allen Norris, Jane Bailey and Bath’s John Oden discovered that at least three of the names of those “hanged” in Johnson’s GHP--John Martin, James Robbins and Edward Salter--later appeared in the deeds and other records of Bath County. There are also living descendants of the “hanged” Joseph Brooks, Jr., who claim their ancestor survived his execution. A slave named Caesar appears in the will of Tobias Knight in 1719. Also, the surnames of crew members Philips, Daniel, Miller, Curtice and Jackson match identifiable families of Bath County. Even boatswain Garrat Gibbons’ surname appears in a 1720 Bath County document in which Charleston merchant William Gibbon was involved in a Bath-based privateering enterprise. Additionally, we know that William Howard, former quartermaster of the Queen Anne’s Revenge and who later purchased the entire island of Ocracoke, was almost certainly the son of Bath County landowner Philip Howard and likely grandson of former indentured servant William Howard who arrived in the colonies in1663.

Another crew member who is believed to have survived his execution was the cooper Edward Salter, who over the succeeding 15 years became a prominent figure in NC’s General Assembly and one of the benefactors of the colony’s first church building. Unlike the others, however, Salter--who was forced aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge from the sloop Margaret on Dec. 5, 1717 near Puerto Rico--does not seem to have had previous ties to the Bath area. (The subject of Salter including his remarkable rise post-piracy and “execution,” the disinterment of his skeletal remains by the State of NC in 1986 and his reinterment in Oct. 2010, has been presented elsewhere within Capt. Twill.)

Are not these curious coincidences worthy of more consideration and study?

The fate of the surviving members of Thatch’s crew is fundamentally one of the more important underpinnings to the newly emerging theory of Thatch’s identity and origins. Essentially, the premise is this: a significant percentage of Thatch’s men on the eve of the Battle of Ocracoke Inlet were sons of Bath County, NC, landowners whose names appear in the deed books in the years prior to, and, in some instances, following their deaths. This possibility is also supported by North Carolina Gov. Charles Eden’s legal advisor, Col. Thomas Pollock, who wrote that Virginia had no right to indict the pirates captured in NC because “the persons being inhabitants of this government ought to be tried here.” I find it difficult to accept that the pirates’ status as “inhabitants” of North Carolina could have been established in 1718 when they were in the colony for fewer than 80 days and whose residence during most of that time was the sloop Adventure.

The implications are important for two, heretofore unanswered questions: how could some of these men have survived their so-called hangings in Virginia; and why would Capt. Thatch have been surrounded by such a significant percentage of men relative to his final crew of 25+/- from the Pamlico River region of North Carolina?

Fox writes: “Alas, not one single shred of evidence connecting the two sets of people is presented.” That’s not entirely true. Although, I am not sure what sort of evidence, shred or otherwise, might be available to researchers to connect the two sets of people presented--a lost Bible, perhaps, inscribed as having been once owned by John Martin the pirate? These men and their families did not proudly tout their past connections to piracy, at least in writing which has survived the ages. However, there is the tiniest thread of evidence--folklore’s “grain of truth,” if you will--that suggests that Edward Salter, cooper, merchant, assemblyman, and patron of St. Thomas Church of Bath, was the same man as Edward Salter, cooper of the Queen Anne’s Revenge and convicted pirate purportedly hanged according to Johnson’s GHP. A history of Pitt County published in 1911, claimed that Edward Salter’s granddaughter, Susannah Salter White, who died in 1803, had a connection to Blackbeard and his pirates. Sometimes only the tiniest grain of truth is left to be found by the diligent historian, and weighed, against the enormity of established history. Sometimes, that’s all we get.

I’ve heard from skeptics before who have said that the repetition of names means nothing, that there could have been two unrelated sets of men of the same names serving on Blackbeard’s crew and also living in Bath at the same time. If true, that coincidence must have made for an interesting discussion in the parlors and tippling rooms of Bath in 1718! Five of the pirate names provide exact matches: John Martin, James Robbins, Edward Salter, Joseph Brooks, Jr. and William Howard. Seven of the pirate names either match prominent family surnames of Bath County or can be found in Beaufort County Deed Book One (Bath County ca. 1718): Philips, Daniel, Miller, Curtice, Jackson, Gibbons and Caesar. I am not a statistician but I would imagine that the odds are rather great against the probability of so many matches.

Fox writes: “I’d like to know the rough population of Bath County at the time, and compare it with other communities of the same size to see whether such a correlation is exceptional statistically.”

I have quickly but unsuccessfully tried to locate an accurate population figure for Bath County for 1718. According to historian Wingate Reed, the population of Beaufort County (formerly Bath County) in 1755 was 4,460. Another, admittedly, unscientific way to assess the statistical probabilities for the occurrences of certain names in the mid-Atlantic colonies is to search the quit rent rolls. For example, after painstakingly reviewing nearly 2,000 names listed on the quit rent rolls of Virginia counties for 1704-1705, I could find only ten instances when names matched the names of men associated with Thatch:

John Martin, Prince George Co.

John Philips, Surrey County

Thomas Miller, Norfolk County

Wm. Howard, York County

John Martin, New Kent County

John Martin, King and Queen County

Wm Howard, Glocester County Petso Parish

Joseph Brooks, Glocester County Kingston Parish

John Martin, Glocester County Kingston Parish

John Martin, Essex County

Foxe’s objection, based on logic as he says, to my assertion that a majority of Thatch’s crew were pardoned comes from the fact that the treasury paid to Capt. Gordon and Capt. Brand, and their men, a reward of £710 for those pirates killed at Ocracoke or convicted at Williamsburg (my source for this information came from PRO-T 52/32, “King’s warrant for payment of 710 British pounds to Captain George Gordon and others...” dated 19 Sep. 1722). Fox argues that pirates pardoned under the Royal Proclamation “did not have to stand trial,” and, “Since such pardons were only extended to those who voluntarily surrendered themselves, and Blackbeard's men are all described as having been 'taken', it seems further unlikely that they were lucky enough to receive the King’s mercy.”

However, the 9 suspected pirates who survived the Battle of Ocracoke and the 6 suspected pirates found ashore at Bath (some 40 miles away) were all arrested on or about Nov. 22, 1718. The proclamation which enacted the King’s extension of the pardon did not arrive in Virginia until one month later. Therefore, Blackbeard’s men had been ‘taken’ before the applicable document was in play.

Also, it’s impossible for us to know if Spotswood followed such rules as Fox suggests, that pardoned pirates did not have to stand trial. What if Spotswood had Thatch’s surviving crew tried before they were informed of the availability of the extension of the first pardon? As I proposed in my book, the “trial,” and the depositions taken from the accused pirates, could have merely been a way for Spotswood to extract incriminating evidence against North Carolina’s proprietary government, which Spotswood seemed keen to do.

We know that Spotswood received notice of the extension of the King’s pardon prior to 22 December 1718 based on the journal of Spotswood’s Council which met on the 11th of March 1718/19: “it is easie to be proved that the [proclamation] did not arrive till upwards of a Month after these pirates were taken...” This is the proclamation that saved William Howard’s life, arriving on the eve of his scheduled execution. In fact, because William Howard had been arrested, convicted, condemned to hang, yet was fortunate enough to be pardoned, this should be sufficient reason to nullify Fox’s statement: “Since such pardons were only extended to those who voluntarily surrendered themselves...” Howard did not voluntarily surrender himself.

As for the status and disposition of the other pirates jailed at Williamsburg, we have only fragments of information to guide us. In his letter to Sec. James Craggs dated 26 May 1719, Spotswood referred to pirates who had “either surrendered or been pardoned,” specifically mentioning that “14 or 15” had surrendered. He goes on to write that “of Seven that have rec’d their pardons, only one has paid the Attorney-Gen’l the common fee he receives for making out the like pardons.” Charles Johnson’s GHP lists 15 men who were brought to Williamsburg for trial, including Samuel Odell and James Robbins. The King’s Warrant lists 13 names of convicted pirates for whom the Treasury paid rewards, excluding the names Samuel Odell and James Robbins (who would seem to have successfully proved that they were not part of Blackbeard’s crew). My review of the logbooks of the HMS Lyme and HMS Pearl anchored in the James River revealed that on 28 January 1718/19 “2 condemned pyrats [were taken] ashore to Hampton to be executed, which about 1/2 past 11 was done accordingly.” Finally, we know from NC’s Colonial Records that 4 “Negro” pirates of Blackbeard’s crew were executed after 12 March 1718/19. The numbers add up, whether the evidence is circumstantial or not: 6 pirates executed, 7 pirates pardoned (including Caesar), 2 suspected pirates (Robbins and Odell) acquitted, equals 15 men who had been arrested and jailed at Williamsburg. All of which contradicts Johnson, Lee, Konstam, Woodard, et. al.

Why were 6 men hanged while 7 were pardoned? Again, there is no empirical evidence, only powers of our intuition and what ought to serve as the best explanation for a historical statement. My best explanation is that the 6 suspected pirates arrested at Bath had not participated in the Battle of Ocracoke and hence had not borne arms against the King’s men. The 7th to receive a pardon, Caesar, was probably determined to have been the property of Tobias Knight (his name was listed in Knight’s estate inventory 6 months later).

Why were any of these men eligible to receive the extension of the King’s pardon?

In my book, I presented a word-for-word comparison of the two pardons issued by the King in 1717 and 1718, the initial pardon and the extension. I contend that previous historians have failed to notice the critical distinction between the two proclamations. Unlike the first pardon, the second proclamation did not specify a deadline after which piracies would not be forgiven, but instead allowed forgiveness for all acts of piracy committed up to, and until, the pirate learned of the availability of the pardon, as long as the petitioner surrendered before the first of July 1719.

Pardon issued on 5 Sep. 1717:

“...we do hereby promise, and declare, that in Case any of the said Pyrates, shall on, or before, the 5th of September, in the Year of our Lord 1718, surrender him or themselves, to one of our Principal Secretaries of State in Great Britain or Ireland, or to any Governor or Deputy Governor of any of our Plantations beyond the Seas; every such Pyrate and Pyrates so surrendering him, or themselves, as aforesaid, shall have our gracious Pardon, of, and for such, his or their Pyracy, or Pyracies, by him or them committed, before the fifth of January next ensuing [January 1718].”

Pardon arriving at James River VA on or about 21 Dec. 1718:

“We do hereby Promise and Declare, That in case any the said Pirates shall, on or before the First Day of July, in the Year of Our Lord One thousand seven hundred and nineteen, Surrender him or themselves to One of Our Principal Secretaries of State in Great Britain or Ireland, or to any Governors or Deputy-Governors of any of Our Plantations or dominions beyond the Seas, every such Pirate and Pirates, so Surrendering him or themselves, as aforesaid, shall have Our Gracious Pardon of and for such his or their Piracy or Piracies, by him or them Committed before such time as they shall have received Notice of this Our Royal Proclamation.”

More to come in a subsequent post.

Kevin Duffus

The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate

"Did the name 'Blackbeard' ever appear before The General History of the Pirates?"

Yes, the name "Blackbeard" was featured in the letters of Gov. Robert Johnson of SC (Charleston, June 18, 1718), Capt. Ellis Brand (James River, VA, Feb. 6, 1718/19), and Capt. Gordon (London, Sep. 14, 1721).

I am writing a detailed response to Foxe's review which will post later this week.

Kevin Duffus

author, The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate

Call me during business hours EDT, M-F, at 800-647-3536 to order one and I'll sign it for you. The 2nd printing of the hardcover is nearly gone. Softcover is coming soon.

Kevin

Yeah, the problem sometimes with media reviews is that they rarely read the book. The captions says that I claim that Black Beard was born in North Carolina. Never have I made that statement. Although, I believe that Bristol is an even less likely birthplace.

Kevin Duffus

Oddly though, it seems to be one of those ridiculous arguments that never goes away.

Why is it a ridiculous argument? I believe that the question of the variations of the spelling and pronunciations of Teach/Thatch have been insufficiently explored by historians. Too much of the Blackbeard story, especially derived from Johnson and his faithful, has been unchallenged or accepted on face value.

Captscurvy, you may be referring to Edward Moseley's 1733 map of NC, which has sailing instructions for entering Ocracoke Inlet and refers to "Thatch's Hole," the anchorage near the old watering place now known as Springer's Point.

Are we playing a game of "gotcha?"

Yes, of course you are correct. I was in error to write "never." In his letter of June 18, 1718 to the Council for Trade and Plantations SC Gov. Robert Johnson refers to him as "Teach." So does Maynard in his letter to Lt. Symonds (although I've not looked at the original spelling from that source). However, the great majority of the times the name was spelled in the original documents of Capt. Brand, Capt. Gordon, Lt. Gov. Spotswood, the minutes of the Governor's Council in NC, the depositions of the Virginia trials forwarded to North Carolina, and in Col. Thomas Pollock's correspondence to Gov. Eden, the named was spelled alternatively as Thatch, Tach, Thach etc. Of course, many of these documents were likely dictated to a clerk. In fact, within one of Spotswood's letters the name was spelled four different ways, but not once as "Teach." Discussions I have had with well-respected linguists here in NC have supported my hypothesis that in 1718, the spellings of "Thatch" and "Teach" would have been pronounced somewhat similarly.

Or, just possibly, Thatch (the most commonly spelled form of his name in the letters of Capt. Brand, Capt. Gordon and Lt. Maynard--never was it "Teach," although the two spellings may have been pronounced similarly) may have had other reasons to exhibit paternalistic tendencies toward Bonnet. An alternate hypothesis based on compelling evidence, albeit circumstantial, suggests that there had been a connection between Thatch's family and Stede Bonnet's uncle on Barbados, Thomas Bonnet, Jr., who died in 1678. Furthermore, there seems to be a high incidence of surnames of men on the King's warrant for pirates captured or killed with Thatch which appear in the early records of Barbados. Purely coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.

As for whether Thatch would have simply killed Bonnet rather than accommodate Bonnet's ineptitude and eccentricities, it would have been a rather uncharacteristic and risky method of dispatching him. There are examples of one pirate captain taking another's vessel and sending the weaker captain and his comrades skulking away in a small boat. Jennings treated Hornigold in just such a manner.

Kevin DuffusThe Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate

Just for fun, you might enjoy reading this: "Hunting ghosts on Springer’s Point at Ocracoke" here-

http://www.islandfreepress.org/Archives/2007.10.24-HuntingGhosts.html

Washington Daily News (NC)

Salter hearing set for end of month

Sermons to preside over case

By BETTY MITCHELL GRAY

Staff Writer

Published: Saturday, November 7, 2009 2:19 AM EST

Beaufort County’s newest Superior Court judge is scheduled to play a role this month in deciding the future resting place of the remains of a man believed to have been a member of Blackbeard’s pirate crew.

A hearing has been scheduled for Monday, Nov. 30, in Beaufort County Superior Court before Superior Court Judge Wayland J. Sermons Jr. to determine whether the estate of Edward Salter, who has been dead for more than 250 years, should be opened and a Raleigh researcher be appointed executor of the estate.

In addition to being Beaufort County’s newest judge, Sermons owns a home in Bath, also believed to be the home of the man whose estate will be before the court. And until his appointment to the bench, Sermons served as the attorney for the Town of Bath.

The hearing was scheduled after Waxhaw lawyer J. Erik Groves appealed the May ruling by Beaufort County Clerk of Court Marty Paramore denying the request to reopen Salter’s estate and appoint Raleigh researcher and author Kevin P. Duffus its executor.

Groves and Assistant Attorney General Karen A. Blum, representing the state in the dispute, refused to comment on the case.

According to court documents, Duffus wants to be Salter’s executor, in part, so that genetic testing can be done by East Carolina University on the skeletal remains, which are currently housed by the Office of State Archaeology in Raleigh and which he believes to be those of Salter.

Duffus believes that this same Edward Salter, a barrel maker who died in 1735, may have been a member of Blackbeard’s pirate crew who escaped the noose and returned to settle in Bath. Salter went on to become a warden of St. Thomas Parish and an assemblyman representing Beaufort County in 1731.

The bones of the man Duffus believes to be Salter ended up in Raleigh after what was then TexasGulf asked for permission to install a bulkhead on the west bank of Bath Creek. Archeological examinations before the work was done yielded the remains.

A later forensic examination by researchers at Wake Forest University showed that the individual was right handed, with “the right ulna being more robust than the left.” The skeleton was that of a man who had “significant and pronounced strength in the arms and upper body rather than the legs,” according to court filings. Duffus has speculated that these findings are consistent with those of a man who had worked as a barrel maker.

In its filings, the state opposes Duffus’ petition, saying it has a duty to conserve the remains permanently.

Lawyers for the state argue that Duffus’ “mere speculation” about the identity of the bones is not sufficient to reopen Salter’s estate and that, if the bones prove not to be those of Salter, the state would have no means of regaining custody of them and would lose a valuable archeological asset.

The state also maintains that the Unmarked Human Burial and Human Skeletal Remains Protection Act gives the state archeologist purview over the bones and that they should be “permanently curated according to standard museum procedures after adequate skeletal analysis.”

In May, a hearing was held before Paramore to consider a motion to reopen Salter’s estate and name Duffus executor of the estate. Two of Salter’s descendants came from Missouri for the hearing to back Duffus’ motion but the petition was later denied.

In October, the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution asking for genetic testing of the skeletal remains and, if the tests determine the remains are those of Salter, the resolution seeks “the prompt and respectful return” of the remains from the N.C. Office of State Archeology to Beaufort County so they can be buried in the St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Bath.

The Washington City Council is set to adopt a similar resolution at its meeting Monday night.