the last days of black beard

[Dutchman]

kevid duffus just released his new book. anyone have a chance to take a peek yet. i'll be reading it this weekend and can't wait to talk to him at the blackbeard festival. the highlights are ed baerd may have been a carolina native and explains this possiblility through land deeds and birth/death/marriage certificates. he also has a section on the women in his life.

As with any historical work 200 years later, we all have to take it at face value. but it certainly does make you think a little differently.

[Captain Jim-sib]

Me model of BB's sloop Adventure be in tha book. A profile view it be. T'would be better at an angled shot so that the topsail would had been

viewed more clearly.

[Dutchman]

ah thats one of yours. i drooled a bit, sorry.

good sir, we have a project going on in these waters and i'm interested in how she came to be. can you shed some light on the background of that beautiful piece.

[Captain Jim-sib]

The piece is based on research findings which indicate that the Adventure was a Bermuda Sloop. Some researchers claim that be twas

a Jamacian sloop...which only varies, basically, on the the length on deck. The Bermuda twas a bit longer. In Howard Chappelle's book, The Search for Speed Under Sail, there are plans for the Bermuda Sloop. The model is classified as semi-scratch built, since belay pins, guns, & deadeyes come from a manufacturer. Not many modelers take the time to make such items. For a better picture, please refer to the below link:

http://www.carolinasib.com/images/Frame.ph...lackbeard's ADVENTURE&price=CALL

What be yer project? Will you be making it down to the Pirate Camp at the Charleston Harbor Festival this weekend ? Twill be there meself.

[Dutchman]

unfortunately, planning for the blackbeard festival prevents me from travelling this weekend, but a few of the crew will be there.

visit the nonprofit leg of our crew at colonialseaport.org and go to the projects page. i believe you will be interested.

i knew Adventure was a bermuda sloop- i was wondering if/ hoping that you had found a missing link somewhere. We were contacted last month by a group in carolina about a similar project. any idea who they might be?

[Capt. Sterling]

kevid duffus just released his new book. anyone have a chance to take a peek yet. i'll be reading it this weekend and can't wait to talk to him at the blackbeard festival. the highlights are ed baerd may have been a carolina native and explains this possiblility through land deeds and birth/death/marriage certificates. he also has a section on the women in his life.

As with any historical work 200 years later, we all have to take it at face value. but it certainly does make you think a little differently.

Is this the fellow that will be giving the talk Thursday evening?

[Dutchman]

indeed it is.

[Dutchman]

since there seems to be a bit of interest, and more than one or two have had a chance to read the book now- BUMP!

Carolina buccaneer and casketchris, there is a lot of amazing research that kevin dug into to find his information. Is it a sure thing? maybe not in some cases, but the way he presents it sure fills in a lot of gaps and ads an actual timeline to work from.

On page 226, a Beard Family connection is laid out and makes the connections with Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet, John Quelsh, William Howard and the crew from ocracoke. Now that must have been one heck of a web to untangle! It starts in Barbados works to Col. Daniel, Quelch family, Bonnet family, Beard family and then breaks down to the offspring and associates. There are documented branches and suspected connections- so is it absolute? No, but its a good start.

[Carolina Buccaneer]

since there seems to be a bit of interest, and more than one or two have had a chance to read the book now- BUMP!

Carolina buccaneer and casketchris, there is a lot of amazing research that kevin dug into to find his information. Is it a sure thing? maybe not in some cases, but the way he presents it sure fills in a lot of gaps and ads an actual timeline to work from.

On page 226, a Beard Family connection is laid out and makes the connections with Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet, John Quelsh, William Howard and the crew from ocracoke. Now that must have been one heck of a web to untangle! It starts in Barbados works to Col. Daniel, Quelch family, Bonnet family, Beard family and then breaks down to the offspring and associates. There are documented branches and suspected connections- so is it absolute? No, but its a good start.

I order me a copy of the book Friday, should get it this week, I thought I would have it in the mail today, not there yet, since I only live 4 hours from Wilmington, snail mail , MERCY !!

By what you have said about the book, should be interesting reading, I read your story about finding the grave of Blackbeards sister, interesting, did Kevin put any pictures of the grave site in the book ?

I would love to see that myself in person since I live in North Carolina.

I always thought Blackbeard had to have had some decendents, him being with so many women in his lifetime.

Did Kevin have any information about possible decendents ?

I thought the part I read on the web about them possibly finding one of Blackbeards shipmates skeleton in a family buriel site in the eastern part of N.C., and they have the Skeleton in Raliegh I believe, he talked about getting DNA test done on it, to prove it's the man he thinks it is, did he talk more about this in the book ?

Well, I want let you tell me everything about it, I want to read it myself, HA !!

Where's he going to be at to talk about the book you said ?

[Dutchman]

Carolina buccaneer,

Kevin has deliberately not added any pictures of the site itself.

I'm not sure about additional siblings. There only seems to be two of them and ol' Ed had no KNOWN direct descendants so the blood line goes through susannah. Of course if you follow the traditional Johnson myths- there would be no children- he killed all his wives early in the relationships.

It is entirely possible to find former shipmates. another rumor debunked is that all the crew were hanged in Williamsburg. Only four were proven hanged and atleast six others show up further down the road in probate and deeds records in virginia and north carolina. I have even seen a VERY LOOSE reference to Isreal Hands being on board and dying on another pirate vessel a couple of years after the blackbeard incident. I cannot verify the source, but it is possible- not bad for a guy shot in the knee- maybe another myth down?

I found a royal governors journal entry from march of 1719 that stated five were not hung until council could meet due to the weather. since the crew was supposedly hung before then that blows that version all to pieces. i'll find the exact quote and source tomorrow and post it for you.

I'll also see what i can't find on mother Beard. that might shed some light on the sibling issue.

[Dutchman]

The Beards seem to have been ousted from Scotland and Ireland by King George I which explains damnation to the king and "deth to Spotswood!" James (dad) ended up in Charleston and Bath. Possible brother of James, William, ended up in Barbados with apparently a few other oustees that will become figures in Edwards life later.

Edward and Susannah Beards mother is unknown, but is safe to say she died before James, her husband, before 1711. there were no other known siblings. Susannah and her husband Martin inherited the 600 acres that we visited.

[Carolina Buccaneer]

The Beards seem to have been ousted from Scotland and Ireland by King George I which explains damnation to the king and "deth to Spotswood!" James (dad) ended up in Charleston and Bath. Possible brother of James, William, ended up in Barbados with apparently a few other oustees that will become figures in Edwards life later.

Edward and Susannah Beards mother is unknown, but is safe to say she died before James, her husband, before 1711. there were no other known siblings. Susannah and her husband Martin inherited the 600 acres that we visited.

At last !!

I got the book in the mail today !

Ah , got some good reading I do .

I just looked thru the book before starting to read it, but it say's Blackbeards flag was a death head and not the design we are so use to, with the devil skeleton and hour glass and bleeding heart.

I've read this before on another Pirate forum by a man named Foxe, he has his own website about the true designs on diffrent Pirate flags.

He say's alot of them were made up later and wasn't the real flag design.

What's your thoughts on this ?

[Dutchman]

This excludes national flags used as a ruse.

i'm up in the air on flags. Lets look at it this way. If you hold a bunch of naval rank flags up next to each other and stand back say 200 yards can you tell what is on it? So if a ship is closing in on me and flying some snot rag from the rigging am i really going to pay close enough attention to it to see what it is or am i going to be more concerned about the big pieces of belching iron looking at me? so how can all of the flags with scull and crossbones be identified? I don't think very likely- not IMPOSSIBLE- just unlikely. I'm not going to care if it has a spear or a fishing rod on it- i'm getting out of its way!

I have seen pictures of two asian examples and i believe there is one in the museum in fla. The two asian ones are beautiful (search for the barbossa flag thread i started a while back) the one in fla is black with a scull i believe.

Someone help me out here. I believe there are two wood carvings or drawings of blackbeard with ships in the background- both have the st georges flags. one is a single, the other is three above each other. However as i recall, those were done post blackbeard/GAOP. so no valid credit there either.

[Capt. Sterling]

If you go to Foxe's webpage, I believe he has some interesting words about the flags...Flags

[Dutchman]

thanks sterling, had not run across foxs flag work yet. so there ya have it. a bit of both with some out of context.

[Salty]

been slowly working my way through the book, in that non exsitent free time

[Captain Jim-sib]

A review of Duffus' book by David Moore of the NCMM

Kevin P. Duffus. The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate: Within Every Legend Lies a Grain of Truth. Raleigh, N.C.: Looking Glass Productions, Inc., 2008. 239 pages; maps, limited notes, bibliography, and index. US $24.95, cloth; ISBN 1888285230.

The author of this book on Blackbeard is a journalist, not a historian, which is glaringly apparent throughout the book. The overall thesis of the book is nothing new; it is based on the research of genealogists John Oden, Jane Bailey, and Allen Norris, published in 2002 as “Legends of Black Beard and His Ties to Bath Town: A Study of Historical Events Using Genealogical Methodology” in the North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal. This original research, containing numerous suppositions and assumptions, provided the somewhat historically shaky foundation upon which Kevin Duffus constructed his book. The cornerstone of both studies is that one James Beard, an early resident of Bath, North Carolina had a son, whose name, unfortunately, remains unknown. The book postulates that this son’s name was Edward and he would become the infamous and notorious pirate captain “Black” Beard—therefore not named Edward Thatch or Teach, as historical documents have informed us for almost three centuries. Unfortunately, very little of the evidence presented supports such a claim, a situation readily (and interestingly) admitted by the author on several occasions.

David D. Moore

North Carolina Maritime Museum

Perhaps a debate between David Moore & Kevin Duffus is in order.

Edited October 15, 2008 by Captain Jim-sib

[Capn Bob]

I'm looking to order this book at the end of the month, depending on various reader reviews...the which I look forward to seeing here.

I'm particularly interested to see if there's anything at all regarding a certain Joseph Curtice in the book, who reputedly fell in defense of his captain, ship, and piracy in the battle off Ocracoke. Yes, I'm wondering if there's any relationship, however slender, between him and my family. Well, my father's side of it, anyway.

[Dutchman]

David Moore is one of the museums archivist of the Queen Anne artifacts and the two times i've spoken with him seems quite nice. The conversations revolved around the Queen Annes Revenge and not Black Beard per se. actually, Kevins book had not come out yet, so there was no issue. I think Mr Moore might have a bit at stake since the museums display is mostly based on the traditional story- might cost some pennies to re-do it eh??

I do wonder how he reviews Johnsons works??? If this is the sole basis for his history of blackbeard.....

Lets face it, none of us were there in 1718 and most folks have a biased opinion of history based on 290 years of traditional story. I would lay a lot of merit towards Kevins works and as he says this is a best educated guess in some aspects, but he does bring a lot of new information to light.

[Fox]

Let me state first that I have not read the book, but this is not the first time I have heard this hypothesis.

It is highly unlikely that David Moore's negative review of the book has anything to do with the expense of redesigning the NCMM's display. Speaking from experience most dedicated museum staff are only to pleased to consider new theories, particularly if they might bump up visitor numbers, but only if they have any serious merit. If Moore was unable to give a good review it was because he genuinely felt that it was not a good book.

I am also highly intrigued as to what makes you think that Moore's only other source of evidence regarding Blackbeard's piracy is Johnson? To realise the error of this statement one need only look at THIS PAGE, and THIS PAGE from the same site. Further information from a wide variety of sources can be found in these easily accessible books: Blackbeard the Pirate, by Robert E. Lee; Blackbeard, by Angus Konstam.

I'd be interested to know too what actual evidence Duffus provides to support his claim that the unnamed son of Mr Beard became a pirate, and what actual evidence he presents that that pirate was Blackbeard? For without any evidence beyond supposition it's just, well, let's face it, a pretty story.

[blackjohn]

David Moore is one of the museums archivist of the Queen Anne artifacts and the two times i've spoken with him seems quite nice. The conversations revolved around the Queen Annes Revenge and not Black Beard per se. actually, Kevins book had not come out yet, so there was no issue. I think Mr Moore might have a bit at stake since the museums display is mostly based on the traditional story- might cost some pennies to re-do it eh??

I do wonder how he reviews Johnsons works??? If this is the sole basis for his history of blackbeard.....

Lets face it, none of us were there in 1718 and most folks have a biased opinion of history based on 290 years of traditional story. I would lay a lot of merit towards Kevins works and as he says this is a best educated guess in some aspects, but he does bring a lot of new information to light.

I don't know Mr Moore personally, but I do personally know (and have worked with) some of his associates in the maritime archaeology field. These people are genuinely interested in facts. They are willing to entertain new ideas, but they less willing to entertain ideas based on pure supposition. If you want to impress them, you have to show rock-hard evidence that supports your claims.

[Dutchman]

unfortunately, a lot about blackbeard is a pretty story. again, none of us were there. Johnsons tales often do not add up and infact contradict some of both maynard and brands descriptions of the events. Where did Johnson get his information? Other authors have used Johnsons works and present them as facts. Foxe, I stand corrected on the "only source" comment, twas late and it did not come out as intended. lets try as a primary source instead and as noted above, there are discrpencies.

Noone has a complete story and never will, but to base 290 years of spotty government (land deeds, wills, some court documents) records Kevin has been able to fill in some timeline gaps and readily admits that there are speculative connections. If we take Blackbeard the Pirate, Blackbeard, and The Last Days of Black Beard and lay them side by side we will have three separate views. Some based on fact, some on folklore out of all three. for a critic to completely dismiss kevins work is a shame.

Blackjohn and foxe, have either of you talked with kevin? send him an email, keep an open mind and see what he has to say.

[LookingGlass]

This is in response to the posting, since amended, of David Moore's review of my book, The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate: Within Every Legend Lies a Grain of Truth.

First, let me make it clear that I cannot prove that Captain James Beard’s son was Edward “Black” Beard. Neither can the state of North Carolina and its staff, including Mr. David Moore, prove that the shipwreck remains found near Beaufort Inlet are those of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. They can tell you that they have found an overwhelming number of artifacts that, considered as a body of evidence, supports their hypothesis (supposition, if you prefer) that the shipwreck is the QAR. They can also claim that they have found nothing that disproves their QAR hypothesis. I believe them.

Similarly, I have collected what I confidently feel is a preponderance of information and circumstantial evidence from primary sources, including letters, wills, deeds, depositions, that, considered as a body of research, supports the hypothesis that Black Beard was the son of Captain James Beard of Bath, Charleston and Barbados. I have yet to find anything in the archives that disproves the Edward “Black” Beard hypothesis. No Black Beard “expert” has done so either. When compared to Charles Johnson’s scant, seven unsupported words, which for 280 years have formed the basis of historian’s notions of the pirate’s heritage--“Edward Thatch was a Bristol man born”--the Beard surname hypothesis certainly deserves objective consideration and study, which it has not received from traditional scholars like Mr. Moore. Often, their dismissal of new interpretations is based on the scholarly historian’s conviction that if “we hadn’t known about it by now (Black Beard’s prior relationship to North Carolina, for example) then it must not be valid.” David Moore said as much in an interview about my research in the Raleigh News & Observer: "I find it extremely hard to believe if there was an association we wouldn't know it now."

Nevertheless, despite the fact that the Black Beard story has been churned countless times over the past three centuries, historians, scholars and Black Beard “experts” have failed to discover, or recognize, a number of important contradictions to the traditional history which I carefully outline in my book. One such historical fact which has eluded history concerns how Lt. Maynard approached Ocracoke Inlet on the eve of his battle with Black Beard from the west and Pamlico Sound, not from the east via the Atlantic Ocean. It made a tremendous difference as to how Black Beard perceived the King’s sailors’ identity and intentions and it cost him his life. Another new fact I found proves that contrary to the writing of Robert Lee, Angus Konstam and Colin Woodard, Capt. Brand did not enter North Carolina with a militia or mounted force of arms of any kind. Brand was described in a letter by Capt. Gordon as having entered NC as “a single gentleman in the company of his servant.” For some reason, Moore chose not to recognize the preceding new facts in my book. And if these documented facts have eluded Black Beard historians, what else may have slipped past them?

By utilizing phrases such as “mish-mash of limited historical facts,” “too outlandish to be taken seriously,” and “numerous mistakes of historical fact, far too many to discuss completely here,” Moore’s review could easily be construed as a mean-spirited personal attack, especially when some criticized references are unfairly presented out of context. For example, when Moore writes that “numerous mistakes may be attributable to sloppy scholarship and research” he uses as evidence how I wrote that Reverend John Urmstone “vanished” in 1721 after being convicted of public drunkenness. Urmstone did vanish. But Moore criticized my omission that Urmstone was “burned to death” in North Carolina in 1732, according to Society for the Propagation of the Gospel records. I wrote nothing of Urmstone’s return to NC or death because it had nothing to do with the story.

To his credit, Moore successfully nitpicked my minor misstatements about the status of Isaac Freeman or the existence of Sebastian Inlet (used only as a geographic reference), and the ambiguously perceived dividing line between North and South Carolina. However, when citing my interpretation of the shooting of Israel Hands by Black Beard, Moore writes that I stated Hands was shot with “a mini ball at point-blank range,” but then Moore explains that the mini ball was “not developed until the 1840s.” If he read more carefully (or reviewed more honestly), he would have known that I expressly stated that Hands could only have been shot with a powder charge, otherwise Hands would have probably died of his wound. Had the shooting occurred, I imagine Hands’s contusion would have healed well enough for him to depart Virginia as an able seaman 4 months later. Moore also chose to ignore my qualifying sentence: “Some of the details of the story may be true.”

Other Moore misrepresentations concern my analysis of the relative strength of Black Beard’s force at its peak as being an equal to any of the King’s ships in the western Atlantic. I never suggested that Black Beard’s 4 ships and 70 guns could, at one time, take on all of the King’s vessels stationed in the colonies.

As for the identity of William Howard and his ownership of Ocracoke Island later in his life, Moore writes that “a genealogical study by a Howard family member concludes that their ancestor William’s age does not reliably correspond with that of the pirate quartermaster.” He might want to check with that Howard family member again. I found a reliable source (Hugh Williamson, A History of North Carolina, 1812), albeit a secondary one, reporting that William Howard died on Ocracoke in 1794 at the age of 108, making him about 32 years old in 1718, and, as a result, the Howard family of Ocracoke have since amended their family genealogies.

Moore takes issue with my opinion that Robert Lee’s writing was “irresponsible and does a disservice to future generations of readers,” as if I directed the comment to Lee’s entire book. More precisely, I was referring directly to Lee’s statement that, after arriving at Bath, Black Beard “converted the sloop Adventure into a yacht” and sailed the quiet inland waters and sometimes the ocean waters to break the tedium. Why would Moore not agree with that?

Strangely, Moore disregarded the likelihood that all of the pirates captured alive at Bath were most likely pardoned, after their trial and conviction. I explain why quite clearly in my book with a close examination of the wording of the King’s pardons. Would Moore care to venture a guess as to why Lt. Gov. Spotswood wrote on February 14, 1719, that the pirates had by then “been brought hither and tried,” nearly a month sooner than described in books by Lee, Konstam and Woodard, or that a number of the pirates’ names appeared in the Bath records as witnesses to legal transactions years after their “hangings?” Why did Gov. Eden’s legal advisor Thomas Pollock write that the pirates should not be taken to Virginia in the first place because “the persons being inhabitants of this government ought to be tried here?”

I assume that since Moore charitably stated that my errors of historical fact were “far too many to discuss completely,” that he chose the most significant ones to highlight in his review. It does not seem that his choices were particularly significant and not always valid. Moore mentions the “scarcity of source citations” which raises “questions about the accuracy and validity of the research and lessens the value of the book as a legitimate research tool.” The book is obviously and intentionally designed to not be a “scholarly” work. Enough of those have been published in recent years. Maybe Moore should take a close look at one of the other scholarly books and see how many errors he can find.

So, I suppose the unanswered question is, why does Mr. Moore feel it is necessary to discredit me, my book and body of research? Some readers of his review have found it to be “unfair and cruel,” “harsh,” and “angry.” Why does he not identify a single contribution I may have made to the understanding of Black Beard’s last days? By overlooking dozens of my logical interpretations and hypotheses of the Black Beard story, Moore’s review is plainly a blatant and sweeping effort to discredit me and my book. But why? Could it mean that his long-awaited book about Black Beard is on the horizon? Could the impending Dreamworks film production on Black Beard have a consultant role for the reviewer of the book which contradicts many of the traditional notions of Black Beard’s identity and origins and those of his surviving shipmates?

As for a fair and less angry review of The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate, I offer you a sample of what the widely respected Christine Lampe had to say in the recent issue of No Quarter Given:

"With the sharp eye of a detective and analytical mind of a scientist, he uncovers many long forgotten details, and comes to some very interesting conclusions. He manages to take the puzzle pieces that legends and previous historians have placed into ill-fitting spots, and move them to new positions that seem to fit much better. Not only does he disprove many of the legends & stories, but he brings a lot of new information to light. Learn of the true fate of Blackbeard’s crew as revealed in the logbooks of the Lyme and the Pearl (they weren’t all hanged as previously thought). Find out where one of the crewmembers was buried. Learn why three more weeks would have made a huge difference in Blackbeard’s life. Did he have a sister named Susannah? What was his purpose in going on a secret trip to Philadelphia? Why should the archpyrate’s name be written as 'Black Beard?'

In his new book, Kevin Duffus has managed to take a lot of old puzzle pieces, and put them in their correct spots. He has also uncovered many new jigsaw pieces. Looking at the partially solved puzzle, it is a lot easier now to make out the image of Blackbeard. While I am not convinced about all of Kevin Duffus’ conclusions, I do highly recommend this book to everyone interested in the 'Devil of the Sea.'"

Kevin Duffus

Looking Glass Productions, Inc.

Raleigh, NC

Edited October 17, 2008 by LookingGlass

[Fox]

Welcome aboard!

Given that your book does not yet appear to be available in the UK are you able here to detail the evidence of a link between the Beard family and Blackbeard the pirate?

[Matusalem]

Everyone talks of Blackbeard but no one says much about the squabbling between Governor Eden, who had a vested interest in Blackbeard, and Va. Governor Spotswoode & his boy Maynard.

Edited October 22, 2008 by Matusalem