Blackbeard in Philadelphia?

Quest for Blackbeard: The True Story of Edward Thache and His World attempts to right the wrongs of many past historians and authors, amateur and professional. One of those wrongs is warping the conservative war veteran Edward "Blackbeard" Thache into a virtual comic character, notorious and villainous, a "swaggering merciless brute," as Hugh Rankin called him, based upon simply the acts - as assumed by everyone but Thache, I might add - of the last two years of his life. But, in doing so, we tend to hide from our past and our true natures as citizens of a true "Pirate Nation."

Hiding from ourselves created modern America and destroyed the reputations of gentlemen like Edward Thache. Especially by the latter nineteenth century, a lot of our rhetoric was aimed against our former heroes – privateers and pirates - misunderstood founders of what "Capt. Charles Johnson" or Jacobite newspaper publisher Nathaniel Mist referred to as the "Commonwealth of Pyrates," or America. Still, holding pirates closely to our breasts, turn-of-the-century claims of a local origin for Blackbeard, in the United States, as opposed to Jamaica, appear greatly embellished – ahistorical, but sometimes directly covert.

Why? It seems that, in the latter nineteenth century, once the United States began to assert its own dominance and identity apart from England, Blackbeard became less of an historical figure and more of an ephemeral abstract object, about whom anything could be spoken or invented.

America "adopted" Blackbeard the Pirate! We liked the pirate... and probably his methods!

These literary inventions first appeared in 1844 in a book on Philadelphia – not his actual home of Jamaica – a book relying strongly on hearsay that incurred much damage to Edward Thache’s reputation, while also popularizing him as a local villain – perhaps to avoid the inevitable comparison to capitalists of the era, whose own methods were not so dissimilar.

John F. Watson, in writing the Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania in 1844, first claimed Blackbeard to be a member of a family in North America rather than Jamaica in the West Indies. Watson pulled his information from an informant who told him that he knew the family and that “Captain Drummond was a half-crazed man, under high excitements, by his losses and imprisonment by the French.”  This account gave great detail about being a privateersman out of Liverpool (not Bristol?) – even mentioned a doctor who served with him. Drummond supposedly had been the wild son of Gov. William Drummond, first governor of North Carolina, and was later executed by the governor of Virginia, which invited speculation upon local politics as a factor. Watson’s early work planted a seed: that Blackbeard was not from Bristol or Jamaica, but Virginia and/or North Carolina.

This seed grew through the years, with ex-Confederate Thomas T. Upshur’s twilight-year genealogical theories of an Accomack County, Virginia family of Teaches. It continued through many local theories to Robert E. Lee’s mid-twentieth-century version, until the present day with other local North Carolina-biased work. They all repeated and enhanced the demonized version of Johnson’s “villainous” Blackbeard while also oddly claiming him as one of their own. But, why? Why did demonization of pirates become so popular at this time as opposed to earlier? Was it simply entertainment to the masses or was it more broad – cultural in context? And, why love the demon so much?

Still, Philadelphia held the first and most "supportable" fascination over Blackbeard and it has spawned many a "midnight theory" of notoriety by centuries of authors. Thache and his semi-pirate acquaintance Stede Bonnet visited the Delaware Capes around October - November 1717. A local Pennsylvania councilman named James Logan, and/or his fellow councilman Jonathan Dickinson, apparently remembered Edward Thache when he was the mate of a brigantine from Jamaica who had recently visited their port. Logan wrote about his experience in his peculiar early eighteenth-century literary style:

Some of our Mastrs. Say, they knew almost every man aboard, most of them having been lately in this River [-] their Comandr. is one Teach who was here a Mate from Jamca. [Jamaica], about 2 yrs. agoe...

Note this phrase "Mate from Jamca." The Boston News-Letter, Thursday, Nov 11, 1717, Boston, MA, Issue: 708, on page 2 shows:

Note here the phrase "formerly Sail'd Mate out of this Port." It sounds similar to the James Logan quote above and I believe it was bastardized from his letter. The intent was probably "sailed mate of a Jamaican brigantine out of this port." Newspapers of the day were notoriously unreliable in this respect. But, that does not stop the many authors who would dearly love to have the notorious and villainous comic character as "one of their own."

It's my opinion that Blackbeard never lived in Philadelphia or on the American mainland - in any part of the current United States. He visited that port of Philadelphia about the year 1715 while serving as a "Mate" on a Jamaican brigantine, certainly. He may have remained for a few weeks, maybe a month, as he and the crew exchanged cargoes. This was routine for most mariners and their vessels. But, then he sailed back to his home in Jamaica.

I apologize to all Americans for dashing their "piratish" hopes!

-----------------------------

BLACKBEARD: 300 YEARS OF FAKE NEWS.
from BBC Radio Bristol
300 years ago on Thursday - 22 November 1718 - Bristol born Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard, the most famous pirate in the history of the world), was killed in a violent battle off the coast of North America. And after 300 years we can finally separate the truth from the myth. You can hear the whole story this Thursday at 9am in a one off BBC Radio Bristol special: BLACKBEARD: 300 YEARS OF FAKE NEWS. With new research by Baylus C. Brooks (found in Quest for Blackbeard: The True Story of Edward Thache and His World), narrated by Bristol born Kevin McNally - Joshamee Gibbs in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, and produced by Tom Ryan and Sheila Hannon this is a very different Blackbeard from the one in the story books...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06s6zfx

You can hear it at https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_radio_bristol

Author Spotlight

#Blackbeard #pirate #twitterstorians


Also:

Three Centuries After His Beheading, a Kinder, Gentler Blackbeard Emerges - Smithsonian Online

“The real story of Blackbeard has gone untold for centuries,” says Baylus Brooks, a Florida-based maritime historian and genealogist.

 By Andrew Lawler
smithsonian.com
November 13, 2018----------------------------

Exciting new detail, including information from French and English depositions, appears in a new book, Sailing East: West-Indian Pirates in Madagascar, now available!

Find further details at baylusbrooks.com
Author's Bookstore
Author's Amazon.com  page

Lt. Robert Maynard: Rewards of Killing a Pirate!

In my book, Murder at Ocracoke!, I discuss the mission to destroy Edward Thache, known as Blackbeard the Pirate, in the proprietary colony of North Carolina:

[Virginia's Lt. Gov. Alexander] Spotswood appeared to collude with Royal Navy forces, originally sent to guard Virginia from pirates, to murder Edward Thache in North Carolina. Capt. Ellis Brand of 20-gun sixth-rate HMS Lyme and Capt. George Gordon of 42-gun fifth-rate HMS Pearl supplied the men, including Lt. Robert Maynard of HMS Pearl to lead the expedition. Two local Virginia sloops, Ranger and Jane, were hired for this purpose and they sailed from Kiquotan on November 17, 1718 to hunt Edward Thache and kill him in North Carolina, which they accomplished five days later...

The man who killed Blackbeard the Pirate had made a name for himself through this action, particularly in the media. Still, Lt. Robert Maynard's theft of gold and other valuables, estimated from £1200 to £1400, in the amount of the sales proceeds.from the famed pirate Edward Thache, when captured and killed on November 22, 1718, hurt his career. This was not necessarily because of the crime, which the Admiralty and their lawyer Anthony Cracherode could not definitively prove, but because of further demands made, time, and expense he incurred upon the Admiralty and the media campaign that ensued - a media campaign that most certainly annoyed Secretary Josiah Burchett and his superiors.

This exploration also illustrates the value of genealogical inquiry into historical subjects, especially in light of the massive amount of documentary data that has been digitized and recently made available to online researchers.

When any Royal Navy officer captures or kills a pirate, the pirate's "booty" became the property of the king until its ownership was otherwise determined. Maynard was accused by his own captain, George Gordon, of pocketing significant amounts of that booty! Taking the money and goods not only annoyed his superiors in London, but Maynard's further demands for bounty payments for killing Thache and capturing his crew also worked against him. Furthermore, he made a media spectacle of the affair to draw attention to his desire, like wealthy pirate Richard Tookerman did to Capt. Edward Vernon.  Maynard paid for this, but not heavily - perhaps his family affiliations protected him.

Career navy officer Robert Maynard, of Great Mongeham, Kent, England, after beginning his career as an 18-year old lieutenant in 1706, died as a captain in 1751 at the age of 63. Maynard, as the grandson of Major General Thomas Handasyd (through his mother Ann; a governor of Jamaica from 1702-1711), he qualified as an officer at a time when military attainment was more due to your connections than your actual ability.

Still, Maynard only attained the rank of captain after 35 years of service. He spent the first 32 years of his navy career as a lieutenant and only then, in 1739, was promoted to commander at the age of 44. After 1739, as commander, Maynard was finally given the command of 8-gun HMS Cumberland, captured Spanish Princesa in consort with HMS Lennox, and then promoted to captain the next year, with command of 20-gun Sheerness. It was only after attaining the coveted rank of captain in 1740 that his career took off. By 1741, he improved his career quickly by commanding three 50-gun vessels, Falmouth, Sutherland, and Antelope. After attaining 80-gun Russel in 1744, he also succeeded to the captaincy of 70-gun Ipswich by 1745. This was his last command.

At the time he killed Blackbeard and while serving aboard HMS Pearl, under Capt. Gordon, he briefly enjoyed promotion from 2nd lieutenant to 1st. But, a few years later, aboard 70-gun HMS Kent, we find that he had been bucked back to 2nd.The Blackbeard incident obviously had a deleterious effect on his career, if only briefly.

According to data from the latter 18th century in an article by Professor N.A.M. Rodger of Exeter University in 2001, lieutenants in general were becoming far more numerous than commanders by 1720. So, obtaining the rank of commander, rather than captain, by the age of 40 meant less favor with the Admiralty than most, in general, of course - assuming that issues of greater wealth and family importance were insignificant on average. Also, the number of serving lieutenants, as opposed to those available, showed that merely serving on one of his Majesty's vessels was probably a indication of wealth and/or distinction - hunting pirates also gave one a better chance to collect bounty payments and was much desired by most of the crew. Still, greed of the privileged classes, theft from pirates,and other general corruption in Royal Navy officers, was not at all uncommon, as I make quite clear in my upcoming book, Sailing East: West-Indian Pirates in Madagascar. In some cases, the theft is bold enough to gather attention - not the case, however, with Robert Maynard. Excessive paperwork was far more tedious for the Admiralty. Note, however, that they may have demoted him, but did not remove Maynard from the active list!

FAMILY CONNECTIONS:

After killing the pirate, Lt. Maynard wrote a letter, allegedly dated 17 December in North Carolina, to his friend "Lt. [Richard] Symonds," 25 days after the battle telling about the capture of the famed pirate. This letter was published by the controversial Jacobite author of A General History of the Pyrates while in the midst of the Admiralty's negotiations with Robert Maynard. He also allegedly wrote a letter to his sister Margeret Peck* (1688-1776), wife of Capt. John Peck (d.1725), then living in Attleborough, Bristol County, Massachusetts.

* Note: Margaret married Capt. John Peck 1st 28 Jan 1710, St, Dunstan, Stepney, Middlesex, England – children Thomas, John, and Ann - 2nd on 11 Apr 1726 to Capt. Thomas Mitchell Jr. (1660-1741 RI); National Archives of London, “Will of Capt. Robert Maynard” (12 Oct 1750 – 28 March 1751), PROB 11/786/442.

Illustrating the apparent official disfavor for Maynard was the career of this friend Richard Symonds, a lieutenant aboard HMS Phoenix, Captain Vincent Pearse, stationed at New York in December 1718. Maynard had been a nominally-successful lieutenant for 12 years up till his killing of Blackbeard. By contrast to Maynard's long 32 years as a lowly lieutenant, Symonds had gone from lieutenant to captain in only 20 years!

April 25 1719 Weekly Journal and Saturday Evening's Post - alleged Maynard letter from Nathaniel Mist's (aka "Capt. Charles Johnson," controversial author of A General History of the Pyrates) newspaper.

Symonds also was 1st commissioned in 1706 (perhaps why and when he became friends with Robert Maynard) and became captain of sloop Shark, commissioned in 1733 for the Bahamas station (follow here: John D Grainger, 13 Sharks: The Careers of a series of small Royal Navy Ships, from the Glorious Revolution to D-Day.). An interesting note here is that, on Shark's first voyage to the Bahamas, she carried their new governor Richard FitzWilliam, replacing Bahamas' pirate liberator Woodes Rogers who had recently passed away. FitzWilliam had been a significant part of Blackbeard's story. He had defended many of Edward Thache's men against Spotswood's charges of piracy - he was rumored to have been paid from their Queen Anne's Revenge or the original La Concorde French booty: gold dust and slaves.

As the  Shark returned from her Bahamas-Carolina station to the Nore, a sandbank at the mouth of the Thames estuary off the traditional anchorage for the Admiralty at the Downs, Kent. A serious illness had struck the crew of Shark.

Capt. Symonds requested a "a surgeon and surgeon's mate" on 4 August and still had not received "surgeon's chest," apparently desperately needed on Shark at the Downs on 12 October 1739 (records in ADM 106/913 and ADM 106/842, found at National Archives in Kew Gardens). Capt. Symonds was "still awaiting his surgeon Miles Williams and has sick on board," had been ill himself since 20 September and sailed to Dover without the chest, but "his Surgeon has supplied himself with necessaries for some time." Capt. Symonds had finally achieved the captaincy of 50-gun HMS Colchester in November 1740, just after this incident and died only two months later while at Georgia. Whether this was from his recent illness we might be able to determine from a closer study of the documents at the National Archives of Great Britain. Symonds friend Capt. Robert Maynard's career had finally taken off at the time his long-time friend had died.

Will of Richard Symonds of the Parish of Saint Margaret Westminster, 24 September 1733, probated 22 January 1741.

Capt. Richard Symonds, Esq. died unmarried, in January 1741. He was then in Georgia at the time. His body would have been buried at sea. As many navy officers, he made his will in 1733 just as Shark was commissioned and he was assigned overseas. His home was then in Wolvey, Warwickshire and his executor left much evidence of his effort to settle his affairs, also in the archives.

That he had still remained associated with Robert Maynard's family is apparent in the court case of Symonds v Boothby (1740-1744; C 11/1081/35) wherein plaintiff "William White (executor of Richard Symonds deceased of Wolvey, Warwickshire), William White junior and Elizabeth Symonds, sister of Richard, also involved Maynard's nephew "John Peck" as a defendant.

Capt. Robert Maynard followed his friend a decade later. "Will of Captain Robert Maynard of the Parish of Great Mongeham in the County of Kent" mentions £500 of South Seas Annuities for his daughter-in-law Elizabeth Judson, £300 to the "Ann Widow & Relict of my late Brother Captain Thomas Maynard," his mother "Mrs. Ann [Handasyd] Maynard," £200 to "friend Mr. Thomas Gee of Holborn," £500 each to "Nephews Thomas and [Boston glazier] John Peck and to my Niece Ann...," children of his sister, "Margaret [Peck] Mitchell." The will was dated 12 October 1750. It was probated 28 March 1751. Obviously, he acquired quite the fortune in his Majesty's service - by killing pirates! At least by £1200 to £1400! 😉

Will of Captain Robert Maynard of the Parish of Great Mongeham in the County of Kent - dated 12 October 1750 and probated 28 March 1751

Stone states his death occurred in 1760. This may or may not be the memorial for the same man. Just in case, here!

Best History Craves Original Documents!

Like any government today, copies are made and transmitted to each entity in the particular discussion involved. This might be an ambassador for nation A, writing letters to nation B. There would need to be a copy of that letter for the ambassador himself, one for nation B and one for the leaders of nation A. Computers make this easy... you simply "CC" someone in an email and transmit it to everyone on the email list. Before computers, we had xerographic copies and before that, there were mimeograph copies, both variations of modern copy technology. Before the 1950s, in the mid-nineteenth century, we had photography which could function as a copy machine, for a lack of any other form of cheaper technology. 

In the early nineteenth century, Thomas Jefferson worked with a Hawkins and Peale Polygraph, a mechanical version of a copy maker in which copies were made simultaneously with the original. This device was invented in Philadelphia by Isaac Hawkins and Charles Wilson Peale, who was also famous for his early American paintings. Jefferson lamented that he did not have the device during the Revolution.

One of Jefferson's polygraphs, "Hawkins & Peale Patent Polygraph No. 57"

An example of the portable letter copying machine developed in 1795 by James Watt, Jun., similar to the one given to William Godwin by Thomas Wedgwood in November of that year. (Photograph courtesy of Heriot-Watt University Archive, Records Management, and Museum Service.)

Still, there had been a type of copier even in the late eighteenth century. Believe it or not, Scottish engineer and instrument-maker James Watt Jr. developed a type of wet-transfer copy machine as early as 1779 in London. Pamela Clemit writes:

Watt’s invention is said to have been prompted by the boredom he experienced in making scribal copies of his business correspondence. In July 1779 he wrote to Joseph Black: “I have lately discovered a method of copying [writing] instantaneously, provided it has been written [the same day] or within 24 hours, I send you a specimen [and will] Impart the secret if it will be of any use to you. [It enables] me to copy all my business letters—”

Everybody Makes Mistakes!

Clerks or scribes in the early eighteenth century did not have it so easy... assuming that you could call using Watts' messy wet machine easy. There were no forms of copy machines or technology back then. There were no cameras either. Still, clerks and scribes made many a copy in the course of their career, but these copies all had to be made by hand. They sometimes wrote their initials at the close of the document, but not always. So, we don't often know who made the copy! 

Human error easily introduced itself while using these records. Still and although they were handwritten, the original or copy of the original had to be present, which meant you could check the original with the copy - side by side with the paper it was copied upon. Still, this did not prevent all errors in copying or errors of transcription - putting the handwriting in text format. Human beings make mistakes and historians should be particularly aware of this fact.

An example of early copies appear often in my research upon pirates. There's the letter of Richard Perry to his brother Micajah in London. The second page told of it being a copy. The
deposition of Andrew Turbett and Robert Gilmore appears to be original, but it was taken in Virginia originally and the only extant version is in the Admiralty records in London. This must also be a copy. In fact, most of these remaining primary sources will be copies from the original. The only one that may be original that I have transcribed might be the Henry Timberlake deposition regarding Edward Thache's first appearance - as a pirate - in documentation and originally discovered by Arne Bialuschewski in Jamaica. Many transcribed records are available on the Pirate Reference page of my website.

One case that I've recently received involved British copies of a series of letters written between the Duke of Portland, governor of Jamaica, Capt. Joseph Laws of HMS Mermaid, J. Geronimo Badillo, governor of Panama, and the pirates of Cassandra, an East India ship that had been taken near Madagascar at the island of Anjouan (Johanna) in 1720, while under Captain James McCraigh. 

The only documentary references to this ship's surrender in the West Indies known to exist are those found in CO 137/52 at the National Archives in London. They are clearly copies, not just because the handwriting is the same on all of the folios, regardless of named author, but because some state "Coppy" at the beginning (see below). These had been formed by a scribe who probably worked for the Admiralty at 22 Whitehall Street in London. It is also possible that a Jamaican scribe had created these folios, but they are not creased as might be expected of documents sent overseas, so they are probably copies of copies sent from Jamaica from the governor there. They were also written on cheap small-sized whitish-gray paper and not viewed as anything special.

Portion of 3rd folio from Cassandra documents in CO 137/52, National Archives (London)

The pirate captain of Cassandra had been called many names throughout the various depositions, newspaper articles, and official documents. The captain was always surnamed Taylor, but his given name has run the gamut from George, John, Richard, and William. Pirate writers have always had enough trouble with name changes, but this "William" version has been particularly troublesome, mostly due not to a copy error, but rather transcription.

For the last 81 years, the Calendar of State Papers in Volume 34 (1936) shows partial transcriptions of these records, taken as official copies of primary sources, that read:

74. ii. (a) Capt. Laws to Governor the Duke of Portland. Mermaid in the Grout, 24th April, 1723. Encloses following. Has sent his Lieutenant (his brother), to perswade William Taylor and the other pirates on board the Cassandra to surrender, but thinks they will not do so without force or promise of pardon. He cannot attack the pirates, but is waiting off the lagoon where they lie. The Governor of Panama and Porto Bello have sent a sloop with an offer of pardon to the pirates, if they will come in to their port. There is not one Spaniard amongst them.

(b) Petition of pirates on board the Cassandra to the Governor of Jamaica. Island of Pines, near Caledonia [Cuba?], April 10, 1723. Ask for a grant of pardon. They were forced and deluded by others from the Isle of Providence, but since they got clear of them, have committed no acts of piracy, for a year past. Signed, Wm. Taylor, Wm. Fox, Wm. Bates. 70 British subjects, 37 foreigners.

The sole purpose of this article is to illustrate the value of reading the actual records for yourself. A good historian tries to get as close as possible to the originals, which in this case were the copies made by the Admiralty, which I ordered from London. The Calendar is usually accurate, but if you can, go further! Since 1936, when the Calendar was created, this man's name shown especially in (b) above, has been determined to be William. After all, (b) was a document signed by Capt. Taylor himself - but it was a summary and transcription from the original - a potentially faulty human being looked at it and summarized it. I suspect he looked at the list of names in (b) and wrote them down as Taylor, Fox, and Bates, all with the given name William and he didn't remember that the first name was different. 

Many pirate enthusiasts have believed his name to be John, Richard, or William (mostly because of the mis-transcription). George was only mentioned once in a deposition - perhaps by a man with a faulty memory some years after the fact. 

The actual record shows his most likely real name twice - Richard. CO 137/52, folios 1 and 6 show: 

CO 137/52, 6th folio - "Richd:" and NOT "Wm:" as it was transcribed in Calendar

CO 137/52, first folio

Copy if you must, you professional historians, but double and triple check to be sure!Your career may suffer!




------------------------------------------

Exciting new detail, including information from French and English depositions, appears in a new book, Sailing East: West-Indian Pirates in Madagascar, now available! 

Please keep up with updates on my website at baylusbrooks.com.

Meanwhile, visit my Amazon page for already published material, including Quest for Blackbeard! 

 

Edward Moseley's 1733: North Carolina's Tale of Two and a Half Maps

Major Isaac Roberdeau

A long and involved affair developed over Edward Moseley's published [meaning printed... by, in this case John Cowley of Angel-Alley without Bishopsgate in London] map of North Carolina from 1733, which was huge, an 1822 tracing of one printing of that map, also huge, and a smaller, updated manuscript version of Moseley's map made in 1737, which could easily fit in a poster frame of today.  There are various photostatic copies of all shapes and sizes running about, too.

Answering the first question on my mind was not as easy as it first appeared when I investigated the many copies (seven in all) of Moseley's map available at the North Carolina State Archives. 

These were all photostats.  There are seven that were made at some time from original published versions of Edward Moseley's engraved map of 1733.  Three of these are from a tracing of Moseley's map made September 5, 1822 by Major Isaac Roberdeau, Chief of the recently-formed (1818) Topographical Bureau of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  Isaac, the son of Revolutionary War General Daniel Roberdeau is best known for his association with Peter Charles L'Enfant in surveying the new capital city of Washington, DC.  The others are copies of a map held by a wealthy businessman who kept a winter home in South Carolina.  The photostatic copy made from this map was held after 1937 and before 1966 by the University of South Carolina. This copy was lost... so, of course, was the original.

The Roberdeau tracing intrigued me because we knew so little about it.  The question was, of course, about Roberdeau's involvement with an original copy of the 1733 Moseley map.  It surprisingly evolved into a hunt for the provenance of ECU's copy of the same map because its provenance was tied intimately with how Roberdeau obtained access to the copy of the map that he traced... as I think, the ECU copy, which I also think was Moseley's personal copy.

Presumably, Roberdeau made his tracing from an original copy that the United States was  not able to simply purchase... perhaps the owner would not part with it.  Or, he could have gone to England, as some have suggested and traced one of their two copies, but it's not as likely.  

Most likely, Roberdeau did not use either of the two copies available in England because only one member of the Bureau left for England during this time and he was to purchase special surveying instruments.  Roberdeau made the tracing, so Roberdeau had to be where the map was and he was not the one who procured the instruments.  Also, getting Congress to pay for two men to tour England on our recently-invaded country's dime was probably asking way too much.   

Presumably, this original was available to Roberdeau either in Washington, where he began his residence in August 1818 or at the home of its owner in 1822.  Assuming the latter, he would have had to be at the map's home at the time and, hopefully, there would be some reference to show this.  So, where was this location?  Most likely, it was in Edenton, where a published Moseley map of 1733 original was known to exist 30 years later with Hugh Williamson Collins (1812-1854).  By chance, Roberdeau may have had that opportunity...

1822 tracing of Moseley Map of 1733 by Major Isaac Roberdeau of the Topographical Bureau, U.S.Army Corps of Engineers. (original: "H 47 Roll" 57 x 45 inches, U.S. War Department), held by Library of Congress, lately lost - photostatic copy at NC Archives in Raleigh.

Bottom right cartouche on the Topographical Bureau's tracing of the Moseley Map of 1733 including Major Isaac Roberdeau's signature and the date September 5, 1822.

About the original Moseley maps of 1733 known to be in America... 

Professor Ralph Scott of East Carolina University presented a paper in 1991 detailing the provenance of "Plausible" Moseley's [this was the nickname that William Byrd II gave Moseley in 1728 as they surveyed the Virginia-NC line together] published map copies in the United States.  His concern was to establish the origin of the Graham copy hanging on the wall of Joyner's Special Collections Library at East Carolina University.  This copy was recently found (1982) in an attic of the Graham family home, the "Wessington" mansion in Edenton (see below):

Wessington mansion in Edenton, NC. Photo by Baylus C. Brooks (July 21, 2014).

Henry P. "Harry" Kendall, ca. 1925

Scott then presumed only two copies have come here, one with Gov. Arthur Dobbs when he arrived from London in 1755, the other bought by map collector Henry Plimpton Kendall (inventor of Curad Bandages, friend of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and chair of the Business Advisory Council under FDR) in 1937.  

Kendall probably obtained his copy late, perhaps overseas.  He had toured England in 1910 with his mother, Clara, sailing from Liverpool on the Zeeland back to Boston, Mass.  Later, Kendall left Boston to visit Brown, Shipley & Company manufactures (on Pall Mall in London) on the Cunard Steamship Samaria in September 1925.  He visited again two months later on the Cunard ship Alaunia to visit another manufacturer on Gibraltar Row.   In 1930, he held a map exposition in which he exhibited numerous maps of North Carolina.  Conspicuously absent from this exhibition was the alleged 1937 purchase of Moseley's 1733.  He visited France in 1931, according to ship passenger records, of which there are many Henry Kendalls leaving from either Boston or New York in the 1920s and 30s and visiting many localities, mostly in England.  Many of those travelers were likely this "Henry P. Kendall."  

Comparison between digital copies of both the Kendall copy and the Graham copy now held by ECU.  A line is missing between the "n" and "d" of the word "and" on the ECU copy but appears on the Kendall.  The "K" and first half of the "e" in "Keeauwees"is partly missing on the Kendall copy, but appears on today's ECU copy ... since ink does not miraculously re-appear, the maps are different copies. 

Kendall apparently saw a map during one of his many trips to England concerning North Carolina that he had never seen before and simply had to have it for his collection.  He could have seen it in a curio shop in Charing Cross or maybe a map collector that he met did not mind parting with a map of faraway America.  

Most likely, Kendall purchased this map and brought it back to his winter home in South Carolina, where he then photographed it and shared copies with map enthusiasts and the University of South Carolina before storing it at his estate.  He probably never knew that another version existed in America...

The interesting part is that Moseley maps keep disappearing... Kendall's original copy was not in his papers when he died in 1959 and the photostatic copy that he had made for University of South Carolina (and map enthusiast [author of Southeast in Early Maps (1958)] and English professor William P. Cumming) had disappeared from the University of South Carolina's archives.  In 1966, they borrowed a copy of the copy that the North Carolina State Archives had made earlier.  So, thankfully, we still know what Kendall's copy looked like... and, it was in pretty good shape, actually!  It had some inking variations, however, that distinguish it from the Graham copy (see comparison photos above). 

William P. Cumming’s collection of maps were generously donated to the E.H. Little Library of Davidson College, and include forty-eight maps with special interest in the early Southeastern United States - Harris, Jim. “Cumming Map Collection,” Davidson Encyclopedia, 23 January 2012

The only original left in the United States (that we know of) remains ECU's copy, hidden until 1982.  I've suggested, almost jokingly, that ECU institute National Archives-level security, of course. Still, even that failed at least once!

These maps were both 57 x 45 inches, within reasonable variation.  Furthermore, the map tracing that Roberdeau made in 1822 is 57 x 45.  So, it came from a published version of 1733, most likely... probably the only one known to have existed in NC at that time... again, the one found in 1982 in Edenton. After all, it could not have been Kendall's because that copy was probably still in England, waiting on the wall of some curio shop.

Interestingly and again, the War Department's "H 47 Roll" Roberdeau tracing of 1822 also turned up missing from the National Archives.  Again, fortunately, Raleigh was able to preserve this one through its photostatic copies.  It seems that the North Carolina Archives is the champion of both copies in its ability to preserve that which others have had difficulty!  lol

Today, in the digital age, the chances of losing their information again would be almost nil... thank goodness, because the historic value of that map is extraordinary and we keep fumbling with it thanks partly to private owners whose momentary delight dies with them! 

East Carolina University's original copy, found in 1982 is perhaps the most famous and has the most interesting story - and, some of it we can positively verify.  Ralph Scott meticulously followed its life, detailed by manuscript holdings of ECUs Special Collections (undoubtedly, there are more in other archives). 

As mentioned earlier, Gov. Arthur Dobbs (1689-1765) arrived in North Carolina in 1755 to replace Gabriel Johnston, who passed away in office in 1752.  Scott originally postulated that Dobbs purchased one of Edward Moseley's famous maps of 1733 while still in England... [whether "famous" or "infamous" is a matter of whether or not you've read my work ;) ]. Scott postulated that Dobbs brought it with him when he came to America. 

Moseley Map [1733] (#MC0017), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Advertisement for the published Moseley map; 9 September 1737; Virginia Gazette; Williamsburg, VA as shown at "A New and Correct Map of the Province of North Carolina: The Discovery of a 1737 North Carolina Manuscript Map" byMike McNamara - Interestingly enough, John Cowley advertised Seymour's Survey of London and Westminster profusely in every British newspaper, but I have yet to find the Moseley Map of 1733 advertised in any British newspaper.  The interest may not have been in Britain.

There's another possibility... proposed by another scholar, Mike McNammara: Dobbs may have urged the original engraver of Moseley's map (John Cowley) to make a smaller manuscript copy from Moseley's original survey, with added details showing improvements that occurred in the few years since the 1733 map was surveyed: the boundary between North and South Carolina and a settlement at the head of the Pee Dee, for instance.  McNammara believes the printed 1733 had not yet been available by 1736 when Dobbs and associates presented a map to the Board of Trade in London... so, they needed a "quickie" made, so to speak.  McNammara asserts that Dobbs kept the 1737 at his library at Castle Dobbs "on the second shelf of the catalog of his Northern Ireland library."  Dobbs had serious interests in investing in North Carolina.  Also, the 1737 manuscript map, to which McNammara refers, contained fewer details (settler's names) than Moseley's published version, indicating a more utilitarian purpose behind this smaller copy.  

 

A New and Correct Map of the Province of N.C. (#MC0035), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.-Reproduction from original. Scale [1:633,600]. 60 miles = 1 degree. Note below title: "Survey by J. Cowley, London. 1737."

A comparison of the compass roses on the Moseley maps and on the Hoare painting of 1752. 

Not only that, a 57 x 45- inch map would be difficult to hold casually while posing for a portrait.  ;)  McNammara makes a strong argumrent.  Unfortunately for Scott's original timeline, the 1737 map was probably the one in Dobb's possession, as McNammara asserts.  But, this may not be the end of the timeline just yet...

Portrait of Arthur Dobbs copied from the 1752 painting by William Hoare

Dobbs did bring a map to the colony and to Brunswick Town, where he lived at Russellborough mansion... he died here.  He even had his portrait painted holding this map, to illustrate the lavish attention that he displayed toward it.  Again, this map was probably the 1737 manuscript map and not the published 1733.  Regarding the map in the painting of Dobbs, McNammara cites the smaller size and position of the compass rose, as well as Dobb's prior partnership with North Carolina land investor Henry McCullough as early as 1735.  McNammara asserts that the 1737 was the one that was submitted to the Board of Trade in 1736 with their proposals.  Dobbs obviously had a prior relationship to the 1737 map that pre-dated his arrival in the colony... even his appointment as its governor in 1753, if William Hoare did, indeed paint this portrait in 1752.  Dobbs planned well in advance for his governorship/investment. 

So, the Graham copy at ECU may not have arrived with Dobbs in 1755.  Could Dobbs have purchased Moseley's personal copy from his estate when he arrived, six years after Moseley died in 1749?  The governor did, after all, build Russellborough mansion adjacent to Brunswick Town on the Cape Fear River.  He did reside in that town during his term, the same place where Moseley lived since 1734 and where he likely died [It was also where the 73-yr old codger met the 15-yr old Justina Davis and married her in 1762!].  The map might have been in his easy grasp at some point, especially after Moseley died, perhaps with his widow, Ann Sampson Moseley (she would later marry Hugh Munro of New Hanover, who d.1779).  That would preserve Scott's explanation, anyway... considering Dobb's interest in North Carolina and his residence in the Lower Cape Fear at the right moment, it's quite possible.

This highly speculative tact requires an approach from the other end of the timeline that, hopefully may tie together.  We have to "fore" track on the trail about a century... the Graham family was in possession of a map at some point and a 1853 article researched by Scott confirms that a cousin, Hugh Williamson Collins, a grandson of Josiah Collins Sr of Edenton, owned it by that time:

Portion from: "North Carolina," North Carolina University Magazine , v. 2, no. 1 (February 1853), 2.

The Collins were related by marriage to the Grahams.  So, this is very likely the earliest confirmed existence of ECU's map.  As to the map in Dobb's possession...

So, we have to connect the Moseley map from the time it fell from Moseley's own hands until it came into Collins' possession... assuming ECU's copy to be Moseley's personal copy.

Now, track to New Bern... with the Collins' kin... the Daves.

Josiah Collins II (1768-1839) of Edenton, N.C.

Now, Professor Scott, at ECU, described how Arthur Dobb's map (1733 or 1737 or both?) wound up in New Bern at Tryon Palace after Dobb's death... after an incident referred to as the "Martin Court Quarrel."  In his efforts to explain the provenance of this map, he describes how the last royal governor, Josiah Martin, replacing Arthur Dobbs had to leave the colony suddenly because of a slightly-heated argument called the "American Revolution."  When Martin boarded the ship, he left behind many of his belongings, including the map that was mired in litigation over Dobbs' estate.  We know he left a map because in the auction of his hastily left belongings there was a New Bern shipwright named David Barron who bought "One map of North Carolina" (only one!!!)... still, Barron died a year later and we lose track of (maybe) the 1737 map... but, both maps may have resurfaced together! They did, as the update below shows:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: [7-29-2015]: Here's the other map purchase of David Barron: 

From 1777 sale of Josiah Martin's belongings left in Tryon's Palace when he hightailed it to HMS Cruizer. This is on the facing page of the estate sale (10 total pages!)

 It appears that the 2 pound price of Barron's map may have been the larger 1733 map while Ogden's only cost him 13 shillings. Presumably, the larger, printed map fetched a better price.

 UPDATE [6-4-2015]: I went to the state archives and just happened across the estate sale of the vacated Josiah Martin from 1777. In it, I found this reference:

From 1777 sale of Josiah Martin's belongings left in Tryon's Palace when he hightailed it to HMS Cruizer. Titus and Thomas Ogden were New Bern merchants. It appears that Titus Ogden purchased another map from the estate.

Yes, another reference to a "Map of Carolina" sold to Titus Ogden. The Ogden Family Papers, 1773-1891 (# 05481) at the Wilson Library at UNC tell:

• Members of the Ogden family, headed by James and Mary Odgen, lived in Manchester, England. Their children Thomas Ogden (d. 1787), Titus Ogden (d. 1793), and Isaac Ogden (d. 1785) emigrated from Manchester to North America circa 1770, where they settled in New Bern, N.C., and became successful landowners and merchants. Titus Odgen later moved to Philadelphia, Pa., and then to Tennessee, where he died in 1793. Titus Ogden was a paymaster to the troops and of Native American annuities; he was present at the 1791 signing of the Treaty of Holston with the Cherokees in Philadelphia.

 "Thomas and Titus Ogden" or "T&T Ogden," merchants of New Bern appear often in the John Gray Blount papers regarding transactions and a vessel owned by Titus Ogden called Old Agatha of which Titus tried to get Blount to purchase half. Estate papers for both Thomas and Titus do not mention the map. John Daves was legally involved with settling the Ogden's affairs in Craven County with John Gray Blount as Titus Ogden's executor. Daves died in 1804. Daves presumably obtained the map in Ogden's estate and presumably passed to his eldest son, John Pugh Daves... both maps then sold from his estate to James W. Bryan for a mere 75 cents!

Further update below on John Pugh Daves Estate Sale....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Capt. John Daves of New Bern

Major (later, Capt.) John Daves (1748-1804) of New Bern served as the "first collector of the newly-open United States Customs House in New Bern," as told by Scott.  His home sat directly in front of the old governor's palace.  Scott also traced the family lineage of Daves and especially his daughter, Anne Rebecca (1785-1833), the wife of Josiah Collins Jr. and mother of Hugh Williamson Collins and the oldest child of age at the time Daves' died in 1804.  

Still, there was another link:

[UPDATE:] There is some possibility that Daves' son, John Pugh Daves had both maps in his estate inventory in 1839. They apparently were sold to "James W. Bryan"... if the bad writing actually reads as "Maps"... Yes, another link in the chain... James West Bryan, lawyer and recently appointed postmaster for Russel's PO in Craven County [15 May 1838] confirmed Daves' handwriting on his will in the probate in 1838. Bryan's biography from the Bryan Family Papers, 1704-1940 (#00096) at UNC reads:

• James West Bryan (1805-1864), attorney and Whig legislator of New Bern, N.C., brother of John H. Bryan, graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1824. He represented Carteret County in the North Carolina State Constitutional Convention, 1835, and State Senate, 1835-1836. He was a trustee of the University of North Carolina, 1836-1856, and a member and vestryman of Christ Episcopal Church, New Bern. He married Ann Mary Washington (1814-1864) in 1831, with whom he had five children: John (died in infancy), Laura (1837-1868), James Augustus Washington (1839-1923), Henry (died in infancy), and Washington (1853-1927).

John Pugh Daves' Estate Sale in 1839, Craven County, NC [Updated info 6-4-2015]

So, how did Hugh Williamson Collins in Edenton get the 1733 Moseley map in 1853!? It may have come to him through his mother or maybe he borrowed it from a cousin.

Dobb's seems to have possessed both maps (remember, two were sold from Martin's "going out of the country sale" in 1777 it seems).  It would be interesting to know definitively what happened to Moseley's personal copy after his death slightly bef. 15 July 1749 and how Dobbs obtained it... Moseley never mentioned it in his eight-page will... damn him! :)
 

Major John Daves House
313 George Street, New Bern
Ca. 1770 - from Walking Tour Map

Furthermore, there is a narrative that may also preserve more of Ralph Scott's provenance detail and even how Major Roberdeau became involved in 1822.  Even more interesting, this tale supports the idea that Roberdeau traced ECU's copy of Moseley's map of 1733... maybe Moseley's own personal copy with his own penciled revisions written directly upon it.  

Yes... revisions... the penciled notations on the map portion below include revised waterways and names of settlers.  The "S[tephen] Howard" printed on the north side of New River received this particular property in 1748, a year before Moseley died.  Other names like "J[ohn] Harris" (friend of John Fonville and his neighbor on the Neuse River who died in Jan 1749), "T[homas] Spight" (Spaight) on the Neuse... Davis, Lewis, Joseph Morgan all received their grants and had been deeded their properties at the indicated locations before Moseley died.  The "SW R..." on New River probably refers to today's Southwest Creek [which he then called "River"]. The lettering is sometimes ornate, with serif, and placed similarly to names that Moseley placed on the 1733 original.  Also, the penciled-in portion that's probably Holly Shelter Creek, beginning near Burgaw (incidentally, there's a great seafood place on that creek called Hollands), is where Moseley and many of his "Family" members had significant real investments (see pics below).  [Note: NC Archives map, call number: MC.167.H7461.1885h]

These notations are probably from the right time and they do appear to follow his interests...
The evidence is good for this being Moseley's writing.

It should be noted here that Prof. Jonathan Dembo, archivist for ECU's Special Collections, mentioned that Herman Moll would sell subscriptions to people to have their names printed on their land in his maps.  If memory serves, William Mayo did the same on Barbados (there's a list of subscribers) and it may have been a common practice among hungry/indebted cartographers.  Moseley was, by no means, starving, but he may have been continuing this common practice even after he published the map... plans for a revised edition, perhaps?  The money could start rolling in before he could get it published!  You would think he already had enough... lol.

New River portion of ECU's Graham copy of the 1733 map with penciled notations/revisions

Moseley Map of 1733 (ECU) compared with 1770 John Collett showing the same area of the Lower Cape Fear.  Note that the penciled-in extension for the creek running east from the NE Cape Fear is in the approximate area of Holly Shelter as indicated by John Collett on his map.  Moseley and his "Family" owned quite a bit of that property.  The Swanns were his in-laws as well as the Lillingtons ("Lunington" on Collett) and both families owned saw mills on that creek. Also, Moseley's nephew, John Ashe, a later Rev. War General, founded the short-lived town of Exeter and Moseley himself had owned 2,000 acres directly South from Exeter and between Thomas Merricks' and Charles Harrison's lands that he deeded to sons James and Sampson when he died in July 1749.  They subsequently passed this property on to John Alexander Lillington, also a later Rev. War General in the 1760s.  The picture below shows a 1764 survey for this 2,000 acres by the "Great Island" in the NE Cape Fear River.

 

1764 Survey by John Colson for 2,000 acres (Moseley's grant originally stated 1,850 acres) formerly belonging to Edward Moseley on the east side of the NE Cape Fear River adjacent to the "Great Island" - from the Lillington Collection, Pender County Library Annex, Burgaw, Pender County, NC.

This is great fun, but we'll have to stop glaring at the map and get back to the narrative... ;)

Enter Major Isaac Roberdeau in the early 19th century... he's already surveyed Washington, DC with L'Enfant, been appointed by Calhoun to the Topographical Bureau and avidly seeking maps of the United States.  His story explores early antebellum North Carolina and the "Era of Good Feelings," a period in the political history of the United States that reflected a sense of national purpose, especially with the failure of the Federalist party and a forlorn opportunity  to create George Washington's hope of a no-party system.  Nevertheless, historians consider the "Era of Good Feelings" something of a misnomer because the history of the era expresses a strained and divisive political atmosphere (human beings in America have difficulty getting along, it seems).  There were particularly strong factions within the Monroe administration and the Jeffersonian Republican Party that fueled repeated investigations... a lack, rather, of "good feelings."

John C. Calhoun, as Secretary of War, formed the Topographical Bureau and appointed his friend, Isaac Roberdeau in charge of it (was once accused of overpaying Roberdeau in 1821).  The Secretary of War was accused of abusing his office and Roberdeau testified in his defense that, during his term as Chief, he struggled to increase the map holdings of the War Department from 65 at start to 1,180 and it was still increasing.  Roberdeau assured that it would soon reach 2,000.  This testimony for his friend Calhoun was delivered before Congress in 1825.  One of those "acquired" maps had to be his tracing of the Moseley Map, made three years earlier.  

Roberdeau Buchanan talked about the relationship between the engineer and John C. Calhoun and Roberdeau's usual trend regarding his inspections in his Genealogy of the Roberdeau Family: Including a Biography of General Daniel Roberdeau:

• Between Mr. Calhoun and the family of Colonel Roberdeau, there existed a warm friendship ; commencing with their official relations while the former was Secretary of  War.  Upon his yearly tours of inspection of the various military posts, Colonel Roberdeau generally accompanied him, and kept a private journal of the movements and expenses of the party.  The Columbian Sentinel of Boston, September 27, 1820, contains a notice:  "Secretary of War left New Haven on Friday last on his return to Washington, accompanied by Major Roberdeau of the Topographical Engineers, and Mr. Hagner, one of the Auditors of the Treasury."

Roberdeau made his tracing of Moseley's map on September 5, 1822.  Where he obtained access to a copy of a Moseley original, 57 x 45 inches, is the question.  

Hugh Williamson Collins' father, Josiah Collins Jr. lived, like his father, in Edenton at a large estate that at least one map labels as "Monticello" in the 1830s (be warned: I have been informed that this map may be inaccurate, though Collins did live in Edenton, on the Albemarle shore):

Walter Gwynn, [untitled], 1830s

A New and Correct Map of the Province of North Carolina: The Discovery of a 1737 North Carolina Manuscript Map

Mike McNamara

- See more at: http://www.mesdajournal.org/2012/correct-map-province-north-carolina/#sthash.foRZKWhB.dpuf

A New and Correct Map of the Province of North Carolina: The Discovery of a 1737 North Carolina Manuscript Map

Mike McNamara

- See more at: http://www.mesdajournal.org/2012/correct-map-province-north-carolina/#sthash.foRZKWhB.dpuf

A New and Correct Map of the Province of North Carolina: The Discovery of a 1737 North Carolina Manuscript Map

Mike McNamara

- See more at: http://www.mesdajournal.org/2012/correct-map-province-north-carolina/#sthash.foRZKWhB.dpuf

It may have been at Collins' "Monticello" near Edenton that Roberdeau had returned to trace Moseley's map in 1822.  

Collins, Josiah, Sr. by A. C. Menius III, 1979

Collins would have been an interesting man for Roberdeau to speak with.  He had built a canal from Lake Phelps to the Scuppernong River around the turn of the century to drain his 160,000 acres in then Tyrrell County (now, Washington).  

• NOTE:  Josiah Collins' grandson Josiah III would become known for his estate at Somerset Plantation on Lake Phelps.  However, he was the first generation to move away from Edenton and the first to be born in America and not England.  

President James Monroe often traveled by new maritime technology.  August 17, 1807 marked the launch of Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat.  This brand new technology was making inroads upon maritime navigation and characterized the innovative atmosphere of the era, as also the newer and better Dismal Swamp Canal, by coincidence, an engineering specialty of Major Isaac Roberdeau who published "Mathematics and Treatise on Canals" in 1796.  Certainly, the Collins should have known of Roberdeau's work.  Although it was eventually Major James Kearney who surveyed the Dismal Swamp Canal, Roberdeau must have had some impact upon the project and good reason to accompany his friend Calhoun on the journey to investigate the coastal fortifications, another of his professional interests.  So, Collins and Roberdeau would have much to share. 

President James Monroe

Josiah Collins Sr. had an accident and was quite elderly already in 1819.  He would die by May of that year.  Still, a month before he passed away, President Monroe, his secretary and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun and his wife visited Edenton in April of 1819.  They were making a tour of the southeastern coast, visiting Edenton, Washington, NC, New Bern, Trenton, Wilmington, Charleston, and, undoubtedly many other destinations.  

Secretary of War John C. Calhoun

The Edenton Gazettte issue of April 6th, 1819 reported that they brought along members of the Army's "Corps of Engineers" that were to show the president "objects particularly deserving his attention" relative to "a naval depot, dock-yards and fortifications."  Major Isaac Roberdeau never appeared by name in the newspaper reports, but as the Chief of the Topographical Bureau, Corps of Engineers and a personal friend of John C. Calhoun's, he undoubtedly did accompany them, perhaps anonymously included in the president's military contingent.

Edenton Gazette header for April 13, 1819

The president and party left Washington, DC on March 31st.  They took the steamboat Roanoke for Norfolk, arriving there the next day.  The Gazette printed the news from Norfolk on April 1st:

Edenton Gazette April 6th, 1819

 The president was to return to the Dismal Swamp Canal which he had inspected the year before, falling into the canal when some loose logs on a bridge rolled as he tried to stand on them.  One reporter noted sarcastically that he only got "[Henry] Clay" on his coat.  lol  Nevertheless, Monroe saw Lake Drummond and experienced one of the first trips through the newly opened Dismal Swamp Canal, seen as an important advance in national security after the recent war with Britain... the second one... War of 1812.

Edenton Gazette ad for Steam-boat Albemarle, April 1819

Once in Edenton, President Monroe again received another hearty welcome.  "On Tuesday, last," stated the Edenton Gazette, they embarked aboard the Steam-boat Albemarle for the "Marshes, which separate Albemarle from Pamlico Sound" (namely, the current Hyde, Tyrrell, Washington, and Beaufort County areas) before proceeding to inspect the recently closed Roanoke Inlet, a devastating detriment to Edenton's commerce.  The president's party of engineers may have offered some hope to Edenton's merchants, undoubtedly, Josiah Collins Sr. and Jr. who would certainly have been in attendance... "opening a direct outlet to the ocean from Albemarle Sound," which was rapidly closing and choking off what little access merchants still enjoyed from other maritime locales and their ships' cargoes.

Although the newspaper did not specifically mention the Collins, the two men were prominent local citizens of Edenton who should have been there... with at least John C. Calhoun in attendance, if not his friend and engineer, Roberdeau.  Still, Calhoun was closely associated with the Topographical Bureau that was then actively engaged in acquiring a massive collection of maps and would have been interested in a copy of Moseley's map that anyone, like Collins, would wish to share.    

It's still possible that Roberdeau and Moseley's map may have missed each other in Edenton.  Perhaps another explanation for the connection between Roberdeau and an original copy of Edward Moseley's map might assume that Collins did not obtain access to the map in 1804 when his father-in-law, Captain John Daves died and that it actually fell into the hands of his son, John Pugh Daves (1789-1838) of New Bern (perhaps given to his sister and mother of Hugh Williamson Collins, Anne Daves Collins after his death in 1838)... 

No problem... because the president's party made their way that April over land to Washington, NC, then by the waters of the Pamlico to Neuse Bridge on the Neuse River, and then, into New Bern.  Calhoun and/or Roberdeau may have found the map in Edenton or they might have heard about it and decided to ask Daves about it when they reached New Bern on the president's tour the morning of April 10th.  

By luck, the committee awaiting them in New Bern consisted of many prominent citizens of their fair town, including John Stanly, Edward Graham, and Jonathan P. Daves (yes, this is him).  

William Blount Shepard (1844-1913)

Prof. Ralph Scott writes that Mrs. John W. Graham, of Edenton, claimed the ECU copy of the map to have "been in possession of the Graham family for several generations."  Another part of Ralph Scott's investigations concerned how it came into the Grahams' possession.  Hugh Williamson Collins was apparently an alcoholic who never married.  He was living with his sister Ann Collins Blount when he died of "dropsy due to cirrhosis of the liver" in 1854 at the age of 41, the year after he informed North Carolina University Magazine of his ownership/possession of the Moseley map. 

Afterward, Scott tells us that Hugh's nephew Arthur Collins (1842-1913, son of Josiah III) left "an old map in the room" to the care of his cousin William Blount Shepard (1844-1913) who happened to live at Josiah Collins III's Somerset Plantation in Creswell, North Carolina [Collins-Shepard genealogy].  Arthur made his request that Shepard "Please take care of [the map] for me."  He must have done so before his death.  He died June 1913.  Little did Arthur know at that time that Shepard would die before him, in January of the same year.  Still, Shepard's daughter, Anne Cameron Shepard had married William Alexander Graham, MD (1875-1911).  Their son was John W. Graham, husband of the woman who found the map in her attic in 1982 and transmitted it to ECU.  


So, it may have been that, by this time, the Collins and allied families viewed the map as an honored possession - certainly not when Bryan had two maps for only 75 cents.  Still, the 1733 map had been sought by the federal government for the Topographical Bureau's collection and traced in 1822, then by the North Carolina University Magazine in 1853.  Anne Shepard Graham and her husband may have recognized the map's historical significance as well... Edward Moseley's name was well known, especially after Confederate attorney-general and Wilmington resident (and member of Moseley's "Family") George Davis' glorious praise of him following the Civil War.  

NC Gov. William Alexander Graham (1840-1843)

Still, if James W. Bryan possessed the map in 1839, there may be another trail... A bit more investigation shows that William Alexander Graham's father was John Washington Graham (1838-1928), of Orange County, North Carolina.  John's father was Governor and Confederate senator William Alexander Graham of North Carolina, born in 1804, son of General Joseph Graham (War of 1812), and whose grandfather James Graham (1714–1763) was born in Drumbo, County Down, Northern Ireland and settled in Chester County in the Province of Pennsylvania.  Gov. Graham's wife was Susannah Sarah Washington (1816-1890). UPDATE: Was she related to Mary Ann Washington who married James W. Bryan? Indeed, they were sisters, both daughters of John and Elizabeth "Betsy" Heritage Cobb Washington. So, the 1733 map may have passed from Mary Ann Washington Bryan to her sister, the wife of Gov. William A. Graham sometime after Bryan purchased the "2 old maps" from John Pugh Daves' estate in 1839.

So, we have two possible transmissions from Daves to Graham, one via Daves to Collins-Shepard and the other via Bryan/Washington to Graham. It may have happened both ways, the map temporally being loaned to Hugh W. Collins who died prematurely and the old map falling to Shepard who gave it back to the next generation of Grahams.


Of early North Carolina "historians," commonly trained as lawyers and politicians, Gov. William A. Graham was something of an antiquarian/amateur historian himself whose daughter had married Walter Clark, noted politician, lawyer, and compiler of the state records, another twilight-years historian like his father-in-law.  Graham was well-noted for his strong Confederate sympathies and white supremacy and much of his historical contributions undoubtedly had a slightly-biased revisionist historical "flavor."  He also may have imparted "historical" sympathies to his son, William, the doctor who married Ms. Anne Shephard and brought the Collins' map into his orbit.  

• Still, the next generation folded the map and stored it in their attic (in a large encyclopedia... part of a collection of books stored there)... not archival conditions, but dry.  Bugs and other environmental factors may have taken their toll and many places along the fold lines have been eaten away... a perfect argument for proper, non-antiquarian and third-party/public archival care.  The map could have been lost at any number of occasions while in the private care of people who may or may not understand its value to the state. The Kendall original copy of Moseley's map is now lost to us because Kendall chose to keep it in his own, personal collection... a collection that he had no control over after his death.  A part of our cultural heritage was irresponsibly thrown away... Public institutions are not perfect, no.  Still, they have YET to lose an original copy of this map and have a much better track record than the private whims of the average human being.  Archives have many stages of oversight... it's their job.  Yes, I feel strongly about this...at least we may still have Moseley's personal copy thanks to Mrs. Graham's wisdom in 1982.

Incidentally, in 1835, The future Gov. Graham served on the North Carolina General Assembly, House of Commons as the delegate from Hillsborough while Hugh Williamson Collins served on the same body as the delegate from Edenton. Again, a close-knit bunch...

• Of the "Edward Graham" that served on the committee to meet President Monroe in New Bern in April 1819 with John Pugh Daves, he was probably not related to Gov. William A. Graham, but, irregardless, he was John Pugh Daves' father-in-law.  Daves married his daughter, Elizabeth Batchelor Graham.  Again...this can be confusing!

Anyway... we've gotten way off track, here.  

Obviously, Major Isaac Roberdeau had plenty of opportunity to "discover" an original copy of Edward Moseley's map of 1733... the full-sized 57 x 45-inch version. 


In all of the trouble to discover how a copy of Moseley's map arrived in America... and, just happened to land in Edenton, historians and other scholars have seldom dared to hope that it might be Edward Moseley's personal copy.  The penciled notations, I believe, were made by Moseley himself... in preparation for a revised version.  We may occasionally be rewarded for our dares!  :)

Surely, Moseley had to own a copy of his own final product!  He died in 1749 and he lived in Edenton for most of his adult life, between 1704 and 1733.  But, he spent 1734-1749 living part-time in Brunswick Town, just a stone's throw away from Gov. Arthur Dobb's future plantation of Russellborough, built only five years after Moseley died.  Moseley and the rest of his "Family" owned tens of thousands of acres (nearly 165,000 by my calculations so far) across the colony.  Moseley's sons inherited his portion and, perhaps his other possessions, such as a large map...  Indeed, it may still have been hanging on the wall in his home in Brunswick Town when Dobbs arrived six years after Moseley died!  Anne Moseley, who resided in Brunswick Town after her husband's death, more than likely rolled out a welcome mat for the new governor. It may have been the first time he had seen Moseley's original map.

Gov. Arthur Dobbs may have "inherited," "purchased," "acquired" Moseley's map in Brunswick Town.  This is the only missing link... between the heirs of Edward Moseley and Gov. Dobbs or between Moseley and Collins... the lines do get crossed...  Plus, the Revolution caused enough confusion to lose the trails of both maps, the 1733 and the 1737, when Gov. Martin snuck away in the night to avoid being lynched or killed by irate Americans. Which did he have at Tryon?  One?  Or both?  Some day we may answer that question... some document somewhere, perhaps in the estate of eldest son John Moseley or Edward Moseley Jr., or brothers Sampson, Thomas, James, or William... not to forget daughter Ann Humphries or widow, Ann Sampson Moseley Munro (after 1762, the wife of Hugh Munro).  

One thing that seems significant is that Edward's widow probably remained at his home in Brunswick Town through 1762, where a tax list shows her as still "Ann Moseley."  She had not yet married Hugh Munro (d. 1779).  So, when Dobbs lived in Brunswick Town, Moseley's widow was young and a "free agent" as they say... Dobbs married the still-giggling Davis girl in 1762 as well... the Davis family was related to Moseley through marriage and Dobbs most likely met her in Brunswick Town or Wilmington.  He had ample opportunity to come into contact with Moseley's map.

Last Page of Edward Moseley Will, dated 20 March 1745

Moseley's kids weren't hurting for wealth... the most interesting aspect of Moseley's eight-page will is that he spends a great deal of time devising his many acres with various houses (including the unfinished "Moseley Hall" on the west side of the Northeast Cape Fear River that was to be his grand estate), improvements, and the produce of his slaves and vineyards.  He names his many slaves (about 100 in all), his more than 150 books, various rings worth a "guinea" each, demanding payment of his debts only from the more than plentiful money owed to him and not from the sale of any of his property or slaves, worrying about every minute detail of even the most insignificant fiscal nature, even to who gets what silverware... but, he never seems concerned specifically about the one primary creation of his own genius and artistry, the one thing that we, today, have come to revere the most... his copy of the map of 1733.  Presumably, it is included in the last item... "The rest & residue of my Estate, both real and personal I give to be equally divided among my Sons & the Survivors of them."  

I will say this:  he had damn good handwriting!

Even Moseley, himself, the "land-hungry" man described by Noeleen McIlvenna in A Very Mutinous People, the “factious man” who “found little use for his talents save that of stirring up strife and encouraging contention for ends purely selfish" that historian Rev. Francis Lister Hawks found in 1858, cared so much more for his wealth, slaves, and possessions than anything else, including his own creation.  I guess we think more of it than he did.  As for us North Carolinians, we will remember his map... and the one that's hanging on the wall of Joyner's Special Collections at East Carolina University could very well be the one that he thought not so worthy to mention in his will.

Graham Copy of Edward Moseley's Map of 1733 Hanging on Wall of J. Y. Joyner's Special Collections at East Carolina University

----------------------------------------------

Dethroning the Kings of Cape Fear: Consequences of Edward Moseley's Surveys

Purchase an e-copy for $5 or get a print version among more titles by B. C. Brooks

Aristocratic Pyrates of the Albemarle

Purchase an e-copy for $5 or get a print version among more titles by B. C. Brooks

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brunswick Town and Wilmington

 Purchase an e-copy for $5 or get a print version among more titles by B. C. Brooks