Plate, Silver, Gold, Jewels and other Merchandise!

1754 Bellin Map of Veracruz, Mexico

 From a traditional English perspective, the 1716 capture of Virginia's sloop Virgin and her crew were acts of Spanish piracy. However, their captor was Don Joseph Rocher de la Peña (b.1651-d.1737 while mayor of Veracruz City), the Rear-Admiral of their elite Barlovento squadron, stationed at Veracruz, Mexico since 1640 -  not exactly a pirate. The state of Veracruz (within which the city of Veracruz sits), comprised most of the Mexican western shoreline in the Bay of Campeche, plagued incessantly by English pirates who liked to steal Spanish logwood from the Bay of Campeche since the days of 17th-century English Buccaneers. In 1684, the Spanish attacked the main stronghold of these "buccaneers" in Charles Town, now known as Nassau - on the Island of Providence in the Bahamas.

Bay of Campeche

Virgin's crew had been confined under allegedly extreme conditions, if we are to believe the reports from their captain Harry Beverley, a wealthy Virginian and former House of Burgesses representative for Middlesex County. Beverley owned more than 3,000 acres of prime Virginia real estate by the time of his 1716 venture to seek pirates - but perhaps more importantly - to seek the wrecked Spanish flota or squadron (in hurricane of 1715) presumed by Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood to be somewhere between the Bahamas and the then-Spanish territory of La Florida's east shore.

Was Spotswood merely interested in preserving the recent Treaty of Utrecht between his mother country of Great Britain and Spain? Or, was he a pirate facilitator himself, interested mostly in the spilled treasure on the coast of Spanish Florida?

For a simple colonial statesman, Spotswood concentrated a great deal of his attention at this time on wreck-fishing technology... and on finding out exactly where the wrecks lay! Spotswood specifically suggested fishing the Spanish wrecks as a way of increasing British income, despite the dubious legalities. English Jamaicans wholly supported this effort as well, as Capt John Balchen of HMS Diamond testified. Gov. Lord Archibald Hamilton of Jamaica was determined guilty of exactly the same method: commissioning privateers to take pirates, but then fishing illegally on the Spanish wrecks instead - i.e. becoming a pirate!

Oddly enough, Spotswood later claims that Beverley was blown off course and captured near Bermuda: "The said sloop was taken upon the high seas near the Island of Bermuda, and had never been within some hundreds of leagues of any of the Spanish Dominions." The story he told almost a year later went:

 On 23rd June Beverley departed from Virginia since wch, there is advice from him by letters dated at St. Domingo on Hispaniola the 14th Aug., that two days after he left the Capes of Virginia he mett with a strong wind at South West, which carry'd him into the latitude of 28d. 40m. [approx. latitude of Orlando, Florida] and longitude of 6 degrees [east or west?; 6 deg. west puts him in Florida, near the wrecks] from the said Capes, where on 5th July he found himself close by a ship and a sloop, which proved to be a Spanish man of war called the St. Juan Baptista, commanded by Don Joseph Rocher de la Pena, and the sloop his tender. The man of war fired three shots at Beverley's sloop (which had the English colours flying on board) and then ordered him to come on board, where (without ever looking into his papers or so much as asking for them) only demanding from whence he came, he was made prisoner and his boats crew confined apart. The men of the Spanish ship immediately went on board his sloop, beat and stript all the men broke open their chests, plundered and carry'd off all the cargo, and brought the men prisoners on board the man of war, where they were forced naked as they were to work as the Spaniards ordered them, except Beverley himself, and Mr. Peter Whiting and George Heeble his officers. On the 30th they arrived at Porto Rico, where the Spaniards sold most of the goods belonging to Beverley's sloop, and then on 11th May, they came to St. Domingo. At both which places Beverley conscious of his honest intentions, desired a trial but was denyed, untill they should arrive at La Vera Crux, whither the Spanish Commander declared he intended to carry his prisoners.

The coordinates could mean that Beverley was taken, six weeks after leaving the Capes of Virginia, by Admiral Rocher precisely at the location of the wrecks - which the Spanish still guarded - or he could have been hundreds of miles east of the Bahamas - but, nowhere near Bermuda! Spotswood simply interpreted it as the latter, for the preservation of his own representation - having signed Beverley's letter of marque.

Beverley's instructions in that letter of marque from Spotswood, like those of Hamilton's to his "privateers," were to go to the Bahamas (in the other direction from Bermuda) and report back... especially on the whereabouts of the wrecks that Bahamians were fishing... on the coast of La Florida - a Spanish territory! My suspicions are that Beverley did just that... with six weeks between leaving Virginia and being captured.

What exactly was he doing if not fishing the wrecks or spying on the Spanish who were? Again, how far was he captured from the wrecks by Admiral Rocher in the warship St. Juan Baptiste?

Actually, 28 degrees, 40 minutes was the latitude of Cape Canaveral, Florida - about the northernmost range of the known wrecks' location and near the Spanish salvage camps at St. Sebastien Inlet. Nassau, the main town of the Bahamas, where Beverley was supposed to go first to gather intel on pirates, lay at about 25 degrees. The longitude given, if 6 deg. west, put him dead on Florida, west of Orlando. But, 6 deg. east put Beverley and his sloop Virgin, far east from Florida, at approx. 70 deg. of current longitude or 500 miles east of the Bahamas - still nowhere near Bermuda! Admiral Rocher had no reason to be out there. He would remain closer to the wrecks on the Florida shore to guard them against pirates, as were the Barlovento squadron's orders since 1640.

Nassau, New Providence Island in the Bahamas is at latitude 25 deg.

I'd love to know the official Spanish account of the capture... including the exact location. But... Spotswood claims the official English version (Beverley's more than six weeks of being "off course"... possible, yes... probable? You decide. He may have needed an excuse for being so far north after so much time.)...  Spotswood lied for his pirate. And, Beverley likely covered his aft quarters after being caught red-handed fishing illegally, if you get my drift (the puns are far too easy here, huh?).

Furthermore, Spotswood added "and since 14th Aug. [1716] Beverley nor any of his men have been heard of" as though the Spanish Catholics were evil (religious discrimination? racism?) and did all of this on purpose just to evilly torture some Englishmen! Spotswood's story, if you'll pardon yet another pun, just doesn't hold water for me... I say he facilitated piracy and Beverley was the one committing a crime.

Discrimination against the Spanish is a long-time American tradition! The English came to America to steal Spanish wealth - not much had changed after more than a century - even since the English defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 - a defeat that originally signaled the weakness of the Spanish Empire! Englishmen literally first came to America as pirates!

It's not much of a surprise that English wills of the time included bequeathals of "Plate, Silver, Gold, Jewels, and other Merchandise," material reflections of Spanish American wealth!

There's a lot more to this international political episode related thru "English-colored glasses" for the past few centuries in Capt. Charles Johnson's A General History of the Pyrates. Perhaps the best way to look at this event is not by reading Johnson... er... London newspaper publisher Nathaniel Mist's... highly controversial polemic that pretends to be a "history."  Historians don't use polemics! The primary sources combined with good old fashioned professional history should do nicely!

I here present to you the actual primary English (and probably quite biased) evidence involved in this case - evidence that may have jump-started British merchants to go against "pirates" in America! I'm still looking for Admiral Rocher's version...

YeahYeah... I blame the British War on the Golden Age of Piracy on Alexander Spotswood, but he wrote a lot of letters and annoyed a lot of people... so he was a good candidate!

Commission of the Privateer Virgin, Capt. Harry Beverley—15 June 1716

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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, 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

By Andrew Lawler
smithsonian.com
November 13, 2018



Read about the final end of Edward Thache:
Murder at Ocracoke! Power and Profit in the Killing of Edward "Blackbeard" Thache



In commemoration of "Blackbeard 300 Tri-Centennial":

As always, drop by baylusbrooks.com and check out the primary source transcriptions

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How a Force of Nature Created the Golden Age of Piracy

Possible tracks of Hurricane Irma - 9-2-17

Hurricane Harvey left a tremendous path of destruction in Houston, Texas and surrounding areas just a week ago. Hurricane Irma is expected this week along the many possible paths shown in the map above and is expected to be as powerful as Harvey, if not worse. Its most likely track takes it along the Florida coast. 

In my opinion, Irma possibly emulates another hurricane that struck July 30, 1715 along the same path and was the most likely cause of the upsurge in English piracy that many refer to as the "Golden Age." This hurricane demolished eleven heavily-laden vessels of a twelve-ship Spanish treasure fleet, slamming them into the Florida coast.

While a single wrecked Spanish vessel provided wrecking crews from Jamaica, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and other English settlements with months, even years, of valuable Spanish silver mined in Mexico and Peru, eleven ships would provide an absolute fortune in treasure unparalleled in the annals of the maritime Atlantic community!


Wreck Fishing

“Fishing” wrecks was a common activity all along the American coast, including the American West Indies. This was especially true with North Carolina’s Outer Banks and the Bahamas where wrecks occurred most often. A single wrecked Spanish treasure vessel provided a great deal of profit for English investors and lasted a whole five years!

Wrecking also became more refined after the successes in the 1680s of William Phips, wealthy carpenter of Boston. He was hired by a group of aristocratic investors, eager to fish a wrecked Spanish vessel in the lower Bahamas. 

Charles II, the English king, himself, partnered with Christopher Monck, duke of Albemarle, Sir James Hayes (probable former apothecary master to Carolina naturalist John Lawson from 1677-1683 who later served as apothecary-general to his Majesty’s forces in the West Indies from 1692-4), Viscount Falkland (Hayes’ step-son), Sir John Narbrough, Isaac Foxcroft and Virginia governor Francis Nicholson to invest in fishing a Spanish wreck of Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion. According to the duke of Beaufort, the wreck had “lain in the sea forty-two years [wrecked November 2, 1641]” and was being fished “chiefly by the Spaniards that lost her.” So, the English would obtain only the leftovers or residue unrecovered by Spanish divers...

In 1686, Phips left England in the James and Mary to engage in a salvage expedition for these partners. There, he recovered twenty-six tons of silver valued at over £200,000 from the Spanish wreck of Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion. The massive silver remaining after the original Spanish recovery from this single ship ran out for the British wreckers only by 1691. Beaufort estimated Albemarle’s portion at £40,000-50,000. Illustrating the immensity of the fortune, Hayes would rebuild his four-story manor of Great Bedgbury in Kent with his part of the proceeds. Also, the dangers of this venture were illustrated by the armament carried by the wrecker vessels involved, as shown in Table 1.

Phips employed only four native divers, probably from the Bahamas, home of the most experienced wreck fishers and later, home of Benjamin Hornigold's "Flying Gang" of pirates. Most likely, they made use of a diving bell, a large weighted device that forced trapped air below the surface which enabled divers to breathe under the surface with shorter dives at the intended salvage. While the salvage proceeded, Phips and crew were joined by at least eight ships and forty-eight smaller craft, all hunting for the treasure, as illustrated in Table 1 below. Maritime researcher John E. Ratcliffe assures that “The speed with which these scavengers appeared is evidence of a flourishing small-scale salvage industry based out of islands like Jamaica, Bermuda, and the Bahamas.”

Table 1

One can barely conceive of the massive wealth provided by only one already salvaged Spanish treasure ship - try to imagine eleven vessels, heavily laden with treasure, basically as yet un-salvaged, and in shallow waters where the fishing would be easier than with Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion!  Not only did the hurricane of July 30, 1715 deposit these eleven treasure ships in shallow waters of the Florida coast, but famous astronomer Edmund Halley had recently invented a new diving bell that would make fishing wrecks even more efficient for the British. 

Edmund Halley's "diving bell" 1690

Hurricane of July 30, 1715 - the Fleet of 1715

General of the Windward Squadron Pedro de Ribera vacillated constantly on his fleet’s time of departure. He first prepared his fleet to sail in late 1712 from Havana, Cuba, but it did not sail until three years later.  A second fleet, in mid-1712, under Juan Estaban de Ubilla arrived in Veracruz, Mexico with eight more vessels, ordered to load with bullion, passengers, and merchandize and return to Spain as soon as possible. Neither of these fleets left on schedule. A large part of the postponement centered upon news of the concessions of October 1711 and the coming peace treaty in the Dutch city of Utrecht the next year that would end Queen Anne's War. The dangers of both weather and anti-Catholic pirates, namely British, also figured prominently in their debates. 

The Spanish Navy at this time was also handicapped by favoritism, officer appointments occurring more because of important connections rather than merit and ability. The British Royal Navy, however, was little better. Arguments between fleet officers happened often, especially with haughty and arrogant men like Ubilla. Ribera, arrogant enough on his own, defied the subordinate Ubilla’s complaint of who could fly the command flag on their combined voyage home. Ribera, assured Ubilla of “his right to fly the command flag from the masthead of his ship,… ‘by ancient law and privilege.’”  General Ubilla never reacted well to Ribera’s assertions of authority. 

Furthermore, frequent postponements plagued the scheduled departure dates. The next march, Ubilla was delayed by procrastinating local merchants. His wealthy connections influenced the Junta, or ruling council, to reschedule for May, depending upon the weather. Still, it was postponed again until August, which drove Ubilla nearly mad. As a result, the aggravated Ubilla became involved in a duel and apparently suffered an injury. Fears of a winter passage, sightings of English pirates passing Cuban posts, Ubilla’s recuperation from sword wounds, and word of the peace treaty delayed departure once again. 

Juan Estaban de Ubilla decided to reduce the tension in his letters to the Viceroy and he received another departure date of March 1714. All of his eight vessels, waiting in port, had been continuously careened and repaired. Again, Ubilla was ready to leave when news of the treaty came. The wait played on Ubilla, who added ascerbicism once again to his writing. Furthermore, six English ships were sighted east of Cuba and eighteen off Puerto Rico. By July, a nasty storm had threatened his fleet, not simply the frequent nortes (cold northeasterly windstorms) of the Mexican shores.  Summer passed and another departure date postponed. During another storm that September, Ubilla wrote another letter that seemed to indicate he had completely lost his senses. The storm drowned five vessels in the harbor - fortunately, however, none of his. 

That fall of 1714, the Vicereoy wrote and expressed his disappointment over Ubilla and especially for the tone of the accusations in his letters. Ubilla fell into deep depression, still not fully recovered from his physical wounds. Ubilla’s biographer Lowell W. Newton said that his response “degenerated into a string of incoherent phrases that seem to represent a rambling, disjointed attempt to justify his earlier demands to the Viceroy and his conflict with Ribera over the command flag.”  Furthermore, his finances were exhausted. His expenses then relied solely on credit and he incurred heavy debt. The loss of royal confidence, Newton declares, came close to finally breaking his spirit.

Reconciliation occurred when Ubilla finally cowed before royal chastisement. His authorities sent pay for him and his men and set a new departure date for March 1715. One urca, or cargo ship under Miguel de Lima had to be remasted and Ubilla did not leave until that May to rendezvous in Havana with the galleones fleet. On the way, Ubilla’s flagship had been demasted in another storm and, once he arrived, he engaged in another argument with one Gen. Don Antonio de Echeverz, the new leader of the Havana squadron. The argument involved Echeverz demand to accompany Ubilla’s fleet to Spain. Once that was settled, the entire squadron of Ubilla and Echeverz totalled eleven vessels plus one Frenchman. They transported “merchandise, 14,000,000 pesos in silver, and significant quantities of gold; much-needed bullion for merchants whose trade had been victimized by the war and the long delay since the 1713 Peace of Utrecht, and by a monarchy overwhelmed with war debts.”  Only one of the vessels, the French ship La Grifon, ever reached home.

Four days out of Havana, on July 30, 1715, the fleet met with a hurricane near Cape Canaveral, at latitude of 28 deg north. Two ships sank in deep water, one went down in the shoals near shore, another ran ashore (Urca de Lima, now one of Florida’s Underwater Archaeological Preserves), two ships destroyed, and the flagship got off a single boat before taking 225 people, including Juan Esteban de Ubilla, to the reputed Davy Jones’ locker.

As Newton inferred the British were “particularly successful in their attempts to seize Indies bullion,” by whatever means, essentially making the most effective pirates.  This wreck event became the quintessential natal event of the Golden Age. Piracy, as our culture has come to understood it ever since, began with the hurricane’s passage through the Florida Straits and destruction of the massive treasure fleet of Ubilla and Echerverz on July 30, 1715.

As I have previously detailed in "American Pirates in the News!," the entire Atlantic community came to fish the wrecks. Many simply waited for others to do the work of fishing and then, pirated them as they left the Florida coast. All pirates preyed on all nations - anyone with bullion on board. Afterwards for these mariners, it became a simple matter to ignore already weak British legal constraints and continue taking these vessels long after the wrecks ran out of bullion. 

In the Boston News-Letter, occurrences of the term "pirate" appear more often after the hurricane of July 30, 1715

The Boston News-Letter, the premier newspaper of the time, began to refer to British pirates following this event. For their eleven-year existence prior to the hurricane of July 30, 1715, they mentioned only "pirates" of French or Spanish origin. The most common term was "privateer," which indicated that these brigands had official sanction from at least one government. The point being that they did not prey on vessels of their own national patron. After the hurricane, however, pirates preyed upon everyone. 

The "Golden Age of Greed" was born!


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

A Sad Departure

Lowell W. Newton

Floyds Knobs, IN

Lowell W. Newton, ("Doc") 76, of Floyds Knobs, Indiana, passed away on January 13, 2017, after visits and sentiments of love from family and friends. Born in Tillamook, Oregon, Lowell graduated from the University of Oregon and went on to earn a PhD in history from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1969. Lowell taught history at the University of Louisville for 32 years until his retirement in 2001. During his life, Lowell lived in both Spain and England, was fluent in Spanish, and loved tennis, reading, and building model planes, boats, and trains. After retirement, Lowell and his wife Claudia ("Corky") split their time between Naples, Florida and Floyds Knobs, Indiana.

Lowell is survived by his three children, Ted Newton (spouse, Abby), Natalie Newton Nathanson (spouse, Jeff), and Heather Newton; three grandchildren, Hank & Charlotte Nathanson and Adam Salhin. He was preceded in death by devoted wife, Claudia Newton, his grandson, Sam Newton, and his sister, Loretta Osburn.

A Memorial Visitation was from 4 PM to 7 PM Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at Newcomer Funeral Home (3309 Ballard Lane, New Albany). A Memorial Service followed at 7 PM.

To leave a special message for the family, please visit www.newcomerkentuckiana.com.

Published in Naples Daily News on Jan. 18, 2017

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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, 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://youtu.be/AnaYDaNoufE

Hopefully, at the end of 2017, I will be finished with my newest book: Dictionary of Pyrate Biography, 1713-1720 which will attempt for the first time ever to re-discover pirate history without using A General History. I guarantee a lot of surprises!

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

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

Quest for Blackbeard is 15% OFF ALL PRINT FORMATS now at: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/bcbrooks

#blackbeard #pirates #history #maritime

Wrecked on Hatteras Island: A Long Tradition

The author, Baylus C. Brooks is a graduate maritime historian studying at East Carolina University’s Maritime Studies Program.  He is also a member of the Lost Colony Research Group (LCRG), conducting investigations into North Carolina’s maritime history, including genetic research, genealogy, and archaeology.  Brooks is their official historian. 

Solomon Lumberd was a mariner from Maine who once sailed the Dove to England, claiming to be of the “North Carolina trade” and left his name upon “Lumberd’s Marsh” on one of Hatteras’ earliest deeds near Cape Point; Erasmus Harfleet was a mariner who wrecked on Cape Hatteras in spring 1708; William Reed was a Justice of the Peace and wealthy speculator in North Carolina property, later the "president of North Carolina" and obtained the first deed on Hatteras in Jan 1712 “between the Indian towns”; John Neale was a virtual unknown of some pecuniary significance who lived near or with Hatteras Indians; Patrick and John Mackuen lived nearby to the southwest; Thomas Bilton was a shipwrecked mariner on his way from Lisbon to Virginia… what do all of these people have in common?  They visited and probably worked on Hatteras Island long before the first recorded deeds in 1712-16.  They also left a pile of glorious garbage near Buxton and probably elsewhere for later archaeologists to find.  They probably also married into the Indian population on that island - a population that may or may not have already possessed English DNA.

That’s why the Lost Colony Research Group is looking!  LCRG, headed by genetics specialist Roberta J. Estes, represents a professional group of scholars in history, genetic studies, British and American genealogy, and archaeology whose primary goal is the study of Hatteras Island and its heritage… both native and European.  Hatteras Island Genealogical and Preservation Society works in conjunction with LCRG.   LCRG recently attained an entry in wikipedia!  This article concerns the history of the island’s English inhabitants and the current working theory of the author. 

Hatteras is a rather small island, only about six miles long at this thicker part between Frisco and Buxton; the official length of the island starts at Oregon Inlet and runs to Hatteras Inlet and is about 18 miles.  At the thickest, it is only three miles wide, but it supported many island families, both native and European, for centuries and packed a sometimes violent maritime history on its Atlantic coast, but a mild and gentle history on its western, or sound side.  The Janus-faced Hatteras thus welcomed and repelled many.  Its waters tore thousands of ships to pieces.

 Washington Times 1906 – Full-page article on the dangers of Cape Hatteras issued after a dangerous hurricane in September 1906.  The inserted map shows numerous shipwrecks associated with Cape Hatteras.  Source: Washington Times (Tacoma), November 1, 1906.

 
On October 30, 1707, a ship sailed from Lisbon, Portugal to arrive upon the “Virginia” sand banks.  It encountered “hard Gales of Wind” and anchored off Cape Hatteras, where the crew “spoke to the Virginians on shore.”  They beat the coast for several months, finally wrecking in the latitude of Bermuda.  From there, nine persons, including Thomas Bilton, made their way in a ship’s boat to Anguilla in the West Indies.  After the wreck, they were thirty-one days at sea and “constrained to drink their own urine.”  This comes from the account of Thomas Bilton in “A Voyage from Lisbon to Virginia,” published in London in 1715.  It is one of the few accounts of contact with the Englishmen living on Hatteras Island prior to recorded settlement.

Another record of a shipwreck only two months or so later, following similar routes from London to Lisbon to America, tells the names of some of these Englishmen upon Hatteras’ shores.  The ship America sailed from London to Lisbon, Portugal, and then ran aground on Cape Hatteras before March 1708.  Erasmus Harfleet survived the wreck and attempted to salvage what he could while on Hatteras Banks, but was stopped by Justice of the Peace William Reed who just happened to be in the vicinity.  A petition was filed by Harfleet on March 11, 1708.  Harfleet “was allowed to work upon the sand banks to save what he could from the wreck.”  But, he encountered William Reed, who “came and threatened him if he took anything belonging to the wreck.”  Since Harfleet said that “Salvage from the wreck was the only wage that the petitioner would receive for his wages from London to the City of Lisbon in Portugal,” he asked for resolution to this argument.  The back of the petition reads, “Patrick MACKANNE, John NACKOUNE, John NEALE, Laruence MARTINSON, witnesses. 11 Mar 1707/8.”  [CCR-192].

It should probably be noted that some years later, Erasmus Harfleet was accused of purposely wrecking a ship in the sound off of Roanoke Island while en route to the area then called “Croatan” (known formerly as “Dasamonquepeuk” and today, as “Mann’s Harbor”) in 1714.  Harfleet was hired by Joseph Parker to pilot the ship, but when the ship ran aground, Harfleet began salvaging the wreck and refused to “get the sloop off” the shoals, who “cursed and said he would never go on board.” Harfleet had already unloaded a boatload of goods onto the mainland before refusing to go back, so he did not seem to mind going aboard the sloop while there were valuables on her.  [CCR-192, 26 Apr 1714]. 

    Erasmus Harfleet may have been a ner’do’well and justifiably stopped in his “salvage” activities by William Reed that early spring day in 1708.  Still, that encounter with Reed and other “Virginians” on Hatteras Banks tells us something valuable about the activity on that island before its recorded habitation by Englishmen.  Most Hatteras deed records occurred in 1716, although the earliest record we have is a deed for Col. William Reed in 1712 and several others in the following years, so he probably spent a good deal of time there.  At least, he was around to justifiably harass our Mr. Harfleet a few years earlier. 

Dr. David Sutton Phelps (archaeologist from ECU) found a “workshop” locale on Hatteras near the present town of Buxton during his excavations in 1998 that he dated from 1650-1720.  Coins that he found indicated its use by 17th-century Englishmen.  I have postulated before that settlement of Hatteras might have begun as early as the first Virginians arriving south of the Dismal Swamp in the mid-1600s, maybe earlier.  You see, with no roads and numerous creeks inland, travel by water was far easier in those days and Hatteras made a perfect “first stop,” yet, not always a chosen one. 

    Nothing can be certain without written proof, however, but the constant English shipping that began with Jamestown, Virginia since 1607 and that ran past Cape Hatteras on their way from the West Indies and on to London most likely deposited frequent and hapless visitors to Hatteras Island.  Many of them probably remained.  This was the normal trade route, a clockwise voyage from London, to the Canaries, Portugal (long allied with England), across the Atlantic on the trade winds to the West Indies, along the American coast, again picking up the trade winds in the North Atlantic, and then back to England.  This was fed by a desire to deprive the Spanish of their gold and silver, then later, for the sweet white gold of sugar from the Caribbean. No product was ever more valuable than sugar.

    The money is what prompted men like Bilton and Harfleet to brave the obvious dangers of the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” and caused over 2,000 known shipwrecks (actual numbers vary around 5,000).  Ships have found the bottom of these waters since early in the sixteenth century.  Hatteras was not simply an island in North Carolina.  It was a maritime hazard, entrepôt, whaling and porpoise center, and supply station for shipping all along the eastern seaboard.  It must have frequently encountered visitors like Bilton and Harfleet.

Ship Wreckage on Hatteras Island - Photo by Collier Cobb, circa 1900.

Other names mentioned in Harfleet’s petition in 1708 were John and Patrick Mackanne/Nackoune [Mackuen], and John Neale [O’Neale].  These are names also found later in the official deed records of Hatteras Banks.  Both are found in the “Trent Woods” area (today’s Frisco) where we also find the Elks band of Hatteras Indians.

Anna MacKuen was granted 155 acres “between William Rowlason and Patrick Callahan” in 1716 [Pat. book 8, p. 132].  She is probably the wife of John or Patrick MacKuen, seen in the earlier “Harfleet” petition.  Her husband must have died before 1716 when she was officially granted the land – land that the family had most likely lived on for years.  Her neighbors were important men.  Patrick Callahan’s name will appear again.  For now, I’d like to focus on “John Neale.”  He is an important name when it comes to the Hatteras Indians.  It was in 1720, after the Tuscarora War, that John O’Neale was entrusted with the delivery of gunpowder, lead shot, and flints to the Hatteras Indians.  O’Neale was perhaps chosen because his land may have included the “Indian Town” once visited by explorer John Lawson:

John Oneall 1716 patent for 440 acres on Tom King’s Creek - “File No. 1192,  John O’Neal” (October 9, 1716), Land Office: Land Warrants, Plats of Survey, and Related Records, Secretary of State Record Group, State Records, Old Book 8:113-14,  Microfilm S.108.451 (Raleigh, N.C.: State of North Carolina)

John Lawson visited this town circa 1701 and left his record of the Anglicized Hatteras Indians for all to read in his book:  A New Voyage to Carolina; Containing the Exact Description and Natural History of That Country: Together with the Present State Thereof. And A Journal of a Thousand Miles, Travel'd Thro' Several Nations of Indians. Giving a Particular Account of Their Customs, Manners, &c., published in London in 1709.

The mouth of Tom King’s Creek, also known as “Peter’s Creek” (allegedly named for Peter Gordon) in the recent past, begins the boundaries of the later Elks grant of 1759 that was patented for “William Elks and the Rest of the Hatteras Indians.”  O’Neale probably held this property well before 1716 and his relationship with the neighboring Indians seems to have been a good one.  It’s not so easy to call them “Indians” because, as Lawson found, they probably behaved more like Englishmen, shared DNA, dressed, and worshipped like them, too.  Still, living on a remote island far away from prying eyes in the “country,” or mainland as Hatteras islanders once called it, made living openly as something other than “white” far simpler.  [Reference Cecelski’s Waterman’s Song]

John “O’Neill” appears on a Currituck County tax list for 1718, having paid his taxes, unlike Henry Davis and Patrick “Kallahan” who later fought over land boundaries.  This dispute resulted in Henry Davis being killed by Patrick Callahan with a sword.  Callahan then lost his Hatteras property, which just so happened to border both the Mackuen land and John O’Neale.  See map below:

Readjusted 1716 patents in the area of Trent Woods – Base map: 1883 Hatteras map (annotated by Baylus C. Brooks).  A red line represents the mistaken course of Tom King’s Creek and the unforeseen extension of Patrick Callahan’s property in the initial erroneous patents of 1716.  The last frame shows the readjusted property lines as determined from deed and other records.  Mary Davis was too young in 1720 to inherit, but after she came of age and married Thomas Robb, the Jacobite “rebel” who was shipped to Carolina in 1716, they settled in upper Currituck from where they came in 1751 to claim their land.  For about thirty-five years, the Hatteras Indians did not suffer any serious problems with European settlers.  When the Robbs arrived in 1751, they determined that the town was on their land.  The Trent Woods town was readjusted again and granted with 200 acres to “William Elks and the Rest of the Hatteras Indians” in 1759.  Source: “File No. 1190, Henry Davis” (September 12, 1716), “File No. 1196, Patrick Callihan” (October 9, 1716), “File No. 1192,  John O’Neal” (October 9, 1716), Land Office: Land Warrants, Plats of Survey, and Related Records, Secretary of State Record Group, State Records, Old Book 8:113-14,  Microfilm S.108.451 (Raleigh, N.C.: State of North Carolina); United States Coast Survey, “General chart of the coast no. V from Cape Henry to Cape Lookout” (1883), MC.168.1883ub, North Carolina State Archives (Raleigh, N.C.: State of North Carolina).

The “Ungranted” property located in the 1720 frame of this illustration is probably close to the area that Anna MacKuen obtained in her 1716 grant.  Still, it is definitely the known location of Joseph “Maskue/McCun” in 1755-7. 

    John O’Neale, whose eventual fate is not well known, is more than likely the father of Christopher O’Neale (born about 1700).  Christopher O’Neale lived in this same King’s Point area of Hatteras until his death.  He would have grown up around the Indian Town there.  Their families probably all shared a common heritage.  In fact, the O’Neales have owned land (off and on) at King’s Point up until the sale of that property for the development of the high-end subdivision, Brigand’s Bay sometime after the new paved highway developed in 1953.  Part of former O'Neal land also became "Indiantown Shores" subdivison in the 70s. Urias O’Neale sold the bulk of the property that was terra-formed into the lucrative commercial site found there today. 

    The point is that Hatteras Island has been continuously occupied by European descendants since the mid-1600s.  Indeed, many are the ancestors of the same families who walk the island sands now.  They are the ones who left behind the artifacts that Dr. Phelps was digging up along the Buxton or eastern end of the island.  Phelps also found Indian artifacts mixed with European in the same date range.  Englishmen and Indians lived together for decades before John Lawson’s arrival, at least as early as 1670 and possibly earlier.  They could have lived together since 1587 when John White’s “Lost Colony” arrived.  Still, no two heritages more aptly belonged to any single group of people as those of Hatteras Island.  The Indian Town was simply the last holdouts of traditional Indians hoping to hold on to their ways.  This resulted in William Reed’s “between the Indian towns” reference in 1712.  There was little reason to worry, however.  The Englishmen were family already.  Time eventually brought them all together.

    There have been Rollinsons, Wallaces, Whidbees, Quidleys, Basnetts, Fosters, Fulchers, Farrows, Scarboroughs, Midgetts, Davises, Clarks, and many others on Hatteras Island for a long, long time… perhaps since before Nathaniel Batts and George Durant came through the Dismal Swamp in the 1650s and 60s.  Hatteras and the rest of the Outer Banks may have been the only part of what we now know as North Carolina that was inhabited by European people before then.  The mainland suffered from a lack of roads and numerous creeks, no roads, and dangerous unknowns.  The shores along the sounds and rivers is where you would have found the Europeans in the early eighteenth century.  The Indians, of course, were everywhere else... on Hatteras Island at least since 1,000 A.D. 

    When discussing the earliest history of North Carolina, we must begin with the first point of contact… with the Outer Banks, and Hatteras Island, for the sharp sandy snag known as “Cape Hatteras” or its “Diamond Shoals” brought many a drenched mariner to live there long before Batts or Durant dreamed of trading with the Yeopim or the Chowanoc in the Albemarle.  Whereas the Spanish did not remain on the banks, Englishmen did… maybe since 1587.  Certainly, more accounts of shipwrecks upon these shores will turn up, with more tantalizing tidbits of knowledge about the “Virginians” living there.  They continue to live there today.  And artifacts will continue to emerge from its sands to reveal this nascent North Carolina history.  This is Hatteras’ and, indeed, our country’s earliest European heritage.  Still, the native heritage persists there as well… you can ask them yourself.