Rewriting Blackbeard's history: Researcher suspects traditional accounts are wrong

Note: Story was revised Dec. 6, 2010

A childhood fascination for eastern North Carolina pirate lore led to decades of research that casts the famed pirate Blackbeard in a new light.

Rather than a murderous Englishman, Blackbeard may have been the son of an upstanding eastern North Carolina resident. And, he likely only dabbled briefly in piracy, says Kevin Duffus, a writer and documentary filmmaker who wrote a book on the subject.

The man’s name: Edward Beard, son of James Black Beard.

Duffus delivered a lecture in November at the Masonic Theater in New Bern, as part of the annual Richard K. Lore Lecture Series.

 “I can’t prove it. This is all circumstantial evidence,” Duffus said.

However, Duffus led the audience for more than an hour through his story of discoveries that provide for a compelling argument to rewrite Blackbeard history. Letters and documents indicate that the pirate Blackbeard had a sister named Susanna.

James Black Beard had a daughter named Susanna who lived on property along the Neuse River, and he had a high level of familiarity with North Carolina colonial Gov. Eden and an official named Tobias Knight, Duffus said.

Duffus’ research also indicates that the pirate Blackbeard never killed a single person.

“I thought it was great. So (much) of it all showed research that could prove so many things that he said,” said Elizabeth Eisele, who attended the lecture. “It’s amazing that many people would rather hold on to myth than accept the facts.”

James Black Beard was a neighbor of Eden and Knight. The sea captain supposedly died in 1711, but there is no record of his death. Someone paid the property taxes on his land until 1718, the year the pirate Blackbeard was killed following a battle at Ocracoke.

Duffus pieced together the lives and circumstances of numerous people to come to this conclusion, he said. He also found enough evidence to dispel popular accounts in Blackbeard history and to reconstruct the pirate’s whereabouts for the last six months of his life, less 17 days.

Duffus turned his back on a career as a television executive producer to focus on the research, writing and documentary production.

“You have to put yourself there in the time … then you can figure out who they were and what they were doing,” he said. “You have to go to the places where the history took place.”

His theory involves a Spanish ship that had sunk off the coast of Florida in 1715, leaving a treasure trove of gold and other riches. At the time, the North Carolina economy was faltering, and Duffus believes that Eden had sent Edward Beard, and a crew, to retrieve some of the booty. By the time they arrived at the wreck site, the Spaniards had already guarded the area. It is then, Duffus thinks, that Blackbeard turned to piracy. Eden also pardoned Blackbeard in the summer of 1718, Duffus said.

Duffus’ detailed lecture discusses the material he presents in his 2008 book, “The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate.” In total, he has published three books and produced four documentaries, all related to Outer Banks history. He thought it appropriate to deliver the lecture in New Bern because of the Neuse River connection to the Blackbeard story and the availability of a highly interested audience. In fact, the Masonic Theater was crowded to standing-room-only capacity.

“There is no county in North Carolina that appreciates its history more than New Bern and Craven County,” he said.

More information on Duffus’ work is available at his website at thelostlight.com.

P. Christine Smith can be reached at 252-635-5666 or pcsmith@freedomenc.com.