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Blackbeard the Hero? - Page 2

© Anita Stratos

Strangely enough, although he was considered to be among the most formidable pirates of his time, there is no historical evidence stating that Blackbeard ever personally killed anyone prior to his last fight, when he took one life with his pistol.

During his lifetime he married 14 times and fathered 40 children. His last wife was 16 year old Mary Ormond, whom he allegedly prostituted to several of his highest ranking crewmen. Ironically, he established a stately home on Plum Point, North Carolina, directly across from the governor's mansion.

Then Governor Charles Eden was no stranger to Blackbeard. In fact, Blackbeard's rampant pirating along the North Carolina coast went unchecked because of a partnership he had established with the governor. Historical sources state that when Blackbeard's ship was searched, letters between the two "partners" clearly stated that Eden would overlook Blackbeard's deeds in return for a share of his ill-gotten bounty. Letters from other prominent officials in North Carolina and New York stated similar deals.

At the height of his career, Blackbeard had a fleet of several ships and several hundred men. At one point he decided to pare down his crew, so he deliberately ran two of his ships aground, marooning most of his men on a desolate island where they would have died had they not been rescued two days later by Major Bonnet.

Besides kidnapping planters' wives and daughters, Blackbeard brought other hardships upon North Carolina residents. His constant pirating of trade ships stopped merchants' businesses for months at a time, and his collection of "tolls" from incoming vessels discouraged trade activity. Knowing they could seek no relief from their own governor, in 1718 the people appealed to the governor of Virginia, whose trade had also been interrupted by Blackbeard's operations.

The governor dispatched Lieutenant Robert Maynard and several sloops to put an end to Blackbeard. Though outgunned, good triumphed over evil, and Blackbeard finally perished in hand-to-hand combat against Maynard, dying while cocking a pistol with no fewer than 25 pistol and sword wounds covering his body. Maynard severed Blackbeard's head and hung it from the bow of his ship to prove that he had successfully completed his task and as a warning to other pirates. So staunchly did people believe that Blackbeard was in league with the devil that rumors circulated that his headless body was seen swimming several laps around Maynard's ship. Rumor also has it that his skull, which hung from the ship for months, was eventually silver-plated and used as a drinking vessel. Even today, stories are told about modern establishments which have supposedly housed the silver skull, and quests still continue in search of it.

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