Quote:
Originally Posted by Taltarzac725
Blackbeard headed for his chosen venue of NC to turn himself into Governor Charles Eden. First though he deliberately ran his own ship The Queen Anne's Revenge and had his pilot Israel Hands run another sloop The Adventure aground. Not wanting to share plunder nor glory he marooned 25 men in Beaufort Inlet after holding them at gunpoint and removing arms and money from them. He then culled his pirate crew even further by escaping with a few others in the sloop he had secretly moved most of his booty to earlier. He had even tricked Stede Bonnet into going to get a pardon while lying to him about saving some of the pirate loot for him. Blackbeard gave up the active life of a pirate and settled in Bath Town, NC in a home across from the NC Governor Eden. He even took a 14th wife. He could see himself with wife, more children, and close cousins in Bath Town. If only, though, the twenty men he brought with him could also give up the pirate's life. They could not. Bath, North Carolina - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Story of Blackbeard |
Two very careful watchers of Blackbeard were Benjamin Franklin who was just about or now a 12 year old apprentice for a printer in Boston and Lt. Governor of VA, Alexander Spotswood. Both were interested in the
defeat of Blackbeard's pirates. Spotswood feared that Blackbeard would start his pirate career anew and target Virginia shipping. He also felt that
graft between some Colonial Governors and Blackbeard was an atrocious development and an afront to King George I. He had sent a
hoofed party to NC's Governor Eden to bring home that point. Benjamin Franklin feared that Blackbeard would return to piracy, get caught, and be hung. Many, especially Spotswood, believed the
adage that the only good pirate was a dead pirate and Franklin even put a spin on it. "Better to swim in the sea below than to swing in the air and feed the crow, Says Jolly Ned Teach of Bristol."
http://www.piratesoul.com/index.php?...ife&Itemid=201
Blackbeard would often sail up the Delaware River to find a good site to anchor away from prying eyes and then catch a ferry to Philadelphia's waterfront to enjoy telling his stories of piracy on the High Seas. He frequented a store managed by Mrs. Bulah Coates at High Street, No. 77 and at least one of his men retired to Philadelphia with Blackbeard's permission. Unfortunately for Blackbeard the Governor of Pennsylvania, William Keith, was well within Lt. Governor of Virginia Aleander Spotswood's
orbit and there was soon (August 11, 1718) a PA warrant put out for his arrest. The pirate leader was shocked when he heard the news of the warrant. Now, Blackbeard would not continue
trawling for wife No. 15 nor conduct his sermons on piracy from the
pulpit of the local waterfront bars. Governor William Keith sent out two sloops under his
agency to capture Blackbeard and his new sloop which Blackbeard had named
Adventure after the previous ship Israel Hands had run aground at Beaufort Inlet, NC. Rather than stay where he was not wanted, Blackbeard bent to the nagging of his crew to resume their preying on merchant ships. They left Pennsylvania for Bermuda.
http://www.republicofpirates.net/PhillyPirates.html