by John Walker
(excerpts reprinted with permission from the May 1996 issue of No Quarter Given)
Maynard boarded him, and to it
They fell with Sword and Pistol too;
They had Courage, and did show it,
Killing of the Pirate's Crew,
Teach and Maynard on the Quarter,
Fought it out most manfully,
Maynard's Sword did cut him shorter,
Losing his head, he there did die.
The Downfall of Piracy
(possibly by Benjamin Franklin)
My story begins in the port of Charlestown, S. Carolina in January of the year 1990. There I chanced upon a story written by Judge Charles H. Whedbee about the silver-plated cup made from the skull of Edward Teach.
According to the Judge, after Teach's demise at the hands of Lt. Maynard, his head was cut off and eventually placed on a pole at the entrance to Norfolk, VA as a warning to other pirates. As the story goes, the skull was rescued by some of the "Brethren of the Coast" & fashioned by some local silversmith into a silver cup bearing the curse "Deth to Spotswoode" engraved on the rim. This cup appears at various times over the next two centuries. According to Judge Whedbee, it was used in a number of college fraternity initiations, both held and drunk from by him, on Ocracoke Island in the 1930's. He had been trying to relocate the cup & had a standing offer of $1,000 to anyone who could produce the silver skull. All attempts by him to locate it had met with failure.
In July 1990, I began my search at Blackbeard's hometown of Bath, N.C. I placed a call to "Historic Bath", the local historical organization of the area. They were quite familiar with Capt. Blackbeard and knew of the stories about his skull, but could provide me with no new information.
At this point, I decided to go right to the source of the story that got me started, right to Judge Whedbee. I obtained the number of Judge Whedbee's office on the morning of July 11. My call was answered by the mellow-toned drawl of a Southern gentleman informing me via his answering machine, that he was out of his office. I left my name and number, and a brief message stating that I was trying to track down Blackbeard's skull. I said no more in case this was the wrong Charles Whedbee and sat back to await a reply.
I received no word from Judge Whedbee. On Aug. 29, I was in Pawley's Island, S. Carolina, and came upon a book called "Blackbeard the Pirate, A Reappraisal of his Life and Times", by Professor Robert E. Lee. It is an excellent book, probably the most complete work on Blackbeard. It is thorough and detailed with footnotes and cross reference galore. Even better, it mentions Blackbeard's skull.
As I had yet received no word from Judge Whedbee, I thought I would try contacting people in the business of dealing in nautical & antique militaria. After many, many referrals and phone calls, this route eventually reached a dead end as well.
It was now Sept. 9, and I had still received no reply from Judge Whedbee, so I decided to locate Dr. Robert E. Lee, the author of the fine book on Blackbeard's life. I was able to contact him directly at his home. He told me that he was now 84 and in failing health. I asked him a few questions about the skull, but as he was unable to add anything new, I thanked him for his time and ended the call.
On Sept. 18, I heard from Mr. Ben V. Cherry of Portsmouth, Virginia. He is famous for his portrayal both here and around the Caribbean, as Blackbeard himself. He has done quite a bit of research over the years and has a wealth of knowledge about this "gentleman" he portrays.
When I asked him about the skull, he mentioned some of the same stories that I had uncovered, adding a new one, that it may be in the collection of the University of Virginia. His own opinion about the skull was that it was probably lost, having been shot at and weathered away and broken up shortly after it was stuck up on the pole.
I also called Mr. Carson Hudson, another Blackbeard researcher. He relayed much of the same information, only he thought the skull had at one time been the property of William & Mary College, instead of the University of Virginia.
I called the College of William & Mary, and spoke to Margaret Cook, the curator for the college. No luck. I called the University of Virginia. Again, no luck.
On Oct. 4, I again called Colonial Williamsburg, and I spoke to Ms. Patricia Gibbs from the Research Dept. She remembered my previous call, but had no new information for me and in fact told me that she had been unable to locate anything that suggested that Blackbeard's skull had even been in use in the Raleigh Tavern.
I was feeling very frustrated at this time, so I decided to try Judge Whedbee again. When I called his office, I was surprised to hear that his office hone had been disconnected. This sent a little shiver of fear up my spine, for this did not bode well for my research. Without too much trouble, I was able to locate Judge Whedbee's home phone number. I felt the color drain out of my face when she told me that the Judge had died two weeks ago. This man was the only person I knew of who supposedly had actually held and drank from Blackbeard's Skull. Now he was gone, and I never had a chance to talk to him.
On Friday, Oct. 5, I began again. I decided to try America's Attic, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. I figured that sooner or later, everything of historical interest in the United States ends up there. So, just maybe ... Mr. Paul Johnston, the curator of the Nautical Section was away where I called. I spoke instead to one of his assistants. I told him my tale and again I was told, the cup was not in the Smithsonian's collection. He thought that if it was anywhere, it was in England. Well, I'm not going to England just yet.
Oct. 8, 1990. No luck at either the U.S. Naval Academy Museum or the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Museum.
A footnote in Dr. Lee's book states that there is a skull alleged to be Blackbeard's in the hands of a New England collector of pirate memorabilia. I will now turn my attention back to New England.
On Oct. 25, after being completely disheartened by the death of Charles Whedbee, I decided to try the publisher of his books to see if they had any information that I might be able to use for fresh leads.
I placed a call to John F. Blair, Publishers, in Winston-Salem, N. Carolina, where I was put in touch with a delightful woman named Caroline Sakowski who told me that "yes, indeed, Judge Whedbee had been very emphatic about the cup being real and had a number of leads that he was working on at the time of the death". When he died, she said she thought that he felt the cup was in the possession of one of the fraternities of the Univ. of Virginia or William & Mary College.
She also told me about a book called "Dig for Pirate Treasure", by Robert I. Nesmith, that had a chapter and a photograph of a man holding what is supposed to be Blackbeard's skull in SILVER!!! She sent me a copy of the article and photo. The picture did indeed show a man holding silver skull. This man's name is Edward Rowe Snow from Cape Cod. He is, I believe, the collector of pirate memorabilia mentioned in Robert E. Lee's book. So that ends one mystery.
Unfortunately, Mr. Snow has been dead some ten or more years. He was a popular radio personality and lecturer, and evidently quite a character.
According to Caroline Sakowski, this picture of Mr. Snow with the skull, was shown to Judge Whedbee, who stated at the time that it was indeed the same skull he was familiar with.
This raises several problems. The first is that the skull doesn't match the description given in Judge Whedbee's book, nor is there any mention of the inscription "Deth to Spotswoode" on the cup skull. The cup mentioned in the book is only the very top part of the skull forming a bowl-like shape. Not a complete skull.
On Oct. 31, on a long shot, I contacted the local (Cape Cod) library and they were only too happy to give me the number of those that might have continuing knowledge of Mr. Snow's collection.
My call was answered by an elderly-sounding lady who seemed most disquieted by my call and my interest in the skull. She said that she had been robbed in the past and didn't feel safe giving out any information about the skull. She mentioned that they, were in the process of donating the skull to a museum in Salem, Mass. I placed calls to both the Essex Institute and the Peabody Museum, and no one at either location was aware of any such donation in the works.
August, 6, 1991. I travelled to Ocracoke on the ferry from Cedar Island, NC. It was indeed, thrilling to be sailing on the same waters that had once been sailed by Edward Teach. I had not realized what a large expanse of water Pamlico Sound is. We were out of sight of land a full half hour before Ocracoke appeared in the distance.
The village of Ocracoke is very tiny and centered around the beautiful harbor created by Silver Lake. Aside from the small village and the lighthouse, there is really not much on Ocracoke, and the outlying areas remain as desolate and wild as they must have been in Blackbeard's time.
In spite of the fact that Blackbeard was probably Ocracoke's most famous resident, in August 1991, there was very little evidence of him. Teach's Hole, where he used to anchor, is a well known fishing spot. There is one historical marker near the visitor's center and a small restaurant called "The Jolly Roger". Other than this, there was little reference to Pirates.
August 7, 1991. I left Ocracoke before dawn to go to Bath, N.C. Blackbeard's home. Traveling the empty island road at night, it was easy to see how ghost stories about the man flourished. I was the only one about at that hour, and the only other living things I saw were the abundant ghost crabs scuttling across the road like large pale spiders.
I caught the ferry at the northern end of the island just as dawn was breaking. Watching the colors of the day change over Pamlico Sound and seeing the early morning fishing boats headed out to sea was a beautiful sight that almost made up for the fact that I had learned nothing new about Blackbeard.
I drove up through all the little towns of the Outer Banks I had read about in Charles Whedbee's books: Hatteras, Nags Head, Rodanthe. they were still quiet at that hour, with only fishermen and early risers up with hardly any traffic on the roads. I made good time.
I reached Bath about noon and in a pouring rainstorm. I stopped at the Visitor's Center where I saw a short film about the town's history. There were a few early restored homes (none from Blackbeard's time) which contained some artifacts from the town.
The only item they had pertaining to Blackbeard was a medium-size stoneware pot that was alleged to have belonged to him.
I inquired about his home and was told it was out on Teach's Point & only accessible by boat. With nothing more to learn there, I returned home.
This is where things stood until March 28, 1996, when I came across the April '96 issue of "Soundings" with its section on Pirates. I discovered there was now a Pirate Museum in Salem, Mass. (possibly the one mentioned by Mrs. Snow), as well as this marvelous publication No Quarter Given.
My search continues and I will continue the offer of Judge Whedbee. If anyone can provide me with the silver cup made from the skull of Blackbeard for the purpose of x-ray and analysis, I will pay $1,000! Anyone with information can reach me through No Quarter Given .
Ye Humble Servant
John Walker
April 12, 1996 AD
Sources:
"Blackbeard the Pirate, A Reappraisal of His Life and Times" by Professor Robert E. Lee, pub: John F. Blair, 1974
"Dig for Pirate Treasure" by Robert I. Nesmith, pub.: Devin-Adair Co., NY, 1958
"Blackbeard's Skull and Other Stories of the Outer Banks" by Judge Charles H. Whedbee, pub: John F. Blair
Additional Reading:
Snow, E. R., Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast, Boston, 1944.
Pendered, Norman C., Blackbeard: the Fiercest Pirate of All, pub: Times Printing Co., 1975
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