Otway Burns

Otway Burns was born about 1785 in Swansboro, NC. He married Joanna Grant (-1814) on July 6, 1809. On December 4, 1814, he married Jane Hall. At the age of 57, he married Jane Smith on February 22, 1842 and moved to Portsmouth, NC, where he died on October 25,1850.

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In A Brief Biographical Sketch of the Life and Exploits of Captain Otway Burns Jr., Tucker R. Littleton wrote:

"Captain Otway Burns was born on the west side of the mouth of Queen's Creek (near Swansboro, NC). The son of Otway, Sr., and Lisanah Burns, he evidently took to the sea at an early age and soon earned the reputation of a most skillful navigator. Like his father and his grandfather before him, Otway, Jr., was deeply involved in maritime activity at Swansboro. In 1809 Burns married Joanna Grant, daughter of Colonel Reuben Grant, a Swansboro merchant. Owen Burns, the only child of Capt. Otway Burns, was born to this union in 1810, the same year that Burns bought lot number 6 in Swansboro.

"At the time that Burns bought the lot, it contained a dwelling house on the portion lying between Front and Water streets, and Capt. Burns and his young wife may have resided for a time on that lot. The lower portion of the lot, lying between Front Street and the river shore, was subsequently used by Burns for a shipyard. His wife, Joanna, however, had died in 1814, and in 1819 Burns sold his Swansboro lot to William Pugh Ferrand.

"It was his role in the War of 1812 that won Burns his fame and made him Onslow County's most famous native son and the most important figure ever associated with the maritime history of Swansboro. Prior to the War of 1812, Burns was a sailing master operating out of Swansboro, Beaufort, and New Bern, and plying the coast-wise trade with such northern ports as Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Portland. When the War of 1812 broke out, Burns came to the aid of his country by operating a privateer vessel to prey on British ships and commerce.

SNAP DRAGON 
Model by Jim Goodwin

"In partnership with Col. Edward Pasteur and other owners of the SNAP DRAGON, most of whom were of New Bern, Burns carried the privateer schooner on three of the most successful voyages ever made by an American privateer. His extraordinary bravery, ingenuity, skill, and heroic exploits made Captain Otway Burns a legend in his own time and North Carolina's most famous naval hero of the War of 1812. Throughout the war the United States had only a token and woefully ineffective navy. The country was forced to rely on the help of private-armed vessels like SNAP DRAGON, whose entrance into the war was applauded as a great act of patriotism. When our "Second War of Independence" was over, Burns had captured not only a staggering number of enemy vessels and valuable cargoes but had captured the esteem and admiration of his fellow countrymen.

"Following the war, the enterprising Captain Burns returned to his old trade of shipbuilding and eventually at Beaufort tried his hand at storekeeping, salt making, brick making, and investing in the Clubfoot and Harlowe Creek Canal Company. A Democrat in politics, Burns represented Carteret County in the General Assembly from 1821 through 1835. In the latter year, however, Burns' sense of fairness cost him his political future. The eastern counties controlled the legislature because the western counties were not granted fair representation in the General Assembly. When the Assembly in 1835 voted on the matter of calling a special state constitutional convention to consider, among other things, increasing the representation of the western counties, Burns maintained that the westerners should be entitled to fair representation and therefore voted in favor of calling the special convention. His eastern constituents never forgave Burns for casting the deciding vote in favor of the special convention, with the result that Burns was never re-elected to the Assembly. Yancey County named its county seat Burnsville in honor of Captain Burns and in gratitude for his fairness as a statesman.

"In 1836, President Andrew Jackson, himself a hero of the War of 1812, appointed Burns keeper of the Brant Shoals Lighthouse at Portsmouth. Burns died at Portsmouth on October 25, 1850. He is buried in the Old Burying Ground in Beaufort.

"Today Swansboro's most famous son has two North Carolina towns named in his honor - Burnsville in Yancey County, and Otway in Carteret County. And as of May 6, 1983, North Carolina has two statues of Captain Otway Burns-one at Burnsville atop the mountains, and one at Swansboro in sight of the sea." 

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In Captain Otway Burns and His Ship Snap Dragon, historian Jack Robinson wrote:

"Otway Burns was issued a shipbuilding contract from a Wilmington, North Carolina company, Captain James Seawell & Associated, in the year 1818. He was to build the first ship from North Carolina to be powered solely by a steam engine...[he] designed and built his new ship in his Beaufort shipyard. Prometheus was the name given...Announcements were made that he would soon be leaving Beaufort heading for a major reception at the port of Wilmington.

"Burns also built two large vessels--the Warrior in 1823 and the Henry in 1831. These vessels were used to carry cargo from North Carolina to various ports, to include as far away as South Africa and the West Indies.

"The shipyard of Otway Burns was known for quality and workmanship of the vessels that were built there. After building the last of the two Brigs, little is known about additional construction at the shipyard. Captain Burns constructed a personal vessel for himself. 

 

"Possibly out of the loss of Snap Dragon during the War of 1812, Captain Burns built himself another vessel and also named it Snap Dragon. This ship was sleek and known to have been very fast. He also built into the construction of this vessel the first-known 'center-board' used in the waters of North Carolina. This innovation introduced by Burns gave way to a new medium in ship building for his state. This is an example of just one of the little known contributions that Captain Otway Burns gave to the State of North Carolina." - MORE from Jack Robinson.

Prometheus

1814 Letter from Burns

In Jack Robinson's book, Captain Otway Burns and his ship Snap Dragon, he also included an 1814 request of marque and reprisal written from Beaufort, where Burns made his home and built a shipyard.

Thus Prometheus was built in 1818 in Beaufort, not in Swansboro as claimed.

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Walter Francis Burns' 1905 book online

Grandson Walter Francis Burns wrote:

"Captain Otway Burns married in 1809 a Miss Grant, daughter of Reuben Grant of Onslow County. By his marriage he had one child, Owen Burns, born in 1810, who became a lieutenant in the United States Navy. After the death of his first wife, he married December 4, 1814, Miss Jane Hall of Beaufort and for her a handsome residence was built in Beaufort near the spot where the Atlantic House Hotel afterwards stood; he resided there for twenty-two years. Burns' shipyard was in Beaufort. After Jane's death, he married Miss Jane Smith of Smyrna, N.C., on February 22nd, 1842, and moved to Portsmouth, N.C., where he lived until his death." (Captain Otway Burns - Patriot, Privateer and Legislator, Walter Francis Burns, New York, 1905)

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SYNOPSIS OF FAMILY 

FRANCIS BURNS, the immigrant, was born about 1710 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He settled in the Onslow County area of North Carolina in 1734 and died about 1793. Francis and his wife Mary Otway had five sons: Otway (the father of Captain Otway Burns), Richard, Joseph, Frederick, and Jesse.

OTWAY BURNS SR., the elder, born about 1750, and unknown spouse were parents of Mary Ann Burns (born about 1780) and Otway Burns (1785-1850), both born in Swansboro, Onslow County on the family homestead overlooking Bogue Sound, near Queens Creek. On January 28, 1798, Mary Ann married John Sanders in Onslow County; they were parents of John, Otway Burns, and Eli Walter Sanders.

Captain OTWAY BURNS was born about 1785 on the Onslow County family plantation. On July 6, 1809, he first married Joanna Grant (-1814). Their only son OWEN BURNS was born in 1810. In 1814, Joanna left Otway Burns, with son Owen; she died that same year, leaving her young son with family for five years before Burns obtained legal guardianship of Owen. Owen served in the US Navy from 1834 until 1840. On November 18, 1849, their 39-year-old son Owen married 15-year-old Martha Ann Armstrong (1834-1913) of Baltimore.

On December 2, 1814, Captain Otway Burns' second marriage was to 18-year-old Jane Hall. They had one daughter, HARRIET HALL BURNS (1827-1882), who married Richard Cornelius Canaday on February 21, 1844.

OF NOTE: Descendants of Owen Burns have always denied that Owen had a half-sister Harriet Hall Burns. It is said that Owen hated his younger sister so much that when Otway went to sea, he arranged for her to stay in Onslow with the Canaday family. Harriet was raised by Cornelius Canaday and his wife Jane Bell, and ended up marrying their son Richard.

On February 22, 1842, after Jane Hall's death, Captain Burns married Jane Smith (1794-1859) of Smyrna, and moved to Portsmouth, N.C. where he lived until his death, October 25, 1850.

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Burns' connection to Beaufort's Old Town-New Town Boundary Marker - Northwest corner of Front and Pollock Streets

When established, October 2, 1713, Beaufort contained about 100 acres. To meet the requirements of a township, when incorporated in 1723, Beaufort was increased to 200 acres. 

The marker "indicates the dividing line between Old & New Town and was erected in place of a cannon which formerly stood here; said cannon being part of the armament of the U.S. Privateer Snap Dragon commanded by Cap't Otway Burns in the War of 1812-15." 

The Old Burying Ground cannon monument was erected by Burns' descendants. The unveiling took place July 24, 1901. Chief Justice Walter Clark was orator.  

 

Image from Walter Francis Burns' book

 

History of the Beaufort Plaque

Not long after the founding of the Beaufort Historical Association in 1960, then president Dr. John Costlow asked Miss Elizabeth Merwin to design a plaque to mark houses over 100 years old. The goal was to encourage interest in the townsfolk in preserving and promoting the significance of their historic homes. Classically trained in heraldry, Miss Merwin created a watercolor design—the same design in use today.

Many had been skeptical of the project as Dr. Costlow placed the first plaque on the Duncan House on the west end of Front Street, then dated 1790.* But, once it was in place, others began calling Dr. Costlow with comments such as, "My house is older than Sara's - why can't I have a plaque?" Soon, they began sprouting up all over town!

Thomas Duncan House

Producing the plaques eventually involved many people. Ben Jones cut a tin template to facilitate drawing the pattern on wood. Dr. Costlow traced and cut them out at the Duke Marine Lab on Piver's Island. Participating in the community effort, Bert Brooks assisted by applying seven base coats of white acrylic paint to the wooden shields. Dr. Costlow did the color work and lettering in his Ann Street kitchen.

In March 1963, the association announced that plaques were in place on 20 buildings, including the Duncan House, the 1796 Courthouse, the Old Jail, Carteret Academy and Purvis Chapel. Others included the Nelson, Easton, Caleb Bell, Hatsell, J. Davis, Beveridge, Morse, Piver, Gibbs and Langdon Houses. *See full list at the end of this post.

As more and more plaques were added, a few were done with a mellow gold and brown border to distinguish those houses from the 100-year-old ones. These few, having now ‘come of age’, may eventually be repainted with the traditional blue and silver border or owners may choose to leave them ‘as is’ due to their uniqueness. The one to your right is one of those with different coloration - displayed on the John Wolfe House on Orange Street.

A record of the significance of the plaque is recorded, but not documented, in Ruth Barbour’s "History of the Beaufort Historical Association." A research-only copy is available at the Beaufort Public Library. The below information is paraphrased with more details and images added:

 

• The border of the shield-shaped plaque is made up of a blue and silver checked border signifying fair play. This compony (Heraldry adjective) border was taken from the Duke of Beaufort’s coat of arms which displays a single row of squares with alternating color.

• The Red Rose of Lancaster at the bottom of the plaque represents the Lancaster lineage of the Duke of Beaufort’s family.

• The gold menhaden at the top signifies “Fish Town," --the translation for what the Coree Indians called Wareiock--the name by which Beaufort was known in the early 1700s. *
• • *UPDATE: More research shows no documentation that "Fish Town" is a translation of Wareiock or Cwarioc, nor did a Coree village exist on the acreage that would become Beaufort. However, many years after Beaufort was established in 1713, the small village could have easily been referred to as "Fish Town" by those unaware of the actual name of the town. In fact, Cwareuuock, the reference to the Coree tribe on earliest maps included the Algonquian ending -euuock, roughly translated "people of" or "land of"--thus, the name Cwareuuock, on those early maps, referred to "Cwar," Core, or Coree territory. (Blair A. Rudes, UNC Charlotte, The First Description of an Iroquoian People) Until about 1706, the Coree occupied the peninsula and coastal area south of Pamlico Sound and the Neuse River, including what is now Carteret County. In Colonial Beaufort, historian Charles L. Paul wrote. "Before white settlers entered the area, the Coree had two villages. One of these was located on the north side of the Straits of Core Sound which separates Harker's Island from the mainland . . . The other village was located on the west side of Newport River."   
    

NOTES:

1) Sophia Merwin and her daughter, Miss Elizabeth Merwin, lived in the “Jennie Bell” house (306 Ann) for many years. (Widow Jennie McRacken Dill married widower William J. Bell. Jennie's daughter Sophia Dill married Nathan Merwin.) Elizabeth Merwin was born in 1918. She graduated from the Corcoran School of the Arts and returned to Beaufort in 1938 and worked on Piver's Island at the US Marine Fisheries with Dr. Herbert F. Prytherch. She still found time to make many significant and lasting contributions to her home town. She also designed the windows of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Morehead City, and created beautiful coat-of-arms for several local families. Oddly enough, Elizabeth’s house at 306 Ann was not plaqued during her lifetime. It was plaqued when renovated and officially researched a few years ago—now the Buckman House circa 1848.

 

2) The Red Rose of Lancaster is the county flower of Lancashire. Rosa gallica officinalis is a small shrub producing richly fragrant, semi-double, rosy crimson flowers with prominent yellow anthers. The "officinalis" denotes the plant is used as an herbal remedy. The rose was first adopted as a heraldic device by the first Earl of Lancaster and became the emblem of Lancashire following the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. This ancient rose is recorded as being in cultivation in the 800s. It was used as a medicine and perfume in the court of Charlemagne in the ninth century A.D. Its petals were noted to retain their fragrance even when dried.

 

3) Beaufort has only one double-plaqued house. One plaque denotes The Allen Davis House circa 1774, home to the Davis family for over 100 years. The other is for Major General Ambrose Burnsides - Union commander of North Carolina troops during the Civil War. Burnsides had several headquarters in North Carolina and, though undocumented, it has been said that he used this home from 1861 to 1873, during the Federal occupation of the area.

March 1963 - First 20 Beaufort buildings to receive historic plaques

(Many dates have since been updated for accuracy.)

DUNCAN 1790 -105 Front St.; DAVIS 1821 - 127 Front St.
NELSON 1790 - 201 Front St.; MORSE 1771 - 215 Front St.
EASTON [HENRY] 1771 - 229 Front St.; SABISTON 1857 - 307 Front St.
CARTERET ACADEMY or Beaufort Female Institute 1854 - 505 Front St.
CALEB BELL 1770 - 817 Front St.; GIBBS 1851 - 901 Front St.
BUCKMAN 1845 - 114 Ann St.; BEVERIDGE 1841 - 123 Ann St.
PETER PIVER 1750 - 131 Ann St.; DAVIS 1817 - 201 Ann St.;
MACE 1832 - 619 Ann St.; WILLIS 1820 - 700 Ann St.
HATSELL 1827 - 117 Orange St.; LANGDON 1764 - 135 Craven St.
CRAMER 1796 (Courthouse moved to Restoration Grounds)
PURVIS CHAPEL 1820 - Broad/Craven
COUNTY JAIL 1829 (moved to Restoration Grounds)

*Author's Note: Please check these links to read more about the legislative act to establish Beaufort and a more accurate date for the Duncan House.