Benjamin Weeks - Story and Will

Moseley's 1733 Map - Great Western Ocean
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Benjamin Weeks and Mary Chase: Pioneers
Attached to Benjamin Weeks Tree on Ancestry.com
Added by Raymond Booth on 12 Sept 2008

Benjamin Weeks was born on 4 April 1685 in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and as an adult operated the ferry between Falmouth and Martha's Vineyard. He married [second wife] Mary Chase (born in Tisbury, Ma., on 17 January 1687) at Martha's Vineyard on 14 January 1704. The ancestry of Benjamin and Mary is still open to question though it is certain that they count among their forebears the early Pilgrim and Puritan settlers of Massachusetts Bay Colony.

As more settlers flocked to the Bay area good arable land grew scarcer, forcing the children and grandchildren of the original colonists to look elsewhere for a means with which to support their families. The newly-established Carolinas answered this need with the promise of plentiful land and a gentler climate to those of an ambitious and pioneering spirit. Benjamin and Mary were among such a group of kinsmen and neighbors from the Falmouth region who migrated together to the White Oak River area of eastern North Carolina.

Court records first indicate the presence of Benjamin and Mary in the area in 1741 (though it is believed that they had arrived as early as 1730.) The Weeks family obtained land in Carteret County on Hadnots Creek at its confluence with White Oak River and set up housekeeping. Their grown children and other relatives and former Falmouth neighbors were soon established on lands of their own on both sides of the river. Benjamin died in 1744 and left the following will. All the children named in the will were born in Falmouth.

BENJAMIN WEEKS' WILL

In the Name of God Amen, ys. Ninth Day of November in the Year of our Lord, One thousand, seven hundred & Forty Four. I, Benjamin Weeks, of Cartwright County, in North Carolina, being of sick and weak Body, but of Perfect Mind & Memory, Thanks be given unto almighty God for it, & Knowing it is appointed for all Men Once to Die, do make & ordain this to be my last Will & Testament, that is to say; First of all I give my Sole into the Hands of God that gave it; & for my body, I recommend to the Earth to be buried in a Christian like manner at the Discretion of my Executors, Nothing Doubting but at the General Resurrection I shal receive the same again by the mighty Power of God that gave it; And as for Touching such Worldly Estate wherewith if has pleased God to bless me with, I give & Dispose of the same in the Manner & form following.

Item, I give and bequeath unto my two sons, Isaac Weeks & Jabas Weeks, the Tract of Land that I now dwell on with the March thereunto belonging, to be Equally divided between them and their Heirs & Assigns for Ever. That is to say, my son Jabas to have that Part of the Land that the Plantation & Houses is on, and Isaac to have the other Part with half the Marsh.

Item, I give to my Son, Theoflis Weaks, One Shilling, Sterling. Item, I give to my Son, Archelas, One Shilling, Sterling. Item, I give to my Son, Bingman, One Shilling, Sterling. Item, I give to my Daughter, Lidde Witton, One Shilling, Sterling. Item, I give to my Dafter, Mary Williams, One Shilling, Sterling. Item, I give to my Dafter, Christian Weake, One Shilling, Sterling. Item, I give to my Dafter, Thankful Hicks, One Shilling, Sterling. Item, I give to my Dafter, Elizabeth Weake, One Shilling, Sterling. Item, my Will & Desire is for my Wife to have the Plantation in her Lifetime. Item, my Will and Desire is that my two Sons, Isaac & Jabas, do Each of them pay unto my Grand Son Edward Weaks, the Sum of Ten Pounds, current money of Carolina, & upon Failure thereof to be Dispossessed of the Land before given.

Item, I give unto my well beloved wife, Mary Weake, Two Beds & Furniture, Two Cows & Horses, and all other Household Goods & all the Remaining Part of my Estate that is not yet given During her Widowhood, She Paying all my Lawful Debts. I also Depute and apoint my sd. Wife to be my whole & sole Executor of this my last Will and Testament, Ratifying and alowing this & no other to be my last Will & Testament, Disanulling all other Wills formarly by me made. In Testimony hereunto I have Set my Hand & Seal the year and date written above.

His Mark Signed: BENJAMIN (B) WEEKS

_____

Among the Falmouth neighbors who participated in the move to North Carolina were Jonathan and Grace Green who established a plantation on the Onslow County side of the White Oak River not far from Bogue Inlet. Jonathan Green died a premature death and Benjamin Weeks' son, Theophilus, then married Grace, gaining in the bargain ownership of the riverside plantation. His proximity to Bogue Inlet and, doubtless, his demonstrated ability and honesty, earned Theophilus the appointment as Customs Inspector, a responsibility that entailed inspecting the cargoes of ships entering and leaving the inlet. To perform these duties, Theophilus constructed a wharf at his plantation and later a tavern nearby to slake the thirst of the transient seamen.

The bustle of activity surrounding the wharf inspired Theophilus to subdivide his plantation into town lots which he sold to those of his neighbors who preferred the urban life. First called Weeks Wharf, the community was eventually renamed Swansboro. A plaque in Swansboro Park honors Theophilus for his role in founding the town.

In time Weeks descendants would own most of the land bordering the White Oak River. The end of the French and Indian Wars in 1763 had a profound effect on the lives and fortunes of the Weeks family. At the ensuing peace conference, France ceded Canada and Florida to the victorious English who immediately took steps to populate and control the new territories. The Crown offered generous land grants to veterans of the recent war and to eastern seaboard residents who were willing to homestead in British West Florida as the recent acquisition was called. It comprised parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. On the White Oak River history repeated itself as Weeks family members and neighbors responded to the call by trekking off to East Florida and British West Florida to seek their fortunes, no doubt spurred on by the same population pressures that had influenced their Falmouth forebears.

Those so far identified as homesteading in British West Florida were Christine Weeks* and her husband Abel Goffigon, Theophilus Weeks (thought to be the son of Silas and Zillar Weeks) and his wife Ann Osteen, and John Hewitt, a cousin of Christine. No doubt there were others. Theophilus would later move to East Florida. As a result of these migrations both Florida and Louisiana possess well-populated branches of the Weeks family. After the Revolutionary War, the migration of Weeks descendants followed the pattern established by other southern Americans as they spread westward across the gulf states into Texas and beyond so that today descendants of Benjamin and Mary Chase Weeks reside from coast to coast.

*Benjamin Week's daughter Christine married Abel Goffigon in Swansboro and moved to Louisiana where she left a large descendancy. - Descendant Jim McLoughlin, The Woodlands, Texas

William Theophilus Weeks

Great Great Grandson of 1708 Theophilus Weeks

15 Feb, 1838-18 Apr 1933
Born in Columbia County, Florida

WEEKS FAMILY ROOTS

WILLIAM WEEKS
Of England and New England

This line of Weeks came from England to [Martha's Vineyard] New England. It appears that William Weeks was the progenitor of this family. He came from Staines, Middlesex, England [most probably with roots in 1216 North Wyke, western Devonshire near Exeter] and died about 1688 or 1689 in New England.

This William is believed to be the son of Richard Wickes (Weeks) who names his son, William in his [1638] will and being in New England. It is thought William came to this country after his brother John had already made the journey across the sea and was in New England, per the father, Richard's will in England.

William was married at least twice. The first wife's name is not known, they did have children. The second wife was Mary Lynde Butler, widow of John Butler. She was born 1628 and died 1693.

William was a tavern owner and appeared in court many times in lawsuits. In January 1666 he was fined for selling strong liquor. He promised for himself and family that they shall no more sell strong liquor.

There were at least six children who reached adulthood: William Weeks Jr. born 1645 was still living in 1693; Elizabeth Weeks born 1648 married John Robinson 1 May, 1667; John  Weeks was born 5 April, 1640; Samuel Weeks was born in 1651; Richard Weeks 1653-1724 married Abigail Norton; John Weeks, born 1655, married Mary Rowley 7 January, 1676; Abigail Weeks born 1658 married Jonathan Hatch, son of Jonathan Hatch and Sarah Rowley, 4 December, 1676 in Martha's Vineyard.

WILLIAM WEEKS JR.

William Weeks Jr., born in Massachusetts in 1645, was married twice. He died in 1744.

William married Mercy Robinson 16 March, 1668 (or 1689). Mercy was born to Isaac Robinson and Margaret Hanford - 4 July, 1647 and was baptized at Barnstable, MA. Mercy was remembered (three pounds) in the will of Miles Standish in 1655, who stated whom I have tenderly love for Marcy Robinson for her grandfather,'s sake. Her grand father was the Rev. John Robinson, born 1575, son of John and Ann Robinson, was pastor of the Pilgrims at Leyden, Holland. Later, William Jr. was married to Mary Hatch, daughter of Jonathan Hatch.

William was with his father on the vessel of Fifteen Toones in 1667 when it was making a trading trip from the Vineyard, it was laden with miscellaneous freight, mostly food and household items when the vessel was wrecked at Quick's Hole. The vessel was seized and looted by the Indians of Elizabeth Island.

The following children were produced from the two William Weeks Jr. marriages: Mehitable; Aaron Rowley, born 7 March 1690; Sarah, born 24 June 1677; Experience, born 24 June 1677; Mercy, born April 1679; Jonathan, born 1 May 1681; Benjamin, born 4 April 1685, married Mary Chase; and Lydia, born 30 June 1687, married William Swift 9 October 1707.

BENJAMIN WEEKS
Son of William Weeks Jr.

Benjamin Weeks was born 4 April, 1685 in Falmouth, MA. He died 1744 in NC. His will was probated in Carteret Co. North Carolina in 1745.

Benjamin married Mary Chase 14 January, 1704 in MA. She is the daughter of Isaac Chase and wife Mary Tilton Chase. According to Mary's will she died 11 August, 1788.

While Benjamin lived in MA. he owned a ferry that was given to him by his father-in-law, Isaac Chase as stated in the History of Martha's Vineyard, volume 1.

Benjamin moved southward and into Carteret Co. North Carolina about 1730. He lived in the area of White Oak River and died there in 1744. He is buried in the Weeks family Cemetery in the area.

Benjamin and Mary were the parents of ten children: Benjamin Weeks, Jr.; Theophilus Weeks, born 1708; Lydia Weeks married Thomas Whitton 1 September 1733; Archelaus Weeks; Mary Weeks married Weston Williams; Christian Weeks married Mathew Rowley; Thankful Weeks married Thomas Hicks; Isaac Weeks married Sarah; Jabez Weeks married Mary Rhodes; and Elizabeth Weeks.

THEOPHILUS WEEKS
Son of Benjamin Weeks

Theophilus Weeks Sr. was born in Falmouth, Barnstable Co. MA. Bay Colony in 1708. He removed to North Carolina with his family about 1730 and settled in Carteret County and then moved to Onslow Co. by 1735. Theophilus married Mrs. Grace Green the widow of Jonathan Green. Grace the widow was deceased by August 1792 as evidence by minutes of the August 1792 Court in Carteret Co. which concerned a lawsuit against the estate of Grace Weeks.

Theophilus laid out and established the Town of Swansboro, NC., in 1770. He surveyed forty-eight lots which are still part of the town.

Theophilus was inspector for the port, which was called Weeks Landing, Week's Whard, The Whard, Weeks Pint, Bogue, New Town and Swansboro. His house was just up from the wharf so he could see the ships as they came in.

Grace had one son by Jonathan Green and four sons for Theophilus Weeks. If they had daughters they are unknown. Those children were: Jonathan Green Jr. born before 1735 and died 7 February, 1777; Benjamin Weeks; Silas Weeks, Revolutionary War soldier, died 22 May 1778; Silvanneus Weeks, Revolutionary War soldier; and Archelus Weeks who married Abigail Edwards, widow of Thomas Edwards.

SILAS WEEKS
Son of Theophilus Weeks

Silas Weeks was the son of Theophlius Weeks and Grace Green Weeks. He was born in North Carolina.

Silas was a soldier in the America Revolution and died in service on May 22, 1778. A Military Land Warrant # 1533. in the name of Silas Weeks was sold by his heirs on February 22, 1785. From this land sale by the heirs three children are known , Theophilus, James and Ada Weeks. The signature of Theophilus is identical with that found on Military Land Warrant Nr 1806, issued in the name of Tehophilus Weeks and sold by him on 23 May, 1785.

Silas Weeks is the proven son of Theophilus Weeks Sr. of Carteret County by land deeds.

Zillar Hunter the wife of Silas Weeks, was the daughter of Nicholas and Rebecca Hunter. Zillar was listed as one of twelve children listed in the will of her father Nicholas who died in 1750 in Carteret Co.

Only three children are known born to Silas and Zillar: James Weeks, believed to be the oldest; Theophilus Weeks; and Ada Weeks who married John O'Steen brother to Ann and Esther O'Steen.

THEOPHILUS WEEKS
Son of Silas Weeks

Theophilus Weeks, like his father was a soldier of the American Revolution. He was born in Carteret County, North Carolina on 21 October, 1760. He died 20 July, 1839 near Alligator Settlement (now Lake City) Columbia County, Florida.

He was a soldier with the 6th Regiment of the North Carolina line, commanded by Colonel Lytle and then by Captain Griffins. He served for two (2) and a half years.

After the war he returned to Carteret Co. where he married Ann O'Steen about 1782. Ann was born 25 October, 1763; she was the daughter of John O'Steen Sr. and wife Elizabeth Jones of Carteret County.

During the late 1790's Theophilus moved his family South into Beaufort District, South Carolina for a few years. By 1803 he had settled in Camden Co. Georgia, for a brief time he was in Louisiana and finally settled in Columbia County, Florida.

Their Children were: Mary Weeks born 1782; Silas Nathaniel Weeks born 17 September 1784; Betsey Weeks born June 1788; Alsey Weeks born 6 April 1790; Sarah Weeks born 7 March 1792; Ezikla Weeks born 3 January 1795; Ezekiel Weeks born 18 March 1797; Theophilis Weeks born 29 February 1800; John Weeks born 9 June 1804; James Weeks; Silas Weeks born 23 December 1811; Leonard Weeks born 21 September 1816; Betsie Weeks born 22 February 1819; Zach Weeks born 20 October 1820; and John Weeks born 5 January 1820.

Above history/research from Mallen with additions and corrections from other sources. Photographs from Ancestry.com

JAMES WEEKS

Son of Silas Weeks

James Weeks was a son of Silas Weeks and Zillah Hunter. He was born in North Carolina before 1755. James married a lady named Rebecca (possibly Rebecca O’Steen). Sometime about 1794, James moved his family to the Sumter-Clarendon section of South Carolina and bought 150 acres from Joseph Corbett of the Orangeburg District. This move allowed them to join an O’Steen family already living in the Sumter District. James and Rebecca had four sons:

William, Philip, Chosel (also known as Joseph) and James Jr.^[1]  

The James Weeks Family came to South Carolina when “Things were bursting loose.” The best documented records on the lands occupied by the family are the records reference the land grant for James, Jr., who received a 1000 acre State Land Grant about 1802 on a location near Sammy Swamp about two miles north of Pinewood, South Carolina.^[2] This 1000 acre State Land Grant included 298 acres surveyed for his brother Chosel Weeks, and 455 acres surveyed for his brother William Weeks.^[3]

During those early years, the daring settlers would often build what were called Settler’s Houses on their allotted tracts. Usually, these houses had only one room.  In one end of the building  was a fire place for cooking and keeping the building warm.  In the other end of the building, one might find a “rope bed” used by the head of the household and his spouse. Ladders were provided for the children to reach the attic where they slept. The Sumter County Museum in Sumter, South Carolina, has been able to acquire the Weeks Settle House and has moved it from the original tract area near Pinewood, South Carolina, to the backyard of the museum in Sumter, South Carolina, as an Early Settlement Display.^[4]

---

^[1] Jean Brunson, WEEKS OF SUMTER DISTRICT (1985) 3 and 16.

^[2] Marsha Trowbridge Ardila, EARLY SETTLEMENT IN OLD SUMTER DISTRICT, (Presentation to Sumter County Historical Society by Marsha Trowbridge Ardila, November 17, 1996).

^[3]Marsha Trowbridge Ardila, TIMELINE FOR SETTLER’S HOUSE, 1996.

^[4] Ardila

Above James Weeks history submitted by Robert Weeks

THEOPHILUS WEEKS - Founder of Swansboro

Monument in Bicentennial Park

A Sketch of the Life of Theophilus Weeks 1708-1772
Founder of the Town of Swansboro 
by Tucker Littleton

Theophilus Weeks, son of Benjamin and Mary Chase Weeks, was born at Falmouth, Massachusetts, in 1708. Sometime in 1730 Benjamin Weeks moved his family from Falmouth to Carteret County, North Carolina, settling along Hadnot's Creek, a tributary of the White Oak River. Apparently about the same time, another Falmouth family - that of Jonathan Green, Sr. - moved to the White Oak River area and settled on the land where the town of Swansboro eventually began. Very little is known about Jonathan Green, Sr., except that he moved to his new home along with his wife Grace and his older brother, Isaac Green. Jonathan and Grace

Green had a son named Jonathan, Jr., but it is not presently known whether Jonathan, Jr., was born in Massachusetts or in North Carolina. In 1730, the two brothers, Isaac and Jonathan Green, jointly bought their new plantation on the White Oak. 

Meanwhile, Theophilus Weeks appears to have lived in his father's household until 1735. By that year, Jonathan Green, Sr., had died of some unknown cause at the early age of approximately 35 years old; and Theophilus Weeks had married the widow, Grace Green. Weeks moved to the Onslow County side of the river upon marrying the Widow Green, and they made their home in the house that had earlier been the home of Jonathan Green, Sr. In due time Weeks bought the half interest of Isaac Green, who thereafter returned to Massachusetts. Thus, by purchase from Isaac Green and by intermarriage with Jonathan Green's widow, Theophilus Weeks came into full possession and control of the plantation on the Onslow County side of the mouth of the White Oak River.
 
In addition to his stepson, Jonathan Green, Jr., Theophilus Weeks's family increased by four sons born to him and his wife Grace. Their four sons were Benjamin Weeks, Silas Weeks, Silvanus Weeks, and Archelaus Weeks, whose name sometimes appears incorrectly as Archibald Weeks.

If Jonathan Green, Jr., should ever prove to have been born in Massachusetts before his parents moved to North Carolina, then Theophilus and Grace's son, Benjamin Weeks, would be the first child of European descent ever born on the site of what became the town of Swansboro.

Not much is known about the occupation of Theophilus Weeks prior to 1751. In January of 1741, Weeks recorded his stock mark, which indicated agricultural interests. In 1747 Weeks mortgaged to Col. John Starkey, for slightly over 200 pounds, the land he had bought of Isaac Green. There is no indication of the use Weeks made of the borrowed money, but he evidently paid it off by the end of 1748.

In 1751 Weeks petitioned the Onslow Court for permission to operate an ordinary (18th century term for tavern or inn) and was licensed to "keep an ordinary at his now dwelling place," which suggests that port activity was thriving at the mouth of the White Oak and that Weeks' plantation was a favorite spot for the seafarers to visit.
Three years later in 1754, the Onslow Regiment of Militia was organized in response to the French and Indian War. The regiment was divided into four companies, and Theophilus Weeks was commissioned a sergeant in Capt. Stephen Lee's Company of the Onslow Regiment of Militia. His service as one of the original officers in the regiment indicates a more-than-usual capacity for leadership and public responsibility.

In 1757 Theophilus Weeks was appointed the first inspector of exports for Bogue Inlet. Though the record for some years is incomplete, there is every indication that Weeks held the office of inspector continuously from 1757 until his death in 1772. It is significant that there is no record of any complaint ever having been lodged against him with respect to the administration of his official duties. Nor was he ever involved in any lawsuit or uncomplimentary situation so far as the record reveals. From all indications, Theophilus Weeks was a prime example of the unassuming, hardworking, solid citizen upon whom our great democracy was built.

No record has come to light which reflects the religious affiliation of Theophilus Weeks. However, he is known to have had an eminent Puritan minister in his ancestry, and the fact that other members of the Weeks family in the Hadnot's Creek area were deeply involved in the early Baptist movement suggests the strong possibility that Theophilus was also numbered among them.

While there are additional references to his keeping an ordinary and serving as inspector, the most significant accomplishment of Weeks's life came just about a year before his death.
It is not known exactly when Theophilus Weeks decided to start a town on his plantation called "The Wharf." He may have toyed with the idea for years, but it seems certain that he had finalized the plan of a town by sometime early in 1771 or possibly even in 1770.
 

Layout of Swansboro

The earliest Swansboro lot for which there is a deed from Theophilus Weeks on record is lot number 6, which Theophilus and Grace Weeks sold to Edward Starkey on May 11, 1771. Strangely enough, that deed refers to an adjoining lot as belonging to a Mr. Lee, though no deed from Weeks to Lee is recorded.

The deed from Weeks to Starkey, however, does prove that as early as May of 1771 a plan of the town existed and that the lots in the town had already been assigned their numbers.

That the establishment of a town on his property was the idea of Theophilus Weeks is further supported by the deed to Mrs. Mary Pitts for lot number 11. Mrs. Pitts received the deed for what was called "lot number 11 in the plan of a town laid out by Theophilus Weeks.” It is, therefore, clear that the town that became Swansboro was the idea of Theophilus Weeks, who thereby earned the title of Founder of the Town of Swansboro.

As laid out by Weeks, the new town contained a total of 48 lots and 6 streets. The lots were arranged in three tiers with 16 lots to the tier. Of the 6 streets, 3 streets ran basically north to south and 3 ran basically east to west. Those streets today are known as, Front, Water, Elm, Moore, Main, and Church streets, though 4 of the 6 streets have been greatly extended as the town has grown.
 
All of the original lots measured 60 feet in width and 200 feet in length, except that those lots on the north side of Front Street were intended to extend across the street to the rivershore. Seven of the 48 lots were called "water lots" because in varying amounts a part of each of those 7 water lots lay beneath the water. The 7 water lots were known in the plan of the town as lots number 10 through 16.
 
All of the streets in the town were laid out to be 30 feet wide, except for Front and Broad streets, which were 40 feet wide. The Broad Street shown on the early maps of Swansboro should not be confused with the present-day Broad Street. What Theophilus Weeks called Broad Street is today known as Main Street and was the end of the old county road which ran from Onslow Courthouse (as Jacksonville was formerly called) to Weeks's wharf where he inspected exports leaving the White Oak River area.

The sale of lots in the new town continued slowly, and only a few of the original 48 lots had been sold when Theophilus Weeks died. From the deed records, it is known that the Weeks home stood on the west side of Broad Street (now Main Street) somewhere between Front and Water streets. In the plat of the town, the lot on which Weeks's home sat received the number 7. Because Weeks had a wharf nearby where vessels tied up to have their cargoes inspected, one of the earliest names for the town was Weeks's Wharf.

Some called the town Weeks' Point, and still others called it "New Town." In one petition, the town was called "New Town-upon-Bogue." During the Revolutionary War years, the most common name for the town was Bogue. In 1783, when the town was established by law, the General Assembly put an end to the confusion over names by bypassing all the earlier names and officially naming the town Swannsborough, which has since been shortened to Swansboro.

The precise date and cause of Theophilus Weeks' death is unknown, though it appears to have occurred in early January, 1772. On January 1, 1772, Theophilus and Grace Weeks signed a deed to Archibald Gillespie for half an acre of land. That was the last deed Theophilus ever signed. When the Onslow Court met just a few days later, one of the actions taken by the court was to appoint Archibald Gillespie inspector for Bogue Inlet "in the room of Theophilus Weeks, deceased."

While Theophilus Weeks lived and died a subject of the king of England, he was the father of patriots. Of his four sons, two - Silas and Silvanus - died as soldiers in the American Revolution. In his final years, Theophilus Weeks founded a new town and left behind him sons who would help to found a new nation. It is appropriate that the bill legally erecting the town which Weeks had founded was passed by the General Assembly in the same year that Great Britain officially recognized American independence. - Tucker R. Littleton

Base of Monument in Bicentennial Park - Swansboro, NC

Family Tree

MOLA MOLA

1200-pound Mola Mola on a Swansboro Dock . 1926*

In May 1926 the grounded fish was spotted in Bogue Inlet by mariner William Edward Mattocks. Captain Mattocks succeeded in towing the huge fish to Swansboro. After notifying the North Carolina State Museum, curator H.H. Brimley and assistant Harry Davis hurried to Swansboro where they took measurements and made field notes. A paper mâché replica was created; it is on exhibit at the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh.

The ocean sunfish, Mola Mola, or common mola, is the heaviest known bony fish in the world. It has an average adult weight of one ton. The species is native to tropical and temperate waters around the globe. It resembles a fish head with a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally. Sunfish can be as tall as they are long when their dorsal and ventral fins are extended.

Sunfish live on a diet that consists mainly of jellyfish. Because this diet is nutritionally poor, they consume large amounts in order to develop and maintain their great bulk. Females of the species can produce more eggs than any other known vertebrate. Sunfish fry resemble miniature pufferfish, with large pectoral fins, a tail fin and body spines uncharacteristic of adult sunfish. 

*This 1926 photo is courtesy of the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, where the Mola Mola is on exhibit. The photo was taken by J.F. Cunningham. The man on the left is Harry T. Davis, Assistant Curator at the museum  and the man on the right is Reiny Foster who may be an employee of the New Riverview Hotel or the Swansboro Ice Company.  In using this image, the Museum of Natural Sciences prefers asking permission first and then giving proper credit.

THE OCTAGON HOUSE

Hill-Jones House circa 1855 - Cedar Point near Swansboro

This 150-year-old "Octagon House" sits on property that was originally granted by King George III to Thomas Lee in 1713. This land was once an Indian camping ground - evidenced by shell beds and pottery found along the banks of the sound. In 1765, William Hill, from Lunenberg County, Virginia, purchased what had become known as the Cedar Point Plantation – hundreds and hundreds of acres on the White Oak River near Swansboro, then part of Carteret County. Read more...

OTWAY BURNS - Shipbuilder and Privateer

A Brief Biographical Sketch of the Life and Exploits of Captain Otway Burns, Jr. 1785-1850

Captain Otway Burns was born on the west side of the mouth of Queen's Creek (near Swansboro, NC) in 1785. 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 6 in Swansboro.

At the time that Burns bought Lot 6, 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. After the War of 1812 and the death of Joanna, about 1813 Burns moved to Beaufort, opened a shipyard, married Jane Hall and built a house on Front Street; here he resided for 22 years.  

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 coastwise 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
Photograph by Philip Howard - Village Craftsmen of Ocracoke
 

In partnership with Col. Edward Pasteur and the 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 the 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. But one of the western counties -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 Light-House 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 NC 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.

Otway Burns' Beaufort shipyard was know for quality and workmanship of the vessels that were built there. His most well-known ship was Prometheus, one of the first steam ships to sail in North Carolina. 

His shipyard in Beaufort also built Snap Dragon,a personal vessel for himself, named perhaps out of admiration and affection for former SNAP DRAGON; this small fast ship used two masts and a “center-board” steering control, believed to be the first of its kind built. 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.

Otway Burns 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. After building the last of the two Brigs, little is known about additional construction at the shipyard. - Jack Robinson

In the late 1820s, Burns competed with Dr. James Manney in supplying brick for building Ft. Macon. After Jane’s death, he married another Jane - Jane Smith of Smyrna, N.C. in 1842 and moved to Portsmouth. He died there and was brought by sharpie to Beaufort for burial. The Old Burying Ground cannon monument was erected by Burns' descendants. The unveiling took place July 24, 1901. Chief Justice Walter Clark was orator. The cannon had been used as a marker to indicate the dividing line between Old & New Town; a new marker was erected in place of the cannon – evidently by the Burns family; May 5, 1901--"...Harry C. Fardy of Baltimore writes me he has forwarded the monument to Beaufort, N.C. to mark the spot where the cannon had been before placing it on the granite or marble tomb of Capt. Otway Burns, my grandfather."  

Old Burying Ground - Beaufort, North Carolina
From the Collier Cobbs photo album, circa 1898, courtesy of the North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Images and information from : Yancey County, NC (much contributed by Romie Burns, great grandson of Captain Otway Burns) and author/historian Jack Robinson

A Brief Overview of the Town's History

1733 Moseley Map - Part of the Great Western Ocean

During the period of first white contact, the INDIAN TRIBES INHABITING THE AREA of the present State of North Carolina were of three linguistic stocks — the Iroquoian, Siouan, and Algonkian. Swansboro was most probably originally an Algonkian Indian Village.

Around 1730, Swansboro started as a small settlement at the mouth of the White Oak River. Jonathan and Grace Green settled here from Massachusetts. Jonathan Green (son of Mary Chase and Benjamin Green 1685-1744 of Falmouth, Massachusetts) built a house at the mouth of the White Oak River. Mr. Green died a short time later. Grace Green married THEOPHILUS WEEKS, who had settled in Hadnot Creek. The Weeks family were farmers and innkeepers. Mr. Weeks was later appointed port inspector.

Weeks then sold a portion of his land which, in 1783, which was incorporated as the colonial port town of Swannsborough. It was so named in honor of Samuel Swann, former speaker of the North Carolina House of Commons. Swannsborough was situated near numerous pine forests and was able to produce much of the materials needed for shipbuilding. So, naturally, shipbuilding became its major industry.

During the Revolutionary War, a number of patriot privateers operated from the harbor, and several saltworks were built nearby. By 1786, Swansboro had assumed such importance that it was declared a separate customs district.

Captain Otway Burns was the town's most famous ship builder. He was famous for building the first steamboat constructed in North Carolina, the Prometheus, and also had served as Commander of the privateer ship the Snapdragon.

Swansboro continued to prosper until the Civil War. Shipbuilding and the export of naval stores were the mainstays of the local economy. The Civil War brought an end to the port's boom days. Swansboro was twice occupied by Union forces, in 1862 and 1864. After the war, the naval stores trade fell off. Eventually, the town's sole industry was commercial fishing.