Page Six
June 15, 1935
TATE
GOVERNORS OF NORTH CAROLINA
- No. 17— CHARLES EDEN -
- By W. J. Sadler -
II
IARI.ES
E
1»
E N.
•
irf
Тьр'лПге!
1 Hi)
N <>ri it
Charles Edoii. for whom llie oily of
ICilnilon
млн
named, didn't have a
very pleasant time during the eiuhl
years he ruled over the colonists of
the Alhciuarle.
АшоиЦ
other things
he was charged with aiding the no¬
torious pirate. Klackbeard. in car¬
rying on his nefarious practices.
о!
I In-
iteration»
111ГМС
I
who..- lew «.f
were at Bath, North
line’- oMw toon.
lilncklicard, whore real name
яи
Edward Thatch, or Tench. was to
called because of the bu*hy black board
he wore. Edeii, in the opinion of many
rctMcntS of the colony, had been a se¬
cret aliv of the pirate, protecting tire
infamous thief ami murderer with tire
power of the office he bold. Report*
were current at tire time that a tun¬
nel, tire location of which no one
•Mined to know, hud been cou-tnicted
from tire water** edge to the home of
the Governor. Through this tunnel,
Eden’.- aoourer* 'aid, blackboard rent
the principal governing official of the
colony bribe* in the form of money,
rare edible* from foreign la ml* and
other valuable*.
Given Benefit of Doubt
No oil
taken uguinst Eden. ;
ion «Mined to Ic p-
•hariig in tire ill
Blackboard. S
are inclined t
benefit of the
fit it, a f,f !i font
■ II.
п1л.
a>*erli
ever bn.
One of t
MHpiciona
when
forme
Hi*
the receilft of
be
•rolexoi
in* of
me historian*, however,
give tlie Governor the
ag that no
been
ргч-
ripal rea-on. for the
tins Eden*, alleged
ckbenrd apparently
■’* failure to order
after Teach had ro¬
ll. practice* follow*
Kim.-'- t‘iird'41
il account* ray that Black¬
board, after terrorizing resident* of tire
area* adjacent to tire eoa-t of this Mate
for several year*, expressed hi* inten¬
tion of reforming and nirreudcrcd
himurlf t«. Governor Eden, lie wa*
granted a pardon, and for a few
month* made hi* home in Bath, where
he i* said to have married hi* thir¬
teenth wife.
A Short Reformation
Black beard*» reformation did not
la*t long, ami *OOt he had recruited
another crew of adventurer* ami re-
turned to hi* vocation of piracy. One
of hi* principal aide» wa* n Major
Steed Bonnet!, raid to have been a man
of an honorable and highly-respected
family of thore day*.
Л*
Black lord'* raid, continued tin-
ehecknl, many of tire colonist* ap-
|real*d to Governor Eden to order hi*
arre.t. bill historical account- relate
that lire Chief Executive failed to
make a move in that direction. It wa*
then that tire Governor of Virginia,
whose province al*o had Ireen the scene
of *ome of tire pirate* depredation*,
decided that tire time m ripe to put
an end to Blackboard.
Blackboard's Career Ended
The Virginia official *cnt two re*-
>■•1*. under the command of Lieutenant
Rob rt Maynard, to atl.c« the capture
of the outlaw, and it is related that
tle-y engaged him in battle off Oera-
eoke Inlet in 171'. Maynard i* ered-
Ite-d with having pertonally *lain
Blackboard, afterward- severing hi*
head from
Ы*
body and nailing it to
the masthead of hi* dag.hip a* po*i-
live proof that he liad put ail end to
the pirate** career.
It wa* then that tuapieion* of Eden*»
possible connection with Klackbeard
began to be expressed. However, no
proof was offered ami no official in-
vr. ligation of the charge* were made.
master*,’
they are
help.”
.At leu»t one good act
seem* to have marked
Eden’s administration. He
realised that the colonist*
needed minister* and school
teacher», and urged the
Lord* Proprietors to *end
them from England. "There
people are willing a* any
in America to give of their
scant mean, to help .Up-
port minister* and rehool-
hc wrote to the Lord*, “but
too poor to do thii without
Pleai Arc Unheeded
Nothing came of hi* pleas, however.
Tire Lords Proprietors refused to aid
the renters, and further in-isted that
they continue to pay their rents in
-ilver. although the borne» of many
had been destroyed bv Indians dur¬
ing uprising* again*! the white*, and
their lands ravished to the point where
it was exceedingly difficult to produce
enough food to keep them alive. “Even
when tlrere people were weeping over
burned houses and waited land*,” one
historian writes, “the laird* demunded
tlreir rent* in •ilver.’’
People in Revolt
It wa» during Eden*» tenure of of¬
fice that Edward Moseley. one of
the colony’» most prominent citizen*,
•erred a* S|>eaker of the Lower House
of the AsaemMy. It was Moseley who
Ud tire light in that body which re-
•tilted in tire adoption of a resolution
urging the colonist* to refuse to Serve
in the army, unless they wished to do
so voluntarily. Another resolution
condemned the taking of private prop¬
erty for the u -e of tire government.
Eden’* unhappy administration came
to an end with his death in March.
17Й.
Although he wa. buried at an¬
other -ite, hi* body later wa* removed
to Edenton. The city wa* named for
him. and hi* grave and it* marker*
are still to Ire sewn.
