Crystal Canterbury

The herstory of Ocracoke Island, or, when women first came to these shores.

Five days a week for eight hours a day, I get interact with visitors, answer questions, and map out walks or bike rides around the village. I’m typically asked the same questions each day, but I’m occasionally asked a unique question that requires some serious digging. This week I was asked when women first came to the island. Before I get to the answer, let’s back up to the 1500’s.

Sometime between 1585 and 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh came to Ocracoke on one of his expeditions, supposedly looking for what became known as The Lost Colony. The Woccon, a tribe of Native Americans who lived along the coastal mainland, frequented this spot for seasonal hunting and fishing. There were no known settlements on Ocracoke, but we can't say for sure whether or not the Woccon women came along on the Woccon bro hunting and fishing trips. For the sake of our answer here, let's assume the women stayed closer to home.

Detail of a 1590 map
Detail of a 1590 map

English explorer John White first labeled present-day Ocracoke Inlet on a map as Wokokon in 1585, the name of which was believed to be derived from Woccon. Wokokon morphed into Woccocock, Oakacock, and Okercock before becoming Ocracoke, and the colorful history of the tiny island has led to legends, local lore, and tales.

Before the British Royal Navy won the battle and ended Blackbeard’s career as a pirate, Blackbeard hid-out/partied on Ocracoke in the weeks leading up to his demise in November of 1718. Between June and September of 1718, Blackbeard was quite a busy man. He intentionally ran his ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, aground before heading to the mainland hoping to receive a King’s pardon for his previous acts of piracy. Governor Eden of North Carolina helped Blackbeard get said pardon, then the pirate went right back to pirate-ing ways.

In late August, he captured a French merchant ship, taking its cargo north from the Caribbean to North Carolina, right to his buddies Governor Eden and Tobias Knight. Along the way the pirate dropped off his crew on Ocracoke to begin repairs of their vessel Adventure. While his men were busy working, Blackbeard crept off and made his way to Bath, NC to meet with Tobias Knight. The two men created a plan which would benefit them both. In late September, Blackbeard captured then burned a French merchant vessel, claiming he’d found the ship abandoned and already sinking. After clearing the vessel of her goods, Blackbeard went back to his pal Knight, who was the Secretary to Governor Eden, paid the tariff to the colonial government, and went on his way, being cleared of any wrong-doing. Their plan worked perfectly, and Blackbeard made his way back to Ocracoke Island. The following description of what happened next is from Wicked Charleston: The Dark Side of the Holy City by Mark R. Jones:

“To celebrate his grand fortune, Blackbeard headed to Ocracoke Island. The Queen Anne’s Revenge [actually Blackbeard was in command of the sloop Adventure at this time] was laden with food, rum and women picked up from the waterfront. Other notorious pirates, like Calico Jack Rackham and Charles Vane, arrived at Ocracoke with more women and rum. It soon became a huge, continual party that has become known as the ‘Ocracoke Orgy.’ Hundreds of pirates spent several weeks on the island drinking, eating and whoring with more than fifty wenches.”

The apocryphal woodcut of the Ocracoke Orgy (see the baby held by the woman to the left of the fiddler)
The apocryphal woodcut of the Ocracoke Orgy (see the baby held by the woman to the left of the fiddler)

But let’s pump the brakes and return to the original question, which was “when did women first come to Ocracoke?” There wasn’t a village established on the island at this time, and artwork depicting the event shows lots of women dressed quite nicely, one is even holding a baby. There’s also a table depicted in a wood carving, and supposedly there were “civilities” exchanged for days between pirates Blackbeard and Vane and their men. Again, though, there was no village, so from whence did all these nicely dressed people come? How did a table and baby end up in the mix?

While it is likely there was a meeting of pirates in the fall of 1718, it is highly unlikely there were a great many women there. Captain Vane may have brought along a few women, but he likely only stayed a few days and made nice with Blackbeard. So, all in all, the orgy as described above is probably nothing more than a great story.  I know I’ve turned some heads and gathered a rapt audience upon saying the words “Ocracoke Orgy” while going on about telling people the local history/legends/lore/tales.

In order to find out when women more than likely came to Ocracoke, I referred to local historian Philip Howard. Much of what I’ve learned about Ocracoke has come from Philip, including what you’ve just read, so last week I sent him a text asking about women on Ocracoke; he dropped by to answer the question. Drum roll, please: according to a report published in 1879 in the Raleigh News & Observer:

The inlet that Patsey piloted.
The inlet that Patsey piloted.

“An imperfect diary, kept by Gen. John Gray Blount (1752-1833), contains some interesting information. He states that when he was a very young man, an old man on Ocracoke told him that the first vessel ever piloted over Ocracoke bar, was brought in by a woman named Patsey Caraway, and at that time the channel ran so near the land that you could ‘chunk a biscuit’ on the deck of a vessel.”

Neat! In 1715, the North Carolina Colonial Assembly passed an act allowing pilots on the island, but, weary of the shoals and the Pirate Blackbeard, people were hesitant to settle here until after Blackbeard was killed. Philip said it was around 1720 when Patsey Carawary piloted the first vessel through Ocracoke Inlet.

The village was permanently settled in 1750, but the first census wasn’t conducted until forty years later, in 1790. At that time “135 whites, two free persons of colors, and 31 slaves” lived in Ocracoke village. There were 23 households and nine family names, some of which are still prominent. Bragg, Garrish, Gaskins, Howard, Jackson, Neale (which was changed to O’Neal in the census of 1800), Salter, Scarborough, and Williams were the names listed at the time of the 1800 census, and it’s fair to reason that women permanently came to Ocracoke sometime between 1720 and 1750, when people began settling the island.

This is how colonial women dressed. Clearly, they could've used an Ocracoke Orgy.
This is how colonial women dressed. Clearly, they could've used an Ocracoke Orgy.
Painting by American artist William Williams