How Old Was William Howard?

Have you ever visited Ocracoke and walked down Howard Street, or fished or clammed on Howard Reef, or dined at Howard’s Pub? 

The surname Howard is traced to Ocrcoke’s last colonial-era owner, William Howard who purchased the island in 1759. But was he the same William Howard who served as quartermaster under notorious pirates Blackbeard and Benjamin Hornigold between 1716 and 1718? Some people, including a former archaeologist with the Queen Anne’s Revenge Project want to believe that there were two, even three men sharing the same name at the same time on the coast of North Carolina. 
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At Ocracoke’s 2021 Blackbeard Pirate Jamboree on October 30 in the Berkley Barn at 1 p.m., I will present my latest research. There is no such thing as history carved in stone but what I have to report is as close as it gets.

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