This new volume is my way of preserving many years of dedicated research, in order to give the reader an authentic overview of Beaufort's fascinating history. Along with significant events, residents, and documents, included in this volume are rare images, maps, articles, memories, letters, and excerpts from other historians—offering evidence and unique insight into Beaufort's past.
In this regard, although the facts of history don't change, our knowledge and understanding of those facts do change over time. Thus, history doesn't become certain until verified by primary sources, such as deeds or documents. Researchers and historians build on the work of others before them, working to confirm or refute commonly held beliefs. When more accurate information is found and reported, it is the responsibility of the historian to make the information known, and endeavor to correct previous errors in interpretation.
For instance, it has been written that Beaufort was built on the site of a former Indian village, Cwarioc, meaning "fish town." However, Cwareuuock, found on early maps, referred to the Coree Indian tribe that occupied the coastal area south of Pamlico Sound and Neuse River, including what is now Carteret County. Two documented villages existed nearby, one near Straits, the other on the west side of the Newport River. Many years after the small village of Beaufort was established in 1713, it may have been referred to as "Fish Town" by those unaware of the actual name of the village.
Also, of utmost importance, until historian Charles L. Paul's in-depth research for his 1965 Master of Arts in History thesis, Colonial Beaufort, The History of a North Carolina Town, historians were not sure of the founding date of Beaufort. Unaware of Mr. Paul's unpublished thesis, state historian William S. Powell wrote, in his 1989 book, North Carolina through Four Centuries, "The town of Beaufort was started about 1715."
In the 1960s, a few Beaufort citizens chose 1709 as the town's founding or established date. That choice was based on one passage found in Samuel A'Court Ashe's 1908 book, History of North Carolina, where Ashe wrote, "…lands along the shore, even between the North River and Core River (near the present town of Beaufort), were taken up in 1709."
Although there were a few settlers in the Core Sound area by 1708, there was no settlement on land that would become Beaufort until after July 18, 1713, when Farnifold Green endorsed his 1707 patent in Core Sound to Robert Turner.
In the Province of Carolina, a town was established when approved by legislative action, either by the Lords Proprietors or the General Assembly, thereby granting permission for the township to be named and laid out. For Beaufort, this approval came in the fall of 1713. Mr. Paul found the earliest town deeds (1713‒1722) in the New Bern, Craven County Courthouse, all of which stated, laid out by ye sd surveyor on the 2nd day of October 1713 and by ye permission of ye lords proprietors intended for a township by ye name of Beaufort.
Mary Warshaw
