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 Otway Burns (1775 - 1850), a native of Onslow County, was America's most successful privateer in the War of 1812. Burns captured more than a million dollars' worth of British shipping and cargo with his vessel, the Snap Dragon. After the war, Burns found a calling in politics and served as Carteret County's representative in both houses of the state's legislature. He was defeated for office after voting in favor of more equitable representation for the western part of the state. He retired from Beaufort to Portsmouth Island when he was appointed keeper of the Brant Shoal Lighthouse by President Andrew Jackson. (Portrait from an original by Roger Kramer, courtesy of the North Carolina Division of Archives and History) |
