Otway Burns Otway Burns ( c . 1775 – August 25 , 1850 ) was an American privateer during the War of 1812 and later , a North Carolina State Senator . Early life . Burns was born at Queen ' s Creek , near Swansboro , North Carolina . He became a seaman after learning the trade at the ports in Swansboro and Beaufort , a nearby town situated in Carteret County . After acquiring the skills needed to become a merchant captain , Burns sailed along the East Coast of the United States , all the way north up to Maine . After his voyage , he married his cousin , Joanna Grant , on July 6 , 1809 . The next year , the couple moved to Swansboro . There , Joanna gave birth to Owen , the couple ' s only child . Burns received financial support for his trading activities from Edward Pasteur , a physician and local political leader from New Bern . In the summer of 1812 , just a month after the War of 1812 had commenced , Burns and Pasteur purchased a vessel in New York City for eight thousand US $ , which Burns intended to use for privateering along the coast of The Carolinas . The 147 - ton vessel , named the " Zephyr " , had been constructed four years earlier on the West River in Maryland . The " Zephyr " measured 85 . 5 feet ( 26 . 1 m ) from bow ( ship ) to stern , had a beam of 22 . 5 feet ( 6 . 9 m ) and a depth of almost nine feet ( 2 . 7 m ) . The vessel was armed with one pivot gun and between five and seven gun carriages . Also on board were a number of small arms : cutlass es , pistol s , musket s , boarding pike s , pickaxe s and blunderbuss es . After rechristening the vessel as the " Snap Dragon " , Burns and Pasteur obtained official letters of marque for the vessel in New York on August 27 , 1812 . After sailing back to New Bern , the men sold their 50 shares in the ship at a price of US $ 260 per share to eight other investors from New Bern , Tarboro and Edenton . Privateering career . Pasteur and Burns , on the " Snap Dragon " , headed to New Bern to recruit men to join the vessel ' s crew . To their surprise , some of New Bern ' s political leaders treated privateering like piracy , and they tried to complicate matters for the two privateers . The leaders convinced new recruits to borrow money , upon which , they would be arrested for their debt . Burns twice retaliated against the politicians . In one incident , the crew of the " Snap Dragon " sank a boat with constables who were planning on boarding the ship . Subsequently , a local attorney labeled the vessel as a " licensed robber " . Burns responded by rowing to land and throwing the lawyer into a river . With a 25 - man crew , Burns left New Bern for Norfolk , Virginia . On October 14 , 1812 , " Snap Dragon " and another vessel , " Revenge " , sailed south . The vessels separated a week later . The " Snap Dragon " encountered success early in the cruise . In one situation , she outran a British frigate and sloop . A few days later , " Snap Dragon " captured its first prize , a British merchant ship armed with 14 guns . Soon after , Burns and Pasteur led the vessel to St . Thomas in the Virgin Islands . To fool enemy British ships , they disguised the " Snap Dragon " as a merchant ship by putting up old , ragged sails and moving the guns out of view . The " Snap Dragon " ran into five British men of war . One of the ships , the frigate HMS " Garland " , fired a warning shot and signaled the other ships to chase down the " Snap Dragon " . For over two hours , Burns led the " Snap Dragon " away from danger , toward Ship Rock passage , which unknowingly , was blocked by two British brigs . The HMS " Sophie " immediately launched an attack on the " Snap Dragon " . Burns told his crew to lie down on the deck while the vessel was being fired upon . Fortunately , Burns was able to command the vessel away from the British ships , unscathed . The next morning , Burns and his crew encountered HMS " Dominica " , another British man of war , but again they successfully escaped . The crew of the " Snap Dragon " made their way to St . Croix , where they made " several small captures " of coastal traders . Burns commanded " Snap Dragon " on her next two cruises , during which he had several encounters with British men - of - war and took numerous prizes . Life after privateering . Months before he completed his third cruise in 1814 , Burns ' wife Joanna and son Owen left him to live with relatives in Jones County . In September , Joanna died , leaving her son in the custody of her family for five years before Burns obtained legal guardianship over Owen . Three months later , Burns married Jane Hall , a 20 - year - old from Beaufort , North Carolina . In April 1815 , Burns purchased a property in Beaufort , on which he built a house , that would be his family ' s residence for the next 20 years . Business . From the wealth he gained from privateering , Burns became a shipbuilder at Swansboro , North Carolina and made investments in local businesses . In 1818 , he built the " Prometheus " at his shipyard in Swansboro near the mouth of the White Oak River ( NC Historical Marker # 54 ) , the first steamboat in North Carolina , which operated on the Cape Fear River . In 1823 , he built the " Warrior " in Beaufort , followed by the brig " Henry " , eight years later . During much of the 1820s , he managed a store and taproom on his Beaufort property , and also had a partnership in a Taylor ' s Creek salt distribution company . Burns possessed a number of vessels , such as a schooner , seiner , sailboat and a mullet boat . Among other things , he also co - owned brick kilns used by the federal government to build Fort Macon , in the largest public works project in the history of the area , and 11 slaves , who helped him run his businesses and his plantation in Carteret County . Political career . Burns ' political career started with his 1821 election to represent Carteret County in the $ 3 and his appointment to serve as the commissioner of a local canal connecting Neuse and Newport Rivers . He served 11 terms in the legislature — seven in the House of Representatives and four in the Senate — over a course of 14 years . Later life . In 1835 President Andrew Jackson appointed him keeper of the Brant Island Shoal Light , a position he held until his death . Legacy . Two destroyer s have been named in his honor : the USS " Burns " ( DD - 171 ) and the USS " Burns " ( DD - 588 ) , in service during World War I and II , respectively . In 1834 , Burnsville , North Carolina was founded and named in his honor . A statue of him was placed in the town square in 1909 . The town of Otway , in Carteret County , North Carolina , is also named for him . He has descendants living today in the areas of Beaufort NC , Swansboro NC and Atlantic Beach NC , and in the immediate area of his birth near Queens Creek , NC .