"The True Story of the Legendary 'Currituck Jack'"

On This Date in history, November 17, 1792, Samuel Jasper petitioned the North Carolina Assembly for the liberation of "Negro Slave Jack." The petition would be granted the following month, with the Legislature passing an act to free Jack and name him after the entire crew of a merchant schooner, in recognition of his heroism during the Revolution.
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Image description: Top left: a design for a statue of "Currituck Jack" to be placed in Currituck County.
Middle top: A portion of Samuel Jasper's petition to the North Carolina assembly for the liberation of Jack, written from Indian Town (in Currituck County), 17 Nov, 1792.
Right top: Article, "Spirit of That Day," from The Norfolk Virginian, June 16, 1874.
Bottom left: Portion of The Last Will and Testament of John Jasper White, the legendary "Currituck Jack".
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Enslaved 'Currituck Jack' won freedom after heroism at sea

By Barbara Putnam Museum of the Albemarle Sep 24, 2022 - This writing is adapted from the story, “Currituck Jack,” by Thomas C. Parramore in the February 1981 edition of American History Illustrated.

According to legend, "Currituck Jack" (as he was famously known) was a 7 foot tall, 300 pound African Watusi. After paying a sum of £100 to the Executor of Caleb White's will, Jack was officially free. He would go on to purchase the freedom of a slave girl named Rose, whom he married. Upon his death in 1803, she and their two sons, James Phillips and John Williams would inherit Jack's schooner, house and land in the village of Currituck.

That was the end of the story, but the heroic exploits of "Currituck Jack" began on February 14, 1780, when the schooner Polly left Currituck Sound, North Carolina bound for Charleston. It was a low point in the seemingly interminable struggle with England, and to be successful, they would have to run the British blockade, which extended along the entire east coast north of Charleston.

The Polly was a tiny, two-masted schooner recently built on the North Landing River. It was owned by Henry White, whose brother was rumored to have been captured by the British and jailed in Charleston. The crew of three consisted of Henry's cousin Caleb White, Caleb's brother-in-law Currituck farmer Samuel Jasper, and one of Henry's slaves, named Jack. They would attempt to make their way through the blockade unarmed, to assist their friends and relatives in Charleston.

Once the cargo of pork, beans, peas and supplies were delivered to Charleston, the vessel would need more miracles to bring its crew and freight back through the storms and blockade to safe harbor. Indeed, Caleb White had been captured at sea only the year before aboard the St John on a similar run from the Spanish coast. It was only the fantastic profits that had made such a gamble worth fighting the odds. This time, the benefits were more personal.

They decided their best bet was to travel south through the Sound, rather than face the constant British assaults at Currituck Inlet. After passing through Caffey's Inlet (which was unmarked on the charts of the day) and reaching the Atlantic, the Polly's crew sailed for two days undetected. But on the morning of the third day the men spotted British privateer Fame bearing down on them. The Polly made an effort to flee the larger and faster ship, but a warning shot that fell close by convinced Captain White and his crew of the futility of further effort.

Upon surrender, the Fame's Captain John Adkinson took possession of the Polly. The five-man boarding party announced its intention to sail the Polly to New York, where the vessel would be turned over to British authorities. The crew were placed in irons and left on the deck so they could be under continuous surveillance. Rations were a quarter-pint of water and a quarter-pint of uncooked peas per day.

On the first night of captivity, Caleb and Samuel worked on freeing Jack from his irons, but their British captors discovered their plot and separated the men. Jack was left huddled on deck, while Caleb and Samuel were moved to a cabin below deck. Over the next day, snow and rain fell, and a stormy sea tossed the schooner about. Waves breached over the deck, drenching Jack.

In the face of a slow and painful death, Jack continued to wrestle with his chains, until he was finally placed in a cabin below deck. Reunited in the dark of their floating dungeon, the three men devised a plan of escape. Jack would attempt to persuade the British that his servitude made him "an Enemy to America," and that his loyalties lay with them.

Jack successfully convinced the British seamen that he could be of considerable service since he was a cook as well as an experienced sailor. He soon established himself, in Jasper's words, as "their Right hand Man with Promise of freedom and Many Rewards after arriving at York." Secretly, Jack was watching for an opportunity to help free his mates, and even furnished them with extra food.

The gale which had endangered Jack's life finally abated on February 22nd, and the Polly once again made headway for New York. With the attention of the British diverted, Caleb White was able to wrench loose of his irons, and immediately "engaged the Prize Master." Jack attacked two others with a marlin spike.

Meanwhile, Samuel Jasper worked free of his own bonds, seized a cutlass, and joined in the fray.
There was "bloodshed on both sides," but White and his men were able to overpower the British, and secured them below deck in handcuffs. The crew elected to sail to Annapolis and turn their prisoners over directly to the American Congress. As soon as Jack's role in the recapture of the vessel became known, he "received the thanks of Congress for the said service, and a recommendation to his Master to liberate him therefor."

Five weeks passed before Jack recovered the use of his frostbitten limbs and made his way back to Currituck and, he hoped, to freedom. But Henry White showed no inclination to set him free, even though Jack had saved his ship, and despite the recommendation of Congress. Jack remained a slave, and later testified that his master had even "abused him somewhat."

Not long afterward, Jack applied for help from his former crewmates on the Polly. Caleb White purchased Jack from his cousin Henry, and pledged to guarantee Jack's freedom in his own will. Although Caleb died in 1788, it took Jack four years to raise the £100 that would finally purchase his liberation. In his application, will Executor Samuel Jasper stated that Jack had done "great honor to the name of humanity and highly merited much greater reward than that of Emancipation."

Jasper went on to say that Jack had done "a Service no less than that of taking prisoner the whole crew of a British privateer and releasing his master." Jack had proven himself "Honest and Industrious, very Manerly to all," and Commanded Jasper's schooner the Resolution for five years. A Mr. Doughty entrusted Jack with many hundred pounds (currency) every year.

Jack was remembered for many years in Currituck County as having been "a great favorite" wherever he went. "He was a good sailor and coaster," his neighbors recalled, who "had charge of a vessel with a negro crew and one young white man, merely to have the papers in his name. He followed the sea as a commander, until he arrived at an old age, respected and honored by all who knew him."

In granting Jasper's manumission request, the North Carolina General Assembly was required to authorize a full name for "Currituck Jack". The hero was to choose his own name. The one Jack chose memorialized his adventure on the Polly by including the names of his fellow crewmen in his own: John Jasper White.

Jack then purchased the freedom of an enslaved girl named Rose and married her. When he died in 1803, she and their two sons, James Phillips and John Williams, inherited Jack’s schooner, house and land in Currituck County.

Sourced from: daily advance dot com e-newspaper / Elizabeth City, NC