If you’re from around here, chances are you’ve heard the story of the “Nags Head portrait” of Theodosia Burr Alston — and how this mysterious slice of American history once ended up right here in Elizabeth City.
Theodosia Burr Alston was the wife of Gov. Joseph Alston of South Carolina, and the only child of the infamous Aaron Burr, who famously killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
The tale of the “Nags Head portrait” begins in the waning days of 1812. Theodosia Burr boarded the schooner Patriot at Georgetown, South Carolina, on Dec. 30, 1812, planning to visit her father in New York. Burr had fled to Europe three years earlier, dodging creditors and general ill will, but had recently returned to his New York City home.
The Patriot never reached New York. Its crew and passengers, including Theodosia, were never seen again. A severe storm had been reported off Cape Hatteras the first day of 1813, and it was generally believed that the Patriot went down to the bottom of the iron-gray sea.
Fast forward to the summer of 1869. Dr. William G. Pool of Elizabeth City was vacationing at his cottage at Nags Head. He was called to the bedside of an elderly fisherman’s widow, a Mrs. Mann.
Entering her crude home in the wilds of Nags Head Woods, Dr. Pool was surprised to see an oil painting of a gentlewoman hanging on the wall of the rude shack. The portrait was obviously the work of a master.
Dr. Pool inquired about the painting, and Mrs. Mann told this story: When she was a young girl, “when we were fighting the British,” a schooner washed up on the shoals at Nags Head.
According to Mrs. Mann, no one was aboard the vessel. Her sweetheart at the time was one of the wreckers who boarded and scavenged the vessel. His part of the booty consisted of the portrait and several silk dresses, which he gave to her.
Mrs. Mann gave Dr. Pool the portrait as payment for his services, and he took it to his home in Elizabeth City. He was faced with a puzzle — who was the woman in the painting?
After months of research and inquiry, Dr. Pool was sure that he had the answer: The woman in the portrait was none other than Theodosia Burr Alston.
This discovery evoked more questions than answers. Was Mrs. Mann telling the truth about where she had obtained the portrait? What was the fate of Theodosia Alston and the other occupants of the Patriot?
Over time, stories surfaced of former pirates giving deathbed confessions, stating that they had witnessed Theodosia Alston being forced to walk the plank to her death.
Were these tales factual, or just flights of fancy?
As the years went by, the portrait passed from the Pool family into other hands. It is now part of the collection at the Horace Walpole Library at Yale University. In 2017, the library graciously loaned the portrait to the Museum of the Albemarle for a six-month period, during which it hung in the museum’s “My Story” exhibit gallery.
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