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===Settlement of Ebenezer Harker=== George Pollock sold Craney Island to Ebenezer Harker on September 15, 1730, for Β£400 and "one boate twentey foot long with oars & mast". Harker had immigrated to [[Massachusetts]] from England on a ship that set sail from [[Wales]]. Living in [[Boston]], Harker had been involved in the [[whaling]] trade, and became familiar with the North Carolina coast during this time.<ref name="smithsonian">Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (2006). [http://www.folklife.si.edu/explore/Education/Waterways/Ports_of_Call/core_sound.html Port of Call: Harkers Island, NC] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060828073713/http://www.folklife.si.edu/explore/Education/Waterways/Ports_of_Call/core_sound.html |date=2006-08-28 }}. Text adapted from "This Is Core Sound", by T. Edward Nickens in Core Sound Waterfowl Museum, 2000. Retrieved July 28, 2006.</ref> Harker had moved to [[Beaufort, North Carolina]], by 1728, where he was appointed a tax collector for the [[whale oil]] revenue generated in the area. After purchasing the island, Harker took up residence there with his family and began building a small plantation and boat yard. Harker sold half of the island to his nephew John Stevens of [[Onslow County, North Carolina|Onslow County]] on March 8, 1733, for Β£300, with many restrictions on its agricultural use. Prohibited from farming or ranching the land for profit, Stevens eventually sold his half of the island back to his uncle on June 9, 1737, for just Β£180.<ref name="lewis">Lewis, Robert G. (1999). ''Ebenezer Harker, Island Namesake'' Carteret County Historical Society, Inc., Morehead City, NC, p. 3.</ref> The Harker plantation and boat building facility were located at the western end of the island, near Harker Point, and grew to support an extended family with three sons, two daughters, and at least nine African slaves. Ebenezer would be the last sole landowner of the island. In 1752, he deeded approximately {{convert|10|acre}} of the island to his daughter Hepsobeth and her husband Nathan Yeomans as a wedding gift. On his death in 1762, his son Zachariah inherited the western third of the island, an adult slave woman named Vilet, and a young female slave named Daisie. Another son, James, inherited the eastern third of the island, an adult slave woman named Hague and a young male slave named Peter. Ebenezer Jr. inherited the central third of the island, an adult male slave named Jeffrey, and a young male slave named Sutton. Hepsobeth inherited "one barrel of [[maize|corn]]", and Ebenezer's other married daughter, Sarah Freshwater, was given a female slave named Hope. The fate of an elderly female slave named Badge and a young male slave named Ben was left to the heirs to decide.<ref name="prioli"/> The will referred to "Craney Island"; the name "Harkers Island" was only adopted after Ebenezer's death.<ref name="angley"/> The sons of Ebenezer prospered on Harkers Island. Ebenezer Jr. was elected [[Sheriff]] of Carteret County in 1758. Zachariah Harker developed a [[salt works]] on the western third of Harkers Island in 1776. In the following years, Zachariah and his brothers became supporters of the [[American Revolution]], and Zachariah was appointed one of five [[Captain (armed forces)|captains]] in the Carteret Regiment fighting against the British.<ref name="prioli"/> Harkers Island was involved in the Battle of Beaufort, North Carolina. Revolutionaries used warehouse facilities on Harkers Island to store provisions sought by British troops who had seized the nearby county seat of Beaufort. Thirteen men guarding the stores on Harkers Island, probably led by Zachariah Harker, repulsed British troops in a brief battle on April 6, 1782.<ref name="angley"/> The first national [[1790 United States census|census of 1790]] recorded 16 [[white American|white]] residents and 13 [[slavery in the United States|slaves]] on Harkers Island. By 1800, the population had expanded to 26 white residents, 16 slaves, and 7 "others", probably those of [[mixed race]] or [[freedman|freed slave]]s.<ref name="prioli"/> Ebenezer Jr., James, and Zachariah Harker died in 1803, 1814, and 1824, respectively.
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