Folklore and places · Burlington City
Burlington’s Pirate Tree and Witches’ Tree
Documented 1844 folklore · Tree sites unlocated
One black walnut supposedly guarded Blackbeard’s treasure; a buttonwood hosted witches at Green Bank. An early New Jersey history records both tales, and its amused tone tells us how to read them.
Two trees in one 1844 account
John Warner Barber and Henry Howe introduced the pair as trees of “haunted memory.” They placed a buttonwood at Green Bank and called it the Witches’ Tree, where local tradition imagined nocturnal dancing. The book attributes its planting to Governor William Franklin and a man named Adam Shepherd, but supplies no underlying planting record. Its Pirate Tree was a black walnut; by 1844 the writers described an enormous stump in a tannery on Wood Street. Read the original account, pp. 91–93.
The Pirate Tree tale says Blackbeard’s crew buried gold and silver under the roots, then killed and buried one of their own to guard it. A black dog apparition supposedly appeared on Wood Street. The writers follow the tale with a witches’ song and a conspicuously playful aside about how rarely supernatural appearances were then seen. The book is evidence that the stories circulated by 1844; it is not evidence that Blackbeard came to Burlington, buried treasure, or committed the described killing.
What a visitor can locate
Green Bank and Wood Street belong to Burlington’s historic riverfront street plan, visible on the city’s historic district map. The 1844 book gives no tannery proprietor, lot, street number, or measured distance between the two trees. Its claim that only a stump remained at the Pirate Tree is a warning against identifying any living walnut as the original. A New Jersey tourism page still repeats the treasure belief, showing the legend’s endurance, not confirming its historical premise.
The map circle covers central Burlington as an orientation for a public-street walk between Green Bank and Wood Street. It is not a dig site, a tree coordinate, or an invitation to enter private property. A period tannery deed or city directory could make the Wood Street setting more specific without turning the treasure story into fact.
Sources and limits
- John Warner Barber and Henry Howe, Historical Collections of the State of New Jersey (1844), pp. 91–93 — Earliest account inspected; presents folklore and describes the walnut as a stump.
- Library of Congress catalog record for the 1844 edition — Confirms authorship and publication date.
- City of Burlington historic district map — Modern street context, not the historic tannery location.
- VisitNJ Burlington guide — Modern retelling of the belief.
No primary pirate voyage record, buried-object record, tannery parcel identification, or independent sighting account has been located for these legends.