DOVER MARITIME BOOKS
THE RIGGING OF SHIPS: IN THE DAYS OF THE SPRITSAIL TOPMAST, 1600-1720, R. C. Anderson. (0-486-27960-X)
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE SAILING SHIP, Romola Anderson and R. C. Anderson. (0-486-42988-1)
SIX TITANIC PAINTINGS CARDS, John Batchelor. (0-486-40001-8)
100 HISTORIC SHIPS IN FULL COLOR, John Batchelor. (0-486-42067-1)
THE ART OF RIGGING, George Biddlecombe. (0-486-26343-6)
THE KEDGE ANCHOR; OR, YOUNG SAILORS ASSISTANT, William Brady. (0-486-41992-4)
STORY OF THE TITANIC: 24 CARDS, Frank O. Braynard. (0486-25611-1)
PICTURE HISTORY OF THE NORMANDIE: WITH 190 ILLUSTRATIONS, Frank O. Braynard. (0-486-25257-4)
HISTORY OF THE BUCCANEERS OF AMERICA, James Burney. (0-486-42328-X)
LEARNING TO SAIL, H. A. Calahan. (0-486-40728-4)
ARCHITECTURA NAVALIS MERCATORIA: THE CLASSIC OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY NAVAL ARCHITECTURE, Fredrik Henrik af Chapman. (0-486-45155-0)
THE TITANIC COLORING BOOK, Peter F. Copeland. (0-486-29756-X)
THE BOOK OF OLD SHIPS: FROM EGYPTIAN GALLEYS TO CLIPPER SHIPS, Henry B. Culver. b(0-486-27332-6)
MEMOIRS OF A BUCCANEER: DAMPIERS NEW VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, 1697, William Dampier. (0-486-45726-5)
TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST: A PERSONAL NARRATIVE, Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (0-486-45802-4)
SHIP MODELS: HOW TO BUILD THEM, Charles G. Davis. (0-486-25170-5)
THE SHIP MODEL BUILDERS ASSISTANT, Charles G. Davis. (0-486-25584-0)
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE PYRATES, Daniel Defoe. (0-486-40488-9)
SAILING BOATS FROM AROUND THE WORLD: THE CLASSIC 1906 TREATISE, Henry Coleman Folkard. (0-486-41099-4)
SAILING, SEAMANSHIP AND YACHT CONSTRUCTION, Uffa Fox. (0-486-42329-8)
THE MISSISSIPPI STEAMBOAT ERA IN HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS: NATCHEZ TO NEW ORLEANS, 18701920, Edited by Joan W. Gandy and Thomas H. Gandy. (0-486-25260-4)
PIRATES OF NEW SPAIN, 1575-1742, Peter Gerhard. (0-486-42611-4)
PIRATES: TRUE TALES OF NOTORIOUS BUCCANEERS, Henry Gilbert. (0-486-46148-3)
THE HISTORY OF PIRACY, Philip Gosse. (0-486-46183-1)
AMERICAN SHIP MODELS AND HOW TO BUILD THEM, V. R. Grimwood. (0-486-42612-2)
AMERICAS LIGHTHOUSES: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, Francis Ross Holland. (0-486-25576-X)
OLD SHIP FIGURE-HEADS AND STERNS, L. G. Carr Laughton. (0-486-41533-3)
THE YOUNG SEA OFFICERS SHEET ANCHOR: OR A KEY TO THE LEADING OF RIGGING AND TO PRACTICAL SEAMANSHIP, Darcy Lever. (0-486-40220-7)
THE CRUISE OF THE SNARK, Jack London. (0-486-41248-2)
THE PIRATES OWN BOOK: AUTHENTIC NARRATIVES OF THE MOST CELEBRATED SEA ROBBERS, Marine Research Society. (0-486-27607-4)
ON BOARD THE TITANIC: THE COMPLETE STORY WITH EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS, Edited by Logan Marshall. (0-486-45098-8)
PICTURE HISTORY OF THE SS UNITED STATES, William H. Miller, Jr. (0-486-42839-7)
PICTURE HISTORY OF THE QUEEN MARY AND QUEEN ELIZABETH, William H. Miller, Jr. (0-486-43509-1)
GREAT SHIPS IN NEW YORK HARBOR: 175 HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS, 1935-2005, William H. Miller, Jr. (0-486-44609-3)
PICTURE HISTORY OF GERMAN AND DUTCH PASSENGER SHIPS, William H. Miller, Jr. (0-486-42063-9)
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VIEW OF THE HARBOR AND TOWN OF BOSTON IN 1723.
From an engraving in the British Museum after a drawing by William Burgis
Bibliographical Note
This Dover edition, first published in 1996, is an unabridged and slightly altered republication of the work first published by the Marine Research Society, Salem, Massachusetts, in 1923, as their Publication Number Two. In the Dover edition, a few plates have been moved for reasons of space and the two maps originally printed on the front and back endpapers appear as two two-page spreads (pages xxivxxv and xxvixxvii).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dow, George Francis, 18681936.
The pirates of the New England Coast, 16301730 /George Francis Dow and John Henry Edmonds; with an introduction by Ernest H. Pentecost.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
9780486138145
1. PiratesNew EnglandHistory. 2. New EnglandHistoryColonial period, ca. 16001775. I. Edmonds, John Henry, b. 1873.
II. Title.
[F7.D7 1996]
974.02dc20
95-25719 CIP
Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation
29064605
www.cloverpublications.com
PREFACE
T HERE is scarcely a sandy beach on New Englands long and deeply indented coastline that has not connected with it some traditionary tale of the landing of pirates or their buried treasure. Many of these half-forgotten tales may have had an origin in the operations of early smugglers or in the evasion of the British Navigation Acts, but it is undoubtedly true that pirates did frequent this coast, beginning with the early days of its settlement, and during their periodical appearances, robbed and destroyed shipping almost at will. In gathering material relating to this subject no attempt has been made to include the traditionary lore. The public records of the time supply an astonishing amount of detailed information, but the principal source for first-hand information on the operations of pirate vessels during the first twenty-five years of the eighteenth century, the period when piracy was most frequent and least controlled, is the History of the Pirates by Capt. Charles Johnson. It has been claimed that the author at one time sailed in a pirate ship and therefore wrote from a personal knowledge of many of the events described. It seems impossible that anyone could have obtained such a circumstantial narrative of illicit life on the open sea unless he had lived in intimate personal acquaintance with a number of those who took part in the stirring actions recounted. Some of his tales are so extraordinary that they seem improbableimpossible of belief. And yet, the portion of his history relating to the North Atlantic coast has been verified by original records and items of current news in the newspapers and found to be a truthful relation in all essential details. With so much corroborative evidence at hand it is only fair to concede the probability that other portions of his History, not verified at this time, are also based upon fact.
The account of piracy to be found in the following chapters is based upon original documents in the Massachusetts State Archives, in the records of the Vice-Admiralty Courts, the Courts of Assistants and the Quarterly Courts. Printed accounts of trials have supplied valuable information and many details that have greatly enriched the narrative have been gleaned from newspapers published at the time. Intermingled are personal anecdotes and details recorded by Captain Johnson, of captures, murders and injuries inflicted upon the officers and crews of plundered merchant vessels.
Many friends have aided in the preparation of this volume. Capt. Ernest H. Pentecost, R.N.R., of Topsfield, has freely placed at our disposal his collection of voyages and books on piracy and related subjects. He also has critically examined the manuscript and given it the benefit of his technical knowledge of things nautical. Mr. John W. Farwell of Boston has generously permitted the reproduction of portions of several rare maps in his fine collection of early charts and maps. Mr. Julius H. Tuttle, Librarian of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and Mr. George Parker Winship, Librarian of the Harry Elkins Widener Collection, Harvard College Library, have kindly allowed the reproduction of early engravings and title pages of rare books. Cordial thanks also are due to Mr. Howard M. Chapin, Librarian of the George L. Shepley Library, Providence; Mr. Charles H. Taylor, Mr. William W. Cordingley, the Bostonian Society and the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, all of Boston; the Peabody Museum of Salem; and to all others who in any way have furthered the production of this volume.
