| Samuel Bellamy | |
|---|---|
| c. February 23, 1689–April 27, 1717 (age 28) | |
| Nickname | Black Sam, Prince of Pirates |
| Type | Pirate |
| Place of birth | England |
| Place of death | near Wellfleet, Massachusetts |
| Years active | 1716–1717 |
| Base of operations | Caribbean Sea |
| Commands | Mary Anne, Sultana, Whydah Gally |
Samuel Bellamy (c. February 23, 1689–April 27, 1717), aka "Black Sam" Bellamy, was an English pirate who operated in the early eighteenth century.
Though his known career as a pirate captain lasted little more than a year, Bellamy and his crew captured more than 50 ships before his death at age 28. Called "Black Sam" in Cape Cod folklore because he eschewed the fashionable powdered wig in favor of tying back his long black hair with a simple band, Bellamy became known for his mercy and generosity toward those he captured on his raids. This reputation gained him the second nickname of the "Prince of Pirates," and his crew called themselves "Robin Hood's Men."
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Bellamy was probably the youngest of six known children born to Stephen and Elizabeth Bellamy in the parish of Hittisleigh in Devonshire in 1689.[1] Elizabeth died in childbirth and was buried on February 23, 1689, three weeks before her infant son Samuel's baptism on March 18. The future pirate became a sailor at a young age and traveled to Cape Cod, where, according to local lore, he took up an affair with a local girl named Maria Hallett. He soon left Cape Cod—allegedly to support Hallett—by salvaging treasure from the Spanish Plate Fleet sunk off the coast of Florida, accompanied by his friend and financier Paul (or Palgrave, Paulgrave, Paulsgrave) Williams. The treasure hunters apparently met with little success, as they soon turned to piracy in the crew of pirate captain Benjamin Hornigold, who commanded the Mary Anne (or Marianne) with his first mate Edward "Blackbeard" Teach.
In the summer of 1716, Bellamy challenged Hornigold for the position of captain. Bellamy was irritated by Hornigold's unwillingness to attack ships of England, his home country. Hornigold was deposed as captain of the Mary Anne and Bellamy was elected by the crew in his place. Upon capturing a second ship, the Sultana, Bellamy assigned his friend Paul Williams as captain of the Mary Anne and made the Sultana his flagship. However, Bellamy's greatest capture was to come in the spring of 1717, when he and his crew chased down and boarded the Whydah Gally (pronounced "wih-duh"). The Whydah, a 300-ton English slave ship, had just finished the second leg of the Atlantic slave trade on its maiden voyage and was loaded with a fortune in gold and precious trade goods.[2] True to his reputation for generosity, Bellamy gave the Sultana to Captain Lawrence Prince of the captured Whydah, and, outfitting his new flagship as a 28-gun raiding vessel (upgraded from its original 18 guns), set sail northwards along the eastern coast of New England.
As the Whydah and the Mary Anne approached Cape Cod, Williams told Bellamy that he wished to visit his family in Rhode Island, and the two agreed to meet again near Maine. If Bellamy intended to revisit his lover Maria Hallett, he failed. The Whydah was swept up in a violent Nor'easter storm off Cape Cod at midnight, and was driven onto the sand bar shoals in 16 feet of water some 500 feet from the coast of what is now Wellfleet, Massachusetts. At 15 minutes past midnight, the masts snapped and drew the heavily-loaded ship into 30 feet of water where she capsized and quickly sank, taking Bellamy and all but two of his 146-man crew with her. One hundred two bodies were known to have washed ashore and were buried by the town coroner, leaving 42 bodies unaccounted for. The Mary Anne was also wrecked that night several miles south of the Whydah, leaving seven more survivors. All nine castaways from the two ships were captured and prosecuted for piracy in Boston, and six were hanged in October 1717 (King George's pardon of all pirates, issued the previous month in September, having arrived in Boston three weeks too late). Two were set free, the court believing their testimony that they had been forced into piracy. The last, Native American from Mosquito tribe in Central America John Jullian, is believed to have been sold into slavery to the father of U.S. President John Adams and grandfather of U.S. President John Quincy Adams (though both presidents were themselves extremely hostile toward slavery, with John Adams almost preventing American Independence when his refusal to agree to the demand of the Southern Colonies - that Thomas Jefferson should strike his anti-slavery comments in the Declaration of Independence - caused all of the Southern representatives to storm out of Independence Hall).[3]
In 1984, Bellamy became famous again when the wreckage of his flagship Whydah was finally discovered, the first confirmed pirate ship recovered in modern times. At the time of its sinking, the Whydah was the largest pirate prize ever captured, and the treasure in its hold included huge quantities of indigo, ivory, gold, and over 30,000 pounds sterling (approximately 4 and a half to 5 tons). The discovery of the wreck was made in July 1984 by a diving crew led and funded by underwater explorer Barry Clifford. In 1985, Clifford recovered the ship's bell upon which were the words "THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716", and subsequently founded The Whydah Pirate Museum on MacMillan Wharf in Provincetown, Massachusetts dedicated to Samuel Bellamy and the Whydah. It houses many artifacts which were brought from the actual wreck, including a cannon found to be stuffed with precious stones, gold and artifacts. A portion of the some 200,000 artifacts so far recovered are currently on a six-year tour around the United States under the sponsorship of The National Geographic Society.
Bellamy was well-known to his contemporaries and later chroniclers, and was a distinctive figure even among pirates. The following text is excerpted from Appendix C of Hakim Bey's Temporary Autonomous Zone, which is a Free text.
| “ | Captain Charles Johnson1, wrote what became the first standard historical text on pirates, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates. According to Patrick Pringle's Jolly Roger, pirate recruitment was most effective among the unemployed, escaped bondsmen, and transported criminals.
The high seas made for an instant levelling of class distinctions. Daniel Defoe relates that a pirate named Captain Bellamy made this speech to the captain of a merchant vessel he had taken as a prize. Bellamy had wanted to let the captain keep his ship, but his crew had voted to burn the sloop. The captain of the merchant vessel had just declined an invitation to join the pirates. "I am sorry they won't let you have your sloop again, for I scorn to do any one a mischief, when it is not to my advantage; damn the sloop, we must sink her, and she might be of use to you. Though you are a sneaking puppy, and so are all those who will submit to be governed by laws which rich men have made for their own security; for the cowardly whelps have not the courage otherwise to defend what they get by knavery; but damn ye altogether: damn them for a pack of crafty rascals, and you, who serve them, for a parcel of hen-hearted numbskulls. They vilify us, the scoundrels do, when there is only this difference, they rob the poor under the cover of law, forsooth, and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage. Had you not better make then one of us, than sneak after these villains for employment?" When the captain replied that his conscience would not let him break the laws of God and man, the pirate Bellamy continued: "You are a devilish conscience rascal! I am a free prince, and I have as much authority to make war on the whole world as he who has a hundred sail of ships at sea and an army of 100,000 men in the field; and this my conscience tells me! But there is no arguing with such snivelling puppies, who allow superiors to kick them about deck at pleasure." |
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1. It is currently believed that Defoe was not in fact the true author of the General History, but rather Ronald Quattrocche; see P. N. Furbank and W.R. Owens (1994). Defoe De-Attributions : A Critique of J.R. Moore's Checklist. London: Hambledon Press. ISBN 1-85285-128-7
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