 Thank you, John. And thank you in general for the invitation. It's a pleasure and an honor to be here Welcome to you all and judging by the crowd. I gather that Newport's pirates are as popular as ever My book is about two things fundamentally the role pirates played in Newport's colonial history and The role colonial Newport played in the history of piracy. There's two aspects of local history that I didn't know about. I'm a native Rhode Islander. I had not heard about either thing except as a legend Back when I became interested in researching the history behind the legends that I'd known I looked for a book about Newport's pirates. I Couldn't find one so I had to read about piracy in general and maritime history and Discovered a larger story. I discovered that The story Newport's pirates involved colonial economy politics London the navigation acts the role of religion in society and Greed and corruption on both sides of the Atlantic. Now that shouldn't surprise any of us. It did not surprise me It's a very large story It's so large that I decided somebody should write a book Be careful what you wish for I Did submit a proposal and history press gave me one year to write the book that would have been starting March of 2013 to March of 2014 Whatever research or reading I done previous to signing that contract was like snorkeling compared to deep-sea diving There were so many layers and so much more and I began I plunged into primary sources and newspaper articles from the time I discovered information that wasn't in the books any of the books I'd come across some Not all but I did find some little choice pieces that I hadn't read anywhere else My goal with the book Was to put information about Newport's pirates all in one place. It was out there in general histories But men like Thomas to the the the William kid connection I brought it all together which is the book. I was looking for earlier that I didn't find I just wanted to read a book So it's out there now if anyone wants to read one book My goal with this talk is to highlight aspects of the history There's more to it. I'm gonna I'm gonna do you know the main features the big names and the large The large chunks that relate but of course there is there's a lot more to it and for that I'm afraid you'll have to read the book First thing I learned that did surprise me was that early colonial Newport from the 1690s to the early 1700s Was a pirate haven outright was a pirate. They were welcomed here. They were part of the economy Everyone knew it the pirates knew it Newport had the reputation. So it attracted It attracted the pirates London knew it which didn't sit well with London Newport is knew it. They patronized pirates in many ways Of course the government the local colonial government denied it at every opportunity didn't know any pirates Not here not us There were three reasons why Newport was a pirate haven For starters, the early pirates did not attack local shipping. They attacked foreign shipping Red Sea shipping Madagascar was the pirate base was Red Sea shipping. So it was the great mogul. It was Muslim shipping It was not it was not Christian shipping which was part of the reason why There was no problem accepting the goods here, but it was foreign. It didn't affect any local commerce Everyone in the colony profited not only from the goods that were sold on the black market in Through well sometimes auctioned openly on the dock But also from the currency that pirates brought in golden silver currency Currency was a scarce commodity in the colony. London liked it like that. They kept it that way London's navigation acts were designed to enrich the motherland at the expense of the colonies the colonists had no That the colonists did everything they could to get around those navigation acts They had no intention of being economically under the heel of London So everyone profited the third and I think one of the main reasons Why Newport became a pirate haven was because of our harbor It was then what it still is an exceptional harbor of course it looked very different in the 1690s through the only 1700s But it's it's the main features were there this slide is a Newport Harbor Circa 1740 approximately It's a private collection a letter Morris Cooper has graciously Loaned it to the preservation society so you can see it at the hunter house. You can see the actual painting It was rescued from a house that was torn down on I believe mill street. It was an overmantle painting from back in the day So there you have basically in the foreground Let's go to island with Fort George firing its guns Farther up about two-thirds up. I I'm just gonna have to generally indicate things my my little Pointer didn't work on on this screen. So you're gonna have to bear with me There's a there's a spit of land jutting out from the from the left-hand side of the painting That is gravelly point which features hugely in the story of Newport Pirates the gravelly point parts They were executed on that spit of land. That is what it looked like from in the early 1700s There's a body of water beyond that spit of land. That's called the basin. It's no longer there It's been filled in the point section has been built up on the basin the Marriott hotel is somewhere on the coast of that basin You'll notice empty space between Gravelly point and the town empty space where Long Wharf is today It was not there in the early 1700s. It was built after 1740. It connected the The city of Newport to the end of gravelly point today if you go down Long Wharf to the end You'll come to a corner where Washington Street is that is essentially The the path that it took back in the day, of course Washington Street didn't exist because Washington didn't exist So it was called First Street, but that's the harbor You will notice all kinds of shipping in this in this depiction. Those would be merchant ships coastal traders warships privateers and pirates This is an early map of Rhode Island and Providence plantations Most of you know that we are the state of Rhode Island and Providence plantations Generally known as Rhode Island We were also the colony of Rhode Island and Providence plantations. I Include this map in my book and here because what many Rhode Island is aren't always aware of is that the Rhode Island Part of that title referred specifically to Aquedic Island, which you can see You know, it's sort of in the mid mid mid mid to right of the map. Oh, do we have a magic? Does it work? See it works on the ceiling very well, but then when I come down to the screen it's it loses Yeah, I don't know I will just talk on If anybody you know if you don't see it tell me but Rhode Island is clearly indicated as Aquedic Island We are on Coasters Island, of course, which is sort of the bottom third of that Rhode Island Aquedic Island piece Newport harbors on the southernmost end in the early colonial period It was simply Newport in Portsmouth occupied the island of Rhode Island The Providence plantations part referred to the mainland and in the colonial period the mainland was the towns of Providence and Warwick I'm so glad it's not mine So it's good to know this because when you read Any documents from the colonial period and they refer to Rhode Island? They mean Aquedic Island They don't mean the whole thing like we call the state of they mean Aquedic Island So any reference to Rhode Island means Aquedic Island Newport was the colonial capital So if they talk about the government of Rhode Island, they mean Newport the governor resided in Newport This was the colonial capital That's why I include the map in the book and like to Like to remind everybody of those things because there's an awful lot of references to Rhode Island that Are deceptive if unless you bear in mind that the Aquedic Island was what they meant This is a definition of piracy at this point Piracy means a lot of things beyond the original meaning in terms of English law Originally it was defined to be a Robbery committed within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty Pirates with sea robbers see robbers as opposed to highway robbers. That's all it meant simply that I printed this up in the book because John Valentine the advocate general at the gravely point Pirates trial defined piracy for the court this is his definition and Again the gravely point pirate story is huge So his definition will be the one the working definition that we will have for today Thomas to Red Sea Pirate what Newport it doesn't know Thomas to Rome and And the story basically of Thomas to he is the first Newport native son that made it made a name for himself in piracy He in this image. This is this is this is an Illustration from Harper's magazine in 1894 so clearly we don't really know what Thomas to look like He is the man facing us in this image We have a verbal description of Thomas to that has survived from the time and I have to say Howard Pyle got it pretty right He was described as being slim dark and a sharp dresser I mean the description of his dress includes gold lace Jewel encrusted dagger. It's in the book. It's a wonderful description That would be him facing us the man. He's sitting with is Governor Fletcher New York's governor Fletcher Governor Fletcher was a pirate patron As was Governor Sam Cranston in Newport and well in in the colony of Rhode Island governor Fletcher, though I think he set the bar for pirate patronage. I Piracy wouldn't have survived without patronage at every level Fletcher Basically Granted privateering commissions to captains that everyone knew knew had no intention of going privateering That's part of being a pirate patron you grant a privateering commission for a fee Maybe it's a bribe. Maybe it's a gift. There was money to be made no matter what and For you know for investors having that private trip for a private to have a privateering commission It attracted investors and gave a veneer of legitimacy to the operation So Thomas to received his privateering commission his second commission He took a second trip to the Red Sea. He received it from governor Fletcher Thomas to his first trip to the Red Sea was in 1693 He went to sea as a very young man got a reputation for piracy fairly early on But he was also a privateer as many of them were His first commission came from I believe it was Bermuda And it was actually it was a legitimate It was a legitimate commission to fight French pirates and on the African the West Coast of Africa But on the way he and his crew changed their mind. It's a long story, but to be short they changed their mind They decided to scrap that mission and go pirating in the Red Sea, which they did very successfully They came back wealthy men Returned to Newport in 1694 There they were fetid like rock stars They were very popular from with everyone from the governor straight through to common citizens who are happy to buy the exotic Goods that they stole from Red Sea shipping in 1694 Thomas to had no trouble attracting Men interested in going out on a second voyage to the Red Sea to make their fortunes five ships left Newport that year Two of them were captained by Newport is Thomas to and William Mays More about William Mays in a minute. There were three other ships the five Newport ships Met up with and partnered with a man named John Avery long been Avery was another notorious pirate John Avery was already in the Red Sea. He'd been pirating for some time. He was very successful. He had a larger ship more experience the Newport is partnered with him Which didn't go so well for them because well it didn't go so well because they were very successful The first ship they attacked was one owned by the Great Mogul. So it was a fabulous prize I think they spent three days looting it And abusing the crew and the and the passengers They they made a terrible reputation for themselves and for English pirates in general in the Red Sea and After three days of pillaging The Great Mogul his subjects and London's East India Company London's East India Company had a partnership with the Great Mogul They were all thoroughly disgusted with English pirates in the Red Sea The East India Company complained to London The attacks drew London's wrath and that in part inspired The commissioning of a man named Captain William Kidd to go on a pirate hunting Expedition in the Red Sea and the Caribbean, but the Red Sea as well Two men's names come up at the very top of the list of Captain Kidd's commission Thomas too and William Mays. They were both named outright as Among the men that that Captain Kidd would be looking for kids set out in 1696 Before he got anywhere near the Red Sea Thomas two was killed during an attack on a Muslim ship Thomas two never made it home from that second voyage But William Mays did William Mays, Jr Captain William Mays, Jr. Born and raised in Newport his father was William Mays Sr Who owned the White Horse Tavern for years in Newport It was then and is now on Malboro Street. We all know it is one of Newport's fabulous restaurants It's in the same location It's a very different building than it would have been in the 1690s when William Mays lived there You can picture something more like the Wanton Liman Hazard House if you're familiar with it in town It's a very scaled back colonial Inn And tavern But this is where William Mays Jr. grew up He's he managed to survive To a few more years after well After after Thomas two was killed he survived pirating in the Red Sea The way that worked was the the Madagascar was a pirate base Pirates English pirates and others came and went into the from the Red Sea back and forth to Madagascar to provision Sell their goods goods were fenced sent to predominantly New York Governor Fletcher predominantly but not exclusively Materials worshiped from New York to Madagascar things that the pirates needed shoes ammunition food So it was sort of a working relationship back and forth across the Atlantic William Mays set himself up for several years pirating in the Red Sea in that Madagascar New York, New England connection He'd been back and forth a few times In 1698 an act of grace designed to discourage piracy It came from london one of several But also governor Fletcher was replaced london part of london's crackdown was to replace new york's governor Fletcher with lord bellamont A royally appointed governor in new york Lord bellamont was a pirate nemesis. He was one of captain kid's sponsors. They were lord bellamont and several other Aristocratic sponsors king. William was also a sponsor But lord bellamont was now governor of new york Massachusetts and new hampshire as well But certainly new york which meant that the business between new york and madagascar Slowed to a crawl a lot of pirates left Madagascar at that time and some of them who came from new england returned to new england William Mays returned to newport He took over the family business eventually inherited the white horse tavern And he died in newport in 1702 He is buried in the common burial ground one of the few pirates that actually is buried here I could not find his stone, but I did find william mays senior stone in the mays family plot and There are other stones that are toppled and illegible one of those is william mays jr captain kid sales to block island Captain kid's story is huge and complicated I would not even pretend to try to cover it in my book It is covered and I have references if anyone wants to read more thoroughly about it But I I covered his connection to road island He set out from london in 1696 By 1698 with very little to show for his efforts. He returned to the caribbean thinking he'd come home and Go back to his life as a wealthy merchant happily married in new york But in 1698 in the caribbean he learned he was wanted for piracy which came as a great surprise to him As I said he had royal backers lord belemont other aristocrats even the king they were royal backers He figured his reputation was secure it was not He wanted to cover cover his bases so that when he Showed up on the mainland He wanted his name cleared so that he wouldn't be arrested for piracy and sent back to london So he came to road island pirate haven he had friends here the logical thing to do In 1699 you can see where block island is, you know sort of down in the Lower right-hand corner of that slide It's where it still is off the east coast of long island Just to the left of block island on the very coast of long island. It's a little place called gardener's island What captain kid did he anchored off block island where he had friends sent for his wife and daughter Sent for a friend a lawyer from new york to find lord belemont who was now the governor of massachusetts and in massachusetts He you know sent this lawyer ahead to clear his name, but he also wanted To bury his treasure most of the treasure that he brought back with him He wanted buried he had he was sailing a small sloop at the time He arranged to bury this treasure on gardener's island Which I showed you was just you know, he sailed from block island a little to the west of gardener's island This next slide Is totally gratuitous. I love it. I had to include it looks nothing like captain kid He was actually a very respectable looking Sort of a burger of looking, you know Tidy man, but this is this is an illustration Uh done for howard piles book of pirates, but it's kid burying treasure picture him on gardener's island burying treasure Which he did do most of it, but then after burying treasure on gardener's island He had some gold gold bars in particular that he wanted Separate separately hidden for his wife At the home of a friend of his name Captain thomas pain His captain thomas pain is another name that comes up as a large figure in newport's history For several reasons He was A privateer And a pirate from the caribbean Came to rhod island to retire Which he managed to do Gifts bribes brought his way into the community And he became a farmer on cananica island jamestown Captain kids sailed to sailed off the shore of jamestown Anchored not too far from pain's house And brought pain out to his ship to ask him if he would hide gold for his wife sarah kid Which pain agreed to do this is captain thomas pain's farmhouse as it appears today thomas pain knew an awful lot of of of uh questionable characters he hid treasure for many Kid was one of them I have to tell you this this is as it appears today again in the colonial times was a very modest farmhouse It's private property. There is no treasure there and I don't encourage anyone to find it and show up with shovels Trust me. Whatever was buried there has long since been dug up including the gold bars for The gold bars for sarah kid Pain arrived in 1683 arrived in newport became a model citizen In fact, this was total news to me. He led the colony The colony of rhod island and provenance plantations in its first naval victory In 1690 french privateers pirates however you want to refer to them attacked local shipping and block island There's an eyewitness account of the battle that that ensued between thomas pain and and another and another captains an eyewitness account in the book Pain and another man were commissioned to go out and hunt those pirates which they did successfully they routed them they came back To the colony to newport as naval heroes first naval victory in the colony And his reputation was secure eventually Pain was one of the founders of trinity church And not the only one with a dicey reputation In 1698 16 men petitioned the king to send an anglican minister to newport Five of those men's men had connections to piracy Thomas pain and george cutler were the only two that were actually retired pirates The george cutler's story is also included in the book Pain was from the caribbean cutler was from the red sea. They were honest to goodness retired pirates. The other three men had connections But they were not pirates Thomas mallet was a newport innkeeper and sheriff Who entertained pirates in his tavern? It's well documented had no problem being sheriff and having and serving these guys drinks and having them socialize Robert gardener is another founder original signer of that That petition he was the deputy conductor of customs in newport and a naval officer He was accused by lord bellamon of piracy the accusations were never proved. They never stuck So we don't know but we do know that robert gardener definitely did business with pirates that documents documentation is clear Robert writington is the the the last of the five He was a privateer a legitimate privateer who settled in newport. No connection to piracy himself, but he had a stepson Name george bradley who was accused of piracy bradley was captured by bartholomew roberts And either forced or volunteered to serve we don't know for sure history is not clear What is clear is that bradley never returned to newport. He had a wife and child here. He never returned to newport Another name that comes up is cian arnold. It's si on as you see I See in cyan. I honestly don't know I call him cian if anyone here knows different feel free He was a red sea pirate not a captain. He was a red sea pirate And the grandson of governor benedict arnold I'm showing the old stone mill in newport rhod island Because that was part the part of governor arnold's original farm his original colonial farm And of course it's toro park in a landmark a local landmark Cian returned to newport in 1698 that act of grace business not so good between madagascar in new york. He came home too Lord bellamott was in the middle of an investigation of The colony's connections connections to to captain kid and piracy in general in 1698 He had a commission set up to investigate connections to piracy Cian was investigated for piracy and set free by this commission It probably didn't hurt that two of cian's uncles By the name of arnold Served on the commission to investigate rhod island's connection to piracy. So Probably didn't hurt Eventually cian inherited a farm on at beaver tail on kananaket No further run-ins with the law another model citizen pirates were very complicated men I learned It's not a simple story of evil doers and Well partly evil doers, but not a simple story paul's grave williams This name was brand new to me His family Settled were part of the original settlers on block island He became a jeweler and settled in newport wife and children His father john williams was one of rhod island's served as a rhod island's attorney general at some point colonial period Paul's grave was the last newport pirate captain. He came into piracy through the back door apparently He wasn't really happy being a settled man in In newport with a wife and family because he met sam bellamy black sam bellamy in 1716 in a province town bar, which is why I'm how I have this map it shows block island all the way up to to Cape cod with promise town at the upper tip He and sam bellamy hit it off bellamy was a mariner born in born in england Came to province town. He was a man of the sea. He had experience. He could captain a ship Paul williams was a jeweler, which effectively made him a banker He had he had he had assets that he could invest in a ship. They became partners They bought a ship and went to the caribbean to seek their fortune Spent about a year pirating very successfully Met up with a man named hornigold Major name in caribbean piracy one of his protege's was blackbeard They met up with him learned learned learned the ropes and became very successful pirates Sam bellamy's name is familiar because he eventually he and williams eventually captured a ship called the widow It was a slave ship out of london Came to the caribbean dropped off its well dropped off sold its cargo and was heading back to london. They captured the ship On her way back to london fabulous prize fabulous wealth And when I say wealth it came in the form of whatever was traded for the slaves including it would have been gold and silver It would have been raw gems it would have been Elephant tusk and it was whatever whatever goods would have been traded for slaves at the time captain bellamy took over the widow As captain and williams was was named captain of the other ship in their fleet at the time The widow was eventually wrecked in a storm on the coast of cape cod The atlantic coast of cape cod It was lost for years recently discovered. There's a pirate museum in province town That has the um a lot of artifacts dug up from that ship That was that was sam bellamy's ship paul williams partner sam bellamy On that sail north from the caribbean williams broke off from bellamy during the storm a different storm And went to block island to visit family So he was not caught in yet that second storm. He was not caught in that storm that wrecked That wrecked sam bellamy's ship. He was alive and well in block island Heard about the storm sailed up to province town Well to find if if he could rescue any crewmates Fellow crewmates, but i'm sure he also went to see if he could salvage any of the treasure He was unsuccessful on both counts. There was nothing really that that he could do So he left continued pirating down the atlantic coast Eventually settled in the Bahamas this would have been By 1717 that was the wreck the wreck of the widow This is at the end of the golden age of piracy It's important to note that williams and bellamy along with other caribbean pirates at the time were attacking colonial ships Including newport ships. They were no longer attacking foreign shipping exclusively. They attacked local shipping They made enemies up and down the coast including the colony this colony of of rod island So newport had changed its attitude towards pirates at this time In fact, they they tried to chase trace down williams when he was on his way from primus town back south They couldn't they didn't catch up with him But the tide had turned which brings us to one of our favorite stories the gravelly point pirates This is an old map that it's it's very revealing because as you can see Mid midway on the left hand side. You can see the basin of water You can see long wharf now that is built. It's a wooden wharf There's a little drawbridge that allows access to the basin and it ends That what is now washington street that's that little bubble of land To the right of long wharf that is gravelly point And goat island is of course with with fort george is in the foreground of that map As I said the basin is now filled so is gravelly point there's It's been built up several times over the years to my best guess is that the newport yacht club And the windom hotel. I think it's called sit side by side on what was gravelly point. That is my best guess given this map And of course this is a 1777 map so in 1723 long wharf didn't exist other than that that's pretty much what the harbour looked like captain charles harris and the crew of the ranger were the Were the pirates that were captured and executed off gravelly point They were caribbean pirates They partnered with a man named ned low He was positively sadistic ned low this this crew harris and low Had a horrible reputation up and down the coast everyone knew of them There are there are newspaper articles from the time that document The treatment of prisoners they had an ugly reputation. So And they attacked local shipping In 1723 both low and harris were seen off block island A man of war from new york pursued them within sight of land which i find fascinating Which means if you were standing in the right place you could have watched this battle unfold There's an account of the battle in the book. There was a newspaper article published at the time It's it's just it's very revealing Ned low escaped harris and his crew were captured obviously, but ned low escaped 36 men survived the battle harris and a crew of 35 They were jailed in newport and tried in the townhouse Which is where the colony house sits today at the top of uh, Washington square The townhouse used to sit there that was where the trial took place 26 were found guilty including a man named william blades Who was described as a rhodial under which to me again means he was probably from newport William blades was found guilty and hung at gravelly point The only rhodial under ever executed for piracy ever tried and executed for piracy in the colony After the men were hung at gravelly point. They were rowed out to the north end of goat island To be buried and that is a picture of the north end of goat island as it appears today They're buried, you know, I'm not sure what of of this is filled since the time But i'm guessing somewhere under those rocks or just the side of those rocks Is where they were originally buried between the high and low water mark weighed down with bags of sand Oh, I have I am so excited about this This is the printed text of the gravelly point pirates trial It's uh, I found it at the rhodial and historical society. It's an original 1723 document I have seen printed texts cover pages of all kinds of pirate trials, but never the gravelly point one So when I discovered that the rhodial and historical society had a copy and they actually let me look at it Touch it flip through it. I'd read the account of the trial So I didn't have to linger but it was it was really exciting to find this It's reproduced in the book. You won't find it reproduced anywhere else to my knowledge because I didn't The admiralty court london's admiralty court insisted on printed accounts of pirate trials Printers publishers discovered that there was a popular appetite for this reading material Which is why so many were printed and why this one survived And again, I can't thank the historical society enough for allowing that to be put in the book The burning of the gaspie pirating for liberty every Rhodial and school child has heard of the gaspie and that rhodial and as far as we're concerned rhodial and struck the first blow for liberty Before the revolutionary war was declared The gaspie enters the story in 1772 as an as a british enforcement ship To prevent smuggling collect taxes and seize goods brought into the colony illegally Newport's merchants were very good rhodial and merchants and newport's merchants were very good at finding their way around The navigation acts to bring goods into the colony illegally There were There were three other confrontations before the gaspie Be Considering the offenses well the offenses on the london side were press gangs pressing sailors into service Which was not received well by the colony But also seizing ships and cargo illegally as far as the colony was concerned Seizing ships and cargo illegally as an act of piracy. So they accused london of piracy throughout that time And in three other confrontations before the gaspie had occurred which resulted in in the the colonists retaliating Stealing long boats burning them torching another ship even before the gaspie. So of course london also accused the colonists of piracy They were both right according to the definition of piracy London was guilty in their way And the colonists were guilty in their way The story of the gaspie began when she chased a ship from newport harbour to providence The ship became stranded at low tide in the middle of the night On what is now gaspie point The colonists wounded the captain and took all hands prisoner and then destroyed the vessel burned the gaspie London accused the perpetrators of both piracy and treason Both crimes were punishable by death But treason for treason you had to be shipped to london for trial and execution But it was pretty much a done deal once you were shipped to london for trial and execution so London was was very anxious to get their hands on the perpetrators and the colony Everyone from the governor down protected the identities of the perpetrators Then the identities were well known john brown, you know the brown family He organized the the whole affair and two of his captains were involved in it were leaders in the affair Those would be abraham wipple and isa copkins. They were both involved They both figure in a large way in the history of of colonial Piracy colonial. I'm sorry the colonial naval history. Excuse me not piracy Had they been arrested at the time and shipped to london they would have been executed They would not have lived to play that role. They were protected and and lived on Whipple of course was put in in command of the first two ships of the continental navy one of which was the providence eventually the providence whose replicas it's called Newport harbor home and the the provost the sloop providence is is It's in the harbor. You can take a sail on her. We did this summer. It was very exciting She is rodalin's official flagship And it says closest you'll get to a sail on a continental navy ship for that matter even a pirate ship Because sloops were very popular pirate ships captain kids sailed a sloop from the caribbean To narraganza bay captain two sailed a sloop from newport To the red sea and the gravelly point pirates were arrested were captured on a pirate sloop on a sloop I have to say this is one good-looking cat roswell is his name Roswell is one of two's cats The last chapter of my book is dedicated to the legends that actually drew my attention Roswell lives next door to me in newport. He's a polydactyl a many-toed cat You all know of course that Cats in general were welcome on board ships. They needed them to hunt rodents Superstitious sailors believed that many toed cats were better at everything including hunting rodents. So they were very popular as as As mascots If you've been to key west you're familiar with hemmingway's cats. They're all polydactyl cats a gift originally from a Ship captain. They're all descended from that original gift to hemmingway So okay and key west they're called hemmingway's cats in newport. We call them two's cats He's here to remind me that there are so many legends You know of the of the legends. He's one of them Buried treasure pirate ghosts a love story. They're all in the last chapter of the book. It's fun reading And as I said, it is what it is what got me into this As far as i'm concerned Newport pirates left a legacy a part of rod island's history that's been ignored They helped the colony survive economically to be fair it was piracy and smuggling they will share the credit But they helped the colony survive economically they originally pirated for profit And as we've seen later pirates pirated for liberty After pirates fell out of favor newport buried that aspect of her history I dug it up Thank you. Thank you for your interest We we have about 15 minutes for questions. Happy to answer anything. Okay. There's a woman Yes, yes He was not he was born in England the uh, the there was I don't have it in front of me, but the published list of The pirates themselves and where they came from Was published in the newspapers at the time And that's in the book. I honestly just don't remember what town anything but he came from England. He was captured by William low Uh, a man named Edward Lothar and low. I mean, this is the caribbean story. He was captured off a british I think it was a merchant mariner. I don't think it was a warship. He was captured and forced into service with low He he he loved the life and proved to be such a good hand That they kept him on he volunteered eventually as a pirate and became a captain of a ship there as well So William blades is the only Rhode Islander. There's another man. I think his first name was thomas His last name was mumford for sure. He was From the vineyard. He was a uh, a wampanoag indian Those are the only two that I remember with a connection to new england Mass execution of any kind In in the colonies And I I could be wrong. I have read that it's that that still stands as the largest execution even in these united states It's a mass execution now 26 men. That's a lot of men Yes You started us with the definition of Piracy as robbery on the high sea. Yes from valentine. Yes Was that a british definition of Well, because it's you know within the jurisdiction of the admiralty that is how it was phrased for british law Yes, okay. So then the commissions that were given What was the source of the commission commissions for that you were given to Develop by privateering. Oh privateering commissions both both In england I mean this this the privateering commission president was was established in england and in europe All of the nations did this. This is how they augmented their navies during war and they were always at war That tradition came across the atlantic Commissions for colonial captains were issued by colonial governors many legitimate privateering commissions were issued by colonial governors Starting in 1650 actually And that relieved them from from prosecution as being robbers Well, it depends on whether or not they stuck to the terms of their commission Which again, you know, I don't want to say every privateer became a pirate but the People played fast and loose with the rules didn't they I mean if if life was hard If if an opportunity presented itself and the captain and crew were in agreement and they chose to a To attack a ship that england was not necessarily at war with you know from a country that england. Well, they may have done that Maybe they made a mistake. Maybe somebody was flying the wrong flag. You know what I'm saying? It was all very fluid But legitimate commissions were legitimate privateering commissions uh, thomas too Did not even pretend to be a pirate. I'm sorry to be a legitimate privateer William maize did not but many other men did. Yes, is someone weighing back Yes Oh, wow That's right That's right. They tried there were there were two ships that wrecked the widow and another a pink when I can't the maryanne I think her name was maryanne all right Pirates from the maryanne actually made it to shore because they she wrecked closer to shore and they didn't drown And they yes, they wanted to meet up with paul's grave williams in rod Allen. So they started to walk They were arrested. That's charming that they would even consider doing that Yes, someone else Yes, sir I understood that many letters of mark Was there a lot of activity where the so-called honest pirates? Honest pirates you mean honest pirate privateers That is well documented privateering. There's a reference in my book in my bibliography to a man named shepherd Published a document for the rod Allen historical society that that Lists privateers from the colonial period through the revolution past the revolution into the early 1800s It's well documented legitimate privateering is well documented and it's it involved a letter of mark. That is what the commission meant A letter of mark and retribution I believe Which meant that you were privateering on behalf of your government against an enemy an enemy Combatant and it's it's well documented. It's just some of them played fast and loose with the rules and others Again a few that I've mentioned Got those commissions with no intention of being a legitimate privateer Okay That's an interesting story because it varied To very well to atrocious from very well to atrocious and it had to do with with two things Pirates would fight to the death If they were being attacked but when they fought when they tracked down a prey and fought To to rob that ship and that and and and the contents They did not want to fight they wanted the crew to uh to surrender without a fight because they didn't want to risk personal injury But they didn't want to risk losing that ship and the treasure aboard A damaged ship or a sunken ship was of no value to them If the crew behaved well the captain and crew surrendered without a fight as happened with the widow They surrendered without a fight. They were treated exceedingly well In fact, they were given one of the lesser ships from From bellamy's fleet to sail home in and he took over their ship When they fought back or hid treasure they could have they risked being tortured or and or murdered Nedlow was Particularly vicious in that regard he he his stories You know that was captain harris's partner His stories are bone-chilling and his end was it says it's a story unto itself It I I glanced through it in the book I didn't go into great detail because he was not from the neighborhood But he was connected to harris so It depends. Oh another another feature was there were parts would ask How did the captain behave towards the crew they would ask the crew members privately? Was he a good captain your captain His fate depended on that judgment of the crew because so many of the men that turned to piracy Turned to it because they had been abused themselves by either naval captains or or merchant mariner captains. They had been abused. It's a class system you know Aristocrats became The the masters of ships common seamen were drawn from the lower classes Common seamen were treated like dirt treated like dogs So if they found a captain who the crew gave a favorable report on that captain would normally be treated well Nedlow's an exception But then he was horrible Normally the captain's but if but if he got a bad report that caption torture and death was probably in his So i've already heard from you there's someone else and if not i'll go back to okay go ahead. Yes, sir Did any of these pirates ever become politicians? You know yes Oh dear. Well, i'm trying to remember some of them. Well, all right, thomas pain is an example. He um Oh, and i can't remember uh, I did document it He he he served in several capacities on on cananica island. Uh captain of the guard different things But yeah, but yeah, well, well that's a prize as if pirates became politicians No, but they're they became a lot of other they became respectable landowners Again founders of trinity church and they meant it they they were there in the pew every sunday They were not just doing this for show. They were very complicated men I became very intrigued by the makeup Of the men that survived long enough to play a role on shore. They were very interesting men Good and bad way in back. Yes I think you're the only one in back you sir. Yes Yes, yes So It was it's well documented and uh a book about about buried treasure John Garner himself Turned that treasure over to lord bellamont and it is he had receipts he had A full list of everything that was buried there And he did turn it over to lord bellamont and it was sent to london Uh, it's interesting to note that most of his treasure went towards lawyer fees Uh, all kinds of lower members of the court got their share, you know, it was pretty much Squandered away Sarah kid though did captain pain did keep his promise He kept those gold bars for sarah kid and when she needed them she got them from him He was more a scapegoat. It wasn't a kid In Boston in sense of England. Yes Yes, uh, William kid was that's exactly my conclusion about him. He was he was scapegoated. It was a political scapegoat. He had to go Uh, the the best book on his story is by a man named zacks. I can't remember his first name Called a pirate hunter the true story of captain kid. It is the most comprehensive book and it documents in great detail His journey from start to finish Yes Some of the pirates helped found uh trinity church. Yes Because if they if they will remember the church, please we can get a government job Well, that could be true. I never read that but uh being a member of any church If if he mentioned it, then it's true if if if professor hattendorf said so then I would go with that I would not argue with that Any yes again, yes, miss We do not And that is one of those treasure hunting stories that people kind of bandy about He uh, his he left a will and it's and it was very modest, you know, what what what his Whoever he left it to it was very modest goods. Um, you know, if he Spent it all I mean pirates weren't given to saving for a rainy day people at the time and generally Generally, they weren't there were no banks. So that's why Folks in the community like thomas pain Who were trusted to to keep treasures secreted away for associates? That's why they could do that because there were no banks where you could Hand in your gold bars or whatever else you you might have had so chances are whatever he earned he spent He probably didn't bury it because they didn't tend to they invested it again like, you know in land or in businesses But there were no banks. There was no way to really hold on And and uh, you know, what what can I say loose women and hard liquor? I mean, it's one of those stories that uh I mean even even when when two first returned to newport from that first voyage He returned fabulously wealthy. He could have retired in newport and never You know lived lived lived life But uh, many of his crew members who also came back fabulously wealthy went through their money In a matter of months, which is why they all wanted to make that second voyage Aside from the fact that I'm I'm guessing they just had salt water in their veins They they they weren't land lovers. They wanted to be out there anybody else Okay, thank you very much