January 21, 2025 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Samuel Bellamy was a pirate who operated off the coast of New England and throughout the Caribbean. Later known as "Black Sam,” he became one of the wealthiest pirates before his untimely death in 1717. Here to tell the story, is Ashley Hlebinsky.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
Samuel Bellamy was a pirate who operated off the coast
of New England and throughout the Caribbean. Later known as
Black Sam, he became one of the wealthiest pirates before
his untimely death in seventeen seventeen. Here to tell the
(00:32):
story is Ashley Lebinski. She's the former co host of
the Discovery Channel's Master of Arms, and she's a frequent
contributor here on Our American Stories. Take it away, Ashley.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
When one thinks of pirates, images of Johnny Depp and
Eyeliner and dreadlocks tend to come to mind.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
But the history is far more complicated than that.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
In fact, one pirate from the early seventeen hundreds is
considered far more Robin Hood.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
And Jack Sparrow. But perhaps that too, is romanticized lored.
This story actually begins at the end.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
In nineteen eighty four, an American underwater archaeologist named Barry
Clifford discovered a shipwreck not too far from the Massachusetts coastline.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
There was a story here that was much more valuable
than any of the artifacts. You know, of all the
treasures in the world, it's the only documented pirate treasure period,
all of the treasures that we've heard about, you know,
in the Caribbean. It's not pirate treasure Spanish galleons. This
is real pirate treasure. This is the stuff that Robert
Louis Stevenson wrote about. That's the stuff that I dreamt about.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
And the shipwreck was actually only under fourteen feet of
water and five feet of sand. A year later, the
ship's bell was recovered and the bell had the name
of the ship on it, so it made this the
first fully authenticated pirate ship from the Golden Age that
was found in North America. The ship's name was the
Woodha and at the time of it sinking, it held
(02:01):
the largest pirate prize with treasure that was weighing about
five tons and that included indigo, precious metals, and tens
of thousands of pounds of sterling. The wood As sank
one faithful night on April twenty sixth, seventeen seventeen, after
it capsized during a nor'eastern which drove the boat onto
a sandbar by Wellfleet, Massachusetts, just after midnight. The masts broke,
(02:25):
and according to first hand accounts from the few survivors,
the dozens upon dozens of cannons on the ship helped
rip through the deck, driving the Wood down into thirty
feet of water and with it. One hundred and forty
six men.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
And the mooncussers showed up the next day. These are
people who cursed the moon because they wanted things dark
so that they could rub ships that came ashore.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
It was not the only ship to go down that night.
Its sister ship, the Marianne, also wrecked. In total, two
survived the wooda and seven on the Marianne. The captain, though,
went down with the ship. Captain Samuel Bellamy is known
as one of the wealthiest pirates in recorded history. Black Sam,
as he was called, was known for his long black
(03:11):
hair and an odd sympathy and generosity to those he captured,
well as generous as a pirate can be. In the
one year he was a pirate, he and his crew
captured over fifty ships. Known also as the Prince of Pirates,
Bellamy's life actually began in service. Born in Devon, England
(03:32):
in sixteen eighty nine, Bellamy initially sailed for the British
Royal Navy, and according to lore, while he was in
Cape Cod, he had an affair with a woman named
Goody Hallett, and this woman also would be a historical
figure in her own right and earn the moniker the
Witch of Wellfleet. There are several stories that exist as
to why Bellamy left her for a life of piracy,
(03:54):
one being that he was looking for treasure to better
their life together.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Another was that she.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Was already married had to get out of town regardless.
After Bellamy left, Hallett gave birth to a child who
did not survive the night due to choking. Despite the
fact that this was an accident, she was charged with
murder and thrown in jail, although she constantly escaped, and
then after she escaped so many times, they let her
just go out during the evenings and she would wander
(04:20):
off the beaches at night, as some say, looking for
Captain Bellamy and gaining her nickname in the process. Bellamy
left Cape Cod in early seventeen sixteen with his crew.
He was initially more of a treasure hunter, and he
was in search of an infamous treasure that was supposed
to exist at the bottom of the ocean in South
(04:40):
Florida from a very famous sunken fleet, but they quickly
turned to piracy and joined the crew of Benjamin Hornigold
and is second in command Edward Teach, who's better known
as Blackbeard. Not long after, though, the crew voted Horner,
Goold and Teach out of command, electing Bellamy as.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
The new captain.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
He quickly captured other ships, and in spring of seventeen seventeen,
he captured his prize, the Wuda Galley, when sailing through
the Windward Passage. The Wodah was originally a slave ship
built in England two years prior. It was three hundred
tons and one hundred and two feet long and had
eighteen guns and could reach speeds of fifteen miles an hour,
(05:21):
which doesn't seem like a lot.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Today, but back then was quite significant.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
It began its voyage in the Atlantic slave trade, selling
a total of three hundred and twelve enslaved peoples before
its capture. Bellamy chased the ship for three days and
he only had to fire one shot for the captain
to surrender.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
As an award for the.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Captain's lack of resistance, Bellamy actually gave him one of
his other ships.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
He would not stay captain long.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Though, as he was killed in that faithful storm that
took down most of his what was actually a pretty
diverse crew.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
A third of these people were of African origin. They
were black, and some of them were being elected by
perdue prominently European crews as officers and even captains on
board slave ships. We have absolute proof of this, but
a third of the pirates in the Golden Age of
piracy were of African origin, most of whom will form
(06:13):
the slaves.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
The nine survivors were captured and prosecuted in Boston. Involved
in the trial was actually none other than Reverend Cotton Mather,
whom a lot of people know better for his involvement
in the Salem witch trials. Of the nine, two were
pardoned because it was believed they were forced into piracy,
and six were hanged.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
And then there was a.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Sixteen year old boy who they believe was sold into slavery.
In total, around one hundred and four bodies were found
washed upon the shore after the wreck, and the governor
of Massachusetts was concerned about looting, so he sent his
own captain and cartographer, whose name was cypri and south
Act to salvage what he could there South Act created
(06:55):
a map and what's neat about that is the map
is the same one that Barry Clifford used in the
nineteen eighties, and that would be what he would follow
to find the remains of the ship.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
And this ship is one of those ships.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
That has an incredibly ugly past, especially with the slave.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Trade, but briefly sailed for.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
One of the most notorious pirates in history.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
And a terrific job by the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler. A special thanks to Ashley
Libinski the story of Samuel Bellamy. Here on our American Stories.
This is Lee Habib, host of Our American Stories, the
show where America is the star and the American people,
and we do it all from the heart of the
South Oxford, Mississippi. But we truly can't do this show
(07:40):
without you. Our shows will always be free to listen to,
that they're not free to make. If you love what
you hear, consider making a tax deductible donation to our
American Stories. Go to our American Stories dot com. Give
a little, give a lot. That's our American Stories dot com.
This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
Samuel Bellamy was a pirate who operated off the coast
of New England and throughout the Caribbean. Later known as
Black Sam, he became one of the wealthiest pirates before
his untimely death in seventeen seventeen. Here to tell the
(00:32):
story is Ashley Lebinski. She's the former co host of
the Discovery Channel's Master of Arms, and she's a frequent
contributor here on Our American Stories. Take it away, Ashley.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
When one thinks of pirates, images of Johnny Depp and
Eyeliner and dreadlocks tend to come to mind.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
But the history is far more complicated than that.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
In fact, one pirate from the early seventeen hundreds is
considered far more Robin Hood.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
And Jack Sparrow. But perhaps that too, is romanticized lored.
This story actually begins at the end.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
In nineteen eighty four, an American underwater archaeologist named Barry
Clifford discovered a shipwreck not too far from the Massachusetts coastline.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
There was a story here that was much more valuable
than any of the artifacts. You know, of all the
treasures in the world, it's the only documented pirate treasure period,
all of the treasures that we've heard about, you know,
in the Caribbean. It's not pirate treasure Spanish galleons. This
is real pirate treasure. This is the stuff that Robert
Louis Stevenson wrote about. That's the stuff that I dreamt about.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
And the shipwreck was actually only under fourteen feet of
water and five feet of sand. A year later, the
ship's bell was recovered and the bell had the name
of the ship on it, so it made this the
first fully authenticated pirate ship from the Golden Age that
was found in North America. The ship's name was the
Woodha and at the time of it sinking, it held
(02:01):
the largest pirate prize with treasure that was weighing about
five tons and that included indigo, precious metals, and tens
of thousands of pounds of sterling. The wood As sank
one faithful night on April twenty sixth, seventeen seventeen, after
it capsized during a nor'eastern which drove the boat onto
a sandbar by Wellfleet, Massachusetts, just after midnight. The masts broke,
(02:25):
and according to first hand accounts from the few survivors,
the dozens upon dozens of cannons on the ship helped
rip through the deck, driving the Wood down into thirty
feet of water and with it. One hundred and forty
six men.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
And the mooncussers showed up the next day. These are
people who cursed the moon because they wanted things dark
so that they could rub ships that came ashore.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
It was not the only ship to go down that night.
Its sister ship, the Marianne, also wrecked. In total, two
survived the wooda and seven on the Marianne. The captain, though,
went down with the ship. Captain Samuel Bellamy is known
as one of the wealthiest pirates in recorded history. Black Sam,
as he was called, was known for his long black
(03:11):
hair and an odd sympathy and generosity to those he captured,
well as generous as a pirate can be. In the
one year he was a pirate, he and his crew
captured over fifty ships. Known also as the Prince of Pirates,
Bellamy's life actually began in service. Born in Devon, England
(03:32):
in sixteen eighty nine, Bellamy initially sailed for the British
Royal Navy, and according to lore, while he was in
Cape Cod, he had an affair with a woman named
Goody Hallett, and this woman also would be a historical
figure in her own right and earn the moniker the
Witch of Wellfleet. There are several stories that exist as
to why Bellamy left her for a life of piracy,
(03:54):
one being that he was looking for treasure to better
their life together.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Another was that she.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Was already married had to get out of town regardless.
After Bellamy left, Hallett gave birth to a child who
did not survive the night due to choking. Despite the
fact that this was an accident, she was charged with
murder and thrown in jail, although she constantly escaped, and
then after she escaped so many times, they let her
just go out during the evenings and she would wander
(04:20):
off the beaches at night, as some say, looking for
Captain Bellamy and gaining her nickname in the process. Bellamy
left Cape Cod in early seventeen sixteen with his crew.
He was initially more of a treasure hunter, and he
was in search of an infamous treasure that was supposed
to exist at the bottom of the ocean in South
(04:40):
Florida from a very famous sunken fleet, but they quickly
turned to piracy and joined the crew of Benjamin Hornigold
and is second in command Edward Teach, who's better known
as Blackbeard. Not long after, though, the crew voted Horner,
Goold and Teach out of command, electing Bellamy as.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
The new captain.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
He quickly captured other ships, and in spring of seventeen seventeen,
he captured his prize, the Wuda Galley, when sailing through
the Windward Passage. The Wodah was originally a slave ship
built in England two years prior. It was three hundred
tons and one hundred and two feet long and had
eighteen guns and could reach speeds of fifteen miles an hour,
(05:21):
which doesn't seem like a lot.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Today, but back then was quite significant.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
It began its voyage in the Atlantic slave trade, selling
a total of three hundred and twelve enslaved peoples before
its capture. Bellamy chased the ship for three days and
he only had to fire one shot for the captain
to surrender.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
As an award for the.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Captain's lack of resistance, Bellamy actually gave him one of
his other ships.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
He would not stay captain long.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Though, as he was killed in that faithful storm that
took down most of his what was actually a pretty
diverse crew.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
A third of these people were of African origin. They
were black, and some of them were being elected by
perdue prominently European crews as officers and even captains on
board slave ships. We have absolute proof of this, but
a third of the pirates in the Golden Age of
piracy were of African origin, most of whom will form
(06:13):
the slaves.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
The nine survivors were captured and prosecuted in Boston. Involved
in the trial was actually none other than Reverend Cotton Mather,
whom a lot of people know better for his involvement
in the Salem witch trials. Of the nine, two were
pardoned because it was believed they were forced into piracy,
and six were hanged.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
And then there was a.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Sixteen year old boy who they believe was sold into slavery.
In total, around one hundred and four bodies were found
washed upon the shore after the wreck, and the governor
of Massachusetts was concerned about looting, so he sent his
own captain and cartographer, whose name was cypri and south
Act to salvage what he could there South Act created
(06:55):
a map and what's neat about that is the map
is the same one that Barry Clifford used in the
nineteen eighties, and that would be what he would follow
to find the remains of the ship.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
And this ship is one of those ships.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
That has an incredibly ugly past, especially with the slave.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Trade, but briefly sailed for.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
One of the most notorious pirates in history.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
And a terrific job by the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler. A special thanks to Ashley
Libinski the story of Samuel Bellamy. Here on our American Stories.
This is Lee Habib, host of Our American Stories, the
show where America is the star and the American people,
and we do it all from the heart of the
South Oxford, Mississippi. But we truly can't do this show
(07:40):
without you. Our shows will always be free to listen to,
that they're not free to make. If you love what
you hear, consider making a tax deductible donation to our
American Stories. Go to our American Stories dot com. Give
a little, give a lot. That's our American Stories dot com.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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