Chapter IX: Part 9

Phillip Midleton of London, Mariner, of competent age, deposeth and saith upon his Corporall Oath That he, this Deponent, did serve on board the ship _Charles_ alias _Fancy_ under the command of Henry Every alias Bridgeman in the month of Aprill last, when she arrived at an Island near Providence in America, from whence a Letter was writ to Mr. Nicholas Trott, Governour of Providence, which Letter this Deponent saw and heard it read, and declareth That the Contents were, That, provided he would give them liberty to come on Shoar and depart when they pleased (or words to this purpose), they promised to give the said Governour twenty Peices of Eight and two Peices of Gold a Man and the said Ship, and all that was in her. But this Deponent remembers not the least threatning expression in the said Letter nor did he hear such like words from any of the Ships Crew, onely some of them said that if they were not admitted to come to Providence they would go some where else, and further deposeth That Mr. Governour Trott returned answer to the aforesaid Letter in writeing in very civill termes, assuring Captain Every That he and his Company should be wellcome (or words to this purpose), which said assurance was made good to them by Governour Trott after their arrivall at Providence as effectually as they could desire.[2] This Deponent likewise deposeth, That upon receipt of Mr. Governour Trotts Letter, or in a little space of time after, a Collection was made afore the Mast (at which this Deponent was present) for him the said Governour Trott, to which Captain Every contributed 40 Peices of Eight and four Peices of Gold and every Sailer (being one hundred men besides Boyes) twenty Peices of Eight and two Peices of Gold a man, which sum being collected were sent to Mr. Governour Trott by Robert Chinton, Henry Adams, and two more, whose names this Deponent doth not call to mind, after which the said Captain Every and his Crew sailed in the said ship _Charles_ for Providence, where at their arrivall they delivered up the said ship with what was in her to the said Governour Trott, and accordingly Major Trott took possession of her in the said Governours name and afterwards left her in the custody of the Governours Boatswain and a few Negroes, whose incapacity or number were not sufficient to secure the ship from hurtfull accidents, as this Deponent believes and also was informed, the which was made evident by the ships comeing a shoar about two dayes after Governour Trott was possessed of her, though she had two Anchors at her Bow and one in the hold, at least she had so many Anchors when this Deponent and the rest of the Company quitted the said ship to Mr. Trott. This Deponent also deposeth That so soon as Mr. Trott was in possession of the said ship he sent Boats to bring a shoar the Elephants teeth, the sails, Blocks, etc., that was valuable in the said Ship, And further saith That he saw severall Boats Land which were filled with the aforesaid Commodityes and stores, and that he hath heard severall of the Ship _Charles's_ Crew say and affirm (and which this Deponent also doth believe and partly know) that at the said Ship's arrivall at Providence she had on board fifty Tons of Elephants teeth, forty six Guns mounted, one hundred Barrells of Gunpowder or thereabouts, severall Chests of Buccanneer Guns, besides the small Armes which were for the Ships use, the number of which doth not occur to his mind. He further deposeth to the best of his knowledge and Information the said ship was firm and tight, for whereas he went down into her Hold the same day she arrived at Providence he then could not perceive she made the least water. And further saith that the said Ship came a shoar as aforesaid two dayes after Mr. Trott was possessed of her, he first having taken out of her what was most considerable. this misfortune of the ship happened about noon in the said Governour's sight, as this Deponent (who was an Eye Witness) well knowes. he likewise declares That one named James Browne, with severall others of Providence and also severall that had been of the Ships Crew, upon this occasion profered themselves to undertake weighing her with Casks, But this Deponent never heard that the offers aforesaid were accepted, nor that any means was used to get her off, nor that Governour Trott had any consideration besides that of getting on Shoar what still remained on board. This Deponent also saith That it was generally reported at Providence the Ship was run on Shoar designedly. And this Deponent saith That he left Providence when Captain Every did and that the Sloop in which they went was the last Vessell that carryed from Providence any considerable number of the ship _Charles's_ men and that this Deponent was informed a Packet was sent by Hollandsworths Sloop, which sailed before that in which this Deponent was, in which also he knowes there was another Packet sent, which this Deponent saw and believes 't was from Governour Trott but knowes not to whom they were directed. He further deposeth That neither while he was at Providence nor afterwards he knew or heard that the said ship _Charles_ was bilged, but he remembers that Joseph Dawson, who had been Quarter-Master by Captain Every, was sent on board her just before his departure to fetch some Cask for the use of his Sloop, which Dawson brought on Shoar and then in this Deponents hearing declared That the said ship was not bilged, the water in her being black and stinking and the Cask being wedged in the Ballast. if the Ship had been bilged she would have been full of water whereby he could not have gotten the Cask out. And this Deponent alwaies understood That Sir James Houblon and Company of London owned the said Ship and verily believes Governour Trott knew as much. The said Deponent further deposeth That John Dan, John Sparks and Joseph Dawson arrived in Ireland in Captain Everys Sloop in the Company of this Deponent, which said Sloop departed from Providence about the beginning of last June, and Hollandsworths Sloop about fourteen dayes or three weeks before.

[Footnote 2: In his defence, _Cal. St. Pap. Col._, 1697-1698, p. 506, Governor Trott declares that there were but 60 men resident at New Providence (Nassau) as against 113 (whites) of Every's men. See also _Acts of the Privy Council, Colonial_, VI. 3.]

A copy of Phillip Middleton's Affidavit made before Sir John Houblon, Knight,[3] the 11th of November last, examined in London this 30th day of January anno 1696/7.

[Footnote 3: Governor of the Bank of England, and lord mayor of London in the earlier part of that year. The owner of the _Charles_ was his brother.]

_65. Deposition of Samuel Perkins. August 25, 1698._[1]

[Footnote 1: Public Record Office, C.O. 323:2, no. 131. It is endorsed "Copy of a Deposition of Samuel Perkins relating to Pirates in the East Indies Communicated to the Board [of Trade] by Mr. Secretary Vernon" (secretary of state). Samuel Perkins of Ipswich, Massachusetts, had been one of that town's contingent in King Philip's War, and died in Ipswich, an old man, in 1738.]

The Examination of Samuel Perkins, of Ipswich in New England, taken upon oath before me Ralph Marshall Esquire, one of his Majesties Justices of the Peace for the County of Middlesex and Citty and Liberty of Westminster, this 25th day of August Anno Domini 1698.

This Informant upon his Oath saith, That about 5 years since he went aboard the ship _Resolution_, Captain Robert Glover an Irishman Commander, (who had 18 Guns and 60 men), to see his Uncle Elisha Skilling, who was Boatswain of the said Ship but is since Dead, who detained him in the said Ship together with a French Maletto[2] Boy, which ship sailed from New England in the night to the Isle of May, where they took in Salt, and thence sailed to Cape Coast in Guinnea,[3] where a Dutch man of War took 11 men from them, but returned 9 of them again, keeping the other two as Hostages, in case they meddled with any Dutchmen. From thence they sailed to Cape Lopaz and so to Madagascar, where they victualled and cleaned, and thence sailed into the Red Sea, where they lay waiting for some India ships, but missing them went to an Island called Succatore[4] in the Mouth of the red Sea, where they bought Provisions and so went to Rajapore,[5] where they took a small Muscat man with 12 Guns laden with Dates and Rice, in the Harbour; in taking whereof they killed some of her men, and sent the Muscatt man by Captain Glover (with whom the rest of the _Resolutions_ Crew had a quarrell)[6] to Madagascar, and then chose one Richard Shivers a Dutchman for their Commander, and then sailed to Mangelore,[7] where they took a small ship belonging to the Moors, laden with Rice and Fish, some of which they Plundered and then let her goe. from thence they went to Callicut,[8] where they took 4 ships belonging to the Moors at Anchor in the Road, and sent ashore to know if the Country would Ransome them. But there being a design among the Countrey people to retake their own ship and the said ship _Resolution_, with some Grabbs[9] or Boats sent off, They fired two of the said Prizes and run away and left them. Thence they went to Cape Comarine, to cruise for Malocca[10] men, but mist them, and took a Danish ship, out of which they took two men by force and five more came voluntarily aboard, and left the rest aboard the sloop, having first taken severall Piggs of Lead, fire arms, and Gun Powder out of her. from thence they went to the Island Mauretious,[11] where they took in Provisions and so to St. Marys Island near Madagascar, where they met with Captain Hoare an Irishman (since Dead) who was commander of the _John and Rebecca_,[12] a Pyrate of about 200 Tuns, 14 Guns, belonging to the Road Island, who had with her a Prize (a pritty large ship) belonging to the Mogulls subjects at Suratt, which he had taken at the Gulph of Persia, laden with Bale Goods. there was there also a Brigantine belonging to New York, which came to fetch Negroes, and the hulk of the said ship which Captain Glover carried thither.

[Footnote 2: Mulatto.]

[Footnote 3: Cape Coast Castle, on the Gold Coast.]

[Footnote 4: Sokotra.]

[Footnote 5: Rajpur, a few miles south of Bombay.]

[Footnote 6: See paragraph 10 in Capt. Adam Baldridge's deposition, no. 68, _infra_.]

[Footnote 7: Further south, on the Canara coast.]

[Footnote 8: Still further south, on the Malabar coast; still on the west coast of Hindustan, of which Cape Comorin, below, is the southernmost point.]

[Footnote 9: Arabic _gurab_, a large coasting-vessel.]

[Footnote 10: Malacca.]

[Footnote 11: Mauritius, then a Dutch island.]

[Footnote 12: See paragraphs 12, 13, in Capt. Adam Baldridge's deposition, no. 68, _infra_. Governor Fletcher of New York, July 16, 1695, had given Hoar a commission as a privateer to cruise against the French in the _John and Rebecca_. Glover and Hoar were brothers-in-law. _Cal. St. P. Col._, 1697-1698, p. 108.]

The Island St. Maries is a pritty large Island, well inhabited by black people, where one Captain Baldridge[13] (who, as he was informed, had formerly killed a man in Jamaica, and thereupon turned Pirate about 13 years agoe) had built a platforme of a Fort with 22 Guns, which was destroyed, together with Captain Glover and the rest of the Pyrats there, whilst this Informant was at Madagascar about nine months agoe, by the Blacks, who also killed 7 English men and 4 French men in the house where this Informant was at Madagascar, sparing only himself.

[Footnote 13: See document no. 68, _post_.]

There was then also a party of English in another part of the Island of Madagascar, who defended themselves against the Blacks on an Island in a River there, having some of the blacks on their side, till Captain Baldredge, who was then absent with the said Brigantine (which he had bought and sailed in her to Mascarine,[14] an Island belonging to the French, where he went to sell Prize Goods) returned, and took them off, carryed them to St. Augustines Bay,[15] they paying considerably for their Transportation. This Informant further saith that, before this happened, he run away from the _Resolution_ and remained on the Island of Madagascar as aforesaid, the said ship being gone, as he was told, to the Streights of Mallacca, which is about Tenn months since; That he this Informant was redeemed for a parcell of Gun Powder by those who defended themselves as aforesaid, and went with them aboard the Briggantine, who went first to St. Augustines Bay to putt some men ashore (who had not money to pay for their further passage) and thence sailed to St. Helena, where they arrived about six months agoe, pretending there to be a trading ship belonging to New York, upon which they got water and Provisions.[16] But this Informant run away from the said ship at St. Hellena and concealed himself in the Island till she was gone (who stayed there about 7 or 8 days) and continued there about 3 months till the arrivall of the _Sampson_ there from the East Indies, aboard of which ship he came for England with the consent of the Governor of St. Helena.

[Footnote 14: See document no. 63, note 21.]

[Footnote 15: On the southwest coast of Madagascar.]

[Footnote 16: St. Helena was then already an English island, with about a thousand inhabitants.]

This informant farther saith That he had heard upon Madagascar, That a little before his arrivall there That 14 of the Pyrates (belonging to Captain Tew, Captain Rayner, and Captain Mason and Captain Coats or some of them)[17] had by consent divided themselves into two sevens, to fight for what they had (thinking they had not made a voyage sufficient for so many) and that one of the said Sevens were all killed, and five of the other, so that the two which survived enjoyed the whole Booty. And this Informant further saith, that he hath heard and believeth, that not only the ship _Resolution_ to which he formerly belonged, but also the _Mocha_ Friggat,[18] which run away out of the service of the East India Company, the _Charles and Mary_, and severall other ships manned by English and other European Nations, were about nine months since, when he came from Madagascar, and still are playing the Pyrates in the Streights of Mallaca, in the Red Sea and other Parts in the East Indies.

SAMUELL PERKINS.

Juratus coram me[19]
RA. MARSHALL.

[Footnote 17: All these figure in the accusations against Fletcher in _N.Y. Col. Doc._, IV.]

[Footnote 18: The _Mocha_ appears also in the Kidd narratives, and continued her career of piracy till 1699, at least.]

[Footnote 19: _I.e._, sworn before me.]

_66. Certificate for John Devin (Bahamas). September (?) 20, 1698._[1]

[Footnote 1: Suffolk Court Files, Boston, no. 3765, paper 2. We find John Devine settled as a chirurgeon in Boston in 1704. _N.E. Hist. Gen. Reg._, XXXVI. 309.]

New Providence SS.

Whereas in the month of Aprill in the year of our Lord God one Thousand Six hundred and ninety six Capt. Henry Every als Bridgeman came into the Harbor of new Providence with the Shipp _Charles_ als _Fancy_, which said Capt. Every and his Shipps Crew were few days after their arrivall thought and supposed to be by the Major Part of the Island of Providence to be guilty of piracy upon the open Seas, And that the with in mentioned John Devin was one of the Ships Company, and was lately apprehended and taken as one of the said Pirates in order to be brought to his Tryall, which was accordingly done the 22d of this Instant August, and the Bill being presented against the within mentioned John Devin to the Gran Jury, which sd Grand Jury found the Bill, and afterwards the sd John Devin was brought to the Court, and holding up his hand was arraigned; The Petty Jury being sworne, the Attorney Gen'll opening the matter to the Court and Jury against the sd John Devin, The Petty Jury returning to the Court found the within mentioned John Devin not Guilty, upon which the sd John Devin was cleared by proclomation, as by the publick Entrys doth and may more at large appear:

Whereupon and upon the humble Requestt to me made by the sd John Devin, I, Ellis Lightwood Esq., Chief Judge, have thought fitt to certifie this under my hand, and ordered the publick Seale of this Goverment to be hereunto affixed as a Testimony of his the sd John Devins Innocency relating to the supposed piracy of Capt. Every als Bridgeman in the ship _Charles_ als _Fancy_.

ELLIS LIGHTWOOD

[September (?)] the 20th Anno Dom 1698 [ _blank_ ] LEIGHTON per Dom. Regem. Coppy examined by ELISHA COOKE, Clerk.[2]

[Footnote 2: Elisha Cooke the younger, clerk of the superior court of Massachusetts from 1702 to 1718.]

_67. Certificate for John Devin (Massachusetts). October 25, 1698._[1]

[Footnote 1: Suffolk Court Files, Boston, no. 3765, paper 1.]

New England. Anno Rs. Gulielmi 3d Decim.[2]

[Footnote 2: _I.e._, _anno decimo Regis Gulielmi Tertii_, "in the tenth year of King William III."]

At a Court of assize and General Goal Delivery holden at Boston for the County of Suffolk, within his Maj'ties Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, upon the 25th Day of Octo'r 1698.

John Devin, Chyrurgion, bound over by Recogniscance unto this Court, to answer what should be objected ag'st him on his Maj'ties behalf as being one of the Company belonging to the Ship _Charles_ al's _Fancey_, Henry Every al's Bridgeman Command'r, at the time when several acts of Piracy were committed by the sd Every al's Bridgeman and Company in the aforesd Ship, upon the high Seas of India and Persia, and for aiding and assisting in the sd Piracys and shareing in the Plunder so piratically taken.

The sd Jno. Devin, being called, appeared and produced a Certificate und'r the hand of Ellis Lightwood Esq., chief Judge of the Island of Providence, and the Public Seal of the Government there, Importing that the sd Devin had lately been indicted, arraigned and tryed for the same matters and Facts (whereof he is now inquired) In the Kings Court within the sd Island of Providence and found not guilty by the Jury, and clear'd by Proclamation, which afore cited Certificate being read and other the proceedings in the case in the sd Court at Providence, Proclamation was made, and nothing of further charge or Evidence appearing against the sd Jno. Devin, he was openly acquitted. Which at Request of sd Devin and by ord'r of his Maj'ties Justices of Assize etc. is hereby Certified under the Seal of the sd Court. Dated at Boston the Second day of November, Anno predict.[3]

[Footnote 3: _I.e._, _anno predicto_, "in the year aforesaid".]

_68. Deposition of Adam Baldridge. May 5, 1699._[1]

[Footnote 1: Public Record Office, C.O. 5:1042, no. 30 II. An endorsement shows that it was sent to the Lords of Trade with Bellomont's letter of May 15, 1699, which is printed in _N.Y. Col. Doc._, IV. 518-526. Capt. Adam Baldridge, as will be seen from some of the preceding narratives, had kept a rendezvous for pirates at St. Mary's Island, but he had now settled down as a respectable citizen of New York. Bellomont thought well of him at first (he "appears to be a sober man and reported wealthy"), but was warned by the Board of Trade of his connection with piracy, and later (note 19, _post_) had fuller information from Kidd. _Ibid._, IV. 333, 552.]

1. July the 17th 1690. I, Adam Baldridge, arrived at the Island of St. Maries in the ship _fortune_, Richard Conyers Commander, and on the 7th of January 1690/1 I left the ship, being minded to settle among the Negros at St. Maries with two men more, but the ship went to Port Dolphin[2] and was Cast away, April the 15th 1691, and halfe the men drownded and halfe saved their lives and got a shore, but I continued with the Negros at St. Maries and went to War with them. before my goeing to War one of the men dyed that went a shore with me, and the other being discouraged went on board againe and none continued with me but my Prentice John King. March the 9th they sailed for Bonnovolo on Madagascar, 16 Leagues from St. Maries, where they stopt to take in Rice. after I went to war six men more left the Ship, whereof two of them dyed about three weeks after they went ashore and the rest dyed since. In May 91 I returned from War and brought 70 head of Cattel and some slaves. then I had a house built and settled upon St. Maries, where great store of Negros resorted to me from the Island Madagascar and settled the Island St. Maries, where I lived quietly with them, helping them to redeem their Wives and Children that were taken before my coming to St. Maries by other Negros to the northward of us about 60 Leagues.

[Footnote 2: Fort Dauphin, at the southeast point of Madagascar, built by the French.]

2. October 13, 1691. Arrived the _Batchelors delight_, Captain Georg Raynor[3] Commander, Burden 180 Tons or there abouts, 14 Guns, 70 or 80 men, that had made a voyage into the Red Seas and taken a ship belonging to the Moors, as the men did report, where they took as much money as made the whole share run about 1100 l. a man. they Careened at St. Maries, and while they Careened I supplyed them with Cattel for their present spending and they gave me for my Cattel a quantity of Beads, five great Guns for a fortification, some powder and shott, and six Barrells of flower, about 70 barrs of Iron. the ship belonged to Jamaica and set saile from St. Maries November the 4th 1691, bound for Port Dolphin on Madagascar to take in their provision, and December 91 they set saile from Port Dolphin bound for America, where I have heard since they arrived at Carolina and Complyed with the owners, giveing them for Ruin of the Ship three thousand pounds, as I have heard since.

[Footnote 3: Josiah Rayner was associated with Tew, later with Every; Fletcher had, for a bribe, it was said, released his chest of treasure brought to New York.]

3. October 14th 1692. Arrived the _Nassaw_, Captain Edward Coats Commander, Burden 170 Ton or there about, 16 Guns, 70 men, whereof about 30 of the men stayed at Madagascar, being most of them concerned in taking the Hack boat at the Isle of May Colonel Shrymton over [owner?], the said Hack boat was lost at St. Augustin. Captain Coats Careened at St. Maries, and whilst careening I supplyed them with Cattel for their present spending, and the Negros with fowls, Rice and Yams, and for the Cattel I had two Chists and one Jarr of powder, six great guns and a Quantity of great Shott, some spicks[4] and nails, five Bolts of Duck and some Twine, a hogshead of flower. the ship most of her belonged to the Company, as they said. Captain Coats set saile from St. Maries in November 92, bound for Port Dolphin on Madagascar, and victualed there and in December set saile for New-York. Captain Coats made about 500 l. a man in the red Seas.[5]

[Footnote 4: Spikes.]

[Footnote 5: In April, 1693, this Coats, in a ship now called the _Jacob_, anchored near the east end of Long Island, and sent men to bargain with Governor Fletcher for permission to enter and for protection. They promised the governor L700 and secured protection, though in the end the owners gave him the ship instead. _N.Y. Col. Doc._, IV. 223, 310, 386-388; _Cal. St. P. Col._, 1697-1698, pp. 227-228.]

4. August 7th 1693. Arrived the Ship _Charles_, John Churcher master, from New York, Mr. Fred. Phillips, owner,[6] sent to bring me severall sorts of goods. She had two Cargos in her, one Consigned to said Master to dispose of, and one to me, containing as followeth: 44 paire of shooes and pumps, 6 Dozen of worsted and threed stockens, 3 dozen of speckled shirts and Breaches, 12 hatts, some Carpenters Tools, 5 Barrells of Rum, four Quarter Caskes of Madera Wine, ten Cases of Spirits, Two old Stills full of hols, one worme, Two Grindstones, Two Cross Sawes and one Whip saw, three Jarrs of oyle, two small Iron Potts, three Barrells of Cannon powder, some books, Catechisms, primers and horne books, two Bibles, and some garden Seeds, three Dozen of howes,[7] and I returned for the said goods 1100 pieces 8/8 and Dollers, 34 Slaves, 15 head of Cattel, 57 barrs of Iron. October the 5th he set sail from St. Maries, after having sold parte of his Cargo to the White men upon Madagascar, to Mauratan to take in Slaves.

[Footnote 6: Frederick Philipse (1626-1702), the richest trader in New York, but perhaps not the most scrupulous; see Henry C. Murphy, in his edition of the _Journal of a Voyage to New York in 1679-80_ of Jasper Danckaerts, pp. 362-365. The ship in which the two Labadist missionaries, Danckaerts and Sluyter, came to America was also named _Charles_ and owned by Philipse. It was in this year 1693 that Governor Fletcher instituted for him the Philipse Manor. Mary Philipse, who won the affections of young Major George Washington, was his great-granddaughter. It was said that Baldridge's establishment in Madagascar was sustained by Philipse's capital, to obtain for the latter a share in the profits of piracy. _Cal. St. P. Col._, 1697-1698, p. 108.]

[Footnote 7: Hoes.]

5. October 19, 1693. Arrived the ship _Amity_, Captain Thomas Tew Commander,[8] Burden 70 Tons, 8 Guns, 60 men, haveing taken a Ship in the Red Seas that did belong to the Moors, as the men did report, they took as much money in her as made the whole share run 1200 l. a man. they Careened at St. Maries and had some cattel from me, but for their victualing and Sea Store they bought from the Negros. I sold Captain Tew and his Company some of the goods brought in the _Charles_ from New York. the Sloop belonged most of her to Bermudas. Captain Tew set saile from St. Maries December the 23d 1693, bound for America.

[Footnote 8: See doc. no. 63, note 16, _ante_.]

6. August, 1695. Arrived the _Charming Mary_ from Barbados, Captain Richard Glover Commander,[9] Mr. John Beckford marchant and part owner. the most of the ship belonged to Barbados, the Owners Colonel Russel, Judge Coats, and the Nisames [?]. She was burden about 200 Tons, 16 Guns, 80 men. she had severall sort of goods on board. I bought the most of them. She careened at St. Maries and in October she set saile from St. Maries for Madagascar to take in Rice and Slaves.

[Footnote 9: See doc. no. 65.]

7. August 1695. Arrived the ship _Katherine_ from New York, Captain Tho. Mostyn Commander and Super Cargo,[10] Mr. Fred. Phillips Owner, the Ship Burden about 160 Tons, noe Guns, near 20 men. She had severall sorts of goods in her. she sold the most to the White men upon Madagascar, where he had Careened. he set saile from St. Maries for Mauratan on Madagascar to take in his Rice and Slaves.

[Footnote 10: Another of those commissioned by Fletcher. Having no guns, the vessel must have been intended for illegal trade rather than for warfare.]

8. December 7th 1695. Arrived the Ship _Susanna_, Captain Thomas Weak[11] Commander, burden about 100 Tons, 10 Guns, 70 men. they fitted out from Boston and Rhoad Island and had been in the Red seas but made noe voyage by reason they mist the moors fleet. they Careened at St. Maries and I sold them part of the goods bought of Mr. John Beckford out of the _Charming Mary_ and spaired them some Cattel, but for the most part they were supplyed by the Negros. they stayed at St. Maries till the middle of April, where the Captain and Master and most of his men dyed. the rest of the men that were left alive after the Sickness Carried the Ship to St. Augustin, where they left her and went In Captain Hore for the Red Sea.

[Footnote 11: Or Wake.]

9. December 11th 1695. Arrived the Sloop _Amity_, haveing no Captain, her former Captain Thomas Tew being killed by a great Shott from a Moors ship,[12] John Yarland master, Burden seventy Ton, 8 Guns, as before described, and about 60 men. They stayed but five dayes at St. Maries and set saile to seek the _Charming Mary_ and they met her at Mauratan on Madagascar and took her, giveing Captain Glover the Sloop to carry him and his men home and all that he had, keeping nothing but the ship. they made a new Commander after they had taken the ship, one Captain Bobbington. after they had taken the ship they went into St. Augustine Bay and there fitted the ship and went into the Indies to make a voyage and I have heard since that they were trapaned and taken by the Moors.

[Footnote 12: See doc. no. 63, note 16, _ante_.]

10. December 29 1695. Arrived a Moors Ship, taken by the _Resolution_ and given to Captain Robert Glover and 24 of his men that was not willing to goe a privateering upon the Coasts of Indies, to carrie them away. the Company turned Captain Glover and these 24 men out of the Ship, Captain Glover being parte Owner and Commander of the same and Confined prisoner by his Company upon the Coast of Guinea by reason he would not consent to goe about the Cape of good hope into the Red Sea. the ship was old and would hardly swim with them to St. Maries. when they arrived there they applyed themselves to me. I maintained them in my house with provision till June, that shiping arrived for to carry them home.

11. January 17th 1696/7. Arrived the Brigantine _Amity_, that was Captain Tew's Sloop from Barbadoes and fitted into a Brigantine by the Owners of the _Charming Mary_ at Barbados, Captain Richard Glover Commander and Super Cargo. the Brigantine discribed when a Sloop. She was laden with severall sorts of goods, part whereof I bought and part sold to the White men upon Madagascar, and parte to Captain Hore and his Company. the Brigantine taken afterwards by the _Resolution_ at St. Maries.

12. February the 13th 1696/7. Arrived Captain John Hor's Prize from the Gulph of Persia and three or four dayes after arrived Captain Hore[13] in the _John and Rebeckah_, Burden about 180 Tons, 20 Guns, 100 men in ship and prize. The Prize about 300 Ton Laden with Callicoes. I sold some of the goods bought of Glover to Captain Hore and his Company as likewise the white men that lived upon Madagascar and Captain Richard Glover.

[Footnote 13: See doc. no. 65, note 17.]

13. June the ---- 1697. Arrived the _Resolution_, Captain Shivers Commander, Burden near 200 Tons, 90 men, 20 Guns, formerly the ship belonged to Captain Robert Glover but the Company took her from him and turned him and 24 more of his men out of her by reason they were not willing to goe a privateering into the East Indies.[14] they met with a Mosoune[15] at sea and lost all their masts and put into Madagascar about 10 Leagues to the Northward off St. Maries and there masted and fitted their ship, and while they lay there they took the Brigantine _Amity_ for her watter Casks, Sailes and Rigeing and Masts, and turned the Hull a drift upon a Rife.[16] Captain Glover promised to forgive them what was past if they would Let him have his ship again and goe home to America, but they would not except he would goe into the East Indies with them. September the 25th 97 they set saile to the Indies.

[Footnote 14: See doc. no. 65.]

[Footnote 15: Monsoon.]

[Footnote 16: Reef.]

14. June 1697. Arrived the ship _Fortune_ from New York, Captain Thomas Mostyn Commander, and Robert Allison Super Cargo, the Ship Burden 150 Tons or there abouts, 8 Guns, near 20 men, haveing severall sorts of goods aboard, and sold to Captain Hore and Company and to the White men upon Madagascar.

15. June ---- 1697. Arrived a Ship from New York, Captain Cornelius Jacobs Comander and Super Cargo, Mr. Fred. Phillips owner, Burden about 150 Ton, 2 Guns, near 20 men, haveing severall sorts of goods a board, and sold to Captain Hore and his Company and to the White men on Madagascar, and four Barrells of Tar to me.[17]

[Footnote 17: When this ship came back, richly laden, Philipse sent out a sloop to meet her, which off the New Jersey coast quietly unloaded all of her cargo but the negroes, and sailed with it to Hamburg. _Cal. St. P. Cal._, 1697-1698, p. 414.]

16. July the 1st 1697. Arrived the Brigantine _Swift_ from Boston, Mr. Andrew Knott Master[18] and John Johnson Marchant and parte owner, Burden about 40 Tons, 2 Guns, 10 men, haveing severall goods aboard. Some sold to Captain Hore and Company the rest put a shore at St. Maries and left there. A small time after her arrivall I bought three Quarters of her and careened and went out to seek a Trade and to settle a forraign Commers and Trade in severall places on Madagascar. About 8 or 10 dayes after I went from St. Maries the Negros killed about 30 White men upon Madagascar and St. Maries, and took all that they or I had, Captain Mostyn and Captain Jacobs and Captain Hor's Ship and Company being all there at the same time and set saile from St. Maries October 1697 for Madagascar to take in their Slaves and Rice. having made a firm Commerse with the Negros on Madagascar, at my return I met with Captain Mostyn at sea, 60 Leagues of St. Maries. he acquainted me with the Negros riseing and killing the White men. he perswaded me to return back with him and not proceed any further, for there was noe safe goeing to St. Maries. all my men being sick, after good consideracion we agreed to return and goe for America.

[Footnote 18: In 1690 he had commanded a ship in Sir William Phips's unsuccessful expedition against Quebec. For his connection with Kidd, see _post_, doc. no. 85, note 7.]

The above mentioned men that were killed by the Natives were most of them privateers that had been in the Red Seas and took severall ships there, they were cheifly the occasion of the natives Riseing, by their abuseing of the Natives and takeing their Cattel from them, and were most of them to the best of my knowledge men that came in severall Ships, as Captain Rainor, Captain Coats, Captain Tew, Captain Hore, and the _Resolution_ and Captain Stevens.[19]

ADAM BALDRIDGE.

Sworne before me in New York
5th of May 1699
A.D. PEYSTER[20]

A true copy
BELLOMONT.

[Footnote 19: Such is Baldridge's tale of innocence, but Kidd told Bellomont that "Baldridge was the occasion of that Insurrection of the Natives and the death of the pirates, for that having inveigled a great number of the natives of St. Maries, men, women and children, on board a ship or ships he carryed and sold them for slaves to a French Island called Mascarine or Mascaron, which treachery of Baldridges the Natives on the Island revenged on those pirates by cutting their throats."]

[Footnote 20: Abraham de Peyster, a member of the New York council and an assistant judge of the supreme court.]

* * * * *

_69. Warrant for Commissioning of Admiralty Judge. April 29, 1697._[1]

[Footnote 1: New York State Archives, Albany: Historical MSS., vol. XLI., p. 60. The commissions of admiralty judges had originally been issued on warrant from the Lord High Admiral. Since 1673, however, except for two brief periods, the latter's duties have always been performed by the "Lords Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral" (Admiralty Board, or Lords of the Admiralty). On April 29, 1697, the board consisted of the two distinguished admirals Sir Edward Russell (created earl of Oxford eight days later) and Sir George Rooke, Sir John Houblon, governor of the Bank of England, Col. James Kendall, ex-governor of Barbados, and four others. The warrant is not addressed to any governor by name; Bellomont was not commissioned (as governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire) till June 18, 1697.]

By the Comiss'rs for Executing the Office of Lord high Admirall of Engl'd. Irel'd. etc.

Whereas, in pursuance of His Ma'tis pleasure signified to Us by the Rt. hon'ble Mr. Secretary Trumbull, Wee have appointed Mr. William Smith to be Judge, Mr. John Tudor Register, Mr. Jarvis Marshall, Marshall, and Mr. James Graham, Advocate of the Vice Admiralty of New-Yorke, and Connuticutt, and East-Jersey:[2] You are therefore hereby Empower'd and directed, to give unto them Commissions for their said Employm'ts respectively; And in case of the death, or inabillity, by sickness, or otherwise, of any of the said persons, You are to appoint others in their roome: and Transmitt to Us the Names of such persons as You do so appoint; Dated at the Admiralty Office this 29th of April 1697.

[Footnote 2: William Smith was already chief-justice of the supreme court of the province, and a member of the council. Jarvis Marshall had been messenger of the council. James Graham was speaker of the assembly, attorney-general, and recorder of the city of New York.]

To his Ma'tis Governour of RUSSELL.
New-Yorke and Connuticutt, G. ROOKE.
and East-Jersey/ for the time JNO. HOUBLON.
being. KENDALL.

By Command of their Lord'ps
WM. BRIDGEMAN.

* * * * *

_70. Proclamation of Lieut.-Gov. Stoughton. June 4, 1698._[1]

[Footnote 1: Mass. Archives, vol. 62, p. 253. William Stoughton, lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts 1691-1701, acted as governor from the departure of Governor Phips for England in 1694 to the arrival of Governor Bellomont in the province, May 26, 1699. Bellomont in June, 1698, was in New York. In the period to which most of our documents belong there was always an outburst of piracy after the conclusion of a war, because multitudes of privateers found their occupation gone when peace was proclaimed, and some of them were sure to turn to the allied trade of piracy. The peace of Ryswyk, between France and Great Britain, Spain, and Holland, Sept. 20, 1697, had had this effect at the time of Stoughton's proclamation.]

William Stoughton Esqr., Lieutenant Governour and Commander in chief in and over his Ma'tys Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England

To the Sheriff of the County of Suffolke, his Under Sheriff or Deputy or Constables of the respective Towns within the sd County and to each and every of them to whom these presents shall come, Greeting.

Whereas I am informed That sundry wicked and ill disposed persons, suspected to have committed divers inhumane and hostile Acts and depredations upon the Subjects and Allies of other Princes and States in Forreign parts in Amity with his Ma'ty, are lately landed and set on shore on or about Long Island, Rhode Island and parts adjacent, having brought with them quantitys of Forreign Coynes, silver, Gold, Bullion, Merchandize and other Treasure, Some of which persons (unknown by name) may probably come into this his Ma'tys Province and transport their moneys, Merchandize and Treasure hither,

These are therefore in his Ma'tys name strictly to command and require you to make diligent search within your several Precincts for such suspected persons, and to apprehend and seize every such person or persons, his or their money, gold, bullion, Merchandize and Treasure, and to bring the same before the next Justice of the Peace to be examined and proceeded against as the Law directs. And you are to require and take such a number of persons, with Armes or otherwise, unto your Assistance as you shall think meet for the seizing and apprehending such suspected person or persons aforesd. and carrying him or them before the next Justice or Justices. And all his Ma'tys subjects are required to be aiding and assisting unto you in the Execution of this Warrant, as they will answer their refusal or neglect at their peril. And hereof you or they may not faile. And make return of this Warrant with your doings thereupon. Given under my hand and seal at Armes at Boston the Fourth day of June 1698, In the tenth year of his Ma'tys Reign.

WM. STOUGHTON.

CASE OF WILLIAM KIDD.

_71. Deposition of Benjamin Franks. October 20, 1697._[1]

[Footnote 1: Public Record Office, C.O. 323:2, no. 124 I. William Kidd, the most famous pirate in American history, was a Scot, born in Dundee in 1654. In 1689-1690, in command of a captured ship, he took a creditable part in the attacks on Mariegalante and St. Martin's by Captain Hewetson, who at Kidd's trial testified to his bravery; but a few weeks later his men, ex-pirates apparently, ran away with his ship. _Cal. St. P. Col._, 1689-1692, pp. 122, 226, 227; Hargrave, _State Trials_, V. 326. In 1689 he settled in New York, where he seems to have been well regarded; in the record of his marriage license, May 16, 1691 (_N.E. Hist. Gen. Reg._, VI. 63) he is styled "William Kidd, Gentleman," and two days earlier the New York assembly (_Journal_, ed. 1764, I. 6, 13) voted him a gratuity of L150 for services in connection with the arrival of Governor Sloughter. In 1695, Kidd being then in England, Robert Livingston of New York arranged in London with Lord Bellomont, who had been designated but not yet commissioned as a governor in America, and with others, for a privateering voyage under Kidd's command. Other sharetakers were Sir Edward Russell, first lord of the admiralty, Sir John Somers, lord keeper of the great seal, the Duke of Shrewsbury, secretary of state, and the Earl of Romney, master-general of the ordnance; and the king himself was to receive one-tenth of the profits of the cruise. Kidd's letter of marque, dated Dec. 11, 1695, is in Hargrave's _State Trials_, V. 307. To it was added, Jan. 26, 1696, _ibid._, 308, a commission to apprehend pirates. Kidd sailed from England in April, 1696, in the _Adventure Galley_, 287 tons, 34 guns, 70 men. At New York he increased his crew to 155 men (there is a list of them in _Cal. St. Pap. Col._, 1700, p. 199), and sailed thence in September for Madagascar and the East Indies. Whether it was by his fault that the _Adventure Galley_ slipped from privateering and the search for pirates into acts of piracy, or whether, as Kidd alleged, his men forced his hand, has been doubted, but it is probable that he shared the guilt. In the summer of 1698 complaints began to come in from India and from the East India Company, and in November, 1698, orders were sent to the governors of colonies in America to apprehend Kidd as a pirate whenever he should appear. The ensuing papers, especially his own narrative and Bellomont's letters, tell the story of his arrival and arrest. As under Massachusetts law he could not be condemned to death for piracy, he was, probably illegally, carried to England in the spring of 1700, and there tried at the Old Bailey for the murder of one of his men and for piracy. After an unfair trial and on insufficient evidence, he was condemned, and was hanged at Execution Dock May 23, 1701.

As to Benjamin Franks, we learn from a deposition of William Cuthbert (_Journal of the House of Commons_, XIII. 26) that two of Kidd's men deserted him at Carwar because of his attempts and designs toward piracy and his cruel conduct toward his men; Franks, Hebrew jeweller of New York, was apparently one of the two. Apparently he was a Danish subject; Westergaard, _Danish West Indies_, p. 110.]

The Deposition of Benjamin Franks aged about 47 years (who came out in the _Adventure Gally_, a Privateer, Captain William Kid Comander) Inhabitant of New York.