Samuel Bellamy A Pirate Captain with Ideals

By Joey Madia

Bellamy Timeline

1689 Born in Devonshire, England.

1702 Land seized. Family forced to Portsmouth.

1703 Became a privateer, War of Spanish Succession.

1713 Treaty of Utrecht outlawed privateers. Lover’s father blocked marriage. Joined Jacobite cause.

1715 Arrived in the Bahamas. Joined the pirate community. Boarded and procured materials and treasure from ships without violence.

Winter Met Edward Thache (Blackbeard), helped craft his look. 1716

Spring Became captain of the Marianne. Fiercely anti-slavery, 1716 recruited crew of all races, classes, creeds. Aligned with Olivier Levasseur.

1716 Had crew of 200. Captured 50 ships. Gave “Princes of the World” speech. Nicknamed Robin Hood of the Seas.

January Became Commodore of the Republic of Pirates. 1717 no option but poverty or piracy. When Captain Forster retired, 24-yearold Sam—the sea now in his blood—remained on Cape Cod looking for work. A few months later, he fell in love with Goody Hallett, seven years his junior. When Goody’s father refused permission for marriage, Sam declared he would become a wealthy, celebrated man and joined Scottish silversmith Paulsgrave Williams in the Jacobite cause (“Jacobite” derives from Jacobus, the Latin name for James Stuart, rightful king of Britain and Ireland).

March Captured slaver ship Whydah carrying 28 guns and laden 1717 with treasure.

April Drowned with more than 160 others in nor’easter off 1717 Massachusetts.

In autumn 1715, they arrived in the Bahamas, joining a group of exprivateers under Benjamin Hornigold, building a fledgling Republic of Pirates based on ten egalitarian Articles. To finance their ambitious vision, they plundered the wrecks of the twelve treasure ships of the Spanish Plate Fleet, which a hurricane had sunk off the coast of Florida that July.

With making his fortune and reputation and returning to Cape Cod to marry Goody always his foremost intention, Sam and his crew used psychological warfare to avoid violence, approaching ships in the dark with wild hair; painted, near-naked bodies; and swords and torches held high. Given the choice between relinquishing half of everything or fighting these savage-looking pirates, merchant captains almost always capitulated. Within a year, Bellamy’s tactics earned him the captaincy of an eight-gun sloop. He then taught Edward Thache the art of psychological warfare, suggesting he grow his beard long, braid it, add ribbons, and carry six pistols. Soon after, Thache adopted his nom de guerre—Blackbeard.

In May 1716, Bellamy allied with Olivier Levasseur, called “The Buzzard” or “The Mouth,” because of the speed of his attacks and tendency to brag. For seven months, with hundreds under their command, they terrorized the West Indies and Caribbean, capturing fifty vessels. When the formidable Captain Francis Hume’s 32-gun HMS Scarborough, while in pursuit of these wanted outlaws, destroyed John Martel’s six-ship flotilla, Sam aided Martel’s crew of 130, although it jeopardized his future. After becoming commodore of the Republic of Pirates—replacing Hornigold, who refused to plunder English ships—Sam parted ways with Levasseur, turning his attention to capturing a prize worthy of a triumphant return to Goody. In February 1717, he chased for three days the slaver Whydah Galley. A three-master with massive holds and 28 guns, she was fast and stout. Her 72-year-old captain, Laurence Prince, offered no resistance when Sam ran her down. Searching the holds, Bellamy found indigo, ivory, sugar, gold, silver, and silks—spoils of the sale of 500 slaves in Jamaica. Today, Whydah’s treasure is worth $400 million. Before releasing Prince, Bellamy told him: “Ye vilify us, ye scoundrels do, when the difference is only this: Ye rob the poor under cover of your laws while we rob the rich under cover of our courage. My men and I are princes of the world with as much right to make war upon a world that would deny us our natural rights as any king with 200,000 men in the field and 200 ships upon the sea!”

After a successful March and April, Bellamy sailed for the Cape, although a reunion with Goody was not to be. On April 26, 1717, within sight of Massachusetts, the Whydah and two consorts met a nor’easter off the coast. Despite heroic efforts, twenty-five-foot seas and vicious winds tore the ships to pieces, taking the lives of Bellamy and more than 160 others. The Boston authorities hung nine survivors, sparking Blackbeard’s outrage and ushering in the decline of the Golden Age of Piracy, Republic of Pirates, and the death of Sam’s revolutionary ideals

Daytime Programs

Adult Program: The Golden Age of Piracy: Fact, Fiction, and Fantasy

Wednesday, July 12, 2023 at 1 p.m.

Ashland County Council on Aging

The pirate is one of the most popular archetypes in history. From novels to musicals, from film to television (and even amusement park rides!), the tales of the Brethren of the Sea have been oft told and remain beloved among children and adults. The problem is, almost everything you know is wrong. From walking the plank to blowing holes in ships while loaded up on rum, history and Hollywood have gotten it wrong. This engaging presentation, based on seven years of research and performance, proves the old adage that Truth is stranger than Fiction—and much more interesting!

Youth Program: Join a Pirate Crew!

Friday, July 14, 2023 at 2:30 p.m.

Ashland Public Library

In this interactive workshop, Captain Samuel Bellamy will take the participants through all the steps of becoming a member of a pirate crew. Participants will design their own flag, come up with their pirate nickname, learn about and sign the Articles, take an oath of loyalty to one another and King James Stuart, be assigned on-ship duties, learn and practice how we peacefully board ships and negotiate with merchant captains, and learn to talk like a pirate.

About Joey Madia

Joey Madia is a writer, actor, director, Escape Room designer, story analyst, podcaster, educator, and historical education specialist. His Chautauqua portrayals include Allen Ginsberg, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, “Black” Samuel Bellamy, Mariano Vallejo, Edgar Allan Poe, and Captain Louis Emilio. He is Lead Story Designer for American Lore Theater. He has written four novels on the Golden Age of Piracy, “The Cannon and the Quill” series. He is the writer of several award-winning screenplays and stage plays, plus books on using theater in the classroom and on his field investigations. He also works with publicists, agents, and producers in Hollywood and for production companies around the country as a story analyst, script doctor, and freelance writer.

OPENING ACT: THE BRIDGE LIVE!

Mary Spayd and Glenn Armstrong have performed together for over 20 years in tribute bands and as a duo since 2009. Their concerts feature Mary’s amazing vocal talents and Glenn’s masterfully expressive bass guitar and music production. They incorporate their many years of experience to present a high-quality and energetic live music performance, where the biggest music of yesterday remains alive today! thebridgelivemusic.com

Bellamy Bibliography

Brooks, Baylus C. Quest for Blackbeard: The True Story of Edward Thache and His World. [Ebook] Lulu Publishing, 2016.

Clifford, Barry, with Paul Perry. Expedition Whydah: The Story of the World’s First Excavation of a Pirate Ship and the Man Who Found Her. New York: Cliff Street Books, 1999.

Cordingly, David. Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life among the Pirates. New York: Random House, 1996.

Dolin, Eric Jay. Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America’s Most Notorious Pirates. New York: Liveright Publishing, 2018.

Duffus, Kevin. The Last Days of Blackbeard the Pirate (Fourth ed.). Milwaukee, WI: Looking Glass Productions, 2014.

Nelson, Laura. The Whydah Pirates Speak: A Collection of Non-Fiction Pirate Articles. Postillion LLC, 2015–2016.

Rediker, Marcus. Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates of the Golden Age. New York: Beacon, 2004.

Woodard, Colin. The Republic of Pirates. Boston: Mariner Books, 2015.

Actionheroes sometimes create secret identities. This was true of Houdini. Ehrich Weiss (Harry Houdini) was born in Budapest, Hungary, son of a rabbi, but he re-invented his identity creating the fiction that he was actually born in Appleton, Wisconsin, and that he was just another kid from the American Midwest. Not until decades after his untimely death did his biographers discover the true nature of his roots.

During Houdini’s early childhood in Appleton, he became fascinated with circus performers. He set up a trapeze from which he swung and mastered the trick of picking up pins upside down with his eyelids. He then mastered magic, becoming “Houdini, the King of Kards.” With his brother Theo and later with his young wife, Bess, he toured America in sideshows, circuses, and small theaters eking out a modest living. Finally his heroic effort paid off with his invitation to tour a larger theater circuit. Houdini was encouraged to focus on the kind of trick that was the centerpiece of his act - the trunk escape. He expanded his escape act to include handcuff, rope, and chain escapes. He challenged his audiences