Loss of the Whydah
Experience the simulated storm that capsized the Whydah in the Loss of the Whydah Gallery.
Gregory Manchess National Geographic
News of the wrecked pirate ship reached Samuel Shute, governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. He immediately sent Captain Cyprian Southack, a well respected salvager and cartographer, to recover what goods he could from the site. Southack arrived at the location of the wreck on May 3 to find that most of the treasure had already been taken by locals and mooncussers (those who made a living plundering coastal shipwrecks). Though he failed to secure the treasure, Southack's detailed and accurate map of the wreck site aided search efforts by Barry Clifford 300 years later to locate the Whydah.
The men on the Mary Anne who survived the disaster knew they had to flee the area or risk being arrested. Some were taken into the home of John Cole when a slip of the tongue revealed that they were members of "Black Sam's" crew. The pirates left the shocked Cole and fled into the rain. They got as far as Eastham tavern when they were captured by Justice of the Peace Joseph Doane. The next day Julian and Davis were arrested for piracy and held in the Barnstable jail with the seven pirates from the Mary Anne.
The Trial of the Survivors
On October 18, 1717, the seven pirates from the Mary Anne were finally brought to trial in Boston where they faced charges of piracy and robbery.
Gregory Manchess National Geographic
On October 18, 1717, the seven pirates from the Mary Anne, Hendrick Quintor, Thomas South, Peter Cornelius Hoof, John Shaun, John Brown, Thomas Baker and Simon Van Vorst, were finally brought to trial in Boston where they faced charges of piracy and robbery. They offered the only defense they could, that they were forced to sign the ship's articles and that they had been pressed into service. Only Thomas South was believed and was spared the gallows. The remaining six were sentenced to death by hanging. Thomas Davis was acquitted of all charges. John Julian was jailed but never tried. He was sold into slavery.
The six men condemned to death were taken to Charleston on November 15 where the gallows were set up. Cotton Mather, a Puritan minister most famous for his involvement in the Salem witch trials, accompanied the men on their final trip. All six men repented of their sins but were still hanged. In an ironic twist of fate, their hanging came just three weeks before the official pardon of all pirates from King George reached Boston.
~~ The Whydah is Found! ~~
