Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period Part 31

To his Excell'cy the Earle of Bellomont,

Capt. Gen'll and Governor of his Maj'tys Collonies of the Ma.s.sachusetts Bay in N. Engl'd etca. and to the honorable the Councill.

The Peticion of Sarah Kidd humbly Sheweth

That Your Pet.i.tioners husband Capt. Wm. Kidd, being comitted unto the Comon Goale[2] in Boston for Pyracie, and under Streight durance, as Alsoe in want of necessary a.s.sistance, as well as from Your Pet.i.tioners Affection to her husband humbly pray's that your Excell'cy and Councill will be pleased to permitt the sd Sarah Kidd to have Communication with her husband, for his reliefe; in such due Season and maner, as by your Excelle'y and Councill may be tho't fitt and prescribed, to which Your Pet.i.tioner shall thankfully conforme herSelfe and ever pray etca.

SARAH S K KIDD

Boston 25 July 1699.

[Footnote 2: Gaol, jail.]

_82. Lord Bellomont to the Board of Trade. July 26, 1699._[1]

[Footnote 1: Public Record Office, C.O. 5:860, no. 64; _Commons Journal_, XIII. 19-21. The original is endorsed as received Sept. 20.]

BOSTON, 26th July 99.

_My Lords,_

I gave your Lords.h.i.+ps a short Account of my taking Capt. Kidd, in my Letter of the 8th Instant:[2] I shall in this Letter confine myselfe wholly to an Account of my Proceeding with him.

[Footnote 2: Doc. no. 77.]

On the 13th of last Month Mr. Emot, a Lawyer of New-York, came late at Night to me and told me he came from Captain Kidd, who was on the Coast with a Sloop, but would not tell me where: That Kidd had brought 60 Pound Weight of gold, about a 100 Weight of Silver, and 17 Bales of East-India goods, (which was less by 24 Bales than we have since got in the Sloop), That Kidd had left behind him a great s.h.i.+p near the Coast of Hispaniola that n.o.body but himselfe could find out, on board whereof there were in bale goods, Saltpetre, and other things to the Value of at least 30,000 L.: That if I would give him a pardon, he would bring in the Sloop and goods. .h.i.ther, and would go and fetch the great s.h.i.+p and goods afterwards. Mr. Emot delivered me that Night Two French Pa.s.ses, which Kidd took on board the Two Moors s.h.i.+ps which were taken by him in the seas of India (or, as he alleges, by his Men against his Will). One of the Pa.s.ses wants a date in the original, as in the Copy I send your Lords.h.i.+ps; and they go No. I. and No. II.[3]

[Footnote 3: See doc. no. 87, note 2.]

On Thursday, the 15 of June, I sent Mr. Campbel, the Post-Master of this town, Kidd's Countryman and acquaintance, along with Mr. Emot, to invite Kidd to come into this Port. Mr. Campbel returned hither on the 19 of June, and gave in a Memorial to my selfe and the Councel, containing what had pa.s.sed between him and Kidd: The said Memorial goes No. 3.[4] On the said 19 June, as I sate in Councel, I wrote a Letter to Captain Kidd, and shewed it to the Councel, and they approving of it, I dispatched Mr. Campbel again to Kidd with my said Letter, a Copy whereof goes No. 4. Your Lords.h.i.+ps may observe That the promise I make Captain Kidd, in my said Letter, of a kind reception, and promising the King's pardon for him, is conditionall; that is, provided he were as innocent as he pretended to be. But I quickly found sufficient Cause to suspect him very guilty, by the many lyes and Contradictions he told me. I was so much upon my guard with Kidd that, he arriving here on Sat.u.r.day the [first] of this moneth, I would not see him but before witnesses; nor have I ever seen him since, but in Councel twice or thrice that we examined him; and the day he was taken up by the Constable, it happened to be by the door of my Lodging,[5] and he rushed in and came running to me, the Constable after him. I had him not seized till Thursday the 6th instant, for I had a mind to discover where he had left the great s.h.i.+p, and I thought my selfe secure enough from his running away, because I took care not to give him the least umbrage of my Design of seizing him, Nor had I till that day that I produced my orders from Court for apprehending of Kidd, communicated them to anybody. And I found it necessary to shew my orders to the Councel, to animate them to join heartily with me in securing Kidd, and examining his Affair nicely, to discover what we could of his behaviour in his whole Voyage. Another reason why I took him not up sooner was that he had brought his wife and Children hither in the Sloop with him, who I believed he would not easily forsake. He being examined twice or thrice by me and the Councel, and also some of his men, I observed he seemed much disturbed, And the last time we examined him I fancied he looked as if he were upon the wing, and resolved to run away, and the Gentlemen of the Councel had some of them the same thought with mine, so that I took their Consent in seizing and committing him.[6] But the officers appointed to seize his men were so careless as to let 3 or 4 of his men escape, which troubled me the more because they were old New-York Pyrates. The next thing the Councel and I did, was to appoint a Committee of trusty persons to search for the goods and Treasure brought by Kidd and to secure what they should find till the King's pleasure should be known as to the Disposition thereof, as my orders from Mr. Secretary Vernon import. The said Committee were made up of Two Gentlemen of the Councel, Two Merchants, and the Deputy Collector, whose names are to the inclosed Inventory of the goods and Treasure. They searched Kidd's Lodging, and found hid and made up in Two sea-beds, a bag of gold dust and Ingots of the value of about 1000 L. and a bag of silver, part money and part pieces and piggs of silver, value as set down in the said Inventory. In the above bag of gold were several litle bags of gold; all particulars are, I believe, very justly and exactly set down in the Inventory. For my part, I have medled with no manner of thing, but put every thing under the management of the Councel, and into the Custody of the before mentioned Committee, that I might be free from the Suspicion and Censure of the World. The enameled box mentioned in the beginning of the Inventory is that which Kidd made a present of to my wife by Mr. Campbel, which I delivered in Councel to the said Committee to keep with the rest of the Treasure. There was in it a stone ring, which we take to be a Bristoll Stone;[7] if it were true, it would be worth about 40 L. And there was a small stone unset which we believe is also counterfeit, and a sort of a Locket, with four Sparks which seem to be right diamonds; for there is n.o.body here that understands Jewels. If the Box and all that is in it were right, they cannot be worth above 60 L.

[Footnote 4: Doc. no. 75.]

[Footnote 5: Peter Sergeant, a rich merchant, who had the finest house in Boston, had given it over to the new governor's use. Ma.s.s. Hist Soc., _Proc._, XXII. 123-131. Lord Bellomont held his council meetings in its best chamber. It was afterward the famous Province House, having been bought later by the province, for a residence for the governors. Hawthorne, at the beginning of part II. of his _Twice-Told Tales_, describes it as it was in 1845. A portion of the walls was in 1919 still visible from Province Court.]

[Footnote 6: Dr. Edward Everett Hale gives quotations from the council records, in _Memorial History of Boston_, II. 177-178.]

[Footnote 7: Rock-crystal, of a kind found near Bristol, England.]

Your Lords.h.i.+ps will see in the middle of the Inventory a parcel of Treasure and Jewels delivered up by Mr. Gardiner, of Gardiner's Island, in the Province of New-York, and at the East End of Na.s.sau-Island, the Recovering and saving of which Treasure is owing to my Own Care and quickness. I heard by the greatest accident in the world, the day that Captain Kidd was committed, That a Man had offered 30 L. for a Sloop to carry him to Gardiner's Island, and Kidd having owned he had buried some Gold on that Island, (though he never mentioned to us any Jewels, nor, I believe, would he have owned the gold there but that he thought he should himselfe be sent for it), I presently reflected that that man (whom I have since discovered to be one of Kidd's Men) was to defeat us of that Treasure; I privately posted away a Messenger by Land with a peremptory order to Mr.

Gardiner in the King's name to come forthwith, and deliver up such Treasure as Kidd or any of his Crew had lodged with him; acquainting him That I had committed Kidd to Goal, as I was ordered to do by the King. My Messenger made great haste, and was with Gardiner before anybody, and Gardiner, who is a very substantial man, brought away the Treasure without delay, and by my direction delivered it into the Hands of the Committee. If the Jewels be right, as it is supposed they are, but I never saw them, nor the gold and silver brought by Gardiner, then we guesse that the parcel brought by him may be worth (Gold, Silver and Jewels) 4500 L. And besides Kidd had left Six bales of goods with him, one of which was twice as big as any of the rest; and Kidd gave him a particular Charge of that bale, and told him it was worth 2000 L. The six bales Gardiner could not bring, but I have ordered him to send them by a Sloop that is since gone from hence to New York, and which is to return speedily. We are not able to set an exact value on the goods and Treasure we have got, because we have not opened the bales we took on board the Sloop; But we hope when the six bales are sent in by Gardiner, what will be then in the hands of the Gentlemen appointed to that Trust, will amount to about 14000 L. I have sent strict orders to my Lieutenant Governor at New York,[8] to make dilligent Search for the Goods and Treasure sent by Kidd to New York in Three Sloops mentioned in Gardiner's affidavit,[9] which I send with the other affidavits and Informations to your Lords.h.i.+ps; and I believe I have directed him where to find a Purchase in a house at New York, which by a hint I have had I am apt to believe will be found out in that house. I have sent to search elsewhere a certain place, strongly suspected to have received another depositum of gold from Kidd. I am also upon the hunt after Two or Three Arch Pyrates, which I hope to give your Lords.h.i.+ps a good Account of by next Conveyance. If I could have but a good able Judge and Attorney General at York, a Man of war there and another here, and the Companies recruited and well paid, I will rout Pirates and Piracy entirely out of all this north part of America, but as I have but too often told your Lords.h.i.+ps, it is impossible for me to do all this alone in my single person.

[Footnote 8: Capt. John Nanfan; see doc. no. 73, note 2.]

[Footnote 9: Doc. no. 79.]

I wrot your Lords.h.i.+ps word in my last letter of the 8 Instant That Bradish the Pyrate and one of his Crew were escaped out of the goal of this Town. We have since found that the Goaler was Bradish's kinsman, and the Goaler confessed they went out at the prison door, and that he found it wide open; we had all the reason in the world to believe the Goaler was consenting to the escape: by much ado I could get the Counsel to resent the Goaler's behaviour, but by meer Importunity I had the fellow before us; we examined him, and, by his own Story and accounts given us of his suffering other prisoners formerly to escape, I prevailed to have him turned out and a prosecution ordered against him to the Attorney Generall. I have also, with some difficulty, this late Session of a.s.sembly here, got a bill to pa.s.s, That the Goal be committed to the Care of the High Sheriffe of the County, as in England, with a Salary of 30 L. _per Annum_, to the said Sheriffe: I would have had it 50 L. _per Annum_, for the Sheriff's Incouragement to be honest and carefull, but I could not prevail. I am forced to allow the Sheriff 40 s. per Week for keeping Kidd safe; otherwise I should be in some doubt about him. He has without doubt a great deal of gold, which is apt to tempt men that have not principles of honour; I have therefore, to try the power of dull Iron against gold, put him into Irons that Weigh 16 Pound. I thought it moderate enough, for I remember poor Doctor Oates[10] had a 100 weight of Iron on him when he was a prisoner in the late Raign. There never was a greater Lyar or Thief in the World than this Kidd; notwithstanding he a.s.sured the Councel and me every time we examined him That the great s.h.i.+p and her Cargo waited his return to bring her hither, and now your Lords.h.i.+ps will see by Two severall Informations of Masters of s.h.i.+ps from Curacao, that the Cargo has been sold there, and in one of them it is said they have burnt that n.o.ble s.h.i.+p, and without doubt, it was by Kidd's order, that the s.h.i.+p might not be an evidence against him, for he would not own to us her Name was the _Quidah-Marchand_, though his men did. Andries Henlyne, and Two more, brought the first news to York of the sale of that Cargo at Curacao; and never such pennyworths heard of for Cheapness; Captain Evertz is he who has brought the news of the s.h.i.+p's being burnt. She was of about 500 Ton, and Kidd told us at the Councel, there never was a stronger or stancher s.h.i.+p seen. His Lying had like to have involved me in a Contract that would have been very chargeable and to no manner of purpose, as he has ordered Matters. I was advised by Counsel to dispatch a s.h.i.+p of good Countenance to go and fetch away that s.h.i.+p and Cargo. I had agreed for a s.h.i.+p of 300 tons, 22 Guns, and I was to man her with 60 men, to force (if there had been need of it) the Men to yield who were left with the s.h.i.+p. I was just going to seal the writing, when I bethought myself it were best to presse Kidd once more to tell me Truth: I therefore sent to him Two Gentlemen of the Councel to the Goal, and he at last owned That he had left a power with one Mr. Henry Bolton, a Marchand of Antegoa whom he had Committed the Care of the s.h.i.+p to, to sell and dispose of all the Cargo: upon which Confession of Kidds I held my hand from hireing that great s.h.i.+p, which would have cost 1700 L. by Computation. And now to-morrow I send the Sloop Captain Kidd came in, with Letters to the Lieutenant Governor of Antegoa, Colonel Yeomans, to the Governors of St. Thomas's Island and Curacao, to seize and secure what effects they can, that was late in the possession of Kidd, and on board the _Quidah-Marchand_. There is one Burk, an Englishman, that lives at St. Thomas, who has got a great Store of the goods and mony for Kidd's account. St. Thomas belongs to the Danes, but I hope to retrieve what Burt has in his Hands.[11] The sending this Sloop will cost but about 300 L. if she be out Three moneths. I hope your Lords.h.i.+ps will take care, that immediate orders be sent to Antegoa to secure Bolton, who must have plaid the Knave egregiously; for he could not but know that Kidd came knavishly by that s.h.i.+p and Goods. It is reported That the Dutch of Curacao have loaded Three Sloops with those Goods, and sent them to Holland; perhaps it were not amiss to send and watch their Arrivall in Holland, if it be practicable to lay Claim to them there.

[Footnote 10: t.i.tus Oates, the scurrilous and perjured informer, wonderfully successful with his "Popish Plot" in 1679 and 1680, thrown into prison, under heavy irons, in 1684. He was still living in 1699.

His doctoral degree ("D.D. of Salamanca") was spurious.]

[Footnote 11: The reply of the governor of St. Thomas is doc. no. 83.]

Since my Committment of Kidd, I hear That upon his approach to this port, his heart misgave him, and he proposed to his Men the putting to Sea again and going to Caledonia,[12] the new Scotch Settlement near Darien, but they refused.

[Footnote 12: Caledonia was the settlement on the isthmus of Panama to which the Darien Company, amid so much enthusiasm on the part of the Scottish nation (see Macaulay's twenty-fourth chapter), had sent out its colony in 1698. The settlement had proved a disastrous failure and had been abandoned, and the s.h.i.+ps bringing away the wretched survivors were already approaching New York, but neither Kidd nor Bellomont yet knew this.]

I desire I may have orders what to do with Kidd, and all his and Bradish's Crew; for, as the Law stands in this Country, if a pyrate were Convict, yet he cannot suffer Death: And the Counsell here refused the bill to punish Privateers and Pyrates which your Lords.h.i.+ps sent with me from England with a direction to recommend it at New York and here, to be pa.s.sed into a Law. I shall by next Conveyance acquaint your Lords.h.i.+ps what a prejudice I have found in some of the Counsel to the Laws of England this Session, but having writ myself almost dead, I must till another Opportunity forbear to treat of the affairs of this Province; but when I do, I must tell your Lords.h.i.+ps beforehand, I will not dissemble with you to favour any man or number of men; I am both above it, and I should thinke I did not do the part of an honest man, if I concealed any thing from you that tends to the prejudice of the Interest of England.

You will observe by some of the Informations I now send, That Kidd did not only rob the Two Moors s.h.i.+ps, but also a Portugueze s.h.i.+p; which he denied absolutely to the Counsel and me.

I send your Lords.h.i.+ps 24 severall Papers and Evidences relating to Captain Kidd. It is impossible for me to animadvert and make remarks on the several matters contained in the said papers, in the weak Condition I am at present; but must leave that Trouble to Mr.

Secretary Popple,[13] whose excellent clear method in business fits him incomparably beyond me for such a Work.

[Footnote 13: William Popple the elder, secretary to the Board of Trade from 1696 to 1708.]

I will always continue to be, with much Respect,

My Lords,

Your Lords.h.i.+ps most humble and obedient Servant,

BELLOMONT.

_83. The Danish Governor of St. Thomas to Lord Bellomont. September 1, 1699._[1]

[Footnote 1: Public Record Office, C.O. 5:860, no. 73 XIII. Johan Lorentz, acting governor of the Danish island of St. Thomas 1689-1692, governor 1694-1702, was of Flensborg in Sleswick, but his habitual language was Dutch, which indeed was the usual language of St. Thomas at this time. His letter, written in Dutch, was sent to the Board of Trade as an enclosure in a letter from Bellomont dated Oct. 24.

Bellomont, as indicated in the latter part of doc. no. 82, sent the _Antonio_, with a trusty skipper, to Antigua, St. Thomas, Curacao, and Jamaica, to recover whatever could be found of Kidd's booty. This is one of the letters it brought back. Lorentz dated by old style.]

_Aen Syn Excell. Bellomont_

ST. THOMAS de 1 Septembris anno 1699

_Myn Heer_

Hebbe d'Eere gehadt, uw Excell. aengename Missive van den 26 July door Capt. ---- Carry t'ontvanghen, en daer uyt ten volle verstaen het gheen uw Excell. aengaende den Zeeroover Will Kidd heeft gelieven te schryven, waerop uw Excell. met naervolgende Antwoort dienen Sall.

voorschryven Will Kidd is voor deesen Haeven met zyn voerende Schip onder Engelse Vlagge buyten Schoot Van't Kooninghs Fortress ten Anker gekoomen, en heeft daerop zyn Chaloupe met een Brief aen My aen Lant gesonden, waerin hy Protectie van my was begehrende, Vaerder pretenderende onschuldigh te weesen in't Rooven van de Subjecten van den Mogol in Oostjndien. Zyn Bedryf my toenmaels nogh Onbekent Zynde, Schreef hem Wederom, by aldien hy een Eerlyk man was, dat ick hem protegeren woude, maer hy heeft Verzekeringh willen hebben, dat ick hem aen gheen Oorloghs schepen van syn Majestat van Groot Britannien, die hem souden Koomen Opeyschen Overleveren soude, 't welck hem geweygert hebbe, waerop by Verstaen hebbende, dat ick alle Habitanten verbooden hadde, gheen Provisie aen hem te vercoopen, wederom onder Zeyl is gegaen; zedert die Tyt hebbe hooren seggen, dat hy omtrent het Eylant Moone ten Anker lagh, en dat een Bolton van Antigua by hem geweest hadde, om met hem te negotieren. Naederhant quam in deesen Haven eenen Bergantin, toebehoorende aen Barbades, waerop eenen Will Burcke Coopman was, van welcke ick gheen suspitie hadde nogh minder de gedachten, dat hy hem soude onderstaen dorfen eenighe Zeerover goederen hier intevoeren; Nochtans hebbe des Andern Daeghs verstaen, dat hy by Nacht een Party Goet aen Lant hadde gebrocht, dewelcke hy volghens seggen aen de Heer Pedro van Bellen, General Directeur voor de Ceurvorsth. Brandenborgse Privilegeerde soude vercocht hebben, dewelcke ook in't Brandenborgse Magazyn zyn Opgeleght. ick hebbe aen voorschryven goederen niet konnen koomen dewyl voorschryven Brandenborgse Privilegeerde hier ter Plaetse haer eyghen Recht en Privilegien hebben, maer voorschryven Will Burcke hebbe laeten arresteren, en naerdien hy Borghtocht heeft gestelt, hebbe hem laeten vertrecken met de Bergantin, dogh met de Conditie, dat hy syn verantwoordinghe aen Barbades (dewyl hy een Subject van Syn Majestat van Engelant en aldaer woonachtigh was) soude doen. Naederhant is hy van Barbades wederom hier gekoomen, medebrengende een Recommendatie van de Heer Gouverneur Grey aen my, en ophoudt sigh hier nu nogh in't Brandenborgse Loge, maer alle voorschryven Goederen zyn (soo geseght word) naer aendere Plaetse getransporteert. Deeses is all het gheen, daervan Uw. Excell. aengaende deese Saeke onderrechten kan, daerby verzekerende dat gheen Subjecten of inwoonders van Syn c.o.o.ninglyke Majestat van Denemarck myn Souverain Heer met voor[schryven] Kidd gehandelt hebben, dewyl daerin Goede ordre hebbe beschickt.

Ondertuschen hebbe aenstonts een Persoon uyt den Raet naer Denemarck gesonden, om aen Syn c.o.o.ninglyke Majestat myn allergenadigste Kooning ende Heer van all het gheen, soo als het pa.s.seert is, alleronderdaenigst Rapport te geven. Hiermede Sluytende recommenderende Uwe Excell. alle Goede Vrientschap en Vaerdere goede Correspondentie t'Onderhouden, Waermede verblyve

Uwe Excell.

Ootmoedigen Dienaer

J. LORENTS.

[Addressed:] To Milord Bellomont Earl, Gouvernor of New England, Yorck and other places, In Boston