#25 - Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay

 Pirates are cool. Well, the idea of pirates is cool.

The romantic idea of pirates invoke the famous names - Long John Silver, Captain Hook, Captain Jack Sparrow, etc. Swashbuckling adventurers sailing the seven seas for fun, gold, and rum. 

The reality was certainly different. Pirates attacked anyone whose cargo could turn a profit, in wartime and peacetime. They sacked towns and murdered people. But as crews, they also were bound by mutual agreements to a system of governance on board, had a basic version of health insurance paid by the injury, and cast votes for major decisions. Legal piracy, aka privateering, was endorsed by a letter of marque. A piece of paper from some government that allowed a ship and her crew to pillage and plunder specific enemy ships, taking payment out of the captured cargo. Except, when pickings were slim, or when war ended, some of these privateers went on the lam, attacking friendly ships and anyone else that sailed across their path. 

Pirates are found all over the world, from the fame of the Caribbean to Barbary, to Southeast Asia and beyond. ...They may be a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. And so, I wanted to post something about a delightful book I found last year - Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay. I bought it for lazing on the Mid-Atlantic coast and devoured the thing. It's a small book, a pretty quick read, but fantastic in small nibbles. The book is structured around tales of specific pirates active in the Chesapeake Bay from the early 1600s all of the way till the mid 1900s and the Oyster Wars. Seriously, the Oyster Wars between Virginia and Maryland. It was a thing. And it's hilarious to this out-of-stater.

The book’s author, Jamie Goodall has a PhD in history from Ohio State, her dissertation being on how the informal trade in the 17th and 18th centuries affected material culture in the Caribbean. She has taught at several universities, and is currently a staff historian at the US Army Center of Military History. You can find her floating about on several podcasts and news sites, but recently she was published with National Geographic’s bookazine! You can find her website here and order Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay on most books sites or in your local bookstore if you live in the mid-Atlantic. Or, do as I do, and follow her on twitter at @L_Historienne.

As for the book, let me share a few anecdotes I found entertaining. I won’t share too much, buy her book, dear reader. 

Captain William Kidd - of course, I want to talk about him, the pirate hunter-turned-pirate had lived in New York City, travelled to Madagascar where he turned pirate after failing to hunt enough to turn a profit, he made it back into American Colonial waters before being captured, transferred to England and hanged. In the Summer of 1699, weighed down with tons of loot, which he tried to fence in Accomack County at the mouth of the Chesapeake, Kidd was forced north. According to Lewes-lore, Captain Kidd did some quick bartering with some residents of the Whorekill… I’d love to find out if that was true, for the rumor Goodall shares is that by the time Kidd arrived in Boston, he had dispersed all his loot along the Mid-Atlantic coast. He was captured in Massachusetts and then transferred to London trial where he was subsequently hung in May of 1701.

The Oyster Wars (1865-1959) - If you have ever spent time in and around the Chesapeake you know they are passionate about oysters. Restaurants are decorated with old cans for oysters, there are likely at least 5 dishes or types of oysters on menus, antique shops have many oyster dishes - platters with impressions to cradle oyster shells, and tourist shops have a wide variety of oyster themed shirts. So, it shouldn’t really be a surprise that people have fought over them. The oyster industry in the Chesapeake during the mid-late 19th century was so lucrative and intense that Virginia and Maryland enacted laws about who could collect oysters and the methods they could use. One method in particular, dredging damaged the oyster beds leading to fewer and fewer mature oysters to harvest. This led to intense competition against poachers and over fishing. Which in turn led to... the Oyster Wars. These wars were mostly between the governments of Virginia and Maryland against poachers. Since the Chesapeake Bay is shared between the two states, citizens of one would cross state lines and illegally harvest oysters, hightailing it back across the border to safety. A favorite story Goodall recounts is that of the crew of the Dancing Molly. Her crew was ashore when Virginian ships arrived to take them prisoner, but the captain’s wife and two daughters were still aboard. These ladies were skilled sailors however, and managed to sail the ship back into Maryland waters! Lady Oyster Pirates! 

Anyway, this may be a bit self indulgent, but I love learning about new things and strange niches in history - finding out about many Pirates, Privateers, and Smugglers were active in the Chesapeake while being in the area was tons of fun. So, if you are as intrigued as I was about why people would go to war over Oysters and what famous pirates like Captain Kidd and Blackbeard did in the Chesapeake Bay, grab yourself a copy and enjoy! I suggest at the beach or with a rum drink in hand (age pending of course!).