Samuel Bellamy

Captain Samuel Bellamy, born around the twenty-third of February in sixteen eighty-nine, emerged as a notable figure in the annals of piracy during the early eighteenth century. An English sailor turned pirate, he is celebrated as one of the wealthiest pirates of the Golden Age of Piracy. Despite a brief career that spanned just over a year, Bellamy and his crew were responsible for the capture of at least fifty-three ships.

Known posthumously as 'Black Sam' in Cape Cod folklore, a nickname attributed to his choice of long black hair tied back with a simple band instead of the fashionable powdered wig, Bellamy was also revered for his mercy and generosity towards those he captured. This reputation earned him the moniker 'Prince of Pirates,' as he likened himself to the legendary Robin Hood, with his crew proudly referring to themselves as 'Robin Hood's Men.'

Born in England, Bellamy began his maritime career in the British Royal Navy as a teenager. His journey took him to Cape Cod around the year seventeen fifteen, followed by a quest along the Florida coast in search of a sunken treasure fleet. Eventually, he made his way to the Bahamas, sailing under the command of Benjamin Hornigold and his second-in-command, Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach.

After Hornigold and Teach were ousted from command, Bellamy seized a captured vessel for himself, later capturing the state-of-the-art slave trade ship, the Whydah Gally, in the early spring of seventeen seventeen. Tragically, just two months later, the Whydah Gally was caught in a fierce nor'easter off the coast of Massachusetts and sank, claiming the lives of Bellamy and most of his crew. The remains of this historic ship were discovered in nineteen eighty-four, marking it as the first fully authenticated Golden Age pirate ship found in North America.