Misc data and adventures of a Tayopa treasure hunter

[Crow]

Gidday Amigos pull up pew and have few beers around the fire I av a yarn for ya.....

My favorite pirate yarn is story is the zombie pirate from hell. As legends say the pirate that would just not die...Pam keyes tells the story below better than old crow below....

Enjoy amigos.


When notorious Gulf Coast pirate William Mitchell came back from the dead in 1835, he looked like a zombie from Hell.

One-eyed, the man was covered with horrible scars, evidence of many deep and dangerous wounds he had suffered in his life.

The worst of these the grey-haired 56-year-old bore in the front of his neck, where it appeared at some time a boarding pike or bayonet had been thrust completely through. According to the Philadelphia Herald of Oct.. 30, 1837, the pirate also “had a wound in the back of his neck, a musketball in his fore shoulder, had lost the calf of his leg from a splinter, and was otherwise marked upon his arms and legs.” Mitchell obviously had led a very hard “second life” after reportedly dying in 1821 on Great Corn Island off the Mosquito Coast in the Caribbean.


Several newspapers carried reports of his death in 1821. The Watchman of Montpelier, Vt. said in its August 7, 1821 edition that Capt. Mitchell had died on the first of May, and that he was “generally known by the term Pirate Mitchell as he has been several years privateering and pirating in the Gulf of Mexico, and on the coasts of South America. He was born at Bath, in England, and was several years an officer in the Spanish [Patriot] service.”


Much of the intervening time between 1821 and 1835 Mitchell had spent in various prisons, including at Norfolk, and the last two years at Philadelphia, where he was convicted on charges claimed by his wife of bigamy and assault and battery. He said he had wanted to keep her as a “Key West wife” since his legal wife (in New York) refused to accompany him, but apparently the second wife resisted. (Nov. 4, 1837, Gloucester Telegraph, Gloucester, Mass.)


Released from prison at Philadelphia on June 23, 1837, the ever-enterprising Mitchell soon got a ship, a long black schooner called the Blooming Youth, and began to try to recoup his treasure, buried on an island in the Bahamas. He was stymied in this effort late in November 1837 when the captain of the Revenue Cutter Dexter captured him and his six man crew on suspicion of piracy. Mitchell was taken to Mobile, but soon released. He had been suspected of having attacked the packet ship Susquehanna near the New Jersey coast earlier, but there was no proof.


By 1838, he was operating off Key West, attacking Spanish shipping in the vicinity, smuggling slaves into the coastal areas. He visited Mobile frequently. The June 25, 1838 Mobile newspaper said Mitchell had died as the result of a bullet wound suffered in an escape attempt from the city jail.


“Mitchell, well known about our city as ‘The Pirate,” died this morning about 6 o’clock. Several days ago, he was imprisoned for a riot, and by some means made his escape. He was retaken yesterday and bound, but whilst on his way to the prison, he managed to unloose himself. In securing him, he made resistance, and the guard was obliged to shoot him down. He died from the wound received….He was notorious for having been engaged in several acts of piracy and it was supposed that he commanded the much dreaded ‘low, black schooner’ which overhauled the Susquehanna. At the time of his escape, he held a privateering commission in the service of Texas; and his purpose was to get on board of a boat at the wharf, and to reach a vessel lying at the Balize ready for the expedition. He had several companions leagued with him.” (July 2, 1838, Charleston Courier, S.C.)


This second “death” of Mitchell was no more true than the first, as the Charleston newspaper learned to its chagrin via the next day’s paper from Mobile that the obituary was a hoax perpetrated by one of Mitchell’s friends.


“The individual [Mitchell] whom we unceremoniously shot yesterday, is still among the living. There is no death so easy as that perpetrated by a newspaper. One has but to scribble off a few words and presto! an unhappy mortal is whisked off to eternity without having time to change his clothes for the journey. We beg ‘the Pirate’s’ pardon, and hope he may live a thousand years, and each day grow a better man.


“The best of the joke is, some of our enthusiastic phrenologists applied immediately for the head of the deceased,’ reported the Mobile newspaper. The jailer received the men with some consternation, told them to wait, and relayed their request to his prisoner, Mitchell, coming back with the answer “that Mr. Mitchell had use for his head-that he was very sorry to disappoint the gentlemen-hoped that they would not take it ill for refusing such a trifling request-but as they were the first comers, he should be happy to give them the preference, when he could conveniently dispense with the use of a head.” (July 3, 1837, Charleston Courier.)


Of course, newspapers throughout the United States reprinted the story of Mitchell’s death, but very few published the story of the fact that the second death, like the first, was a hoax.

to be continued.....

Ah time for a brew....

Crow

 

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[Crow]

Ah mateys...that was better.....We shall continue....

By Oct. 5, 1838, Mitchell was once again active around the Key West area, very much alive, but a bit more physically handicapped as during the Mobile riot he had managed to get one foot partially crushed, so he now walked with a lurching limp. You can’t keep a good pirate down.


In late 1840, Mitchell, in a Baltimore clipper, visited the port at Savannah, Ga., and said he and his crew of five men had been at the Bahamas to look for some money he had buried on what he called “Bull Key” about 20 years’ previous. However, as he had overheard the crew resolving to kill him when they had obtained possession of the money and divide it among themselves, he had refused to point out the spot, and they had finally steered for Savannah. The crew then libelled the Blooming Youth, and imprisoned the captain for not paying their wages. (Jan. 11, 1841 Augusta, Ga., reprint of a report from Savannah, Ga., dated Dec. 23, 1840)


Soon out of jail, Mitchell zealously worked to obtain assistance to make another treasure-retrieving voyage. He avowed he was never a pirate, but a privateer, and that he had been engaged in that capacity for many years, chiefly under the authority of the Brazilian flag.


The treasure he sought to reclaim was said to be worth $7.5 million, including $75,000 in Spanish coin, and the bulk of the remainder in bar gold. Mitchell said there also was a cross of pure gold, manufactured for a church in Havana, weighing 17 pounds; a diamond as large as an egg, and two watches made for the Queen of Portugal. (Ibid.)

Mitchell offered all his hidden wealth, one half to any firm in the city if they would advance money to fit him out, and ten thousand dollars to any young men who would accompany him as companions in the voyage.


According to the Savannah article of Dec. 23, 1840, Mitchell’s “endeavors were successful: a firm in good repute, of which the senior member is a communicant of the Baptist church, and the junior a quondam Methodist preacher, (I spare their names for their reputation’s sake, although the transaction is common talk here,) has chartered a fast sailing schooner, hired a captain at seven hundred dollars a month, and prevailed on a clerk of their own (a religious man) and one or two other young men, in addition, to accompany him. In the mean time, Mitchell has joined the Methodist Church, and promises it a share of the spoils_to the amount of seventy-five thousand dollars.”


Before leaving on the voyage, he met a young French girl of 20 years, a Methodist, and married her the next day. He was about 60. The Savannah newspaper writer noted that “she has probably caught the Captain Kidd infection, and fills her imagination with dreams of luxury and wealth.”

Mitchell is a tall man, with grey hair, and a very sinister and forbidding aspect. He has lost the sight of one eye, and is lame from an injury to one of his feet, in a conflict with a mob at Mobile.” (Ibid.)

to be continued... Brew my rag tag pirates?

Crow

 

[Crow]

“The chartered schooner, Magnet, sailed with seven men and Mitchell on board. Various views are entertained in relation to the enterprise. Some imagine that the old fellow is deranged, and that the whole matter will end in smoke. Others entertain serious fears that he desires to get possession of a vessel, that these men will be surprised by wretches in concealment on the key, or coasting in the vicinity, and that Savannah will never see them more. The captain goes well armed, however, for such a contingency.” (Ibid.)


The Savannah writer editorialized, “The worst aspect of the affair is the connection of church members and a church with this abandoned wretch. Admit that he be nothing worse than a privateer-yet he who takes advantage of a conflict between nations other than his own, to prey upon his fellow men, is no better-no, not a whit_than a pirate; and there is an old and true saying that ‘the partaker is as bad as the thief.’ Such circumstances afford triumphant material for those who are disposed to cavil at religious effort, and look upon professing Christians as hypocrites.”


Mitchell, the Magnet and crew returned to Savannah around Jan. 8, 1841, empty-handed, much to the consternation of the crew, and no doubt the Methodist backers as well. The captain took the Savannah to Boston, where the customs collector libelled her May 7, 1841, for forfeiture of the vessel for having been engaged in a foreign voyage while under a coasting license. (May 10, 1841 Boston Courier, United States District Court report)


“It appeared that while the vessel was lying at Savannah, the captain had been prevailed upon by Mitchell, a distinguished rover or privateer in the last war, to undertake an expedition to Cat Key, an island within the jurisdiction of a foreign power, for the purpose of digging up certain specie deposited there by Mitchell some eighteen or twenty years ago. The vessel was to receive $350 a month, and to draw a handsome proportion of the money to be exhumed.” (Ibid.)


Mitchell and the Magnet crew made several excavations and dug furiously for several days without so much as finding a single sixpence, according to the court report. Mitchell attributed the failure of the expedition to the erosion of that part of the island where he had buried the treasure. He claimed that the right spot was covered by the ocean.
The owner of the Magnet, a Mr. Lothrop of Cohasset, Mass., said the vessel had been out of his control as at the time it was under a charter party for the coasting trade, and that he neither consented nor knew of her illegal occupation. Results of the libel were not found, but the Magnet was back in business within a month after clearing Boston harbor.


As for Mitchell, he still had Methodist backers to pay back, and he seemed to have convinced them to finance yet another venture, possibly the one which failed to materialize with the Methodist Rev. Capt. Daniel De Putron, The large schooner which was reported near the Balize in mid June 1841 may have been captained by Mitchell himself. De Putron had been waiting with his small schooner to join a larger ship when he was arrested and taken to New Orleans along with his Independence ship on suspicion of piracy. Among the possessions in De Putron’s trunk were a pirate flag and a copy of the recently published “A Pirate’s Own Book,” which ironically included a story about Mitchell’s colorful background near New Orleans.


if the top-sailed schooner that sped like the “Flying Dutchman” by the Balize indeed had Mitchell at the helm, he sailed into oblivion. Nothing more was ever published about any of his exploits after 1841, and no third obituary ever appeared. His true last anchorage is unknown.


So who was Mitchell, before he came back from the dead in 1835? He had been a privateer with a Cartagena commission, and had been associated with Jean Laffite at Grande Terre and Barataria for a time. His true nature was related in his own words to an American captain, Jacob Dunham, during Dunham’s visits in 1815 and 1816 to Old Providence Island near the Mosquito Coast of present-day Nicaragua. Mitchell believed in the War to the Death against the Spanish, and boasted that he had personally killed 87 Spaniards by 1816.

In short, he was a sociopath, though he treated friends like Dunham well. During Dunham’s first visit to Old Providence to trade goods, Mitchell invited him to dine at the home of a local planter, John Taylor, whose daughter, Sarah, was Mitchell’s “wife.” The dinner featured roast pig, poultry, and all the accompaniments, with a dish of roasted plantains used for bread as was the native custom.


“The next day, I was invited to dine on board Capt. Mitchell’s vessel. The table was elegantly furnished with silver platters, plates, knives, forks, spoons, pitchers, tumblers and with the exception of the knife-blades, every article on the table was pure silver. He showed me many valuable diamonds and large quantities of old gold and silver; and the least valuable article I saw on board his vessel was the schooner’s ballast, which consisted of brass cannon,” recalled Dunham in his autobiography, Journal of Voyages, published in 1850.


Over dinner, Mitchell told him a few months earlier [in late 1815] he had captured a small trading schooner, armed her for a privateer, and appointed a Capt. Rose to the command, to go on a cruise.

Ah pirates my hearties all these old brews made old Crow leak like a bucket....Old guy thing.

To be continued....

Crow

 

[tintin_treasure]

thanks Crow,,,what a tale of twists and turns...the old privateer vs pirate issue is quite amazing... please do continue...

TT

 

[Crow]

Ah that better my fellow pirates of the campfire of yarns. We shall continue.

Cheers

"While laying here [at Old Providence] I made up my mind to sail for New York…sell my vessel and cargo…retire to private life, thinking my means would support me. One morning, while contemplating my future enjoyments when I got settled in New York, I thought it would much disturb my mind to think that old Gonzales should boast that he had frightened Mitchell, who dared not attack him. He had sent me many saucy messages by trading vessels saying I dare not come to St. Andreas (island) to annoy him, as I had the inhabitants of Old Providence, who were afraid to resist me. These reflections so affected my mind that I immediately ordered my boat manned and went on board Rose’s vessel. I told Rose we would never leave these seas until we had made an attack on St. Andreas,” said Mitchell to Dunham.

The next day, Mitchell with Rose and 46 men sailed to attack the island, some 60 miles away, and arrived shortly after 11 at night. They found the guards sleeping and killed the soldiers, then stormed the governor’s house, where they found him still asleep in bed. The governor, along with his slaves, money and plate, were taken on board ship.


Mitchell proceeded to treat the governor politely, dining with him, feeding him the best the island had, and allowing him lots of Spanish cigars. On the 10[SUP]th[/SUP] day after the governor’s capture, Mitchell said he gave the old man a good dinner, had a glass of wine with him, and then, not skipping a beat, told the governor he was going to hang him that afternoon.


“He laughed,” related Mitchell, “supposing it a joke, and that I had no intention of harming him. He was sitting in an armchair near the cabin door on deck, smoking a cigar, when I ordered one of the seamen to reave a yard-rope from the fore-yard, bring the end of it aft and put it round his neck. He was soon dragged from the chair to the fore-yard arm (of the ship).”


He told Dunham he let Gov. Gonzales hang for about an hour, then cut the rope and “let the old devil go adrift.”
Dunham said Mitchell should have spared the old man as he could never have done him much harm, to which Mitchell coldly replied, “I have served him the same as they will serve me when they catch me.”


This scary story starkly illustrated that Mitchell was a sociopathic killer with no remorse. Dunham managed to get along with him without incident, but noted that although Mitchell had some education and had the appearance of a gentleman, he could be “one of the greatest tyrants to exercise authority over (his men) that I have ever heard of.” Dunham related in his book that one time Mitchell scalded a ship cook to death with boiling water over a simple mistake, and when a crewman remarked that was a harsh thing to do, he shot the sailor dead.


As Dunham prepared to leave for the Mosquito Coast for more trading, Mitchell said he now was bound to New York to make his permanent residence, but needed to stop off at New Orleans first to smuggle some slaves via a pilot at the Balize. On his way, he would proceed along the Cuban coast to search for Spanish vessels to take as a last venture. His arrival at New Orleans after taking a prize would become his main claim to infamy as a very successful pirate who evaded the noose through New Orleans connections and legal shenanigans.


In early April, 1816 as Mitchell was approaching the Balize in his swift-saling Cometa privateer, the US Boxer under the direction of Capt. Porter captured the Cometa, arrested Mitchell, and sent a crew on board to take the ship and crew to New Orleans for adjudication. The Cometa was laden with treasure said to be worth from $50 to $60,000; one small basket contained an estimated $10,000 in jewelry. The captain’s cabin had a great quantity of beautiful china ware, and Mitchell’s wardrobe was extremely elegant, according to naval officer’s letter published in the July 10, 1816 American of Hanover, N.H,
The Cometa’s main gun was a 1648 dated “long tom” 12-pounder on a pivot, with five other guns, from 3 to 6 pounders, all brass.


Mitchell and his crew remained in prison in New Orleans until their piracy trial that June. During the trial, Mitchell freely admitted having killed the governor of St. Andreas, and avowed he was a privateer involved in the Venezuelan War to the Death against Spanish royalists. He claimed to have Carthagenian privateer papers, but the court thought those papers were forged. Nevertheless, Mitchell soon walked out of court a free man, ready to plunder again, thanks to his secret connection to the New Orleans Association. Mitchell happened to be commander of a fleet of privateers working for the New Orleans cartel headed by attorney Edward Livingston, and had garnered prize goods worth at least $100,000 for the association’s benefit. (“Privateersmen of the Gulf and Their Prizes” By Stanley Faye, Louisiana Historical Quarterly 22, 1939)


Following his piracy trial, Mitchell concerned himself with smuggling like his former partners the Laffites, but along the Lake Ponchartrain shore, rather than Barataria. In 1817, an armed force tried to take him and did shoot him in the shoulder, but he escaped. By early 1818 he was once again sailing in a small schooner around the Florida keys area, but then he decided to return to smuggling in the Barataria area, where he brought down the ire of Customs Collector Beverly Chew. In July 1818, at the Balize, Mitchell managed to steal Chew’s unguarded revenue cutter with her six brass guns, only to lose it to a US naval schooner in October of that year. Mitchell escaped again.


A year later, Mitchell and eight others in an armed boat were doing a series of attacks on small ships approaching the Balize, further nettling Chew and the revenue agents. Finally he tired of that and proceeded to Cuba, where he captured a schooner at Santiago de Cuba, and left to prowl around the Mosquito Coast before dropping out of sight in 1821 when his first death story appeared in the newspapers.


Mitchell had been a very lucky pirate and/or privateer in his time, with more lives than the proverbial cat. He made friends with the right people to avoid the noose, and always managed to elude full vengeance from his enemies. It was almost, one might say, like he had made a bargain with the Devil.

The question remains is there any treasure still there on cat Island?

So ya see for me This William Mitchell the Zombie pirate with 9 lives is very interesting. Bottoms up my rag tag pirates at arms.....

Cheers Crow

 

[tintin_treasure]

Ah that better my fellow pirates of the campfire of yarns. We shall continue.

Cheers

"While laying here [at Old Providence] I made up my mind to sail for New York…sell my vessel and cargo…retire to private life, thinking my means would support me. One morning, while contemplating my future enjoyments when I got settled in New York, I thought it would much disturb my mind to think that old Gonzales should boast that he had frightened Mitchell, who dared not attack him. He had sent me many saucy messages by trading vessels saying I dare not come to St. Andreas (island) to annoy him, as I had the inhabitants of Old Providence, who were afraid to resist me. These reflections so affected my mind that I immediately ordered my boat manned and went on board Rose’s vessel. I told Rose we would never leave these seas until we had made an attack on St. Andreas,” said Mitchell to Dunham.

The next day, Mitchell with Rose and 46 men sailed to attack the island, some 60 miles away, and arrived shortly after 11 at night. They found the guards sleeping and killed the soldiers, then stormed the governor’s house, where they found him still asleep in bed. The governor, along with his slaves, money and plate, were taken on board ship.


Mitchell proceeded to treat the governor politely, dining with him, feeding him the best the island had, and allowing him lots of Spanish cigars. On the 10[SUP]th[/SUP] day after the governor’s capture, Mitchell said he gave the old man a good dinner, had a glass of wine with him, and then, not skipping a beat, told the governor he was going to hang him that afternoon.


“He laughed,” related Mitchell, “supposing it a joke, and that I had no intention of harming him. He was sitting in an armchair near the cabin door on deck, smoking a cigar, when I ordered one of the seamen to reave a yard-rope from the fore-yard, bring the end of it aft and put it round his neck. He was soon dragged from the chair to the fore-yard arm (of the ship).”


He told Dunham he let Gov. Gonzales hang for about an hour, then cut the rope and “let the old devil go adrift.”
Dunham said Mitchell should have spared the old man as he could never have done him much harm, to which Mitchell coldly replied, “I have served him the same as they will serve me when they catch me.”


This scary story starkly illustrated that Mitchell was a sociopathic killer with no remorse. Dunham managed to get along with him without incident, but noted that although Mitchell had some education and had the appearance of a gentleman, he could be “one of the greatest tyrants to exercise authority over (his men) that I have ever heard of.” Dunham related in his book that one time Mitchell scalded a ship cook to death with boiling water over a simple mistake, and when a crewman remarked that was a harsh thing to do, he shot the sailor dead.


As Dunham prepared to leave for the Mosquito Coast for more trading, Mitchell said he now was bound to New York to make his permanent residence, but needed to stop off at New Orleans first to smuggle some slaves via a pilot at the Balize. On his way, he would proceed along the Cuban coast to search for Spanish vessels to take as a last venture. His arrival at New Orleans after taking a prize would become his main claim to infamy as a very successful pirate who evaded the noose through New Orleans connections and legal shenanigans.


In early April, 1816 as Mitchell was approaching the Balize in his swift-saling Cometa privateer, the US Boxer under the direction of Capt. Porter captured the Cometa, arrested Mitchell, and sent a crew on board to take the ship and crew to New Orleans for adjudication. The Cometa was laden with treasure said to be worth from $50 to $60,000; one small basket contained an estimated $10,000 in jewelry. The captain’s cabin had a great quantity of beautiful china ware, and Mitchell’s wardrobe was extremely elegant, according to naval officer’s letter published in the July 10, 1816 American of Hanover, N.H,
The Cometa’s main gun was a 1648 dated “long tom” 12-pounder on a pivot, with five other guns, from 3 to 6 pounders, all brass.


Mitchell and his crew remained in prison in New Orleans until their piracy trial that June. During the trial, Mitchell freely admitted having killed the governor of St. Andreas, and avowed he was a privateer involved in the Venezuelan War to the Death against Spanish royalists. He claimed to have Carthagenian privateer papers, but the court thought those papers were forged. Nevertheless, Mitchell soon walked out of court a free man, ready to plunder again, thanks to his secret connection to the New Orleans Association. Mitchell happened to be commander of a fleet of privateers working for the New Orleans cartel headed by attorney Edward Livingston, and had garnered prize goods worth at least $100,000 for the association’s benefit. (“Privateersmen of the Gulf and Their Prizes” By Stanley Faye, Louisiana Historical Quarterly 22, 1939)


Following his piracy trial, Mitchell concerned himself with smuggling like his former partners the Laffites, but along the Lake Ponchartrain shore, rather than Barataria. In 1817, an armed force tried to take him and did shoot him in the shoulder, but he escaped. By early 1818 he was once again sailing in a small schooner around the Florida keys area, but then he decided to return to smuggling in the Barataria area, where he brought down the ire of Customs Collector Beverly Chew. In July 1818, at the Balize, Mitchell managed to steal Chew’s unguarded revenue cutter with her six brass guns, only to lose it to a US naval schooner in October of that year. Mitchell escaped again.


A year later, Mitchell and eight others in an armed boat were doing a series of attacks on small ships approaching the Balize, further nettling Chew and the revenue agents. Finally he tired of that and proceeded to Cuba, where he captured a schooner at Santiago de Cuba, and left to prowl around the Mosquito Coast before dropping out of sight in 1821 when his first death story appeared in the newspapers.


Mitchell had been a very lucky pirate and/or privateer in his time, with more lives than the proverbial cat. He made friends with the right people to avoid the noose, and always managed to elude full vengeance from his enemies. It was almost, one might say, like he had made a bargain with the Devil.

The question remains is there any treasure still there on cat Island?

So ya see for me This William Mitchell the Zombie pirate with 9 lives is very interesting. Bottoms up my rag tag pirates at arms.....

Cheers Crow

thanks Crow...that was quite a tale ...amazing such pirate story happened in the 19th century... He was indeed quite a character,,,thanks for the yarn!

TT

 

[releventchair]

Thank ye Crow!
Quite the tale.
With Mitchell striking out for mischief about once a year as trend at times , wonder what 1842 brought?


Yes , that's the governor hanging above midship...

 

[releventchair]

Did Mitchell sail under Otway Burns early on as Burn's first lieutenant aboard The Snapdragon?

(Page 82 gives one reason for disliking the Spanish , a threatened lieutenant Mitchell by crew not wanting to end their partying ashore , and how Burns straightened things out , by sword. If the same Mitchell , he's obviously learning how Burns handled insubordination.)
https://books.google.com/books?id=Z...exican war william mitchell privateer&f=false

 

[Mackaydon]

Mitchell and crew go searching for his buried treasure.
Source: The True Tale of Mitchell, the Zombie Pirate | Historia Obscura

Don.....

 

[Crow]

Hats off to Pam Keyes she wrote an excellent article with references on the story of William Mitchell. But there are other documents she did not mention that give slightly different details on some of the story.

In all I think his story has been very underrated by the popularity of Kidd and Blackbeard in the American consciousness. He led just squalid complex murderous life drifting between privateer and pirate highlighting the blurred fine line between the two.

As for after 1842. Piracy was virtually wiped from the Caribbean by USA, Britain and France. The sea dogs that did not retire or die rotting in jails drifted into Brazilian slave trade in the south Atlantic in which on occasion drifted into piracy when convenient. Even so even that tragic illicit trade had been severely limited by 1850. The better organized navies of world saw the importance of word trade. Privateers would not sail again until The American Civil war. Even then most operated to their letter of Marque caring not to stray into the dark world of out right piracy.

So amigos the second golden age peak of piracy although bloody was much more brief than the first one.

As for William Mitchell our zombies pirate of death there are rumors he eventually ended up in Brazil? However no one is sure of his exact fate.

Brew any one?

Crow

 

[Crow]

Did Mitchell sail under Otway Burns early on as Burn's first lieutenant aboard The Snapdragon?

(Page 82 gives one reason for disliking the Spanish , a threatened lieutenant Mitchell by crew not wanting to end their partying ashore , and how Burns straightened things out , by sword. If the same Mitchell , he's obviously learning how Burns handled insubordination.)
https://books.google.com/books?id=Z...exican war william mitchell privateer&f=false

Gidday releventchair I have no reason doubt that brutality was the norm in that time and place. Even for average sailors lot of merchant vessels flogging by the cat was not uncommon.

Mitchell was not the only one that developed a deed hatred for Spaniards. That was a quite a few other pirates from the same time war torn individuals it that war to death.

Brew?

Crow

 

[releventchair]

Mitchell might have been so suited to nothing more than mayhem, that he couldn't/wouldn't stop.
With the writing on the wall , (Spain will hold it's own, American and other navies are waging an end to piracy ect.) he'd face either going incognito as a landlubber or something , which given his anti- genteel personality would mean iron bars or death shortly ; or staying in the trade he'd adopted.

J.Lafitte if the tale goes correctly , did get authorization from Bolivar to take Spanish ships in 1822.
Given Mitchell's prior dealings with/for the Lafitte's , he may have had a niche roll still/again if he'd sought one out with Lafitte in Gran Colombia?
Had Mitchell been keeping a quieter , unlike the prior brash profile, he may have perished with J. Lafitte.
The timing is near right. And Mitchell going unnoticed for long was not the trend.

Given Mitchell's prior role , he'd as likely been on the distribution end of Lafitte's efforts. But that would mean below boards/deck activities and not on Lafitte's ship as a crew member?.

Maybe he somehow saw the writing on the wall and "retired".
Or as likely like Lafitte , leaned too far towards the the wrong opponent at the wrong time. If not a prior crew member hazed too far....

Details are not prevalent in who was killed , or lost. Pirate ships remained targets, and Mitchell if still involved may have met his last fate doing what he'd done so long.
Could he have been under an alias and somehow unrecognized when captured or killed? Or simply dead and silent when disposed of...

[ Another action was fought on 10 July 1820 when the Captain of Louisiana captured four pirate ships off Belize. On 2 November 1822, Louisiana along with USS Peacock and the Royal Navy schooner HMS Speedwell captured five pirate vessels off Havana, Cuba.]

 

[tintin_treasure]

Hats off to Pam Keyes she wrote an excellent article with references on the story of William Mitchell. But there are other documents she did not mention that give slightly different details on some of the story.

In all I think his story has been very underrated by the popularity of Kidd and Blackbeard in the American consciousness. He led just squalid complex murderous life drifting between privateer and pirate highlighting the blurred fine line between the two.

As for after 1842. Piracy was virtually wiped from the Caribbean by USA, Britain and France. The sea dogs that did not retire or die rotting in jails drifted into Brazilian slave trade in the south Atlantic in which on occasion drifted into piracy when convenient. Even so even that tragic illicit trade had been severely limited by 1850. The better organized navies of world saw the importance of word trade. Privateers would not sail again until The American Civil war. Even then most operated to their letter of Marque caring not to stray into the dark world of out right piracy.

So amigos the second golden age peak of piracy although bloody was much more brief than the first one.

As for William Mitchell our zombies pirate of death there are rumors he eventually ended up in Brazil? However no one is sure of his exact fate.

Brew any one?

Crow

thanks Crow that was an eye opener in the piracy genre of treasure hunting...
speaking of piracy the stories of Somali pirates that used to operate in the gulf of Eden and Socotra passage have not been told fully yet though some accounts have been published...though these pirates have been striking now and then even before,,however the heyday of these pirates is believed to be between 2005-2012,,after that international security steps were taken to make the waters safe and for ships to sail accompanied and heavily protected by mercenary security companies,,even so there have been few incidents in 2017 and 2018,,,but going back to their glory days in 2005-12,,,they reaped millions from hundreds of ships ...what amazes me is that contrary to public opinion the negotiations of the hijack and hostage situation was not conducted on the ships or with the pirates on the ships ,,no ,the foot soldier pirates that boarded the ships were just pawns in the bigger game and they just reported to their boss or chief hiding in some remote outpost inside Somalia via radio that they have secured the ship and then they simply waited for further instruction...the bigger game was then played out far away as the pirate chief would then contact a broker in Mombasa Kenya (a shady character but a neutral entity who was not related or working with the pirates) to broker a deal ...the insurance company covering the actual company whose ship got hijacked would also send their own negotiators to Mombasa (it was far better for the insurance companies to go into negotiations to get the ship and cargo back.,.) ,,the insurance companies mostly outsourced this role to firms which specialize on these things ,,hence surprisingly the actual negotiators (the firms representing the insurance companies and the brokers who used to be assigned by the pirate chiefs) had no direct link to the issue ,,,the brokers got paid good commission from the pirate chiefs based on the settled amount hence thier motivation for a higher deal..I am not sure but I think they demanded some money from the negotiators representing the insurance companies as well...the brokers were in the resort city of Mombasa Kenya ..I picture high level negotiators arriving in Mombasa and going to the beach resort area to their hotels to plan their high level operation... and according to thier instruction would then meet the broker probably in some back room of a cafe just like the movies ,,after the negotiations the money used to be dropped by planes on the sea near the seized ship in convenient containers for the pirates to pick ..these were conducted by yet another kind of security companies that specialize on such things (probably were hired by the negotiating firms that in turn were hired by the insurance companies) ... then once the pirates in the sea secured the money and confirmed that to their chief, they then would be instructed to disembark from the ship and the hijack situation would come to an end...the pirate chief would get millions...the broker would get a hefty commission..the negotiators and the security company that dropped the money would get a hefty payment..the company would get its ship and cargo...and the foot soldier pirates would get paid though quite small compared to the pirate chief...the loosing guys were the insurance companies...that was the model roughly,,,at times scores of ships from different companies were seized at the same time and were under negotiations simultaneously in Mombasa with brokers and that resort beach city was crowded with different high level negotiators representing different insurance companies ... some could even be handling cases of more than one ship at the same time .,,it was reminiscent of Lisbon in the WW2 era (Portugal was neutral along with Spain) as it was teeming with spies of all sorts (spies of allied countries and Nazis) who crowded the hotels and cafes of the city...Mombasa in those years was quite a scene I imagine ....
Now the insurance companies have put a strict requirement for the ships after bleeding for quite a while...

TT

 

[Crow]

Hello TT

In the case of Somalia there was also other factors at play. Somalia was a bankrupt failed state engaged in civil war between various tribal warlords fighting amongst themselves. The fishing industry although traditional methods had their fishing grownds stripped by foreign long line trawlers with impunity. Coastal communities who lived virtually on what fish they could catch was left destitute and in famine. So it would not of been hard to see resentment of all these foreign merchants ships passing by off the coast. Thus piracy evolved from acts of desperation and frustration into organized crime that became a revenue source for Somalia war lords and even foreign jihadist fundamentalist groups.

Crow

 

[tintin_treasure]

Hello TT

In the case of Somalia there was also other factors at play. Somalia was a bankrupt failed state engaged in civil war between various tribal warlords fighting amongst themselves. The fishing industry although traditional methods had their fishing grownds stripped by foreign long line trawlers with impunity. Coastal communities who lived virtually on what fish they could catch was left destitute and in famine. So it would not of been hard to see resentment of all these foreign merchants ships passing by off the coast. Thus piracy evolved from acts of desperation and frustration into organized crime that became a revenue source for Somalia war lords and even foreign jihadist fundamentalist groups.

Crow

thanks Crow...true..added to that some say for years industrial companies of European and Asian origin used to dump industrial waste in coastal areas of Somalia as there was no government to prevent them doing so...no one heard the plights of the people living there..hence that also might have helped some local crooks to grab and exploit the moment to galvanize grievances in the form of piracy as a payback to the outside world,,,
All the same the way it was pulled off was quite an intrigue...but what amazes me is that those shady brokers in Mombasa also got away with it...
TT

 

[Crow]

Gidday releventchair

I have no doubt William Mitchell was operating from coast of Cuba at one time. There are other newspaper report Pam Keyes did not see. There is another report that he was not English but actually Irish and come from a rather well to do family. He was actually in England as student at Eton University in 1809. While out in the town in London he was press ganged into the royal navy who desperate for sailors during Napoleonic wars, later in the war of 1812 between England and America he was eventually stationed in Bermuda.

Some time 1812.He deserted service and he fled to Bahamas in which he ended up in a privateer in which became involved fighting the Spanish.

So amigo quite a character I just cannot understand why he was not as famous or infamous as other pirates. His character is interesting all the same.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Gidday TT

Sadly TT there always some one somewhere pulling the strings in this world.

Crow

 

[: Michael-Robert.]

 

[Crow]

Gidday my fellow pirates of the campfire another brew?

Here is a treasure story that you might find interesting? One of Hardlucks old favorites of the same era as William Mitchell.

It is a bizarre story of Lust, Murder, Misery, Treasure and Death. With all the ingredients of a hollywood Movie.

There is an Island off Venezuelan coast belonging to the Netherlands called Aruba. During the South American war of independence 1815-1825. Aruba and the coast was ablaze with pirate activity.

One such pirate in contemporary reports at the time went by the name Domingo Mugnoz. Mugnoz was once the parish priest of Sagraro in the City of *Quito in 1819 ( *Now the Capital of Ecuador). See the church below.



Among his parishioners was a beautiful blue eyed Blonde woman named Wanda.who confessed she was unhappily married to one Pedro de Cires whom she had met in the United States. She was having an affair with a Frenchman named Maurel, a Trader.

Mugnoz felt emotionally compelled to set this scandelous state of affairs to rights. And one night drove out the Frenchman out of his own house and returned the half naked Wanda back to her husbands house.

Weeks later Simon Bolivars Troops invaded Quito under the command of General Paez. De Cires being Spanish, his estranged wife Wanda, Father Mugnoz and a black servant known as Congo fled. De Cires rented a house on the river Guayra at Caracas. De Cires traded with the natives.

It is not known when or how, Father Mugnoz became more and more involved with Wanda till they became lovers. One night De Cires was found Murdered. Suspicion fell on Congo and Father Mugnoz and both were jailed awaiting trial. However they were released by a general Amnesty declared when General Paez captured Caracas from the Spanish.

Mugnoz now destitute and so desolate from turning his back from god he had pledged to serve. In guilt of his passion he fled with Congo and Wanda and a few followers he had amassed from his time in prison. By now Mugnoz principles and morals were serious decline.

Nothing was heard of this rebellious priest for a time who had turned away from the church and murdered in a fit of passion. Until early 1822 reports in the London times reported a strange pirate operating in the southern Caribbean. There were many pirates operating in the Caribbean at the time. But this one pirate stood out for being exceptionally cruel and wicked.

A small schooner of about 10-11 men had been capturing vessels and murdering crews by a pirate captain with a big shiny silver cross hanging off a gold chain on his neck. The Pirate Captain preached a sermon from a bible as he commanded his men to rape murder and Pillage. In the back ground was a blonde women half naked with plundered rings on all of her fingers, laughing with hysterical joy.

Time and time again reports from survivors reported this strange sight. Soon the whole southern seaboard of the Caribbean became aware of the name this strange and cruel pirate. Domingo Mugnoz the Pirate Priest.

The Jamaican Newspapers reported on the 4th of August 1822 a vessel called "The Blessing" was captured by a schooner called the "Emmanuel'. Captain Smith of the Blessing was unable to pay any ransom for his cargo and was shot and thrown to the sharks. Mugnoz tired of Captain Smith's hysterical 14 year son screaming, threw the son to sharks as well.

The rest of the Crew were cast off in the ships long boat with little food or water. They came ashore at Port Morant where they reported the pirate to the admiralty. More and more countries began to see that piracy was under mining world trade and by 1825 the world powers began hunting the pirates down.

Over the next three years Mugnoz eluded the Admiralty committing crimes between Cuba and Venezuela. But time was running out for Wanda and her Pirate Priest Lover. A crew member call Deigo Diaz was finally captured off Porto Rico by the "New York".

Deigo Diaz confessed before he was hung, that he was a follower Domingo Mugnoz the Pirate Priest. He told the Admiralty of quasi-religious rituals performed by Mugnoz in his three chapels, one on board the "Emmanuel" and one each at his bases.

Wanda who rarely wore clothes seemed to be totally sexually and mentally unbalanced in the mind, had become an object of devotion. There were ritual burning alive of prisoners by Congo the chief torturer. Presided over by Mugnez and his deranged sexual sadomasochist ritual orgies with Wanda. At the Climax of the Ceremony, Mugnoz would had her over to the crew.

By late 1825 the pirate gang had massed considerable amount of treasure from about 4 years of piracy. Mugnez and Wanda had even became too deranged for even Congo who later left them but was captured and confessed.

Corroborating Diaz's evidence, Congo to save himself even confessed the location of the two hiding places that Mugnoz used as his bases. One was a cave in the heights of Northern Cuba, the other was a cave on a mountain called " Cerrito Colorado, the Red Hill on the remote part of the Island of Aruba.

Admiral Padilla of the coastal police arrived and sent thirty men to search the mountain where Congo stated there was treasure buried. They found a cave and in that cave they found the remains of ships sails,a long chain with a manacle at its end. Further in another cave they found an altar with flowers and various religious paraphernalia.


Here is the cave where these deranged sexual sadomasochist ritual orgies took place.



The Pirate Priest and wanda was nowhere to be found. Congo till the day he was hung maintained there was buried treasure some where on "Cerrito Colorado" on Aruba. Authorities were on hunt for this Pirate Priest and his mentally deranged lover. But they never found them.

Nothing was known about the fate of them until about 1827. Rumors had drifted down from the Upper reaches of the Orinoco River in Venezuela. That a crazy white couple living with the natives running wild and naked in the forests who were totally insane. Was this the fate of Wanda and her lover the Pirate Priest Domingo Mugnoz?

Today The Pirate Priest Cave can be visited on Aruba. Walking in the cave there is a natural hole in the roof of the cave that gives the cavern an eerie beam of light. It is easy to imagine and wonder what the walls of the cave could tell you of the history if they could speak. It is a dark place that tells of the inhumanity of piracy and not the glamour of a pirate hero's we often here about.

And perhaps that is the real treasure, understanding that Evil is the source of all treasure. And perhaps that evil treasure still lies buried somewhere on Aruba?

A brew my scallywag pirates?

Cheers Crow

 

[releventchair]

Yikes!
I'll just wave on the way past Aruba...