Fitch Bits: The Six Sailor Hangin'

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DID YOU KNOW that six pirates were all hanged, on the same day in Boston, back in 1717?

The whole thing revolves around the Whydah. That was the pirate ship captained by a feller named Black Bellamy. He and his crew of around 110 were transporting a stolen cargo of 20,000 LBS of gold which is, you know, a lot.

Anyway, legend has it that Black B. had it bad for a woman named Maria Hallett of Cape Cod. He was supposedly stopping by to get his doubloons polished when a fierce storm rose up and sank the ship, along with its gold and crew. Black Bellamy, along with over 100 of his pirates were swept into the ocean and drowned.

How do we know that? Well because the bodies washed up on the shores of Cape Cod, of course! The bodies were found by the old-timey residents, along with seven survivors. These survivors were arrested and sent to Boston for trial

Things never really got any better for them from there. Only one of them was found innocent and released. The other six were sentenced to hang from the old hangin' tree on Boston Common!

It wasn't all bad, though. The six pirates were treated to a few rounds of comforting from none other than Cotton Mather! In fact, he walked with the condemned men from Boston Gaol to the Great Elm and talked the entire way!

I wonder if he told them about his witch problem from a few years back.

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