Captain “Black Sam” Bellamy

Last February, we posted about human bone fragments found near the wreck of the pirate ship Whydah Gally on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  The bones were located close to where a pistol, which possibly belonged to the ship’ captain, “Black Sam” Bellamy, had been recovered.  Forensic scientists from the University of New Haven in Connecticut compared the DNA from the bones to a DNA sample given by one of Bellamy’s living descendants in the United Kingdom. The question was “were these the bones of Black Sam Bellamy?” 

The answer is apparently, “No.” WBUR reports that the Whydah Pirate Museum in Yarmouth announced on Thursday that DNA testing determined the bone was from a male with general ties to the Eastern Mediterranean area but was not Bellamy. 

As we noted last February, Samuel, “Black Sam”, Bellamy had one of the shorter careers as a pirate, lasting roughly one year.  Nevertheless, in that time he and his crew captured at least 53 ships, valued at $137 million in 2017 dollars – making him one of the wealthiest pirate in recorded history.

Black Sam wasn’t able to enjoy his ill-gotten games, however. Bellamy’s ship the Whydah was caught in a violent nor’easter storm off Cape Cod at midnight, on April 26, 1717, and was driven onto the shoals near what is now Wellfleet, Massachusetts. All but two of the 145 men aboard were drowned, including Sam Bellamy. Bellamy was 28.

When the Whydah Gally sank, it was said that she was carrying from four and a half to five tons of silver, gold, gold dust, and jewelry.  Of those aboard, 102 bodies were recovered and subsequently buried. There is no record that Bellamy was among the bodies recovered.

The wreck of the Whydah was discovered in 1984 and was the first pirate ship to be discovered on the American coast.