Samuel Bellamy - Richest Pirate In History

The name Black Sam Bellamy is well-known among all the pirates that still exist out there but yet he himself is not reputable for being a captain that is ruthless and vicious at the same time. In contrast, he is one of the noblest and very fair even towards his prisoners as well as being generous to all his crews.

The name Samuel Bellamy comes from his black shiny hair and he is unlike other pirates who love to wear wigs on the head. Despite being generous, this has not stopped pirates from their typical activity which is robbing other ships in the sea. From the year 1716 until 1717, he and his crews managed to accumulate a wealth of $140 million.

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But all of it was lost including their lives as their ship sunk into the ocean right close to the Massachusetts beach. Even though Sam Bellamy did not wish to become a pirate when he was young, it has been written in history as he is the most well-known and richest pirate in history.

To this day, the archeologist is still searching in the abyss for all the gold, silver, and jewelry that were once owned by the great Black Sam Bellamy.

How Samuel Bellamy Became A Pirate

He was born in 1689 in western England and it all started when he works in the ocean when he was young. His mother passed away when he was little and his life is full of hardship and despair. In 1702, Samuel Bellamy started working on a small ship providing his service to other ships abroad

When he was only 17, he became a very professional sailor and it was in 1714 or 1715 that he managed to set foot on American soil. According to the local history, he stayed in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and had a relationship with a very beautiful woman named Maria Hallett.

The family of his girlfriend however did not accept him to be a part of their family since Samuel Bellamy is a very poor sailor at the time. But this did not stop him from getting more wealth and he took a slightly different route toward it.

Because he failed to search for the treasure from the Spanish sunken ship in the West Indies, Samuel Bellamy decided to leave his life and venture into the harsh world of pirates.

At first, Bellamy joined a captain crew of the great Benjamin Hornigold who was sailing the Mary Anne ship. Here he managed to get the chance to meet some of Hornigold's friends including Edward Teach. He then builds his reputation towards becoming one of the greatest one-eyed pirates known as Blackbeard.

While Bellamy was cruising in the Mary Anne ship it was at this moment that he changed from being a normal class sailor towards officially becoming a pirate. The ship's crew have voiced out their opinion on Hornigold's decision to stop firing at English ships.

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Samuel Bellamy was the one who made a stance and gave a choice to the crew of whether to return in debt or raise the black flag and become a pirate. It was at that time that all the crew members came to the decision of appointing Bellamy as the captain of the ship while waving their pirate flag.

Robin Hood In The Sea

As the head captain, Samuel Bellamy decided to make a change to the pirate's attire and it is slightly different from what most of them used to wear. He was wearing a long coat, knee pants, silk stockings, and also a boot. The Black Sam Bellamy also never wore a wig on his head unlike other captains back then.

Instead, he was known for having long black hair while being tied back with a satin bow. He was not only strong but also very diplomatic. He treated everyone equally and fairly including his black crew who previously were treated like slaves. In return, his crews were very loyal to him.

They decided to call captain Robin Hood since Bellamy will always share all the stolen treasures with the crews. The whole crew members have collected immense wealth by the end of February 1717 when they managed to seize the Whydah ship that was used to transport the slaves.

After selling the human cargo to Jamaica, their ship was reported to be sent home and stored more than 4 and a half tons of gold and silver. For the period of roughly 1 year, Samuel Bellamy and his crews have sailed across the Caribbean and Atlantic ocean.

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In this period, they managed to capture more than 50 ships and plunder treasures worth $140 million making him and his crews the richest pirate to ever exist in history.

The Tragedy of The Death of Samuel Bellamy

But things did not turn out well for Samuel Bellamy as in April 1717, he decided to return to Cape Cod. He believed that he can prove himself to his girlfriend's family that he is now very rich.

Unfortunately, his ambition did not become a reality as his ship sailing to Cape Cod was caught in a devastating storm that hit the Massachusetts beach. It was on 26 April 1717, the strong Whydah ship finally sunk into the ocean taking together Samuel Bellamy, his crews, and all his treasures.

Everyone except 2 men managed to survive the incident and for many years the shipwreck was still left untouched by the tidal waves. It was later in 1984 an explorer named Barry Clifford discovered the Whydah shipwreck at Wellfleet beach, Massachusetts.

To this day, this discovery was the only pirate shipwreck to ever be found from the golden era of pirates one time ago.

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