Tag: middle grade books (Page 3 of 4)

June 1699 – Proof of Treasure #CaptainKiddHistory

September 25, 2017 / Katie L. Carroll

Here is the next installment of #CaptainKiddHistory. These historical tidbits about Captain William Kidd are told by Billy, the main character of my upcoming middle grade adventure PIRATE ISLAND. Billy discovered and wrote down these tidbits while doing research to find Kidd’s lost treasure but before he actually looked for it on Pirate Island. Let’s give a big welcome to Billy!

June 1699 – Proof of Treasure

by Billy Bonny

Credit: Doc Seals via flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls/285538232/ Image of Gardiners Island
Billy’s comment: I’ve spent a good deal of time staring at pictures of a different island. Bet you can’t guess its name!

If you think I’m crazy for believing that Captain Kidd could have buried treasure (not pirate treasure because Kidd wasn’t a pirate—see my entry “December 1695 to September 1696 – Privateer, Not Pirate”) on a tiny island in Long Island Sound, I wouldn’t blame you…knowing you probably haven’t done the research. The proof of me not being crazy was found on Gardiners Island, a small island off the coast of East Hampton, NY, where Kidd really did bury some of his loot.

The stash included gold dust, silver bars, Spanish coins, rubies, diamonds, candlesticks, and porringers (shallows bowls with small, decorative handles). He also gave Mrs. Gardiner a gold cloth and a sack of sugar. Apparently, sugar was really valuable at the time, which is crazy when you think about how much sugar is in one can of mine and Andy’s favorite energy drink. And we buy those pretty cheap at the grocery store.

When Mr. Gardiner was ordered by the government to turn over the treasure as evidence against Kidd, one diamond somehow remained in Gardiner’s possession, which he ended up giving to his daughter. Sketchy stuff if you ask me, but nobody ever charged Mr. Gardiner with a crime.

In this time period, Kidd spent 20 days roaming the waters of Long Island Sound. If he had treasure in addition to what he buried on Gardiners Island, this would have been a great time to unload it. Just saying!

The full list of #CaptainKiddHistory posts by Billy Bonny:

January 1654? – A Legend is Born

1688 to 1689 – Mutineer and Captain

1690 to 1695 – The Archenemy and the Wife

December 1695 to September 1696 – Privateer, Not Pirate

September 1696 to October 16, 1697 – The Bucket Incident

1698 to April 1699 – A Privateer Prize and the Return of the Archenemy

June 1699 – Proof of Treasure

July 6, 1699 to May 23, 1701 – Trial and Execution

PIRATE ISLAND blurb:

A thrice cursed island, a legendary pirate treasure, and one not-so-brave boy. What could possibly go wrong?

For centuries, the whereabouts of Captain William Kidd’s lost pirate treasure has remained a mystery. When Billy’s best friend, Andy, proposes they look for it on nearby Pirate Island, Billy thinks it’s just another one of their crazy adventures. It’s usually Billy who ends up in trouble as a result, but he goes along for the ride…like always. The more he delves into the life and death of Kidd, the more he thinks the treasure is real and that it might be buried on the small island in Long Island Sound. Billy—nope, call him William—becomes obsessed with the captain of the same first name. He even believes he’s possessed by Kidd’s restless soul. Now he and the spirit of a long-dead pirate are leading the crazy adventure on Pirate Island. And what they find is far bigger than the treasure they imagined.

Now available for pre-order! Get it on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kobo, IndieBound, and many other of your favorite book sellers.

1698 to April 1699 – A Privateer Prize and the Return of the Archenemy #CaptainKiddHistory

September 11, 2017 / Katie L. Carroll

1698 to April 1699 – A Privateer Prize and the Return of the Archenemy

by Billy Bonny

Credit: Howard Pyle, via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
Billy’s comment: This is pretty close to how I imagine Kidd looked while burying treasure, not doing himself but supervising.

Whole books could be written about Captain Kidd’s life (I know—I’ve read a bunch of them!). This was a particularly busy time for him, so I’m going to be brief and hit the highlights. In January 1698, Kidd finally catches a break when his crew spots a ship called the Quedagh Merchant off the tip of India. It was an Indian ship that was flying French colors and with French papers. England was at war with France at the time, so French ships were allowed to be taken by English privateers.

Turns out the captain was an Englishman, and Kidd tried to give the ship back to him. His restless crew wasn’t interested in that, so Kidd kept the ship and its good for him and his crew. Kidd’s ship the Adventure Galley had seen better days, so he set sail on the Quedagh Merchant and renamed it the Adventure Prize (another cool name for a ship!).

In April, Kidd arrived at Madagascar and ran into his old archenemy (the real pirate!) Robert Culliford. What actually happened between these two at this point is a bit of mystery with several different accounts being told of the events. The end result was that much of Kidd’s crew left him to join Culliford, and Kidd decided to go home. Meanwhile, rumors of Kidd having turned pirate had reach England, and he was in for a heap of trouble when he got back.

Kidd stopped in the Caribbean and learned he was a wanted pirate. He ditched the Adventure Prize, sold off some of his goods, and returned to New York. But not before making a stop on Gardiner’s Island and burying some real treasure!

The full list of #CaptainKiddHistory posts by Billy Bonny:

January 1654? – A Legend is Born

1688 to 1689 – Mutineer and Captain

1690 to 1695 – The Archenemy and the Wife

December 1695 to September 1696 – Privateer, Not Pirate

September 1696 to October 16, 1697 – The Bucket Incident

1698 to April 1699 – A Privateer Prize and the Return of the Archenemy

June 1699 – Proof of Treasure

July 6, 1699 to May 23, 1701 – Trial and Execution

PIRATE ISLAND blurb:

A thrice cursed island, a legendary pirate treasure, and one not-so-brave boy. What could possibly go wrong?

Now available for pre-order! Get it on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kobo, IndieBound, and many other of your favorite book sellers.

September 1696 to October 16, 1697 – The Bucket Incident #CaptainKiddHistory

August 28, 2017 / Katie L. Carroll

September 1696 to October 16, 1697 – The Bucket Incident

by Billy Bonny

Credit: Assassin’s Creed: Memories. Creative commons license.
Billy’s comment: Yup, this image of Kidd is from a video game and it’s pretty cool!

So Kidd sets off on the Adventure Galley for Africa with a criminal crew to try and seize enemies of England and actual pirate ships. An outbreak of cholera (a really nasty disease you can get from drinking bad water) further sabotages the mission. Kidd’s rich lord backers won’t be satisfied with failure and the remaining crew is getting restless when things turn deadly.

On October 16, 1697, a Dutch ship approached the Adventure Galley. The crew urged Kidd to give the go-ahead to attack. In particular a gunner named William Moore (good first name!) challenged Kidd to let them attack. In a heated argument, Kidd ended throwing a bucket at Moore and hitting him in the head. Moore’s skull was fractured and he died the next day.

I’m not justifying killing a man, but I’m betting Kidd was afraid of outright mutiny, so trying to keep his crew from attacking a ship they had no right to attack was not out of line. Maybe he shouldn’t have thrown a bucket, but I don’t think Kidd intended to kill anyone. In addition to charges of piracy, Kidd would later be charged and convicted of murder, even though he would never know of the murder charge until his actual trail started.

And as if the proof against Kidd being a pirate isn’t already mounting up enough, think about the fact that he kept his crew from looting the Dutch ship…not something a pirate—who would attack any ship—would do but something a privateer would certainly do.

The full list of #CaptainKiddHistory posts by Billy Bonny:

January 1654? – A Legend is Born

1688 to 1689 – Mutineer and Captain

1690 to 1695 – The Archenemy and the Wife

December 1695 to September 1696 – Privateer, Not Pirate

September 1696 to October 16, 1697 – The Bucket Incident

1698 to April 1699 – A Privateer Prize and the Return of the Archenemy

June 1699 – Proof of Treasure

July 6, 1699 to May 23, 1701 – Trial and Execution

PIRATE ISLAND blurb:

A thrice cursed island, a legendary pirate treasure, and one not-so-brave boy. What could possibly go wrong?

Now available for pre-order! Get it on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kobo, IndieBound, and many other of your favorite book sellers.

December 1695 to September 1696 – Privateer, Not Pirate #CaptainKiddHistory

August 14, 2017 / Katie L. Carroll

December 1695 to September 1696 – Privateer, Not Pirate

by Billy Bonny

Credit: Willem van de Velde the Younger, via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
Billy’s comment: This ship is actually the Charles Galley, but it was a very similar ship to Kidd’s Adventure Galley.

It was in December 1695 that Lord Bellomont, a colonial governor, hired Kidd as a privateer to try and solve the growing problem of piracy. As I mentioned in the entry “1688 to 1689 – Mutineer and Captain,” a privateer is a sort of legal pirate who is hired by a government to attack ships they are at war with and actual pirate ships. This was all financially backed by important English lords. The letter of marque, which is the official document marking Kidd as a privateer, was signed by the King of England himself! (This document was mysteriously missing during Kidd’s later trial and only turned up many years later…only more reason to believe he was wrongly convicted of being a pirate.)

Kidd’s brand-new ship was the Adventure Galley (a pretty awesome name for a ship if you ask me). A string of bad luck would start for Kidd on his way back to New York City after picking up his ship. He failed to salute a Navy vessel, a shot was fired by the Navy, and Kidd’s crew offered up a rude gesture in return. The Navy captain took most of Kidd’s crew immediately into service, leaving Kidd’s crew seriously understaffed. Back in New York, Kidd had to pick a bunch of criminals and unsavory characters to begin his journey to Africa as a privateer.

The full list of #CaptainKiddHistory posts by Billy Bonny:

January 1654? – A Legend is Born

1688 to 1689 – Mutineer and Captain

1690 to 1695 – The Archenemy and the Wife

December 1695 to September 1696 – Privateer, Not Pirate

September 1696 to October 16, 1697 – The Bucket Incident

1698 to April 1699 – A Privateer Prize and the Return of the Archenemy

June 1699 – Proof of Treasure

July 6, 1699 to May 23, 1701 – Trial and Execution

PIRATE ISLAND blurb:

A thrice cursed island, a legendary pirate treasure, and one not-so-brave boy. What could possibly go wrong?

Now available for pre-order! Get it on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kobo, IndieBound, and many other of your favorite book sellers.

1690 to 1695 – The Archenemy and the Wife #CaptainKiddHistory

July 28, 2017 / Katie L. Carroll

Here is the third installment of #CaptainKiddHistory. These historical tidbits about Captain William Kidd are told by Billy, the main character of my upcoming middle grade adventure PIRATE ISLAND. Billy discovered and wrote down these tidbits while doing research to find Kidd’s lost treasure but before he actually looked for it on Pirate Island. Let’s give a big welcome to Billy!

1690 to 1695 – The Archenemy and the Wife

by Billy Bonny

Credit: Captain Kidd in New York Harbor, ca. 1920 painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris. Public Domain.
Billy’s comment: Kidd looks a little too much like Captain Hook here!

If you want to know who was a real, cutthroat pirate, just look up Robert Culliford. He happened to be one of the English members of the crew who mutinied against the French captain and then became a crew member of the Blessed William (see my last entry Mutineer and Captain). Later while sailing in the West Indies, Culliford mutinied against Kidd and stole the ship and all the loot Kidd and the crew had earned in the war. Throughout his life, Culliford never even bothered to pretend to be a privateer but was a pirate through and through. More on that scallywag later, though!

Meanwhile, Kidd had earned a name as a successful privateer and headed to New York City. There he met Sarah Bradley Cox Oort, a woman of many names because even though she was only in her early twenties, she already had two widows. She was rich, too, thanks to her first dead husband. Her second husband suffered a mysterious death and shortly after, she married Kidd. Some historians pointed out the suspicious timing and think Kidd was involved in the death, but there’s no evidence to support that. One theme of Kidd’s life (and death) seems to be taking the fall for things he may or may not have done.

The full list of #CaptainKiddHistory posts by Billy Bonny:

January 1654? – A Legend is Born

1688 to 1689 – Mutineer and Captain

1690 to 1695 – The Archenemy and the Wife

December 1695 to September 1696 – Privateer, Not Pirate

September 1696 to October 16, 1697 – The Bucket Incident

1698 to April 1699 – A Privateer Prize and the Return of the Archenemy

June 1699 – Proof of Treasure

July 6, 1699 to May 23, 1701 – Trial and Execution

PIRATE ISLAND blurb:

A thrice cursed island, a legendary pirate treasure, and one not-so-brave boy. What could possibly go wrong?

Now available for pre-order! Get it on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kobo, IndieBound, and many other of your favorite book sellers.