The Cook, the Pirate and the Ship Wreck
A Quick Return To The Lizzie Carr
Nearly 123 years ago to the day, the cook of the famous schooner, Lizzie Carr, heard some scuffling on the top deck early in the morning when the crew was supposed to be asleep and rush up to see what was making all the noise.
Pirates it turns out!
If you’ll all recall, the Lizzie Carr is a famous ship-wreck right here in Rye, New Hampshire. Little Bean and I explored the wreck last year just after a big storm exposed her on the beach. You can read about that exploration here: The Wreck of the Lizzie Carr
Well, the other day, while following an entirely different rabbit hole, I tripped over a small article from the Biddeford Saco Journal dated April 28, 1902, three years before the Lizzie Carr wrecked in New Hampshire.
She was tied up at Boston wharves at the time that the cook heard the commotion. Turns out, it had been a bad month for ships along the wharves, with up to 25 being robbed in the month before.
Poking his head above the companion-way, the cook saw a strange man tying up clothing belonging to the crew. The quick thinking cook grabbed a revolver and commanded the stranger to surrender, but the pirate broke to the stern, hell-bent on jumping.
The cook fired twice, missing both times apparently, but scaring the man enough to take him seriously. He surrendered! The pirate was escorted (not too gently I gathered) to the East Boston Police Station and identified as one, James Russell of Charlestown.
The article cheekily concludes that the police believe that James Russell “knows a great deal about the thefts.”
It pleases me to find an actual story about something that took place aboard the old wreck. That makes it more than just about some ribbed planks sticking out of the sand doesn’t it? Real life happened aboard her. And it’s nice that the cook gets a call out as well!
HERE COMES THE NEW FIRE TOWER BOOK! Friends, it’s almost time! If you are reading this, then you are likely a subscriber and that means we’ll begin publishing “Where There’s Smoke: On the Trail to New Hampshire’s Fire Towers” tomorrow, Wednesday, May 30. The Introduction will post at about 10am and then chapters will run every Wednesday for the next 15-20 weeks. Little Bean and I are very excited to present our story to you and we hope you enjoy it enough to share and let us know what you think.