{"id":3159,"date":"2026-08-01T19:42:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T19:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pettitresearch.com\/familyhistory\/?p=3159"},"modified":"2026-08-02T03:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T03:12:19","slug":"capt-william-pettit-a-1690s-carolina-mariner-and-his-ties-to-infamous-pirates-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pettitresearch.com\/familyhistory\/2026\/08\/01\/capt-william-pettit-a-1690s-carolina-mariner-and-his-ties-to-infamous-pirates-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Capt William Pettit: A 1690s Carolina Mariner and His Ties to Infamous Pirates Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part I<\/a><\/h4>\n

Click here to read Part I and the story of the Red Sea raid.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Carolina Merchant<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At the same time Captain William Pettit\u2019s ship was determined to be a total loss and his crew was suing him for their wages, the pirate ship was condemned as a wreck and brought into the harbor by order of the Court.\u00a0 He may have been part of a scheme of sorts involving the Public Treasurer, and merchant Jonathan Amory, as well as pirate Captain George Raynor.<\/p>\n

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JOURNAL OF THE Grand Council OF SOUTH CAROLINA April 11, 1692-. September 26,1692 Edited by A. S. SALLEY, JR.<\/p><\/div>\n

On August 22, Captain William Pettit was deemed to be the proud owner of the pirate ship, now called the Carolina Merchant<\/em>. \u00a0The record reveals that a bill of sale or conveyance was given to Pettit by the Court of Admiralty after it was condemned as a wreck.\u00a0 The order to condemn the ship undoubtedly involved the Public Treasurer, Jonathan Amory.\u00a0 Amory was not just the treasurer.\u00a0 He was also the Advocate-General (the chief maritime lawyer) for the Court.\u00a0 He would benefit from Pettit\u2019s acquisition in short order.\u00a0 With the ship being sold by the Court instead of directly by Raynor, it was effectively legally \u201claundered.\u201d \u00a0To establish a clear title for the stolen pirate ship and wash it of any piracy suspicions, four pirates testified about its origin for Captain William Pettit.<\/p>\n

Henry Perry, Thomas Pinkney, Edmond Medlicut, and Captain George Reynor gave depositions in which they stated the ship was originally a French prize taken lawfully in 1690 while they were English privateers.\u00a0 They mentioned that it was brought back to Port Royal and sold to John Bell & Co.\u00a0 Of course, they neglected to mention the mutiny and the excursion into the Red Sea, and nobody bothered to ask.<\/p>\n

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JOURNAL OF THE Grand Council OF SOUTH CAROLINA April 11, 1692-. September 26, 1692 Edited by A. S. SALLEY, JR. (Note the reference to the lost records in Jamaica.)<\/p><\/div>\n

A month later, William Pettit sold the Carolina Merchant<\/em> to Public Treasurer and Advocate-General, Jonathan Amory.\u00a0 Pettit may have saw an opportunity to \u201cflip\u201d the ship or Amory may have intended to acquire the ship all along.\u00a0 In either case, William Pettit functioned as a middleman which allowed Amory to avoid the negative perception of a conflict of interest.\u00a0 The Public Treasurer being involved in the condemning of a ship and then buying the ship directly himself for pennies on the dollar, would probably have raised some alarm.<\/p>\n

The ship that began its life as a French frigate known as La Constance<\/em>, was taken by English privateers and renamed the Loyal Jamaica<\/em>. \u00a0A mutiny resulted in a new name, Bachelor\u2019s Delight,<\/em> and a new mission as a pirate ship.\u00a0 Finally, it was repurposed and renamed the Carolina Merchant<\/em> where it was briefly owned by Captain William Pettit before being sold to Jonathan Amory on September 29, 1692.\u00a0 Seven years later, in October\/November of 1699 Amory and his wife died of yellow fever.\u00a0 There is no mention of any ships in their wills, and the history of the Carolina Merchant<\/em> after it was sold to Amory is not known.<\/p>\n

After the Court heard the pirates\u2019 testimony, the men were accepted into society and became part of the ruling class.\u00a0 Captain Raynor used a portion of his fortune to purchase thousands of acres of land including a tract on Stono Island adjacent to William Pettit.\u00a0 In 1698 he was elected to the Assembly of Freeholders (Commons House of Assembly).<\/p>\n

The pirate Thomas Pinckney multiplied his pirate fortune, and his progeny were some of the most prominent and prosperous figures in South Carolina for decades to come.\u00a0 This pirate\u2019s grandson was one of signers of the Declaration of Independence.\u00a0 Two of Pinckney descendants served as governors of South Carolina, one of which served four terms.\u00a0 The Pinckney name was even used as a given name in many unrelated families whose parents revered the Pinckney dynasty.\u00a0 Several Pettit\u2019s from South Carolina were given the Pinckney forename.<\/p>\n

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Captain William Pettit<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Having given the back story regarding Pettit\u2019s connection to the infamous Red Sea pirates, an overview of the life of Captain William Pettit is now in order.\u00a0 The events involving him can best be followed when laid out chronologically.<\/p>\n

The date or place of the birth of William Pettit has yet to be discovered.\u00a0 His first entry in the timeline is actually based on a later record. We can infer from the 8-month wages settlement that occurred in May of 1692, that in September 1691, William Pettit was a captain of a ship known as the Treple Crowne<\/em>.\u00a0 Captain Pettit\u2019s crew consisted of at least the following men:<\/p>\n