Abraham Samuel

Abraham Samuel, also known as "Tolinar Rex," born in Martinique (or possibly in Anosy, Madagascar), was a mulatto pirate of the Indian Ocean in the days of the Pirate Round in the late-1690s. Being shipwrecked on his way back to New York, he briefly led a combined pirate-Antanosy kingdom from Fort Dauphin (see Tolanaro), Madagascar, from 1697 until he died there in 1705.

Life

Samuel had been born and raised in Martinique. In 1696 he arrived in the Arabian Sea, serving as quartermaster aboard the pirate ship John and Rebecca. Decimated by illness, they sailed down the eastern coast of Madagascar, seeking slaves to bring back to the New World with them. In October, 1697, while at anchor in the Fort Dauphin harbor, a storm came up which resulted in their anchor ropes being severed and their ship beached. They took refuge in the abandoned fort while they waited for another ship to come rescue them. However, the elderly princess of the Antanosy king felt Samuel was her son, who her French husband had taken with him when he left Fort Dauphin in 1674. And before long, with 20 heavily armed fellow pirates who served as his bodyguard along with 300 Antanosy soldiers, Samuel was proclaimed king of the region surrounding Fort Dauphin, taking the title of "King of Port Dolfphin, Tollannare, Farrawe, Fanquestt, Fownzahira in Madagascar" (p. 413). This was most likely the old heartland of the ZafiRaminia kingdom. He had 15 large outrigger canoes and was constantly at war with the Antanosy king Diamarang Diamera.[1]

One of the incidents during Samuel's brief rule of the Fort Dauphin area was the following. In 1698, early in the career of John Cruger (the elder), the Mayor of New York from 1739 till his death in 1744), while he was "a mere youth" he was appointed as Supercargo under Captain (see Captain (nautical)) Appel of the Prophet Daniel, to buy slaves for what was by then a regular "slaver" (slave ship) out of New York. It was bound for Madagascar on what would be its last voyage. Of that fateful trip, during which Cruger met and very unsuccessfully sought to do business with Abraham Samuel in Fort Dauphin, he wrote:

New York, Friday, 15th July, 1698, we weighed anchor bound for the island of Don Mascowrena; 3d October, found ourselves under the ... St. Thomas Island, went in to water and clean the ship ; ... 7th October, sailed from St. Thomas; 20th February, 1699, Captain and Master judged themselves to leeward of the island Don Mascowrena; Sunday, 13th July, we arrived at Mattatana, (whither we had been compelled to turn our course,) and I went on shore to trade for negroes, but the harbor proving bad we were forced to remove from that place — I having purchased 50 slaves at St. Mattatana; 24th August, arrived at Fort Dolphin; 27th do.
I acquainted Mr. Abraham Samuel, the king of that place, of my arrival, and came with him to a trade; 12th September, I went with Mr. Samuel twenty-five miles up in the country, and on the 14th in the morning, I got the miserable news that our ship was taken by a vessel that came into the harbour the night before. Whereupon I made all the haste down I could, when we got some of the subjects of Mr. Samuel to assist, us, and we fired upon said pirate for two days, but could do no good. Then I hired two men to swim off in the night to cut their cables, but Mr. Samuel charged them not to meddle with them, (as I was informed, said Samuel having got a letter from on board the said pirates, in which I suppose they made great promises, so that he forbid us upon our lives not to meddle with any of said pirates).
When said ship came in at an anchor they desired our boat to give them a cast on shore, they having lost their boats, and pretended to be a merchant ship, and had about 50 negroes on board. At night, said Captain of said ship desired that our boat might give him a cast on board of his ship, which was done, and coming on board he desired the men to drink with him, and when said men were going on board of our ship again they stopped them by violence, and at about 9 at night, they manned the boat and took our ship, and presently carried away all the money that was on board, rigging, and other things that they had occasion for, and then gave the ship and negroes, and other things that were on board to said Mr. Samuel. The Captain's name of the pirate was Evan Jones... [and crew] from Westchester, New York, and others.
Mr. Abraham Samuel took likewise away from me 22 casks of powder and 49 small arms, likewise all the sails belonging to the Prophet which were on shore, and then sold the ship again to Isaac Ruff, Thomas Welles, Edmd. Conklin and Edward Woodman, as it was reported, for 1,400 pieces of eight. The purchasers designed to go from Fort Dolphin to the island of Don Mascowrena, and thence to Mattatana, upon Madagascar, and so for America. Captain Henry Appel ... [and two others] went along with them;
[S]ome days after there arrived at Fort Dolphin a small pinke, called the Vine, Thomas Warrent, master, from London, which took in slaves from said place, and bound for Barbadoes, in which I took my passage, and was forced to pay for the same 66 pieces of eight and two slaves.
" Saturday, 18th November, 1699, I departed from Fort Dolphin with four of the people more that belonged to the ship Prophet Daniel, in the aforesaid pinke Vine, for Barbadoes, leaving on shore, of the ship's company, only a mulatto boy, called Gabriel; ... 24th March,arrived at Barbadoes; 17th April, 1700 departed from Barbadoes in the pinke Blossom, Robert Darkins, commander, bound for New York ; llth May, 1700,1 arrived at New York, and because I may not be censured an ill man, and that it may be thought that I have saved any thing that belongs to the owners of said ship, I do declare that I have not, directly nor indirectly, saved any thing that belongs to them, nor wronged them of the value of a farthing, but contrary, I have done all possible to serve their interest that I could.
"JOHN CRUGER."[2]

According to Butel et al. (2000), at this point in time New York shipped provisions including gunpowder and guns to Madagascar, which were then traded for slaves, who were primarily prisoners of war, which were then shipped back to New York (one of the reasons for gathering slaves in Madagascar was because at one point it cost only 10 shillings worth of goods to buy one there while it was costing three to four pounds sterling to purchase one in West Africa).[3] These authors also note that Cruger had so antagonized the crew on the front end of the journey, including one New Yorker of African origins, that by the time they reached Sao Tome, the Captain indicated they would mutiny if not paid at least some of their wages. As noted above, Cruger sold some of the ship's rigging to pay for this.

For more information on Abraham Samuel, see[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

References

  1. Bialuschewski, A. (2005). Pirates, slavers, and the Indigenous population in Madagascar, c. 1690-1715. The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 38(3), 401-425.
  2. Wilson, James G. (1892). The memorial history of the City of New York, Vol. 2: From its first settlement to the year 1892, (pp. 284-288). New York History Co.
  3. Bialuschewski, A. (2005). Pirates, slavers, and the Indigenous population in Madagascar, c. 1690-1715. The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 38(3), 401-425.
  4. Zacks, Richard. (2002). The pirate hunter: The true story of Captain Kidd. New York: Hyperion.
  5. Tynnin. (2004) Pirate Madagascar.
  6. [Molet-Sauvaget, A. (1997). Un européen, roi 'légitime' de Fort-Dauphin au XVIIIe Siècle: Le pirate Abraham Samuel. Etudes Océan Indien, 23/24, 211-221.]
  7. van de Boogaerde, Pierre. (2009). Shipwrecks of Madagascar. New York: Eloquent.
  8. The strange history of El Profeta Daniel: A cautionary tale not heeded. In Butel, Paul et al. (2000). Négoce, ports et océans, XVIe-XXe siècles: Mélanges offerts à Paul Butel. Presses Univ de Bordeaux.
  9. [Bialuschewski, Arne. (2005). Pirates, slavers, and the indigenous population in Madagascar, c. 1690-1715. The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 383, 401-425.]
  10. Madagascar: or, Robert Drury's journal during fifteen years' captivity on that island. And a further description of Madagascar by the Abbé Alexis Rochon. Vol. 2 of Adventure series, by Defoe, D., Drury, R., Oliver, S. P. & Rochon, A. T. (1890), Fisher Unwin.

External links

Timeline

- Drury indicated "Deaan Tuley-Noro, king of Antenosa" [Antanosy], had marched into "Anterndroea" (Androy), demanding satisfaction from the Antandroy king for the murder of several white men. Drury also indicated quite a few sailors he knew at that time had been freely living in "Port Dauphine" for 2.5 years, waiting for a ship to stop by which they could leave on (p. 94).

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