Pirate Heist Linked To Long Island

A retired corrections officer from Rhode Island believes he has solved a centuries old mystery about the disappearance of English pirate Captain Henry Every. James Bailey argues that new evidence links Thomas Jones, the man behind the name of New York's most visited state park, to the 1695 raid on the Ganj-i-Sawai. Bailey says Jones acted as a getaway driver for the crew that looted a royal Indian ship in the Red Sea.

The 1695 attack resulted in the theft of tens of millions of dollars' worth of gold and silver. Contemporary accounts describe the crew as violent, noting that they tortured, killed, and raped the ship's crew. The brutality sparked global outrage and triggered what historians consider the first worldwide manhunt. While some pirates were caught and executed, Every and many of his men vanished without a trace.

Bailey, who made news five years ago after finding ancient coins linked to Every, spent the last several years analyzing colonial era documents. He claims depositions from Every's associates show that Jones was recruited to help the pirates evade authorities. Jones used his position to move the stolen wealth, helping the group scatter to Europe and the American colonies to avoid capture.

Thomas Jones was born in Ireland around 1665 and served as a major in the English military before moving to the colonies. He initially settled in Rhode Island but later moved to New York, where he became a prominent businessman. By the time of his death in 1713, he owned thousands of acres of land on Long Island. He established a whaling operation on the barrier beach that now bears his name.

Local historians have long noted the oddity of Jones' sudden rise to wealth. John Hanc, author of "Jones Beach: An Illustrated History," says Bailey's research clarifies a part of Jones' past that was previously vague. Rumors of Jones' pirate ties persisted long after his death. His mansion was reported to be haunted, and his grave was repeatedly desecrated by robbers searching for buried treasure before it was moved to a family plot behind a church.

A 1906 family history by descendant Thomas Floyd-Jones dismissed these stories as slander and improbable fictions. Floyd-Jones wrote that people cast slurs on Jones' memory out of malice or mischief. He noted that ignorance and superstition magnified these myths for over a century after Jones died.

Meagan Schulman, a doctoral candidate at Fordham University who specializes in 17th century piracy, notes that Jones likely started as a privateer. Privateers were authorized by the crown to rival ships during wartime. When conflicts ended, those who continued raiding were branded pirates. Schulman, who grew up visiting Jones Beach, says Jones probably did not see himself as a pirate, even if the label fits.

Documents show that after helping Every escape, Jones returned to Rhode Island. In 1696, his father-in-law, Thomas Townsend, gifted him a large tract of land on Long Island's south shore. Bailey posits this gift allowed Jones to start fresh while authorities searched New England for Every. Three years after the heist, New York governor Richard Coote investigated Jones. Coote wrote in 1698 that a barrel of money traveled to Jones' house, but Jones testified he knew nothing about it. Coote described Jones as formerly a pirate.

Richard Blakemore, a maritime history professor at the University of Reading, says Bailey's findings are compelling but not conclusive because Thomas Jones is a common name. Kevin McDonald, a history professor at Loyola Marymount University, says the evidence shows piracy provided foundational wealth for many Northeast families. McDonald notes that popular images of pirates as outcasts contradict the economic reality of colonial America.