Sam Bellamy & The Witch of Wellfleet

Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy, the Prince of Pirates, fell for a young woman from Wellfleet before leaving to seek his fortune—never knowing she was pregnant with his child.

In those days, bearing a child out of wedlock was a scandal that could ruin a woman. The townsfolk shunned her, and the law moved to jail her. Her wealthy but humiliated parents paid a handsome sum to spare her prison—on the condition she be cast out to the remote woods of Wellfleet.

There, in a small shack by the sea, she struggled to survive. One winter, while foraging for food, tragedy struck—her baby, left alone, is said to have choked on a wisp of hay. The loss broke her mind. Rage took its place, and whispers spread that she had turned to black magic.

Years passed. Then one day, she saw a black-sailed ship on the horizon—the Whydah Gally, Bellamy’s ship. At first, she thought he had returned for her. But in her bitterness, she decided he had abandoned her all those years, and now returned only for his treasure.

Standing on the shore near what is now Marconi Beach in Wellfleet, she called to the wind and waves, summoning a monstrous storm. That night in April 1717, a nor’easter shattered the Whydah just offshore, killing Bellamy and nearly all his crew.

The wreck lay hidden for over 260 years—until 1984, when Cape Cod diver Barry Clifford discovered it. In the decades since, Clifford’s team has recovered cannons, pistols, thousands of gold and silver coins, and other priceless artifacts. But much of the Whydah’s fortune is still buried beneath the shifting sands, waiting to be uncovered.

Whether by storm or by curse, Bellamy’s fate—and the witch’s wrath—remain one of Cape Cod’s most enduring legends.