highjacked Betsey at cape

HISTORY OF CAPE HENLOPEN AND BEYOND

THE BETSEY HIGHJACKED OUT OF CAPE HENLOPEN

DECEMBER 1775

Philadelphia Pennsylvania Gazette, Wednesday, December 27, 1775 :

On Tuesday, December 12, instant, the outward bound sloop called the Betsey was carried off from Cape Henlopen by it's mate and three seamen after forcing the master,

Captain Phillip Lacey ashore.

She is 4 yea rs old, built in Philadelphia, is double decked , black sides , decks payed with tar and ocre. Cargo on board, 8 hogsheads of rum, 39 barrels of flour, 2hogsheads

of sugar, 100 ponds of chocolate and 600 pounds of cheese.

Whosoever will stop the vessel and goods so that the owner, Phillip Lacey, may have them again shall have $200 reward, plus $50 for each seaman upon conviction, to be

paid by Captain Phillip Lacey.

The highjackers are, mate, George Buchanan , 5'10” , Scotsman, , long black hair tied behind, age 30 about, seamen James Herdman , age 26, Northern Ireland Irish,

James Henderson, 5'5” , native of Scotland , very thick and clumsy , a few white hairs, an English man from the north of England, and Peter McCallum, 22 , 5'5”, Scotsman.

Abstract: Pennsylvania Gazette Wednesday, December 27, 1775.