Privateering, Piracy, Potato, Potahto

More about Privateering, Piracy, Potato, Potahto

My family tree has a pirate growing on it. John Underhill of Warwickshire. I tell people I have blood connections to North America, and then I remember that Indigenous people were already here when my ancestors arrived. So please forgive me for mentioning it so often. The connection comes with some rather unpleasant baggage.

In 1637, Underhill helped lead the attack on the Pequot at Mystic. English soldiers burned their village and killed hundreds of people. A few centuries later, I discover this fellow in my family tree, looking rather pleased with himself in his portrait.

Then, in 1653, Rhode Island gave him a privateering commission, and he seized a Dutch West India Company trading post on the Connecticut River.

Privateer, pirate, potato, potahto. Give a fellow a commission and suddenly robbery acquires stationery.

I don’t know whether Underhill was the first chapter in North America’s history of genocide. The continent’s Indigenous peoples had already endured enough history before he showed up. But I do know that having his blood doesn’t make me responsible for his deeds.

Ancestry is a curious thing. Sometimes the family jewels turn out to be stolen property.