John Rhoades was a
fur trader
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
from
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, who was part of
Jurriaen Aernoutsz
Jurriaen Aernoutsz (or Aernouts) was a Dutch colonial navy captain, who briefly conquered the capital of Acadia, Fort Pentagouet in Penobscot Bay (present day Castine, Maine) and several other villages, and renamed the colony New Holland during t ...
's short-lived
conquest of Acadia in 1674.
A resident of
, Rhoades met with Aernoutsz shortly after the latter's arrival in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, and used his familiarity with the region to convince Aernoutsz to attack Acadia. He took the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
oath of allegiance, and served as the navigator and pilot on Aernoutsz's expedition.
On August 10, 1674, Aernoutsz, Rhoades and the crew of the Flying Horse captured
Fort Pentagouet
Fort Pentagouët (Fort Pentagoet, Fort Castine, Fort Penobscot, Fort Saint-Pierre) was a French fort established in present-day Castine, Maine, which was the capital of Acadia (1670–1674). It is the oldest permanent settlement in New England.
I ...
in two hours. They then sailed up the
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is the hi ...
, pillaging several
French posts along the coast and ending at
Fort Jemseg
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, which they also captured. Aernoutsz claimed Acadia as the Dutch territory of
New Holland, burying bottles at both Pentagouet and Jemseg to assert his claim, and remained in Acadia for about a month. He then left Rhoades in charge of New Holland while he returned to
Curaçao
Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
in search of settlers.
However, Rhoades,
Peter Roderigo, and
Cornelius Andreson began seizing New England vessels coming to trade with the
Wabanaki Confederacy
The Wabanaki Confederacy (''Wabenaki, Wobanaki'', translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner") is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of four principal Eastern Algonquian nations: the Miꞌkmaq, Maliseet ( ...
.
[Dow, The Pirates of the New England Coast, 1630-1730, page 44-45] As a result, the government of
apprehended the party and tried them as
pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
s, during which time the French regained control of the territory without any military opposition. Rhoades was condemned to death, but he was eventually released on condition that he leave Massachusetts. He was later granted a trading license by the
Dutch West India Company
The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ( ...
during
Cornelius Van Steenwyk
Cornelius Steenwyck
Long Island Wills and Death Notes, 1708-1728.
's brief attempt to regain control of
Acadia
Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and early ...
in 1676, but was again arrested for trespassing on the territory of
James, Duke of York
James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
. He was taken back to New York City, but was released after a brief imprisonment.
References
*
*
Governors of Acadia
People of colonial Massachusetts
American fur traders
Year of death unknown
Year of birth unknown
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