Charles Gibbs
| Charles Gibbs | |
|---|---|
| Born |
James D. Jeffers November 5, 1798 Newport, Rhode Island |
| Died | April 25, 1831 (aged 32) Ellis Island |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Pirate |
Charles Gibbs (November 5, 1798 – April 25, 1831) was the pseudonym of an American pirate, born James D. Jeffers. Jeffers was one of the last active pirates in the Caribbean during the early 19th century, and was among the last persons to be executed for piracy by the United States.
His career, like many others during this time, was marked by violence and brutality. Shortly before his execution, Jeffers admitted to have been involved in the killing of as many as 400 victims. His confessions during his imprisonment and trial, detailing his career, were recorded and published following his death and remained popular reading throughout the mid-19th century. However, given the sensationalistic nature of these accounts, historians have questioned the veracity of Jeffers's confessions.
Born in Newport, Rhode Island on November 5, 1798, he was the son of a Newport sea captain who had served as an American privateer during the American Revolutionary War. Jeffers would later claim to have enlisted in the United States Navy during the War of 1812 and to have served under James Lawrence on the USS Hornet and Chesapeake before being captured following a battle with the HMS Shannon in Boston Harbor in 1813. Later investigations into these claims proved this to be untrue. (Before his hanging, he admitted to having first gone to sea aboard a Newport-based brig called the Brutus in 1816, aged 17).
By his own account, he was involved in privateering starting in 1816 aboard a Margarita Island-based schooner called the Maria. During a cruise Jeffers took part in a mutiny after which the crew abandoned their letter of marque from Cartagena, Colombia and began engaging in piracy. Jeffers told his biographers that he was named navigator of the Maria, and claimed to have eventually assumed the captain's role. Stories later circulated as to how, during his time in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, he became known for his cruel treatment of prisoners. He was said to have once had the arms and legs chopped off of a captured captain and, in another incident, ordered an entire merchantman's crew to be burned alive after setting fire to the ship. (No contemporary accounts mention these episodes, which appear to have been invented by later writers.)
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