Last Woman Hanged in Massachusetts Was a Notorious Pirate

Rachael Wall earned a place in Massachusetts history, but her ranking was not the result of some noble, selfless act of humanity. Rachael Ward was a buccaneer, a marauder, or simply a pirate.

Rachael Wall was a notorious female in a career field dominated by men and was so good at what she did that she was put to death for it.

A blog posted on SEVA.net in 2009 (accessed through the Internet Archive Way Back Machine) says, "Rachael Wall was probably born in the late 1750s." According to the site, "She was born on a farm outside of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Her birth name was Rachael Schmidt."

Pirate folklore says Rachael met her husband George Wall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania when he saved her from a group of girls who had attacked her. The Walls moved to Boston where George became a fisherman and Rachael a maid on Beacon Hill.

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The New England Pirate Museum says, "After stealing a ship at Essex, they began pirating off the Isle of Shoals" in the Gulf of Maine.

The Museum says, "Pretending to be in distress, Rachael would stand out at the mast and cry for help." When help arrived, "George and his men would kill them, rob them of all their valuables, and sink their ship."

The SEVA.net blog stated that during one of these times "George made a mistake" and "was washed out to sea."

Real Pirates says, "Evidence of pirate activity can be found all across the world, including right here in New England." The site says pirates "were especially active on the West African coast, the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean, and of course, North America's eastern coast including right here on the North Shore" of Massachusetts.

Salem may be best known for witches but pirates were a part of the folklore.

Black Sam Bellamy, William Kidd, Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, and Rachael Wall were just some of the many sea rovers who summered on the North Shore of Massachusetts.

The New England Pirate Museum says Rachael Wall was "accused and convicted of murdering a sailor – a crime that she denied." The museum says Rachael Wall was hanged on October 8, 1789.

The only known woman pirate in New England became the last woman to be hanged in Massachusetts.