William Sturgis: Barnstable's Adventuring Merchant

Join guest speaker Gregory Williams for a talk on Barnstable’s own William Sturgis, a famous international merchant and ship captain who did battle with pirates on the high seas! William F. Sturgis was born in 1782, in the middle of the American Revolution, in what is now Sturgis Library in Barnstable. He went to sea at age 16, needing money after his father, shipmaster William E. Sturgis was killed by pirates in the Caribbean. Sailing around South America, goods including blankets and clothes were brought from Massachusetts to the Pacific Northwest, where they were sold to the natives there in exchange for sea otter pelts – the softest fur you can get. These were then taken and sold in China where they were highly prized. In China, merchants would acquire goods such as tea and porcelain, then sail back home around Africa. The trade route from Massachusetts to the Pacific Northwest to China took years to complete, and Sturgis made this trip four times in his life between the ages of 16-28, eventually starting his own trading company and amassing great wealth. During a raid by Chinese pirates on the ship Atahualpa, on which Sturgis was the captain, Sturgis miraculously managed to save the ship, his men and the silver on board the ship.