Friday, May 2, 2008

Thomas Tew the Pirate

As recently as this morning, a colleague of mine asked me if I am a descendant of, or am distantly related to Thomas Tew the Pirate. Key in the name “Thomas Tew” on any search engine, you are bound to become acquainted with a rather famous pirate from Rhode Island whose activity as a pirate spanned the period of 1692 – 1695. The Pirate Soul Museum, a recently opened museum located in Key West, Florida that boasts having “the largest and most authentic collection of pirate artifacts ever displayed under one roof,” includes Captain Thomas Tew’s authentic pirate treasure chest. If you go to the photo gallery and arrow over to the very last picture, you will see his treasure chest as it is seen in the museum on display, described as “the only authentic pirate treasure chest in the world.” Some day, I intend to visit this museum. Since the pirate Thomas Tew apparently only had daughters, it would be difficult for me to claim being his direct descendant, and do it with a straight face. Here's another intriguing website, where the creation of Thomas Tew Rum in Newport, Rhode Island is described...rum made from blackstrap molasses, which in turn is made from sugarcane. So we do have a connection of sorts. Even though I don't drink alcohol, I still found the video about how Thomas Tew rum is made, rather interesting.

1 comment:

Lori said...

We now know of one more place we'd like to visit! Even if we aren't related, it's cool to see your name associated with such a famous pirate!