Bellamy's Bride: The Search for Maria Hallett of Cape Cod

by Kathleen Brunelle

An intriguing exploration into the maritime legend of a young witch and an English pirate, “a love story layered in truth, wrapped in a mystery” (Cape Cod Travel Guide Blog).Venture back to 1715, when a fifteen-year-old Cape Cod girl named Maria Hallett was seduced by a twenty-six-year-old Englishman named Samuel Bellamy.Bellamy soon left her to become one of the most infamous pirates of his day—Black Sam Bellamy. Maria remained on the Cape but was forced to live in solitude after giving birth to Bellamy’s child. Two years later, Bellamy returned to his love, and Maria watched from the dunes as his flagship, the Whydah, sank in the worst nor’easter in the history of the Cape. The legend of Maria Hallett has been passed down for over two hundred years, and Cape Cod writer Kathleen Brunelle brings a fresh breath of sea air to this epic tale in her search for Bellamy’s bride.“Brunelle delves into vital records, previous versions of the story, history, genealogy, and mythology, attempting to determine what is truth and what is embellishment. Read this fascinating study and decide for yourself.” —You’re History!“Brunelle has been through numerous sources and uses text and antique drawings to explore how the relationship might have unfolded as Bellamy trolled the waters off Cape Cod and Maria waited on shore for his return.” —Cape Cod Times

Genres: Nonfiction

131 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2010

Reviews

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, anything to do with Cape Cod is going to get extra brownie points from me. Then you add witchcraft, an infamous pirate, and a shipwreck and you truly hit my sweet spot. Sure, I run a history website, and this dives just a bit into the supernatural but, come on, live a little. Black Sam certainly didn’t get to! Historical zinger!

Here are the bare bones of this story. It’s early 1700s Cape Cod. A young woman named Maria (we really aren’t sure on her first name), meets a young man named Samuel (definitely his name) and they fall madly in love. Her family is not happy with this arrangement and Sam takes a trip to become one of the most successful pirates in history. He comes back for Maria, and it doesn’t go great. Specifically, Sam and his boat sink in a massive storm off Cape Cod. Maria watches from the dunes as Sam drowns. There may be more to the story, but I won’t tell you everything.

Kathleen Brunelle does her best with the facts at her disposal. Admittedly, there are holes and Brunelle cobbles together a story from what’s available. This story is about true love and maybe a murderous witch so don’t get too obsessed with the little details.

[Ute Carbone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as some background research for a new book. There's lots of material here on Maria and Sam presented in a way that's easily readable. Great fodder for thought!

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up on a visit to Cape Cod, and really enjoyed it! A real pirate, Samuel Bellamy, crashed on the shores of the cape in 1715, and since then, folklore grew around him, a story of his tragic young bride, Maria.

Brunelle’s book is an attempt to discover Maria’s origins, and she collates the various stories and potential realities of the woman’s life. If you’re looking for definitive answers, this will be a frustrating read, as it seems there’s a different possible explanation of Maria in every chapter. But if you’re looking for a gathering up of folktale and history, this slim little book fits the bill.

[Madeline Elsinga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting exploration of the stories/legend surrounding Maria Hallet and Black Sam Bellamy! The author explores the history of 18th century cape cod and who Maria was, with many theories surrounding the lovers’ legend. Although the amount of theories that exist, it could be confusing at times.

I first learned about Maria and Sam’s love story through a pirate documentary and became fascinated! While this doesn’t provide much more information or answers compared to the doc, it was still an informative and interesting read. Hopefully I can find books that are more thorough in their research, as this felt like a surface level summary.

[Karin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to read this because my boss is related to Sam Bellamy. What a dissappointment. It was overly confusing. I'm sure that there is a better book out there that will tell the story of Black Sam Bellamy and his love Maria Hallett. She jumped around way too much. Recounted other peoples findings all mushed together instead of simplifying it. It did make me want to go to the museum though.

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this, but I couldn't get through the small book. Although the content is interesting, and it's obvious the author has done her research, it's just not put together well. It seems the author couldn't figure out what she believed, so she through all of the myths and rumors together, often over each other. It was too jumbled and confusing to enjoy.

[Heidi McIntyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book as part of my research on a historical fiction novel that I'm writing. I found it to be very helpful in piecing together the story of Maria Hallett since so little is known about her especially compared to her lover, the notorious pirate Black Sam Bellamy. I really enjoyed this book and have continually used it as a reference.

[Maureen Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was fairly interesting..but not alot to keep me going....

[Wendy Potter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very factionalized. It’s a fun read and cool that it keeps this possibly true story alive. But very much a fictional romance.

[Cara Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author explains the legend and then discusses her going through records to figure out who Maria Hallett really was. I enjoyed learning about her research

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun, quick-reading and relatively short book that collects all of the various iterations of the legends about "Black Sam Bellamy the pirate and his "bride" Maria Hallett, a young Cape Cod woman who he met shortly before embarking on his infamous pirate career. She may have inspired his quest for Spanish gold and been the reason he was trying to return to Wellfleet when he ran into the unprecedented Nor' Easter that sank his pirate galley the Whydah, scattering his treasure onto the sandy floor of Cape Cod Bay.
I enjoyed this book, mainly because it's elements; pirates, treasure, lost love, shipwrecks, witchcraft, curses, local lore, are inherently interesting to me, and every speculation fired my imagination. It doesn't give one definitive version of the legend, because there isn't one definitive version, instead it presents the many variations of that legend. Sam Bellamy's pirate career is well documented, but his relationship with Maria contains inconsistencies of location, people, ages, character and intent. Like a good detective or journalist, the author peels away the layers of this "onion" to reveal the things that remain consistent across all the different tales, and the most likely. We will never know for sure what actually transpired between Sam Bellamy and Maria Hallett, but the author concludes the book by presenting some well-documented evidence for the most likely candidate. I would recommend this book for anyone who has an interest in Pirates, New England lore, Sam Bellamy or the Whydah.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are many folk tales told on and about Cape Cod, many of which revolve, naturally, around the sea. Witches, pirates, sailors and captains, ghosts, lost ships, and buried treasure are common features, and Bellamy's Bride incorporates each of them. Common sailor Sam Bellamy seduces Eastham town beauty Maria Hallett under an apple tree. Since her prominent family would never sanction their marriage, Sam returns to sea to make his fortune and return in triumph to claim her hand. Maria gives birth to their child and is ostracized by the townfolk. The child dies, and she becomes a recluse. In time, Sam returns as a pirate in his flagship, the Whydah, but perishes with his ship in the worst nor'easter ever to hit the Cape.

Kathleen Brunelle presents this legend in some detail, illustrating it with photographs and art. It is easy enough to document the life of Black Sam Bellamy, but of Maria Hallett the traces are faint at best. Brunelle delves into vital records, previous version of the story, history, genealogy, and mythology, attempting to determine what is truth and what is embellishment. Read this fascinating study and decide for yourself.