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Thomas Paine

Rhode Island privateer associated by later accounts with the 1683 St Augustine raid and the defence of Block Island in 1690.

Bornnot establishedDiednot established

Rhode Island privateer associated by later accounts with the 1683 St Augustine raid and the defence of Block Island in 1690.

What the record establishes

About 1687 to 1688 he married Mercy Carr, daughter of Caleb Carr (later Governor of Rhode Island), a match that raised his standing in the colony1

He became a respected colonist and is named as a founding member of Trinity Church, Newport2

He is associated in tradition with the Rhode Island harbouring of Red Sea men and with the pirate Thomas Tew, but no direct Paine-Tew partnership was documented in any source read this session3

The detailed figures for the Block Island action - two sloops and about 90 men on Paine's side against five French vessels and about 200 men, about 2.5 hours of fighting, roughly 100 French casualties, and Paine losing 1 killed and 6 wounded - rest essentially on Arnold and Chapin4

Alleged harbouring and financing of Red Sea pirates at Rhode Island, and an alleged friendship with Thomas Tew, 1690s; (No specific victim; a reputation-level allegation); alleged by Hostile observers of Rhode Island's harbouring reputation (the Randolph-type accusations against the colony)5

Accusations that Rhode Island was a nest of pirates that sheltered and financed Red Sea men, of the kind associated with hostile crown witnesses such as Edward Randolph, are allegations by interested parties and are not proof of Thomas Paine's personal guilt; the existence of such a document is distinct from the truth of what it alleges6

The one contemporary primary bearing directly on the 1690 events read this session is the Wait Winthrop letter of 11 August 1690, which confirms that pirates lay at Block Island and burnt a house but does not name Paine7

What the evidence does not settle

No contemporary document read for this record names him in either action; the colonial papers behind the later tradition remain to be recovered.

What the evidence does not settle

Documentary identity

  • A contemporary document naming Paine in either attributed action

Each line is one question with its own grade, taken from the register where a claim carries it. Nothing here is graded as a whole.

Sources for this record

Every statement above that rests on a checked claim carries a small number; the numbers lead here. Each entry gives what is claimed, how far the record supports it, and where it comes from.

  1. About 1687 to 1688 he married Mercy Carr, daughter of Caleb Carr (later Governor of Rhode Island), a match that raised his standing in the colony Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Modern scholarship: A glimpse of RI's past: Captain Thomas Paine of Jamestown; Paine went from high seas to early Jamestown settler; That Awful Spectacle: Masking the City-by-the-Sea's Piratical Past
  2. He became a respected colonist and is named as a founding member of Trinity Church, Newport Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Modern scholarship: That Awful Spectacle: Masking the City-by-the-Sea's Piratical Past
  3. He is associated in tradition with the Rhode Island harbouring of Red Sea men and with the pirate Thomas Tew, but no direct Paine-Tew partnership was documented in any source read this session Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Modern scholarship: That Awful Spectacle: Masking the City-by-the-Sea's Piratical Past
  4. The detailed figures for the Block Island action - two sloops and about 90 men on Paine's side against five French vessels and about 200 men, about 2.5 hours of fighting, roughly 100 French casualties, and Paine losing 1 killed and 6 wounded - rest essentially on Arnold and Chapin Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Modern scholarship; Period narrative: A glimpse of RI's past: Captain Thomas Paine of Jamestown; History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Vol. 1 (1636-1700)
  5. Alleged harbouring and financing of Red Sea pirates at Rhode Island, and an alleged friendship with Thomas Tew, 1690s; (No specific victim; a reputation-level allegation); alleged by Hostile observers of Rhode Island's harbouring reputation (the Randolph-type accusations against the colony) Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Modern scholarship: That Awful Spectacle: Masking the City-by-the-Sea's Piratical Past
  6. Accusations that Rhode Island was a nest of pirates that sheltered and financed Red Sea men, of the kind associated with hostile crown witnesses such as Edward Randolph, are allegations by interested parties and are not proof of Thomas Paine's personal guilt; the existence of such a document is distinct from the truth of what it alleges Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Modern scholarship: That Awful Spectacle: Masking the City-by-the-Sea's Piratical Past
  7. The one contemporary primary bearing directly on the 1690 events read this session is the Wait Winthrop letter of 11 August 1690, which confirms that pirates lay at Block Island and burnt a house but does not name Paine Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Colonial state paper: Letter reporting the pirates lying at Block Island