The Curse of Oak Island: Solving the Mystery of Captain James Anderson (Season 5) | History

MAN: Doug!
Hi, Doug.
Hey, Doug.
Good to see you, everybody.

NARRATOR: Rick, Marty, and members of the team gather at the Mug & Anchor Pub in the nearby town of Mahone Bay.
They have been invited by their friend, local historian Doug Crowell, who is eager to share what he believes is some important information.
Good to see you, Doug.
Where you been?
Been well?

• I’ve been well.
  I’ve been well.
  Spending a lot of time in the archives.
  And what have you got for us?

Well, one of the things I was following up on over the winter was your work on lot 24 and finding the coins and various artifacts.
So I thought I’d take a look at lot ownership and see what activity might have proceeded Sam Ball’s purchase of those lots.
One of the things I found was that lot 26 was owned by a Captain James Anderson, and this fellow’s history turns out to be really interesting.
He was a privateer.
And when the American Revolution started, he took the Patriot Oath, was given command of a ship, defected to the British, took the ship and all and went across the lines, became a Loyalist privateer.
He did die in the West Indies in 1796, just after the discovery of the money pit.
What was he doing there?
I suspect privateering.
[laughter]

Well, what I did find out was that there is still a descendant of his here in Nova Scotia, and he’s agreed to talk with us and– and tell us a little bit more about his family.
So I thought it might be interesting to see if there’s any information in the family that might help us on the search.

NARRATOR: Alex Lagina, Peter Fornetti, and Charles Barkhouse, along with researcher Doug Crowell, travel some 50 miles north to the city of Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
They are on their way to meet a descendant of Captain James Anderson, the 18th-century pirate who once owned property on Oak Island.

[doorbell rings]
Good day, sir.

• Hello.
• How you doing?
• Hey, Steve?
• Yes.
  Doug Crowell.
  Nice to meet you, Doug.
  Thank you.

Well, Steve, what brought us to look you up was lot 26 was owned by James Anderson.
Correct.
And according to this record here, it was sold to Samuel Ball in 1788.
Mm-hm.
And what we were hoping to do is learn a little bit more about the background of James Anderson.
OK.

Well– thanks– he was a mariner, and he was both pirate and spy.
And he had a ship that was called the “Betsy,” and there’s record of him sailing the waters, I think, in 1768.
So that puts it back a bit before 1788, so he’s been around for a while in the– in the waters, right?
He’s quite a character.
Yeah.
That’s a very good way to describe him, yeah.
I can show you guys more things.
I have Captain James Anderson’s sea chest.
Wow.
A sea chest, like a treasure chest?
Yeah, just like a treasure chest.
We’d love to see that.
That would be a first for us.

MAN: Oh, look at this.
DOUG CROWELL: Wow.
STEVE ATKINSON: What do you think of that, guys?
Yeah.
Check this thing out.
This is so cool.
I think this is it.
Oh.
Ah.

Now in this chest right here, you’ll find some documents you’re going to like.
The papers are extremely delicate.
Died July 1796.
Exactly.
One year after the discovery of the money pit.
Mm-hm.

Here we go.
“To all whom it may concern, we do hereby certify that Brother James Anderson is a registered Master Mason in the Lodge Number 9.”
Master Mason.
That’s right.
“Given under our hand and seal of our lodge this 24th of June, 1791.”
Definitely a Mason.
Definitely a Mason, yeah.
That’s quite an amazing document.

Now all those keys he has in his hand– can I see them for a sec?
Sure.
That one opens that treasure chest.
Maybe some other– I couldn’t help noticing there are four keys.
Could there have been more treasure chests on the islands?
And that’s what I wonder.

NARRATOR: Could the three keys be in some way connected to the three treasure chests which were reportedly found by Daniel McGinnis and his two friends while digging in the original money pit?
Grandpa Daniel, he and his two friends started digging.
Now I’ve been told they found three treasure chests, and what is in this box is one of the things that came from that chest.
Wow.

Thanks so much for letting us take a look at this.
I mean, this, honestly, it’s– it’s like nothing we’ve seen before, so.
You’ve shown us some great information right here, so thank you.
Oh, you’re very welcome, guys.

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