{{short description|Dutch buccaneer}} {{Infobox pirate | honorific_prefix = | name = Jacob Evertson | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = | baptised = | disappeared_date = | disappeared_place = | disappeared_status = | death_date = 1688 or 1695 | death_place = | death_cause = | body_discovered = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | monuments = | residence = | other_names = James or Everson | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = | years_active = | era = | employer = | organization = | agent = | known_for = Escaped Henry Morgan and sailed with Jan Willems for several years | notable_works = | style = | home_town = | salary = | net_worth = | height = | weight = | television = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | movement = | opponents = | boards = | criminal_charge = | criminal_penalty = | criminal_status = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | callsign = | awards = | website = | nickname = | alias = | type = | allegiance = | serviceyears = | base of operations = Caribbean | rank = | commands = | battles = | wealth = | laterwork = | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | footnotes = }} '''Jacob Evertson''' (died 1688 or 1695, also known as James or Everson)<ref>English officials occasionally referred to him as “Captain Jacob” or “Captain Jacobs”.</ref> was a Dutch buccaneer and pirate active in the Caribbean. He escaped Henry Morgan and sailed with Jan Willems for several years.
==Biography==
===Early piracy=== Evertson captured a brigantine near Jamaica in early 1681. Famed buccaneer Henry Morgan had become the Lieutenant Governor and dispatched a ship to capture Evertson's sloop and his mixed Spanish-English crew.<ref name="The Buccaneer's Realm">{{cite book|last1=Little|first1=Benerson|title=The Buccaneer's Realm: Pirate Life on the Spanish Main, 1674-1688|date=2007|publisher=Potomac Books, Inc.|location=Dulles VA|isbn=9781612343617|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BF1i1dRF7zAC|accessdate=23 August 2017|language=en}}</ref> Morgan's men mounted a stealthy midnight attack, surprising the pirates and capturing their ships.<ref name="Buccaneers in the West Indies">{{cite book|last1=Haring|first1=Clarence Henry|title=The Buccaneers in the West Indies in the XVII Century|date=1910|publisher=E. P. Dutton|location=New York|isbn=9780598613486|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-YBAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=22 August 2017|language=en}}</ref> Evertson and a number of his crew jumped ship and attempted to swim to safety. Morgan published accounts of the capture for the public;<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hanna|first1=Mark G.|title=Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire, 1570-1740|date=2015|publisher=UNC Press Books|location=Chapel Hill NC|isbn=9781469617954|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RSMUCAAAQBAJ|accessdate=23 August 2017|language=en}}</ref> he announced that Evertson and the other escapees had been shot and killed as they tried to swim away.<ref name="CSP vol11">{{cite book|last1=Fortescue|first1=J.W.|title=America and West Indies: February 1681 {{!}} British History Online|date=1898|publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office|location=London|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/colonial/america-west-indies/vol11/pp7-15|accessdate=23 August 2017|language=en}}</ref> Captured Spanish sailors were deported to Cartagena; the English prisoners were tried, convicted of piracy, and hung.<ref name="Gosse - Who’s Who">{{cite book|last1=Gosse|first1=Philip|title=The Pirates' Who's Who by Philip Gosse|date=1924|publisher=Burt Franklin|location=New York|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19564/19564-h/19564-h.htm|accessdate=23 June 2017}}</ref> Morgan kept Evertson's sloop, using it as a scout for his frigate.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Urban|first1=Sylvanus|title=The Gentleman's Magazine|date=1855|publisher=F. Jefferies|location=London|page=262|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w9URAAAAYAAJ|accessdate=23 August 2017|language=en}}</ref>
===Another ship=== In fact Evertson had survived the escape and continued his piratical career.<ref name="Buccaneers in the West Indies" /> Obtaining another ship, he partnered with fellow Dutch pirate Jan “Yankey” Willems, sailing together. After several years at sea they sailed to South Carolina in 1687 - possibly to retire or seek a pardon, though unsuccessfully - and soon returned to Jamaica.<ref name="The Buccaneer's Realm" /> There they wrote to Governor Molesworth in September asking for a pardon. He welcomed them and offered a pardon on condition that Yankey and Evertson dismantle their ships to keep them from returning to piracy.<ref name="CSP vol12">{{cite book|last1=Fortescue|first1=J.W.|title=Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies {{!}} British History Online|date=1899|publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office|location=London|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/colonial/america-west-indies/vol12|accessdate=23 August 2017|language=en}}</ref>
At the time Yankey had a 40-gun 100-man Dutch ship while Evertson sailed a 26-gun, 50-man barque. Despite many of their men having deserted, the two pirates refused to destroy their ships, pleading with Molesworth, “We beg you to consider that if our ships are broken up we shall be left destitute of all livelihood in present and future, and to allow us the use of them. We have neither of us money to purchase an estate ashore.”<ref name="CSP vol12" /> Molesworth repeated his demand, and the pirates sailed away.<ref name="CSP vol12" />
===Larger crew=== Their crews bolstered by sailors picked up from Jean Hamlin’s crew (and possibly Joseph Bannister’s), the pair continued piracy. Partnering with Laurens de Graaf, Michel de Grammont, and other buccaneers, they took part in sacking Cartagena in 1683.<ref name="CSP vol12" /> Yankey, presumably with Evertson, captured a rich Spanish vessel off Havana in 1686.<ref name="CSP vol12" /> In early 1688 they attacked a Spanish “urca” cargo ship near Puerto Cavallos. After an eight-hour battle they captured it; Yankey may have taken it as his own.<ref name="The Buccaneer's Realm" />
===Possible death=== Though it is not recorded how or where they perished, by August 1688 both Yankey and Evertson were reported dead.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Marley|first1=David|title=Pirates of the Americas|date=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara CA|isbn=9781598842012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bU6ML_VnXTwC|accessdate=23 August 2017|language=en}}</ref> At least one source reported Evertson still alive at Santo Domingo the following year, dying in 1695 in English service.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Laprise|first1=Raynald|title=Descente d'un flibustier anglais en Acadie en 1688|journal=Les Cahiers de la Société historique acadienne|date=March–June 2002|volume=33|issue=1 and 3|pages=33–40|url=http://membre.oricom.ca/yarl/livre/3F/0304acadie88.html|accessdate=29 August 2017}}</ref> Their remaining crew members signed on with Captain Peterson.<ref name="CSP">{{cite book|last1=Fortescue|first1=J.W.|title=America and West Indies: August 1688 {{!}} British History Online|date=1899|publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office|location=London|pages=576–593|edition=Vol 12|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/colonial/america-west-indies/vol12/pp576-593|accessdate=25 August 2017|language=en}}</ref>
==See also== *Jelles “Yellows” Lecat - another buccaneer who sailed with Morgan but later turned to piracy.
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Evertson, Jacob}} Category:Pirates from the Dutch Republic Category:17th-century pirates Category:Caribbean pirates Category:Year of birth missing Category:17th-century deaths Category:17th-century Dutch criminals