The Barnegut Pirates
The history of pirates is meager. It is known that John Bacon and his notorious Barnegut Pirates used Island Beach as one of their bases. Bacon was killed in a tavern near West Creek in 1783 by a band of patriots. Other famous pirates associated with the barrier island include Captain William Kidd and Robert Teach, also known as Blackbeard.
The Barnegut Pirates included families who deceived ships during moonless nights and winter storms by rigging lights to imitate Barnegut Light or the shipping lanes. Believing the lights to be other ships, the captains would said ther vessels closer to land, making the trip to the ports of New York shorter. As the ships came towards shore, they would be smashed against the shoals or beached by incoming waves. After the ships were wrecked , the Barnegut Pirates would plunder them. Cargo washed ashore from the broken ships included silk and bales of cloth. Known as "wreckers" or "mooncussers", these pirates also robbed the corpses of wallets, rings, coins and anything of value.
One of the most exciting experiences with a lured vessel took place when a cargo ship counting flashes of light on the Island Beach shore mistook it for Sandy Hook. They came ashore in a storm and learned that they had followed the wrong flashes.
The vessel was an Old English shp with a steel hull, loaded with horns, cattle and bones. Its superstructure was off and the bones scattered all over the beach. The pirates fled. The next day, against such a weird background, the Island beach children for the first time saw black men. They were badly frightened, screamed and ran away.
The black men could not speak English. It might have been Spanish; whatever it was, communication was not possible. Finally it was discovered that the ship's cook spoke English. When asked why they did not bring any money ashore, he replied, "We heard of the Barnegut Pirates." The reputation of this band must have been far-reaching.
Is is also supposed that the island was visited by crews of British frigates, American blockade runners and privateers. Rumors persist that burried treasure is still waiting to be discovered.
The introduction of the Life Saving Service (passed by Congress on August 9, 1849, as on ammendment by Congressman William A. Newell of Manahawkin to an impending lighthouse bill) put an end to wrecking as a business for these Barnegut Pirates. One of the original eight Surf Boat stations and equipped by May 1849 was a Island Beach with F. Rogers in charge. Dr. Newell went on to become governor of New Jersey in 1865, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed him governor of the Washington Territory in 1875. Four years later he returned to private practice in Allentown, NJ, and died on August 8, 1901. The Life Saving Service was firmly established in New jersey by the time of his passing. In 1915 the Life Saving Service was merged with the Revenue Marine to form the United Sates Coast Guard.
Excerpt from "Sea Side Park: memories and remembrances"
by Andrew J. Anderson & D. Gail Anderson.