Dan Seavey

Dan Seavey around 1920.

Dan Seavey, also known as Roaring Dan Seavey, (1867–1949) was a notorious pirate on the Great Lakes in the early 20th century.

Early life

Seavey was born in Portland, Maine, in 1867.^[1] He left home at age 13 and became a sailor,^[2] and served for a short time in the United States Navy.^[1] He moved near Marinette, Wisconsin in the late 1880s, where he married and had two daughters.^[2] The family later moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Seavey fished, farmed and owned a local saloon.

In 1898, Seavey left his family in Milwaukee to participate in the Klondike Gold Rush.^[2] He was unsuccessful, and returned to the Great Lakes region around 1900. In poverty, Seavey moved to Escanaba, Michigan and acquired a schooner, which he named the Wanderer, and began a career as a pirate.

Pirate

Dan Seavey did sail the Wanderer as a legitimate shipping operation, but also sailed into ports at night to steal cargo from other vessels and warehouses.^[2] Seavey also kidnapped or transported women in the illegal prostitution trade.

Seavey was notorious for altering sea lights, either by extinguishing existing lights or placing false lights. The trick, known as "moon cussing," would cause ships to sail into rocks, where Seavey's crew could easily capture the cargo from the wounded vessel.^[1]

A significant amount of Seavey's profit was made from venison poaching and theft. A company called Booth Fisheries attempted to compete with Seavey's illegal venison trade, and Seavey attacked one of their ships with a cannon, killing everyone on board.^[1]

Roaring Dan Seavey's most infamous exploit was the hijacking of the schooner Nellie Johnson. On 11 June 1908,^[3] Seavey came aboard in Grand Haven, Michigan with a large amount of alcohol, which he offered to share with the crew. Once they became intoxicated, Seavey tossed them overboard and sailed the Nellie Johnson to Chicago, where he sold the cargo.^[1][4] The United States Revenue Cutter Service soon gave chase in the Tuscarora. Seavey, meanwhile, had moored the Nellie Johnson and was again sailing in the Wanderer. After several days, he was captured on 29 June 1908^[5] and taken to Chicago in irons.^[2]

Seavey was arrested on the charge of piracy,^[6] but was officially charged with "unauthorized removal of a vessel on which he had once been a seaman."^[2] Seavey was released on bond, and the charges were later dropped when the owner of the Nellie Johnson failed to appear.^[1] For the rest of his life, Seavey maintained that he won the Nellie Johnson in a poker game.^[2]

Later life

At the end of his career, Seavey accepted a position with the United States Marshals Service, where he worked to curb poaching, smuggling, and piracy on Lake Michigan.^[1]

The Wanderer was destroyed by fire in 1918, and Seavey purchased a 40-foot motor launch. It’s unclear if he continued as a marshal or an outlaw, or both, but motor launches were a favorite of Great Lake smugglers when Prohibition in the United States began in 1919.^[2]

Seavey retired sometime in the late 1920s, and settled in the town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin. He died in a Peshtigo nursing home on 14 February 1949 at the age of 84. He is buried next to his daughter in Forest Home Cemetery, Marinette, Wisconsin.^[2]

In popular culture

Dan Seavey is featured in Season 4 episode 18 of Warehouse 13, in which he fictionally hijacked a ship transporting supernatural artefacts between Warehouses, ultimately residing in a secret lair at Niagara Falls.

The Great Lakes Distillery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin distills a rum called "Roaring Dan's Rum" paying homage to the pirate.^[7]

Notes

External links

• Bie, Michael (2009). "The Life & Crimes of Dan Seavey". ClassicWisconsin.com. 

• Sandusky, Trent (14 February 2008). "Great Lakes Piracy: Pirates Thrived on the Great Lakes Long After Their Golden Age". p. 6. 

• "Roaring Dan Rum by Great Lakes Distillery". GreatLakesDistillery.com. 2013.