Jacob Evertson

Jacob Evertson (died 1688 or 1695, also known as James or Everson) was a Dutch buccaneer and pirate active in the Caribbean. He escaped Henry Morgan and sailed with Jan Willems for several years.

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. Morgan’s men mounted a stealthy midnight attack, surprising the pirates and capturing their ships. Evertson and a number of his crew jumped ship and attempted to swim to safety. Morgan published accounts of the capture for the public; he announced that Evertson and the other escapees had been shot and killed as they tried to swim away. Captured Spanish sailors were deported to Cartagena; the English prisoners were tried, convicted of piracy, and hung. Morgan kept Evertson’s sloop, using it as a scout for his frigate.