One of the first urban sites I worked on in archaeology was the former
location of the William Kidd site in lower Manhattan, across the street from
a Vietnam Memorial park recently redone. Also there were the Livingston
family. Apparently not much was found there from that period, on Pearl
Street. Some historians have considered William KIdd the most maligned
character in history. As stated he was brought up on charges of killing a
young seaman with a bucket when a mutiny began. Charged with murder, the
fellows who backed his privateering (with a bond and license) would not come
forward and on his person was a map when hung. All property of criminals
then become the property of the Crown. In the 1890's the British
successfully contacted the owner of Gardiner's Island, a manor granted by
the King of Scotland, whose present owner is a fine gentleman, Robert
Gardiner, and who explained this to me, and since the US had not been formed
when these events occurred, excavated the "Kidd Treasure" from said island
and today a marker there testifies to its former location, though the amount
did not account with "history". The treasure was used to build a seaman's
hospital in London, whose name escapes me at the moment. Of course I have
seen Canadian tourism ads that suggest one look around the Bay of Fundy for
additional "treasures" some might be from William Kidd, some the amethysts
on the beaches around Digby, NS.



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