Men financed and sailed privateers because although there was enormous risk involved, the potential for reward was also enormous. The average value of a ship and cargo taken during the War of 1812 was $30,000 or $427,500 in 2002 dollars. Even split between numerous parties (sometimes as many as 100), these were excellent rewards in that day - if you were successful.

In the years after the Revolutionary War, American ships and sailors became caught in the middle of warring European countries fighting for or against Napoleon. Over time, the situation deteriorated into what became known as the Quasi-War with France. Now in addition to the traditional risks of weather, accident and disease, seafaring families had to worry about capture, death in battle or in a foreign prison or being left stranded somewhere far away from home. Privateering had a significant impact on Lincoln County in those days - primarily the impact of foreign privateers capturing American ships rather than the other way around.

In 1798, the schooner Hester, built in Bristol by owner John McKown and commanded by Captain John Dickey, was taken by the French privateer, La Fleur de la Mer, Gustave de Lannes, master. Seeing the French ship approach, the quick-thinking Captain Dickey ordered all his men below decks except for himself and the ship's boy. Dickey then surrendered. In standard operating procedure for a privateer, Captain De Lannes put a prize crew of three of his men aboard the Hester to sail her into a French port. His ship, La Fleur, then chased off after another prize. Back on board the Hester, however, Captain Dickey saw his opportunity and gave the signal to his men in hiding. The Americans rushed the Frenchmen and retook the ship. The Hester was brought safely into Damariscotta with her prisoners.

There the problems began. Deputy Marshall for the District of Damariscotta, Waterman Thomas, officially received the prisoners, but having no jail, sent them to the jail in Wiscasset. Tradition has it that de Lannes escaped from the old wooden jail by dressing in women's clothes, but since the jail itself was fairly flimsy and no further documentation of prosecution, parole or release was ever found, all we really know is that he must have escaped somehow.

Others were less fortunate than the Hester. In 1798, Captain William Reed and the schooner Favorite sailed out of Boothbay with a cargo of lumber and fish. They arrived in Barbados and traded for a new cargo of rum and sugar. Two days out, they were captured by the French privateer, L'Aigle and taken to St. John, now San Juan, Puerto Rico. The cargo was seized and put on another vessel, which took it to Philadelphia to be sold. Captain Reed sued various parties until 1826 to receive his payment for that cargo.

The schooner Columbia sailed from a harbor on the Sheepscot River and was captured by the French on her way home from Barbados. She was then sent to Antigua where her cargo was condemned. The ship was freed at a loss to the owners of $16,000 and eventually returned to Wiscasset. In 1800, the same ship was taken by the French again, recaptured by the English, and again sent to Antigua forcing the owners to pay another $10,000 to get her back.

Also in 1800, the Three Sisters, owned by Abiel Wood, was taken en route from St. Thomas to Wiscasset. She was captured by a French privateer and sent on to Wiscasset with 22 prisoners from the crews of the eight ships the privateer had previously captured. Under the laws of privateering, the proceeds from her sale did not go to Abiel Wood and her crew, but to the privateer who captured her.

In 1805, the fishing boat, William and Elizabeth, was taken by a French privateer a few miles off the coast of Dungeness. The privateer took the captain and crew away, leaving only an old man and a small boy on board until they could send a prize crew back to take possession. Much to their surprise, before the prize crew could board the boat, the little boy sailed the vessel away under the privateer's gunfire. The old man was wounded in the getaway, but they made it to the safety of Admiral Douglass' squadron.

These are only a few of the dramatic tales of Lincoln County and privateers. The story continues through the Embargo and the War of 1812, with the tide turning in favor of the intrepid Americans. Look for it in Part II of "Dangerous Waters."

The Lincoln County Historical Association exhibition "Pirates or Patriots? Privateering and Lincoln County, 1790-1815" opens July 5 at the Lincoln County Museum, 133 Federal Street in Wiscasset.