Bill Johnston (pirate)

Pirate Bill Johnston (February 1, 1782 – February 17, 1870) was a Canadian-American smuggler, river pirate, and War of 1812 privateer. Born in Canada, Johnston was accused of spying in 1812 and he joined the American side of the war and lived the rest of his life in the United States.

Bill Johnston spent his first 30 years as a loyal British subject. He was one of a dozen children born to British Loyalist parents who fled the American Revolution in 1781 to settle in Upper Canada (now Ontario).

As a boy, he helped carve a farm out of the primeval forest west of present-day Kingston. Starting when he was 16, he apprenticed to a local blacksmith for six years. At 22, he became a potash manufacturer, making use of the plentiful supply of ashes from burned forests. By 24, he captained his own schooner on eastern Lake Ontario. While he often carried legitimate cargo, he just as often smuggled tea and rum.

He married an American, Ann Randolph, in 1807 or early 1808 and began raising a family on his farm west of Kingston, Ontario. After five years of smuggling, Bill amassed enough profit to buy a Kingston store valued at an estimated $12,000, a small fortune in that era. By 1812, at 30, he was a rather prosperous merchant.

The War of 1812 began with American attacks on Britain's colonies in Canada. In May 1813, the Kingston military commander ordered Bill Johnston arrested, allegedly for spying. Johnston escaped and paddled to Sackets Harbor, New York, in a canoe. The British then confiscated his property. He vowed undying revenge on the British and pledged himself to the American commander of the United States Navy in Lake Ontario.

For two years, Bill Johnston made war in the Thousand Islands in a gig—a fast, light rowboat. Propelled by six oarsmen, this small craft gave him a distinct advantage in the shallow and tight waterways around the Thousand Islands. If trapped, Johnston's men could easily carry the boat across an island to escape.

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