Though rare, famous tales of notorious female pirates have become more widely shared as time went on. Names like Anne Bonny and Mary Read are at least recognizable, if not commonly known.
There’s nothing wrong with sharing these stories. After centuries of people reveling in the dastardly deeds of the Calico Jacks and Blackbeards of the world, it’s nice to finally have some female representation in the dirty underworld of piracy.
But not all of those at sea were criminals. For each Blackbeard, there were ten sailors just trying to make a living, or trying to discover a new country, or trying to capture those rotten pirates. And as much as pirates are lauded, famous sailors are given even more praise—but there’s notably less women on the good side of sailing history. It’s time to change that. It’s time to introduce Mary Patten.
Mary had practically been born for seafaring, if not for the fact that she had been born a girl. Unwilling to let that little roadblock stop her, she decided to continue her family’s tradition of the maritime lifestyle by marrying a young sea captain, Joshua Patten, at just 16 years old, and setting sail with him on his first captaining voyage aboard the merchant ship Neptune’s Car.
This was 1854, a time when women on the water were seen as a liability, hindrance, or were forbidden from living the life of a true sailor. Evidence of the misogynistic environment present on the open seas carries over even in today’s sailing culture, but the blatant sexism was unsurprisingly more prevalent in Mary’s time. If the crew members on Neptune’s Car weren’t outright complaining about the mere presence of a woman on the ship, they were disregarding her existence.
Left with only the company of her busy husband and herself, Mary decided to use of all her downtime for good. While Joshua instructed Mary on the basics of navigation, meteorology, seamen’s duties, and quite literally taught her the ropes, Mary herself continued and expanded that education by spending most of her time in the ship’s library. She became a skilled navigator and taught herself first aid within a matter of months.
Mary was nineteen, constantly belittled, and, unbeknownst to any of the crew, pregnant with her first child. The stress of such a situation was immense, but Mary never hesitated to complete her daily tasks or improve her sailing skills. The first mate, a man by the name of Keeler, however, often disregarded his duties, causing the ship—which was on a strict time limit—to slow down considerably. The captain confined him below deck, but soon discovered that the second mate didn’t have the skills to navigate the ship, so Joshua himself added that duty to his already full schedule.
The captain stayed on deck for over a week, refusing to rest, eat, or even sit down until he got his ship back on track—a human rights violation no one could stop him from committing. The sight of her husband becoming noticeably weaker worried Mary, but her concerns fell on deaf ears. After eight days of this, the captain collapsed from illness and exhaustion—right before sailing into the most dangerous part of the journey.
Mary did everything she could to heal her ailing husband, but his condition only worsened. He became delirious with fever. Mary stayed by his bedside, cooling his forehead and comforting him. While he was asleep, she pored through medical books, trying to diagnose and treat her husband’s extreme illness.
While the young couple was suffering, the former first mate was scheming. The captain’s infirmity provided him an opportunity to regain power among the crew and solve the issue of the dastardly woman on board once and for all. Keeler wrote Mary a letter telling her how dangerous the journey was about to become, and how the fate of everyone on board was in her hands. He offered to take control of the ship so she could continue her womanly duties of caring for her husband and staying out of sight.
Mary politely turned him down, reminding him that he had struggled to perform first mate duties, so she couldn’t possibly burden him with the even greater role of captain.
Angered by Mary’s victory in their passive aggressive war of words, Keeler began planning a mutiny against her—a plan that ultimately failed when no other crew members were “on board” with the idea. While he was planning his next move, Mary got busy taking command of the ship and successfully navigating her way through ferocious waters, vicious storms, and collapsing glaciers of ice.
Source: Rejected Princesses
After keeping everyone on board alive for nearly two months, including her pneumonic husband, mutinous shipmate, and unborn child, Keeler made his next move.
With dubious approval from the feverish captain, Keeler was granted command of the ship and refused to let Mary on deck. Despite being stuck in the captain’s quarters, Mary’s navigational senses were tingling. Keeler was veering the ship way off course, and to prove the first mate’s treachery, Mary crafted a makeshift compass with only the supplies on hand.
The first mate was once again imprisoned below deck, and Mary regained control of the ship and its course. At this point, Joshua’s conditioned had worsened to temporarily deafness and blindness, and Mary herself was six months along. Despite all of this, she safely pulled Neptune’s Car into its San Francisco port.
Out of the 137-day voyage, Mary captained the ship for 56 of those days, including the days of unprecedented severe weather in the region, during which she was too busy to even change her clothes. After receiving some well-deserved national attention and praise, Mary returned to her Boston home to care for her husband and incoming child. Unfortunately, Joshua never recovered and died less than a year after his return. Mary gave birth to her son, Joshua Jr., but later died at the age of 24 from tuberculosis.
Though Mary was as tough—and as putrid, if the lack of clean laundry had anything to say about it—as a pirate, her legendary seafaring was forgotten with time. May it once again be remembered, because Mary may not have been a pirate queen, but she certainly ruled the seven seas.
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