Background
Wall was born Rachel Schmidt in Carlisle, in the Province of Pennsylvania, to a family of devout Presbyterians. The two fell in love and, despite her mother"s concerns, they married.
Wall was born Rachel Schmidt in Carlisle, in the Province of Pennsylvania, to a family of devout Presbyterians. The two fell in love and, despite her mother"s concerns, they married.
She may also have been the first American-born woman to become a pirate. She lived on a farm outside Carlisle as a child, but was not happy there. Having become a young woman she preferred the waterfront but she was attacked by a group of girls on the docks, and a man named George Wall came and rescued her.
Career as a pirate
When George went to the sea on a fishing schooner after the newlyweds moved to Boston, Rachel took up a job as a servant.
When George came back, he brought with him five sailors and their lovers, and persuaded Rachel to join them. In one week, the party had spent all their money and the schooner set sail again, upon which George suggested they all become pirates.
He borrowed another schooner from a friend, and the party set sail. Rachel and her crew worked in the Isle of Shoals, just off the New Hampshire coast.
After storms Rachel would stand on the deck and scream for help.
When passers-by came to give aid, they were killed and all their goods stolen. Arrest and execution
However, she still enjoyed going to the docks and sneaking into harboured boats, stealing things from inside. Her final robbery occurred when she saw a young woman named Margaret Bender, wearing a bonnet which Rachel coveted.
She attempted to steal the bonnet and rip Margaret"s tongue out, but was caught and arrested.
She was tried for robbery on September 10, 1789 but requested that she be tried as a pirate, while maintaining that she had never killed anyone. However, she was found guilty of robbery and sentenced to be hanged on October 8, 1789.
Her death marked the last occasion a woman was hanged in Massachusetts.