John Thurber

John Thurber (1649–1717, last name also Churcher) was a pirate trader and slaver active off Madagascar. He is best known for his role in introducing rice to America as a staple crop and export commodity. History Thurber is primarily known for what may be an apocryphal event. In 1685 he was on a return voyage from Madagascar when his ship was damaged in a storm and blown off course. He put into Charleston for repairs where he met local doctor and explorer Henry Woodward. In exchange for Woodward’s hospitality and assistance, Thurber gave him a bag of seed rice from Madagascar. Woodward planted the rice, which flourished so well in the marshy Carolina soil that its production astounded the colonists. Within a few years rice became the colony’s primary crop and remained so into the modern era. Historians debate whether the story is true and point to other earlier introductions of rice to the area (“This has sparked the popular misconception that pirates brought Malagasay rice to the Americas.”), as well as analyses of rice cultivars pointing to West African rather than Malagasay origins. The story of Thurber’s involvement persists, and sparked a dramatic fictionalized account involving a stowaway and a doomed romance. In 1687 near Campeche he encountered pirate John Coxon, who forced him to take aboard several Indians, whom he ferried to New Providence until they could be returned to Jamaica. Thurber was named among other pirates such as Christopher Goffe and Thomas Woolerly who used islands in the Bahamas for water and supplies. His name also appears as a witness on New York merchant Andrew Browne’s deed that same year. Continuing his slave-trading voyages to Madagascar, he worked with another New York merchant, Frederick Philipse. He made a supply run in 1693 in Philipse’s 200-ton, 10-gun, 30-man brigantine Charles to Adam Baldridge’s pirate trading post at Ile ste Marie off Madacasgar, bringing in general goods and returning with slaves.