Just three years after the publication of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, a youngster from Massachusetts suffered a fate similar to the protagonist of the Defoe’s legendary tale. His experience was so harrowing that when the story first came out a few years later in the form of a book, many thought it was fiction written in the style of Robinson Crusoe.
The young man was Philip Ashton, nineteen year old, who lived in the small town of Marblehead, in what was then the British colony of Massachusetts. In 1722, Ashton went out in a small schooner along with four other men to fish off the coast of Nova Scotia at Cape Sable. After having made a satisfactory catch, Ashton decided to head back home. However, during their return journey, their ship was seized by a group of pirates led by the infamous scoundrel and sadist named Ned Low, known for his brutal torture of victims before killing them. Ashton found himself helpless in the face of this violent man and had no choice but to comply with his demands. Not only did Low confiscate Ashton's schooner, but he also coerced Ashton and his crew into joining the pirate gang.
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“After the Hurricane, Bahamas” by Winslow Homer, 1899.
Source: amusingplanet.com