Arghhhh ... Is There a Pirate Nearby?

So it be International Talk Like a Pirate Day ...

And we be a sailin' with ole Capt. Burgess ...

Yes, we just might have our own  pirate nearby. The reputation of Capt. Benjamin Burgess' nautical past stems from a Works Progress Administration cemetery list from 1934. Burgess is buried in a small cemetery that is next to Kollas Orchard in Tolland.

The WPA inventory indicates that, "This Captain Burgess was supposed to be a pirate who would come into port at New London and ride horseback to his farm and hide out in a barn until dark, then come to the house and visit his family. There was a price on his head."

Tolland historian Peter Palmer said in a 2012 interview that Burgess was more likely a privateer during the Revolutionary War.

Governments gave privateers legal authority to attack foreign ships. While he's unsure which side may have worked with him, Palmer said that he expects Burgess felt an allegiance towards Connecticut and New England. Naval records from that era are difficult to find, Palmer said.

Burgess was 46 when he died in 1797, which puts him in his mid-20s when the Revolutionary War began.

Burgess had a family - his wife, Rhoda, and daughters Huldah, Cynthia, Nancy and Hannah, according to documents. A number of his daughters' children who died in the first few years of their lives are buried in the same cemetery as Burgess.

Records run aground with an account of Rhoda selling off property to settle some of Burgess' debts. 

And there is no trail of clues for treasure hunters.

How do we like those apples?