Rogues and vagabonds - and pirates?

[William Douglas]

I have just stumbled upon a family tree of the pirate, Long John Silver. Whilst I know about many ne'erdowells amongst our extended family (see: www.douglashistory.co.uk/history/articles/rogues&vagabonds.htm ) the family tree of John Silver was brought to my attention by an aggregator website, and to my surprise, he has Douglas descendants.

See: Long John Silver descendants 

At the end of Treasure Island, Long John Silver escapes from hanging with a bag of gold. Stevenson says "that he returned to his old Negress, and perhaps still lives in comfort with her and Captain Flint"

It is possible that the Crown seized Mr. Silver’s assets when he was sentenced to hang, which included the Anchor Inn in Bristol and possibly his wife and their children, if they were still slaves, selling them off in West Indies.

However, it is suggested that Mrs. Silver and her children were sold off in America, and that Silver followed their trail as best as he could but found no trace of them. Among Long John Silver’s descendants of African descent is his grandson James Douglas, slave of Widow Douglas of St. Petersburg, Missouri, famed as the character "Nigger Jim" of Huckleberry Finn.

I have not spent time verifying any of this and rather hope that someone in the Forum might have an interest in the branch of the Douglas family and be able to dig a bit deeper.