Sunday Favorites: The Oldest Pirate

The only known photo of Gomez is a 1918 postcard produced by Wickman’s Photo Shop in Boca Grande, which featured the following inscription: ”Generally known as Panther Key John, a brother-in-law of the Pirate Chief Gasparilla and a member of his crew, who died at the age of one hundred and twenty years, at Panther Key.“

The photo has been memorialized in several texts claiming the former pirate was 120 years old at his time of death. However there are many discrepancies in the stories. While Gomez is often associated with Panther Key, one of the Ten Thousand Islands located off the west coast of the Florida Everglades, there is conflicting information about where he was buried. While most some texts place his death on July 12, 1900 and his grave site on his homestead at Panther Key, others say he died in 1910 and was buried in Knight Cemetery just three miles north of Myakka.

While this could be just a case of mistaken identity, both men were described in identical ways; they both were known to have ties with Jose Gaspar, they both were said to have been over six feet tall with a sturdy build and both had black beards and hair in their youth that turned snow white with age. In order to find out how, when and where Gomez died, we’ll have to start from the beginning.

Gomez was born in Portugal in 1781. He ran away to Bordeaux France at the age of 12, departing Europe three years later as a cabin boy on a ship. It was the start of an illustrious career as a master seaman. In 1801, Gomez was aboard the Villa Rica when a hurricane blew the ship off course and it was captured by the infamous pirate Jose Gaspar. Then 20 years of age, Gomez was an impressive sight, towering over 6-feet with strong arms used to grinding and trimming sails. Gaspar spared Gomez’s life, offering him a job aboard his own ship.

It was the beginning of a friendship that lasted many years. Whenever the two would get separated, it seemed fate brought them back together. They met many famous people along the way. The pirates reportedly gave Count Odet Philippe, a famous French soldier and surgeon, the gold to start the original stock of the now famous Indian River Citrus grove after he medially treated their entire crew. (Philippe was later inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame after introducing several citrus varieties to Florida).

Gaspar and Gomez had several camps located in different locations throughout Florida’s West Coast and in the Caribbean. One of them was located on an island off of Charlotte Harbor. In 1821, Gomez was tending the camp while Gaspar traveled out to sea. Gaspar saw what he thought was a merchant ship at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor but when he got close, he realized it was actually a government patrol ship incognito. The ship fired a cannon the broadside of Gaspar’s ship sinking it almost instantly. Rather than be captured, Gaspar tied a chain around his neck and leaped overboard, taking his own life.

Gomez and the other men tending the camp were able to escape by boarding a small yawl and losing the patrol ship in shallow water around the Ten Thousand Islands. It was here that Gomez first found Panther Key.

With his pirating days behind him, Gomez was not ready to retire quite yet. After a stint in Cuba, Gomez returned to Florida where he joined Zackary Taylor’s command at age 56, serving as a scout during the Second Seminole War.

Soon after, Gomez was hired as a ship pilot at Fort Armistead, near present-day Sarasota, where he was paid one dollar a day to guide ships safely upon their arrival and departure. When that position was no longer needed, Gomez became a cow hunter, driving Florida cattle upon horseback for a short period of time.

He found he was better suited to serve at sea, so in 1856, he was appointed the first Tampa Bay Pilot by the Governor of the State of Florida. He was 75 years old at the time. Gomez’s age never seemed to hinder his spirits. He went on to become the first person to promote Pass-A-Grille as a tourist attraction, taking excursion parties to and from the beach aboard his schooner Red Jack.

At age 80, he joined Captain John T. Lesley’s company of the Fourth Florida Regiment during the Civil War.

After getting in a fight in Tampa and killing his opponent, Gomez escaped into the woods to avoid arrest but got lost in the process. He became emancipated and confused, but was rescued by a group of women living together in the forest. They nursed him back to help and in return he worked around their farm for several months, offering his assistance in any way he could. He even ended up marrying one of the women. Gomez lived on the farm until his wife died. She became the first person to ever be buried in Beulah Cemetery in Keysville. After her death, Gomez packed his belongings and decided to go back to Panther Key to live out the rest of his days.

Gomez built a palmetto shack on the key and resurrected some of his buried treasure. It seemed he had all he needed. Captain Walter T. Collier was a frequent guest of Gomez’s, and was surprised to hear all of Gomez’s accomplishments. It was hard to dispute the stories; while Gomez was then in his 90s, he was still a strong athletic man capable of climbing a coconut palm. Gomez spoke with a heavy Spanish accent, never wore shoes and sported gold rings in each ear. He could not read or write but could speak seven languages.

There were times when Gomez would disappear for days. At first, Collier worried about his wellbeing, but Gomez would always seem to return with gold coins. Collier assumed that Gomez was tracking down Gaspar’s buried treasure during these excursions. On one such expedition, Gomez returned with treasure and a wife; he was 103 years old.

Gomez got a kick from drawing treasure maps and selling them to area residents. While no one ever seemed to find anything of value after following the maps, they enjoyed Gomez’s company and tall tales. One man doubted they were true saying, ”If he was an ex-pirate and slaver, he was the mildest mannered man that ever scuttled a ship or slit a throat.“

Despite his capabilities, there came a time when Gomez and his wife almost starved due to lack of food and money. Gomez’s friend Collier negotiated a deal with the Fort Myers County Commission so the couple would receive an $8-a-month pension for food and clothing.

As more people began populating the area, Gomez became more and more well-known. There are many historical texts and journals that mention the likeable mild-mannered former pirate and his pirate tales of lost treasure.

In 1900, a census taker traveled to the island to record Gomez’s age. He did not believe Gomez at first when he said he was born in 1781, but after a thorough interview, Gomez was recorded as being 119 years old, a lifetime that spanned three centuries.

On July 12, 1900, Gomez’s boat was found adrift. His body was discovered several days later. While many believed Gomez became entangled in his fishing net and drowned, some suspected suicide as he’d become despondent from his financial situation. He was buried on Panther Key, which was officially designated Gomez Key in honor of the old pirate.

It seems like this is where the story should end, but it does not. At the same time John Gomez, who matched the exact description of the ex-pirate, was living on a 20-acre farm north of Myakka City. In two weeks we will solve this case of mistaken identity once and for all.

The contents of this article were taken from a historical document called ”The Legend of John Gomez, the Last Pirate: Fact or Fiction“ by Pam Gibson, Joe Warner and Libby Warner.