[Not the Thomas Paine of Common Sense fame.]

Thomas Paine is believed to have been born in Martha's Vineyard in 1632. His father died young and his mother, Martha, remarried to Thomas Mayhew, governor of the island. He is said to have gone to sea some time after 1647 as an ordinary sailor. From there, he is rumored to have sailed with either L'Ollonais or Morgan (perhaps both as crews signed on for a cruise and were then paid off when they returned to port).

While he was certainly active prior 1678, the first mention of him as a buccaneer captain is as part of Jean Compte d'Estrees fleet that was wrecked off Las Aves. Paine was sailing a small six gun ship with a shallow enough draft that it would have avoided having its bottom ripped open by the reefs. It is likely that he took aboard many of the stranded pirates from the larger wrecked ships and accompanied De Grammont to the sack of Maracaibo in June of 1678. Later in the summer he turns up again at Las Aves to careen his ship and probably to try to salvage any of the remaining supplies and items from the wrecked fleet.

While careening a Dutch ship appeared and fired on the pirates to little effect. Outgunned, outnumbered and defenseless with their ship beached the pirates were saved by the providential arrival of a Dutch sloop, which they rowed out to and boarded during the night. The pirates abandoned their old vessel and snuck out to sea before the larger Dutch vessel knew of the events.

The pirates soon joined forces with a Captain Wright and Jan Willems. Together the pirates cruised the Caribbean and were among those that sacked Rio de la Hacha in 1680. Although serving under a French commission at the time, Paine's English nationality served to aggravate the peace between the Spanish and English. Paine is also rumored to have taken part in a raid on Honduras about this time.

In May of 1680, Paine again joined forces with the Chevalier de Grammont at Isla La Blanquilla and proceeded to help sack La Guaira, Caracas in June of 1680. He and De Grammont were part of the rear guard that held off Spanish reinforcements to allow the pirates to depart after plundering the town. The pirates then returned to Las Aves and Paine assumed command of the small fleet and returned to Hispanola, presumably to Tortuga.

May 1681 found Paine at Springer's Key in the Samballoes Isles in a ship with 10 guns and 100 men, joining forces with several other buccaneers and determined to assault Carpenter's River. A gale dispersed the fleet before they could execute their plans and Paine ended up being blown to Boca del Toro where he decided to careen his ship. After some trouble with the natives the pirates returned to sea.

Advancing in age, it seems that Paine was tiring of the pirate life and seeking legitimacy, he applied to the governor of Jamaica for a pirate hunter commission in the Fall of 1682. In March of 1683 he is noted to have arrived in the Bahamas in the bark, Pearl, of 8 guns and 80 men to salvage a Spanish wreck. He met with some other pirates in the Bahamas and rather than fight them, he joined them in a venture to sack St. Augustine, Florida. A spirited defense of the town and lack of surprise ruined the pirates' plans and saved the town. The pirates proceeded to sack some smaller towns along the coast and then returned to a cold welcome at New Providence.

Fall 1683 found Paine in Rhode Island attempting to settle down amid a storm of accusations and threats of arrest. Fortunately, the governor of Rhode Island, William Coddington was not of a mind to be bullied by other officials, so Paine remained at liberty. The next word of Paine comes in 1687 when he marries the daughter of Caleb Carr, Jamestown judge, and settles in the same town. In July of 1690, Paine was commissioned to drive the French pirate Picard from Block Island, which he did. In 1692 he was appointed a captain in the militia, and in 1698 he was admitted as a freeman of Rhode Island. Aside from a short scandle for hiding some of William Kidd's booty in 1699, he remained a model citizen; setting sail again in 1706 to successfully hunt down a French pirate. He died in 1715 and was buried on his property on Conanicut Island.

One of a few pirates that survived the hardships of life at sea to settle down and live to a ripe old age.