List of Officers and Men Ship-of War Ranger’s Cruises 2/24/1779-11/23/1779

Captain Thomas Simpson and the ship Ranger arrived at Portsmouth on 15 October 1778 in company with Continental Navy frigates Providence and Boston and three prizes taken during the transatlantic crossing after having departed Brest, France on 21 August 1778. The ship-of -war Ranger underwent a refit between mid-October 1778 and 24 February 1779 when the Ranger again departed Portsmouth to rendezvous with Continental Navy ships Warren and Queen of France. The three departed Boston on 13 March 1779 under the command of Captain John B. Hopkins. Cruising down the Atlantic seaboard, the squadron took their first prize, the 10-gun privateer schooner Hibernia on 6 April 1779. The following day, the Continental Navy ships fell into an enemy fleet and captured seven more prizes: the 20-gun ship Jason; 16-gun ship Maria; brigs Patriot, Prince Ferdinand, John, Batchelor and the schooner Chance. The Queen of France returned to Boston with Maria, Hibernia and three of the brigs on 20 April 1779 while the ship Ranger returned to Portsmouth about the same time. The ship Ranger again left Portsmouth on 18 June 1779 to cruise in company with the Providence and Queen of France. Cruising again off the Newfoundland Banks during mid-July, the little squadron fell in with the Jamaican fleet of about 150 ships undetected in the dense fog of early morning. Masquerading as British vessels, the three American warships sailed amidst the enemy fleet all day dispatching boarding parties manning small boats. Taking eleven prizes while not firing a shot or raising any alarm, the Continental Navy vessels and their prizes slipped away from the fleet under the cover of night. Eight of the prizes were sent into Boston accompanied by the Providence with their aggregate cargo valued over one million dollars. The ship Ranger again returned to her home port at Portsmouth where yet another re-provisioning was done.


No muster roll of the Ranger’s last crew has yet been located although from the pension records, clearly at least one survived the War for Independence. According to the testimony of 1st Lieutenant Elijah Hall found in pension applications, the rolls of Ranger’s first cruise “are lost or mislaid”. However, a number of the pensioners refer to a roll of the Ranger in the possession of 1st Lieutenant Elijah Hall between 1818 and 1820 when they filed their applications for a pension. The pension application #S23909 of Benjamin Shute includes a sworn statement by Hall referring to the “original roll now in my possession.” Another statement by Hall refers to the list in his possession of the “Officers & People” of that vessel “made at Charleston”. In addition, the pension application #W-750 of William Hilton includes an 11 March 1835 letter signed by the first Commissioner of Pensions James L. Edwards which indicates the War Department Pension Office confirmed the seaman’s service on the Ranger based “on the roll of that ship in this office”. It is possible the roll earlier in Lieutenant Hall’s possession made its way to the Pension Office. This alphabetized list includes alternate spellings in parentheses, followed by pension application number, state pension was processed through, their rate or quality on the ship, hometown if identified, dates of service and assorted comments found in the pension records.

Barsham Allen, S29581, MA, Mariner, Wells, put on prize Blenheim, fell in hole in 11/1779, “hurt himself badly”, lost two fingers and broke shoulder

Simeon Applebee, S16608, MA, Marine, Berwick, 10/79-5/12/80

William Blunt, W23633, NH, Seaman, Portsmouth, 10/11/77-5/12/80, married to Polly Fernald sister of Amos Fernald

James Boyce (Boice), S36920, NH, Marine, 10/79-5/12/80

James Chesley, W15996, NH, Marine, Barrington, entered at Pepperell’s Cove in Portsmouth Harbor 11/1778, put on 16-gun Jason and brought into Boston

Abram Cook, W23840, MA, Marine Drummer, Lebanon, Fall 79- 5/12/80, also served in war of 1812

David Corson, S22696, NH, Seaman, Milton, went also on Julius Caesar under Nathaniel Bentley

John Davis, S45718, NH, Seaman, Kittery, 10/16/79-5/12/80

John Fifield, W17500, NH, Sergeant of Marines, Milton, 10/79-5/12/80, formerly on Hancock when captured

Thomas Garland, W15901, NH, Marine, Middletown, 5/24/79-9/79

James Gooch, S22268, NH, Captain’s Clerk, Portsmouth, 9/77-5/12/80, made Purser 6/79 at Boston, formerly Captain’s Clerk on frigate Raleigh under Thompson

Ezra Green, S4303, NH, Surgeon, Dover, 6/77-10/79, Commission at Fort under Col. James Read 1/1/1776

Elijah Hall, 1st Lieutenant

Isaac Hanson, W2616, NH, Marine/Seaman, Dover, 6/5/79-5/12/80, enlisted 1st as Marine, Seaman on 2nd Cruise, on Saratoga under John Young afterward

Samuel Hill, W21317, MA, Seaman, Eliot, 10/20/79-5/12/80

William Hilton, W7750, MA, Seaman, Cornville, 10/9/1779-5/12/80, “Master of the Main Top”

Samuel Holbrook, W16605, NH, Seaman

John Hooper, according to Andrew Sherburne

Solomon Hopkins, S35422, ME, Seaman/Quartermaster, Saco, 7/78-5/12/80, entered at Brest, escaped to NC from Charleston

David Horsom, S31142, MA, Berwick, 8/79-Fall 1779, continued from Boston, put on 1st prise taken, 3 weeks later retaken, carried to West Indies

Samuel Horsom, S31134, MA, Seaman, Berwick, 4/1/79-10/79, served as “waister on the main deck” left at Boston

Solomon Hutchins, S10891, MA, Marine/Coxswain, Kittery, 10/77-10/78 & 10/27/78-5/12/80, put on prize, captured, taken to Halifax, rejoined vessel

John Jenkins (Junkins), W1616, NH, Mariner, York, 10/79-5/12/80

Stephen Jones, W766, MA, Seaman, Berwick, 10/79-5/12/80, later entered on ship Alexander under Thomas Simpson, Captain

Benjamin Libbey, W22967, MA, Seaman, Berwick

Samuel Libbey, S37178, NH, Marine, Berwick, 6/18/79-5/12/80

Elias Lord, W21582, MA, Marine, 1779-5/12/80

Thomas Lord, Cooper, according to Andrew Sherburne

William Morris, S37261 & W21824, MA, Lieutenant of Marines, Scituate, 7/78-5/12/80, ordered on Alliance from 11/81 to 5/82, killed at St. Claire 1793

Samuel Odiorn, S36710, ME, Kittery

Samuel Palmer, W23383, NH, Sergeant of Marines, Rochester, Fall 1778-Winter 1779

Pierce Powers, W24264, NH, Midshipman/Masters Mate, Dover, 10/77-5/12/80, right arm shot off, amputated above elbow, died 6/29/80 of Yellow Fever on way home

Benjamin Quint, S45091, NH, Mariner

John Raynes, S45094, NH, Captain’s Clerk, Portsmouth, 10/20/79-5/12/80

John Ricker, S11290, NH, Sergeant of Marines, 10/77-4/28/79 & 8/79-5/12/80, 1st Orderly Sergeant of Marines then Midshipman, in charge of Marines after Wallingford’s death, discharge from Simpson in file

Maturen Ricker, S19052, MA, Seaman, Berwick, 8/79-5/12/80

Noah Ricker, R-8791, NH, Marine, Berwick, 9/1/79-5/80, put on prize Dolphin 1/80

Charles Roberts, Boatswain (Bosun), in 1779, according to Barsham Allen & Andrew Sherburne

George Roberts, W22105, NH, Mariner, Middletown, 9/77-10/78 & 4/79-11/79, discharged at Portsmouth

Joseph Roberts, S16519, NH, Marine, Rochester, 9/1/79-5/12/80

Michael Ryan, S45133, NH, Seaman, 9/77-10/78 & 2/79-5/79

Andrew Sherburne, S42225, NH, Boy/Seaman, 4/79-5/12/80, entered as “a lad” “waiter to an officer” 1st to Mr. Charles Roberts, Boatswain, later Mr. Pierce Powers, Master’s Mate

Benjamin Shute, S23909, NH, Corporal of Marines, 9/28/79-5/12/80

Thomas Simpson, Captain

William Stacy, S37446, MA, Marine/Seaman, 9/77-10/78 & 4/79-11/79, Fore Top Seaman under Daniel Wise

Mark Staples, W22297, MA, Kittery

Richard Tyney, S41277, NH, Seaman, 10/19/79-5/12/80

Joseph Wardwell, W22496, ME, Volunteer Seaman, Frankfurt, 9/28/79-5/12/80

James Weymouth, S29540, NH, Seaman, Portsmouth, 5/29/79-5/12/80, half uncle of Andrew Sherburne, captured at Charleston

Timothy Weymouth, half uncle of (but like a brother to) Andrew Sherburne, captured at Charleston

Daniel Wise, W22635, MA, Seaman, Kennebunk, 3/1/79-1/80, Captain of Fore Top, Captured on Prize brig Dolphin

David Woodsum, W26088, MA, Marine, Berwick, Noah Ricker “in my mess”,“Mr. Morris Capt of Marines”

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List of Officers and Men Ship-of War Ranger’s Last Cruise 11/23/1779-5/12/1780

Captain Thomas Simpson and the ship-of-war Ranger departed Portsmouth for the last time on 23 November 1779 and sailed to Boston where a number of the crew left service, their enlistment being expired. The Ranger, in company with frigates Queen of France, Providence and Boston, departed Boston again on 23 November 1779 intending a cruise east of Bermuda. Under the command of Commodore Abraham Whipple, the squadron arrived at Charleston, SC on 23 December 1779 to assist in the defense of the city besieged by the British. During a short cruise down the coast on 24 January 1780, Ranger and Providence captured three transports loaded with supplies near Tybee, GA. In addition to the transports, Simpson brought news of sighting the approaching British assault force. The vessel stood station in the Cooper River, however Ranger’s crew and indeed the officers and men of the entire Continental Navy fleet defending the city, were surrendered at the fall of Charleston on 12 May 1780. All the men of the Ranger were kept about one month on a prison ship in Charleston and then sent to Philadelphia on a cartel. Most got home in July or August in 1780, some with a passport from the Continental Congress in hand. Ranger was afterward taken into the British Royal Navy and commissioned under the name HMS Halifax.

No muster roll of the Ranger’s last crew has yet been located although from the pension records, clearly at least one survived the War for Independence. According to the testimony of 1st Lieutenant Elijah Hall found in pension applications, the rolls of Ranger’s first cruise “are lost or mislaid”. However, a number of the pensioners refer to a roll of the Ranger in the possession of 1st Lieutenant Elijah Hall between 1818 and 1820 when they filed their applications for a pension. The pension application #S23909 of Benjamin Shute includes a sworn statement by Hall referring to the “original roll now in my possession.” Another statement by Hall refers to the list in his possession of the “Officers & People” of that vessel “made at Charleston”. In addition, the pension application #W-750 of William Hilton includes an 11 March 1835 letter signed by the first Commissioner of Pensions James L. Edwards which indicates the War Department Pension Office confirmed the seaman’s service on the Ranger based “on the roll of that ship in this office”. It is possible the roll earlier in Lieutenant Hall’s possession made its way to the Pension Office. This alphabetized list includes alternate spellings in parentheses, followed by pension application number, state pension was processed through, their rate or quality on the ship, hometown if identified, dates of service and assorted comments found in the pension records.

Simeon Applebee, S16608, MA, Marine, Berwick, 10/79-5/12/80

William Blunt, W23633, NH, Seaman, Portsmouth, 10/11/77-5/12/80, married to Polly Fernald sister of Amos Fernald

James Boyce (Boice), S36920, NH, Marine, 10/79-5/12/80

Abram Cook, W23840, MA, Marine Drummer, Lebanon, Fall 79- 5/12/80, also served in war of 1812

John Davis, S45718, NH, Seaman, Kittery, 10/16/79-5/12/80

John Fifield, W17500, NH, Sergeant of Marines, Milton, 10/79-5/12/80, formerly on Hancock when captured

James Gooch, S22268, NH, Captain’s Clerk, Portsmouth, 9/77-5/12/80, made Purser 6/79 at Boston, formerly Captain’s Clerk on frigate Raleigh under Thompson

Elijah Hall, 1st Lieutenant

Isaac Hanson, W2616, NH, Marine/Seaman, Dover, 6/5/79-5/12/80, enlisted 1st as Marine, Seaman on 2nd Cruise, on Saratoga under John Young afterward

Samuel Hill, W21317, MA, Seaman, Eliot, 10/20/79-5/12/80

William Hilton, W7750, MA, Seaman, Cornville, 10/9/1779-5/12/80, “Master of the Main Top”

Samuel Holbrook, W16605, NH, Seaman

John Hooper, according to Andrew Sherburne

Solomon Hopkins, S35422, ME, Seaman/Quartermaster, Saco, 7/78-5/12/80, entered at Brest, escaped to NC from Charleston

Solomon Hutchins, S10891, MA, Marine/Coxswain, Kittery, 10/77-10/78 & 10/27/78-5/12/80, put on prize, captured, taken to Halifax, rejoined vessel

John Junkins (Jenkins), W1616, NH, Mariner, York, 10/79-5/12/80

Stephen Jones, W766, MA, Seaman, Berwick, 10/79-5/12/80, later entered on ship Alexander under Thomas Simpson

Benjamin Libbey, W22967, MA, Seaman, Berwick

Samuel Libbey, S37178, NH, Marine, Berwick, 6/18/79-5/12/80

Elias Lord, W21582, MA, Marine, 1779-5/12/80

Thomas Lord, Cooper, according to Andrew Sherburne

William Morris, S37261 & W21824, MA, Lieutenant of Marines, Scituate, 7/78-5/12/80, ordered on Alliance from 11/81 to 5/82, killed at St. Claire 1793

Samuel Odiorn, S36710, ME, Kittery

Pierce Powers, W24264, NH, Midshipman/Masters Mate, Dover, 10/77-5/12/80, right arm shot off, amputated above elbow, died 6/29/80 of Yellow Fever on way home

Benjamin Quint, S45091, NH, Mariner

John Raynes, S45094, NH, Captain’s Clerk, Portsmouth, 10/20/79-5/12/80

John Ricker, S11290, NH, Sergeant of Marines, 10/77-4/28/79 & 8/79-5/12/80, 1st Orderly Sergeant of Marines then Midshipman, in charge of Marines after Wallingford’s death, discharge from Simpson in file

Maturen Ricker, S19052, MA, Seaman, Berwick, 8/79-5/12/80

Noah Ricker, R-8791, NH, Marine, Berwick, 9/1/79-5/80, put on prize Dolphin 1/80

Charles Roberts, Boatswain (Bosun), in 1779, according to Barsham Allen & Andrew Sherburne

Joseph Roberts, S16519, NH, Marine, Rochester, 9/1/79-5/12/80

Andrew Sherburne, S42225, NH, Boy/Seaman, 4/79-5/12/80, entered as “a lad” “waiter to an officer” 1st to Mr. Charles Roberts, Boatswain, later Mr. Pierce Powers, Master’s Mate

Benjamin Shute, S23909, NH, Corporal of Marines, 9/28/79-5/12/80

Thomas Simpson, Captain

Mark Staples, W22297, MA, Kittery

Richard Tyney, S41277, NH, Seaman, 10/19/79-5/12/80

Joseph Wardwell, W22496, ME, Volunteer Seaman, Frankfurt, 9/28/79-5/12/80

James Weymouth, S29540, NH, Seaman, Portsmouth, 5/29/79-5/12/80, half uncle of Andrew Sherburne, captured at Charleston

Timothy Weymouth, half uncle of (but like a brother to) Andrew Sherburne, captured at Charleston

Daniel Wise, W22635, MA, Seaman, Kennebunk, 3/1/79-1/80, Captain of Fore Top, Captured on Prize brig Dolphin

David Woodsum, W26088, MA, Marine, Berwick, Noah Ricker “in my mess”,“Mr. Morris Capt of Marines”

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List of Officers and Men Ship-of War Ranger’s First Cruise 11/1/1777-10/15/1778

     The Continental Navy ship-of-war Ranger was launched on 10 May 1777. She departed Portsmouth under the command of John Paul Jones on 1 November 1777 carrying dispatches to France bearing news of General Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga. Two British prizes were taken on the crossing before Ranger arrived at Nantes on 2 December 1777 where the prizes were sold. Captain Jones next sailed the Ranger to Brest where the vessel received an official salute to America’s new flag the “Stars and Stripes” from the French fleet at Quiberon Bay. On 10 April 1778, Ranger sailed from Brest for the Irish Sea, taking a prize four days later. She took another prize on 17 April, before Jones led a daring raid on the Scottish port of Whitehaven on 23 April. After a failed plan to capture the Earl of Selkirk, the captain sailed across the North Channel to Ireland in order to draw the 14-gun HMS Drake into action. After an engagement of one hour, the Drake struck her colors, after which the two vessels circumnavigated the west coast of Ireland before returning to Brest on 8 May 1778. After considerable drama between John Paul Jones and his first officer Thomas Simpson, during which the lieutenant was temporarily arrested and threatened with court-martial by his unpopular superior, Captain Jones was detached from the Ranger to command the Bon Homme Richard. Owing to the fervent loyalty of his crew, Lieutenant Thomas Simpson was exonerated of wrongdoing by Jones and offered a commission as captain of the Ranger. Simpson and the ship Ranger departed Brest on 21 August 1778, arriving at Portsmouth on 15 October 1778 , in company with Continental Navy frigates Providence and Boston and three prizes taken during the transatlantic crossing.

     No muster roll of Ranger’s officers and crew for her maiden voyage is known to have survived although several serious efforts have been made to reconstruct that list. According to the testimony of 1st Lieutenant Elijah Hall found in pension applications, the rolls of Ranger’s first cruise “are lost or mislaid”. Following is yet another list which builds on earlier work by Augustus Buell and more recently Joseph G. Sawtelle. This alphabetized list includes alternate spellings of each in parentheses, followed by a hometown if known or previously hypothesized, their rate or quality on the ship, a pension application number if applicable, assorted comments and in brackets- footnoted references to the individual.

Amos Abbot (Abbo, Albert), Portsmouth, Prize Crew of ship Malaga & brig George 11/26/1777-1/12/1778 [2,3,7,8]

Thomas Adams, Boston [3,7,8]

Scipio Africanus, Negro [3,7,8]

Joseph Afrin [3,8]

Nathan Aldrich, Nantucket [4,7]

Nelson Aldrich, Boy, Nantucket [4,7]

William Allen, New Castle, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [3,5,7,8]

Andrew Anderson, New Bedford [3,7,8]

Francis Andros (François André), Castine [3,7,8]

John Arney, Boatswain’s Yeoman [1,8]

Charles Ball (Balls), Portsmouth [3,7,8]

Samuel Ball [3,8]

Thomas Beck (Becke, Beckett), Portsmouth, Boy/Private of Marines/Coxswain, NH S45524 [1,2,3,7,8]

John Bettenham, Philadelphia, Captain’s Steward [1,3,7,8]

William Bicknell, Cape Ann, Boy/Private of Marines [2,4,7]

Bertprich, one of two Prisoners entered 12/1777 [2]

William Blunt, Seaman, Portsmouth, NH Pensioner W23633

Denis Bouchinet, entered at Brest, Sergeant of Marines [6]

Louis Boutelle, Castine [4,7]

Robert Bowers, Philadelphia [4,7]

Samuel Bowers, Philadelphia [4,7]

Edmund Boyenton (Edward Boynton), Boston, Boy, Runaway with the Cutter 3/10/1778, Returned and put in Irons 3/13/1778, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [2,3,5,7,8]

Benjamin Brackett (Racklett), Berwick, Boy/Private of Marines [2,3,7,8]

Joseph Brien (O’Brian), Castine [4,7]

John Brown, taken Down With the Small pox 3/7/1778 [2,3,8]

Captain Bullfinch [2,8]

John Byerly, Philadelphia [4,7]

Cato Carlile (Calite), Negro [3,7,8]

John Casey, Portsmouth [3,7,8]

John Caverly, Sergeant of Marines, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [1,5,8]

Nicholas Caverly (Coverley), Portsmouth [3,7,8]

Samuel Chandler, Prize Crew of Lord Chatham 4/17/1778-5/8/1778 [2,8]

William Chandler, Portsmouth [4,7]

James Chase, Nantucket, later commanded whale ship Harmony [4,7]

Reuben Chase, Nantucket, afterward Midshipman of Bon Homme Richard [4,7]

Albert Cogswell, Nantucket [4,7]

John Colbath (Colbaith), Portsmouth, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [3,5,7,8]

Frank Conroy, New Bedford [4,7]

Jacob Coxe, Philadelphia [4,7]

Charles Crampton [Frampton], Nantucket, Boy/Private of Marines [3,5,7,8]

Oliver Crommett (Crummet), Portsmouth, Boy, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [3,5,7,8]

David Cullam (Collam, Collum), Sailing Master/Lieutenant of Marines, replaced Wallingford [2,7]

William Dahuere [3,8]

Darby Daley (Dayley), Portsmouth [3,7,8]

Pierre Daniel, entered at Brest, Private of Marines, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [6]

Matthew Davis, Philadelphia [4,7]

Thomas Davis, New Bedford, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [4,7]

John Delain, Prize Crew of Lord Chatham 4/17/1778-5/8/1778 [8]

Stephen Dickson, Kittery, Boy [3,7,8]

John Dolan (Doelan), Cape Ann, Boy [3,7,8]

John Dougall [Dougal, John W. Dangle], Boston, Seaman/Quartermaster, Killed in Action with Drake 4/25/1778 [7,8]

Obediah Donnell (Donell, Dowell), York, Seaman, MA Pensioner W24870, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [3,5,7,8]

Jonathan Dore, Milton, NH Pensioner S10581

John Douglas, prisoner in Dublin sloop sunk 4/20/1778 [2,8]

Johnny Downs (John Downes), Portsmouth, Boy, Simpson writes to JPJ “Jack is very unwell”, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [2,8]

Caleb Emery (Emory), Kittery, Boy, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [3,5,7,8]

William English, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [2,3,5,8]

William Evers, Boatswain’s Mate [1,8]

James Falls (Thomas M. Falls), Salem, Gunner, Wounded in Action with Drake 4/25/1778 [1,7,8]

Pierre Fanchot, entered at L’Orient, Seaman & Pilot, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [2,4]

Nathaniel Fanning, Salem, Midshipman, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [4,7]

William Farrant, Master’s Mate [1,8]

William Fennel (Finnel, Finney), Portsmouth, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [3,5,7,8]

Joseph Fernald, Kittery [3,7,8]

Barzillai Folger, Nantucket, later commanded the whaling brig Fox [4,7]

Seth Folger, Nantucket, later commanded the ships Harmony and Rebecca [4,7]

Stephen Folger, Boy, Nantucket [4,7]

Nicolas Forestier, entered at Brest, Corporal of Marines [6]

John G. (Joseph) Frazer (Fraiser), Major of Marines, entered as Volunteer [2,8]

David Freeman, Irishman, Deserted at Whitehaven [2]

William Furness [8]

Edward Gale, Carpenter’s Mate, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [5,8]

John Garoin (Gardin), Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [3,5,8]

Joseph Galois, entered at Brest, Corporal of Marines, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [6]

Henry Gardner, Nantucket, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [4,7]

Latham Gardner, Nantucket, later commanded a whaling and sealing schooner [4,7]

William Garth, New Bedford, Boy [4,7]

Charles Gaudreau (Gaudraw, Goodro, Goodrew), Castine, Runaway with the Cutter 3/10/1778, Returned and put in Irons 3/13/1778 [2,3,7,8]

Gabriel Gautier (Gortrey, Gauthier, Gurtrey), Castine, Runaway at Nantes 12/29/1777 [2,3,7,8]

William Gerrish Gerrith (Garish, Gerrith, Gerritt, Garritt), Portsmouth Boy, Prize Crew Lord Chatham 4/17/1778-5/8/1778 [3,7,8]

James Gooch (George), Captain’s Clerk, Portsmouth, NH Pensioner S22268 [1,7,8]

Aaron Goodwin, Boy, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [4]

Ephraim Grant, Berwick, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [3,5,7,8]

George Grant, Berwick, Boy [4,7]

Arthur Green, Kittery, Midshipman [4,7]

Dr. Ezra Green, Dover, Surgeon, NH Pensioner S4303 [7,8]

Captain Joseph Green, Portsmouth, NH Pensioner S37044, Midshipman, Prize Master brig Mary 11/23/1777-12/17/1777, Prize Master brig Independence [1,2,8]

Nelson Green, Portsmouth, Surgeon/Purser [4]

John W. Grohmarney [3,8]

John Grosvenor, Portsmouth [4,7]

Gabral Gurtrey [8]

Elijah Hall, Portsmouth, Second Lieutenant, Sent on Drake 5/6/1778 in room of Mr. Simpson [2,7,8]

Reuben Hanscom, Kittery [3,7,8]

William Hart, Runaway 2/12/1778 [2,8]

John Hartly (Hartley), Philadelphia [4,7]

William Hitchburn (Hichburn), Salem, Carpenter, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [4,7]

Benjamin Hill, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [5,8]

Charles Hill, Barnstable, Midshipman, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [4,7]

Samuel Holbrook, Portsmouth, Boy/Private of Marines, NH Pensioner W16605, Prize Crew of ship Malaga & brig George 11/26/1777-1/12/1778 [2,3,7,8]

John Holliday, Portsmouth, Boy/Private of Marines [2,7]

Joel Hutchings (Hutchins), Cooper, Prize Crew of brig Mary 11/23/1777-12/17/1777, Prize Crew of brig Independence [1,2,8]

Solomon Hutchings (Hutchins), Kittery, Seaman/Coxswain, Kittery, MA Pensioner S10891, Sick with Smallpox 3/9/1778 but Recovered [2,3,7,8]

Daniel Jackson, Portsmouth, Seaman/Private of Marines, Prize Crew of brig Mary 11/23/1777-12/17/1777, Prize Crew of brig Independence [2,3,7,8]

John Jackson, Quartermaster [1,8]

Daniel Jacobs, Kittery [3,7,8]

Thomas Palmer James, Gunner’s Mate [1,8]

Captain Jenkins [8]

Anthony Jeremiah, Martha’s Vineyard, Narragansett Indian [4,7]

John Paul Jones, Philadelphia, Captain [7,8]

William Jones, Runaway with the Cutter 3/10/1778, Returned and put in Irons 3/13/1778, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [2,3,5,8]

Reuben Joy, Nantucket [4,7]

James Keen, Philadelphia [4,7]

Amos Kenneston (Kenarton), Prize Crew of Lord Chatham 4/17/1778-5/8/1778 [2,3,8]

Samuel Knap, Cook [1,8]

Abraham Knight, Nottingham, Boy, Prize Crew of Lord Chatham 4/17/1778-5/8/1778 [2,3,7,8]

Thomas Knight, Kittery, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [4,7]

Pierre L’Eveque, entered at L’Orient, Seaman & Pilot, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [2]

Charles Lamont, Portsmouth [4,7]

Joseph La Plante (La Plant), Portsmouth, Runaway with the Cutter 3/10/1778 [2,3,7,8]

James Laighton (Leighton), Mariner, NH Pension S44506 [3,8]

Samuel Lock (Locke), Salem or Rye, Boy [3,7]

Solomon Loud (Lowd), Prize Master of brig George 11/26/1777-1/12/1778, Prize Master of brig Patience 4/26/1778-5/11/1778 [2,8]

Thomas Low (Lowe), Boston, Sailmaker, Captain of the Forecastle, Runaway & Caught, Put in Irons, 1/26/1778, Runaway with the Cutter 3/10/1778, Returned and put in Irons 3/13/1778 [1,2,3,7,8] Refer to letter from Thomas Pearson Low to Benjamin Franklin dated April 1778

Freeman Lufkin, Nantucket [4,7]

Peter Marcom, Captain of the Forecastle [1,8]

Felix Marselle (Marrel), entered at Brest, Private of Marines, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [6]

James Marston, Boston [4,7]

Henry Martin, Nantucket, afterwards warrant officer on Bon Homme Richard, killed in action with Serapis [4,7]

Joseph Mathieu (Matthew, Methew), Castine, Runaway at Nantes 12/29/1777, Runaway with the Cutter 3/10/1778, Returned and put in Irons 3/13/1778 [2,3,7,8]

Adam McAdam, prisoner in Dublin sloop sunk 4/20/1778 [2,8]

Thomas Mead, Gunner’s Yeoman, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [1,5,8]

James Meserve, Portsmouth, Midshipman [4,7]

Edmund Meyers, Gentleman Volunteer [4] probably Jean Meyer (Meijer), lieutenant in the Swedish army, enlisted as a volunteer in February 1778, Jones’ second in command during the Whitehaven raid

John Munson (Monson), Boston, Prize Crew of brig Mary 11/23/1777-12/17/1777 [2,3,7,8]

Robert Moore, New Bedford or Kittery [3,4,7]

C. Ford Morris, Gentleman Volunteer [4]

Lewis Morris, Philadelphia [4,7]

Jacob Muchmore, Quartermaster, Prize Crew of Lord Chatham 4/17/1778-5/8/1778 [1,2,8]

Edward Myers (Myer, Mires, Miers), Boatswain’s Mate, Runaway with the Cutter 3/10/1778,  Returned and put in Irons 3/13/1778, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [1,2,5,8]

Daniel Nelson, Marine, Canaan, ME Pensioner W21841 [3,8]

Richard Nolan, Runaway 2/12/1778 [2,8]

James Nicholson, Nantucket, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [4,7]

William Nye, Nantucket [4,7]

Samuel Odiorne (Ordiorne, O’Dorne), Kittery, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [3,5,7,8]

Thomas Palmer, Gunner’s Mate, Portsmouth, NH Pensioner S45054

Matthew Parke, Captain of Marines, Dismissed in France to return in frigate Deane 2/1778 [2,8]

John Parsons, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [3,5,8]

William Perkins (Pirkins), Boston, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [3,5,7,8]

Robert Poor (Poore), Cape Ann, Boy/Private of Marines, NH Pensioner W26925 [3,5,7,8]

Pierce Powers, Portsmouth, Midshipman, NH Pensioner W24264, Lost right hand in action with Drake 4/24/1778 [7,8]

John Price, Philadelphia [4,7]

Benjamin Quint, NH Pensioner S45091, Prize Crew of brig Mary 11/23/1777-12/17/1777, Prize Crew of brig Independence [2,8]

Joseph Rackyeft (Rackley, Ratcliffe), Sick with Smallpox, Put on Shore at Pont Laibbe 3/5/1778, Returned on Board 4/4/1778 [1,2,3,8]

William Redden (Reading), Portsmouth, Sick 3 weeks and Died, Buried Ashore at Camarat Bay 3/18/1778 [2,8]

James Ricker (Recker, Rickor), Sag Harbor or Berwick, Boy [3,7,8]

John Ricker (Recker), Sergeant of Marines, NH Pensioner S11290 [1,2,8]

Paul Ricker (Recker) [2,8]

Reuben Ricker (Recker), Berwick, Boy [2,3,7,8]

George Roberts, Mariner, Middleton, NH Pensioner W22105

James Roberts (Robarts), Berwick, Seaman/Private of Marines [2,3,7,8]

John Roberts, Berwick, Boy [3,7]

William Roberts, Nantucket, afterwards petty officer on Bon Homme Richard [4,7]

John Calvin Robinson, Philadelphia, Boatswain, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [4,7]

Michael Ryan, Seaman, NH Pensioner S45133

Peter Santgrath (Sontgerath, Sangrath, Sangrate), Philadelphia, Runaway with the Cutter 3/10/1778, Returned and put in Irons 3/13/1778 [2,3,7,8]

Daniel Sargent (Sargant), Kittery [3,7]

Daniel Sargent Jr., Cape Ann, Seaman, Wounded in Action with Drake, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [3,5,7,8]

Nathan Sargent, Portsmouth, Chief Quartermaster, Acting Master [4,7]

Francois Sentier, Refer to Letter to Benjamin Franklin January 1778

John Seward (Seaward), Master’s Mate, Prize Master of Lord Chatham 4/16/1778-5/8/1778 [1,2,8]

John Shannon, entered at Nantes 1/3/1778, Runaway 1/26/1778 [2]

Edward Shapley (Shapleigh), Portsmouth, Boy, Prize Crew of ship Malaga & brig George 11/26/1777-1/12/1778, Prize Crew of Lord Chatham 4/17/1778-5/8/1778 [2,3,7,8]

John Shapley, Coxswain [1,8]

Daniel Sherburne, Portsmouth [3,7,8]

William Shores, Portsmouth or New Hampton, Boy/Seaman, NH Pensioner S43133 [3,7,8]

Theophilus Simpson, York [3,7,8]

Thomas Simpson, Portsmouth, First Lieutenant, Prizemaster of Drake 4/26/1778-5/8/1778 [2,7,8]

Duncan Sinclair (Sinclour), prisoner in Dublin sloop sunk 4/20/1778 [2,8]

David Smith, Deserted at Whitehaven 4/23/1778 [8]

James Smith, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [2,3,5,8]

William Smith [2,8]

William Stacy, Kittery, Marine/Seaman, MA Pensioner S37446 [3,7,8]

Mark Staples, Kittery, MA Pensioner W22297, Wounded in Action with Drake, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [2,3,5,7,8]

Simon Staples (Staple, Raples), Kittery [3,7,8]

Thomas Staples (Staple), Kittery, Coxswain [3,7,8]

Matthew Starbuck, Nantucket, Seaman, Wounded in Action with Drake, later commanded the ships Warren and Hudson [4,7]

Owen Starbuck, Nantucket, Quarter Gunner [4,7]

Samuel Stark (Starke), Dover, Boy/Private of Marines [2,7]

Amos Stockham, Philadelphia [4,7]

Jean Tardif, entered at Brest, Private of Marines, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [6]

Thomas Taylor, Quartermaster, Wounded in Action with Drake 4/25/1778 [8]

Joseph Trefethen (George Trefathen, Trepethen), deserted from the Cutter 1/24/1778, Returned 1/26/1778, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [2,8]

Leis Turtain, Runaway at Nantes 12/29/1777 [2,8]

Thomas Turner, Nantucket, afterwards warrant officer on Bon Homme Richard, killed in action with Serapis [4,7]

John Vance Runaway 2/2/1778 [2,8]

John Varney [2,8]

John Voiler, Prize Crew of ship Malaga & brig George 11/26/1777-1/12/1778 [2,8]

Jacob Walden (Walderon), Steward, Portsmouth, NH Pensioner S23061 [1,7,8]

Thomas Walden (Waldon), Carpenter [1,8]

John Walker, Portsmouth, Boy, went with JPJ to Bon Homme Richard [3,7,8]

Samuel (Richard) Wallingford, Philadelphia, Lieutenant of Marines, Killed in Action with Drake 4/25/1778 [2,7,8]

Charles Ward, Portsmouth, Prize Crew of ship Malaga & brig George 11/26/1777-1/12/1778, Prize Crew of Lord Chatham 4/17/1778-5/8/1778 [2,3,7,8]

Ebenezer Watson, Portsmouth, Seaman/Private of Marines, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [2,3,5,7,8]

Hugh Watson, prisoner in Dublin sloop sunk 4/20/1778 [2,8]

Nathaniel (Jonathan) Wells, Portsmouth, Seaman/Quartermaster, Wounded in Action with Drake 4/24/1778, Died of Wounds 5/4/1778 [7,8]

Daniel Wentworth Wendell (Windell), Midshipman, Son of JPJ’s friend John Wendell, Prize Master of brig Patience 5/11/1778 in Room of Solomon Lowd [2,8]

John Whalen, Prize Crew of Drake 4/25/1778-5/8/1778 [5,8]

John Wheeler, Quartermaster, Wilton, NH Pensioner S37540, Prize Crew of ship Bordeau & brig George 11/26/1777-1/12/1778 [1,2,8]

Mahlon Williams, Philadelphia [4,7]

Nathaniel Willis [4]

Richard Wilson, Boatswain [1,8]

Davis Wood (Woodde) [3,8]

David Woodhouse, Cooper [2,8]

Paul Worth, Nantucket, later commanded ship Beaver “first American whaler in the Pacific” [4,7]

Philander Wright, Philadelphia [4,7]

William Young, York [3,7]

Jonathan Young, Armorer [1,8]

1) List of Warrant & Petty officers of the Ranger (28 total) on “Petition to the American Commissioners, Road of Brest, 15 June 1778”

2) Noted in Correspondence or Ranger’s Logbook

3) List of Crew Members (77 total) on Petition from the Ranger’s Men to the Commissioners dated June 1778 from the ”Jovial Tars Now on Board the Continental Sloop of War Ranger”

4) List of Nantucket Men who served under John Paul Jones during the Revolutionary War published in 1907 by the Nantucket Historical Association

5) List of Prize Crew of Drake in Defense of Thomas Simpson dated 5/16/1778

6) List of eight Frenchmen enlisted on Ranger in early spring 1778 in letter from Jones to Franklin

7) Included in “A nearly correct roll of the officers and crew (129 total) of the Continental ship Ranger when she sailed on her first cruise, Nov. 1, 1777, from the Piscataqua River” published in Augustus Buell’s “Paul Jones, Founder of the American Navy” (1900)

8) Included in “Roster of the Ranger” (136 total) published in Joseph G. Sawtelle’s “John Paul Jones and the Ranger” (1994)

9) Included in “A record of the services of the commissioned officers and enlisted men (131 total) of Kittery and Eliot, Maine, who served their country on land and sea in the American Revolution, from 1775 to 1783” (1901) published by Oliver P. Remick.

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John Seaward, Master’s Mate

John Seaward, or Seward, was Master’s Mate on the ship Ranger under Captain John Paul Jones. He appears to have been associated with Captain Jones since at least 10 September 1777 when Jones wrote to John Bradford, “Mr Seaward and Mr [Louis Daniel] Charrier comes to Boston to procure a few articles for the Ranger of which they bring memorandums – if they meet with the necessary Assistance so as to enable them to return here immediatly they will find the Ship in readiness to depart.” He is probably the same John Seaward that Continental agent Col. John Langdon reimbursed in March 1776 for “for going round to return Schooner at Newbury Port p[er] receipt”, referring to the New Hampshire schooner Success after her fruitful delivery of sorely needed gunpowder conveyed from St. Lucia to Washington’s troops at Cambridge.

The Continental Navy sloop-of-war Ranger was launched on 10 May 1777. She departed Portsmouth under the command of John Paul Jones on 1 November 1777 carrying dispatches to France bearing news of General Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga. Two British prizes were taken on the crossing before Ranger arrived at Nantes on 2 December 1777. Jones next sailed the Ranger to Brest where the vessel received a salute to the new “Stars and Stripes” from the French fleet at Quiberon Bay. On 10 April 1778, Ranger sailed from Brest for the Irish Sea. Four days out, Ranger captured the brig Dolphin conveying flaxseed from Ostend to Wexford, which after taking her crew prisoner was scuttled. On 16 April 1778, off Wicklow on the east coast of Ireland, the 250-ton Lord Chatham carrying a hundred hogsheads of English wine was taken without a fight. Master’s Mate John Seaward was made prize master and directed to sail to Brest with orders from Captain Jones, “Mr. John Seaward you are hereby appointed Commander of our Prize the Ship Lord Chatham you are to navigate hur to Brest in Fraince as Sune as Possible on your Arival thir you are to Recive and Obay the Directions of Monsr. De La Porte Respeting, the Ship and you ar to remain with the People, under your Command at Brest untill you have Orders to Go Elswhear from the Commissioners or from Me, your faithful Discharge of the Trust hearby Repared in, you will Recomend you to My further Notes and attenticon Giveng on Bor the American Continental Ship of War Ranger the 16th of Aprel 1778. John Pol Jones”.

Arriving at Brest on 22 April, Seaward wrote to Benjamin Frankin in Paris on 4 May 1778, “Honorable Sir. Acording to Orders Which ar in the other Side, I arived in this Porte with the Ship Lord Chatham tacking [taken] the 16th of aprel and applied to Monsr. De La Porte who Sent for Mr. Riou Kings Intprter in this Porte and had the Ship orderd in the Porte and all the hatches Lockd in Saftey. As for My Sealf and Men have Ben obliged to Keep a Shour Close By the Ship Whear Wee May Tacke Ceare of hur Regging and Pumping hur out. Mr. Riou Who has Suplyed the Ranger when in this Porte Suplyes the Ship Crue with all Nesrey, and So we will all Stay Till the Captn. of the Ranger awrrivil [arrival] which I Be Leve, Will Be in a fortnite or Orders from your Honer. Sir I Should Be Glad you Would Drict our orders To Mr. Riou. Sir, the offersers and Ships Crew was Contented Mr. Riou would Tack Ceare of thir Parte If the Vesel is Sold. I Should Be Glad of your Orders for So Dueing. From Sir Most humble Survent To Surve John Seaward”. In completing his orders as prize master of the Lord Chatham, Master’s Mate John Seaward was absent from Jones’ raid on the Scottish port of Whitehaven 23 April and Ranger’s bloody hour-long engagement with the 14-gun HMS Drake off Ireland. Ranger returned to Brest on 8 May 1778, four days after Seawards letter to Franklin was penned. It was during his time at Brest that John Seaward joined many of the other warrant and petty officers of the Continental Ship of War Ranger on 15 June 1778 to petition the American Commissioners in favor of Portsmouth’s First Lieutenant Thomas Simpson who was the target of Captain Jones’ hostility and under arrest on his orders. Due to their unwavering support and Simpson’s demonstrated competence, he was ultimately exonerated of wrongdoing and placed in command of Ranger for her homeward bound crossing which departed on 21 August 1778. Ranger arrived home to Portsmouth on 15 October 1778 in company with Continental Navy frigates Providence and Boston and three prizes taken during the transatlantic voyage.

It is highly likely this same John Seaward is recorded in the “Memoirs of Andrew Sherburne”, who wrote forty-seven years later that as a sixteen year old, he entered Old Mill Prison in Plymouth, England on the last day of November 1781. Sherburne hailed from Portsmouth and was a veteran of Ranger’s first cruise out of Portsmouth under Captain Thomas Simpson on 24 February 1779. He noted Captain John Seaward among those other Portsmouth prisoners confined there on his arrival. Seaward appears to have been imprisoned there already for almost two and a half years since his committal on 3 July 1779, some while after being taken in the General Sullivan’s prize in early January 1779. The 18-gun New Hampshire privateer General Sullivan and her hundred man compliment were placed under the command of Captain Thomas Manning on 16 November 1778. The vessel sailed from Portsmouth near the end of December and soon took her first prize, the 8-gun 130-ton armed ship Mary, loaded with a cargo of flour and bread bound from Quebec to New York. About 6 January 1779, General Sullivan engaged HMS packet boat Weymouth in a bloody action which resulted in the mortal wounding of Weymouth’s Captain Buckingham, four other of her crew killed, several wounded and four feet of water in her hold. Weymouth had sailed on 19 November 1778 from Jamaica for England carrying the West Indies mail without a convoy. According to the testimony of Portsmouth Custom House official John McClintock in the rejected pension application of John H. Seaward, General Sullivan fell in with the 20-gun British ship Weymouth on 9 January 1779. After an hour and half of action in which the captain and every officer save the chief mate, one midshipman and the ship’s doctor were killed, Weymouth was a “complete wreck.’ In addition to twenty-seven of the enemy killed or wounded according to McClintock, General Sullivan’s toll included fifteen casualties. McClintock mistakenly believed John H. Seaward was the John Seaward who served as Master’s Mate on the General Sullivan. On 12 January 1779, General Sullivan also captured the British privateer Endeavour followed by the brig Union, before all the vessels sailed towards Britain while “suffering incredible hardships by the rigor of the seasons and boisterous winds & Seas”. The packet boat Weymouth under prize master John Seaward, was retaken by the Liverpool privateers Rawlinson and Clarendon off Lands End at the most southwesterly extremity of Great Britain.

Despite his long incarceration, the citizens of Portsmouth never abandoned Captain John Seaward to Old Mill Prison. A 24 June 1781 petition of recently captured Joseph Drew to the New Hampshire legislature reveals a plan to exchange himself for Seaward by sending the British mariner to Bermuda in the brig Olive Branch from whence he “can easily take shipping for England”. The petition indicates Joseph Drew, from Dartmouth, England, was a passenger on board the brig Jupiter bound for Quebec when captured on 21 May 1781 by the ship Royal Louis under the command of Nathan Nichols. Drew’s petition is designed “to procure the release of any one American-prisoner that may be particularly chosen and pointed out by your honors He is informed in particular, of one John Seaward of Portsmouth in this State who has been confined above 2 years in the Mill-Prison in Plymouth, which is very near to where your Petitioner lives, and he is willing to enter into Bonds to procure his release, or return himself immediately to this State, tho’ he entertains not the least doubt that he shall obtain his discharge. He has also an Apprentice Boy a prisoner with him whom he would also be glad might go with him for which he would engage to use his utmost endeavours that one other American-prisoner should be released One Mark Fernald in particular, an inhabitant of Portsmouth is mentioned, whom he doubts not he could procure in exchange for his said Boy”. Drew continues, “Your petitioner would also add that he personally is a well wisher to this Country, having formerly traded much to it, and having married a lady from it”. It was in the early summer of 1782 that young Andrew Sherburne writes about their return home from Old Mill in the 400-ton Lady’s Adventure commanded by Captain Mitchel Humble bound to Boston which made land in Marblehead instead, “With difficulty I made out to get to the water side, about twenty rods, but was unable to get on board the boat without help, and when we got alongside of the ship, my friends put me on board. My Portsmouth and Kittery friends, released my good friend Lawrence, from his charge. Capt. John Seward, Capt. Mark Firnald, Ephraim Clark, Aaron Goodwin, Mr. Bodge, and Nehemiah Weymouth, having some money procured sea stores, viz: coffee, tea, sugar, &c. which together with the ship’s allowance admitted of their living very well. They very kindly took me into their mess, and promised to take care of me upon the condition that if I got able I should wait on the mess: that was to boil the tea-kettle, &c. I believe the ship did not lie in port many hours after we got on board, before we were under way for the land of liberty.”

With at least three seasoned mariners of the same name serving during the American Revolution, the identity of the Master’s Mate of ship Ranger remains as much a mystery today as it was sixty years after the cessation of hostilities when the Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics on 13 June 1840 published this article titled the “Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill” initiating a public controversy over the true identity of John Seaward, Continental Navy veteran and ‘Patriot of the Revolution’. “The preparations which are making in all the principal towns in New-Hampshire to attend the Convention of the People at Concord, on Wednesday next, promises, should the weather be favorable, to make it the most extensive and general assemblage ever held in New-Hampshire. From Portsmouth about TWO HUNDRED are expected to attend. The procession will be headed by a full rigged SHIP, the Constitution, 23 feet long, accompanied by a barge of 14 feet, both well manned, and drawn by six horses. The Commodore of the Constitution is to be JOHN H. SEAWARD, Esq., a Patriot of the Revolution, who took an active part with the Whigs of ’76 in achieving the Independence of our Country. He was on board the Ranger with John Paul Jones- was six times taken by the enemy during the Revolution, suffered imprisonment one year at New-York and two years at Mill Prison in England, committed as a Rebel- was three times regularly exchanged by cartel, twice effected his escape, and last by the peace in ’82. When the new Constitution was adopted in 1783 accompanied Thomas Manning in the Ship which was drawn through the streets of Portsmouth in honor of the occasion. Although now in his eighty-second year, he retains the vivacity and agility of former years and patriotism unimpaired- offering on the present occasion to accompany the young men on a pedestrian tour to Concord, if they would attempt it. Such is the Commodore of the Constitution: and his officers and crew, some of them co-patriots of ’76, are every way worthy the commander. From Dover, Great-Falls, Newmarket, Exeter, and other towns in this vicinity, there will be large Delegations in attendance. The People will literally be there.

In an all out political broadside delivered three days later headlined “THE BRITISH WHIG FEDERAL SHIP AND HER COMMANDER” the New Hampshire Gazette hurled stinging accusations concerning honorary Commodore John H. Seaward. “The British Whigs are making great preparations for their Convention at Concord. They calculate, so says the Journal, on a delegation of about two hundred, to go from this town, and among the rest of the pageantry, have prepared a full rigged ship to be drawn by six horses. It appears that no American bottom would answer their purpose, and so if what we hear be true, they have taken for this purpose a barge which is said to have belonged to a British man of war, and which from some injury was sold or abandoned at Calcutta and purchased or picked up by the Capt. of one of our Portsmouth merchantmen and brought to this country. So much for the British bottom, and a very appropriate one it is for the pompous show and pageantry of a British Whig convention. Recently, when the same party undertook to celebrate at New York the victory over the British at Fort Meigs, the British vessels in the harbor of N. York, to give a sort of eclat to this celebration of a victory over their own troops, and out of complaisance and fellow feeling towards the British Whigs of our country, were dressed, out and decorated with the flags of all nations in honor of the occasion. Wonder if they will not do the same in honor of our New Hampshire Whigs who have selected the 17th of June, the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, for their grand jubilee at Concord? But to return to the ship, which our Portsmouth whigs are preparing for a high and dry excursion above Salt River. We find in the last Journal the following notice of the old gentleman who is to be the “Commodore”: “The Commodore of the Constitution is to be JOHN H. SEAWARD, Esq., a Patriot of the Revolution, who took an active part with the Whigs of ’76 in achieving the Independence of our Country. He was on board the Ranger with John Paul Jones- was six times taken by the enemy during the Revolution” &c. “When the new Constitution was adopted in 1783 accompanied Thomas Manning in the Ship which was drawn through the streets of Portsmouth in honor of the occasion.”

Portsmouth’s Gazette resumes with their attack on John H. Seaward, “The Constitution was not adopted in 1783 but in 1789; but let this go for a typographical error. In 1789, as parties had not taken their ground and organized in opposition to each other to any great extent, the great majority rejoiced at the adoption of the Constitution with all its faults, for it was pretty generally conceded that there were faults in that instrument which should be and which in fact were in due time remedied. In ’89, therefore. it is possible that John H. Seaward may have followed the multitude in the train on that celebration: But even this is a matter of much doubt. There was a young man at that time of the name of John D. Seaward, who was brought up by Capt. Manning as a seaman, & afterwards became a ship-master, who is known to have been with Capt. Manning on that celebration, and it is more than probable that he was the only John Seaward with him on that occasion. We have no confidence in Seaward’s own statement in these matters & for this lack of confidence we shall before we have done offer some good reasons. But one thing is notorious among all our inhabitants who know any thing of olden time, that from the time the people began to divide into parties and began to call other by the names of Federalists and Republicans. the latter of which were nicknamed “Jacobins,” from that moment Thomas Manning and John H. Seaward were on opposite sides of the hedge and we suspect they always were. MANNING was with the democrats to the day of his death with LANGDON, GARDNER, and WHIPPLE and other worthies of that class, while John H. Seaward was with the federal party, that party whose leaders were made up of tories of the Revolution- and there he is now, without change or shadow of turning.”

The “young man… who was brought up by Capt. Manning as a seaman, & afterwards became a ship-master, who is known to have been with Capt. Manning on that celebration” in 1789 is John D. Seaward who was baptized on 14 January 1770. He was the son of John Drew Seaward (1723-1770) who was married one year earlier to Sarah Beck on 1 January 1769. Prior to his son’s first birthday, John Drew Seaward died at the age of forty-nine in Grenada on 12 March 1770. Four years later on 3 February 1774, thirty-two year old widow Sarah Seaward was married to Portsmouth Innholder Thomas Manning, about twenty years her senior. Manning’s first wife Mary had died just three months earlier on 4 November 1773 at the age of fifty-three. Thomas and Mary Manning shared at least five children, the oldest being the Captain Thomas Manning (1747-1819) referred to in the Constitution Celebration of 1789. The universally well-respected Captain Thomas Manning was Sailing Master of the frigate Raleigh under Thomas Thompson and commander of the privateers 18-gun General Sullivan in 1778, 10-gun Diana in 1780, Hector in late 1780 and sloop Blossom in 1782. The “young” John D. Seaward spoken of was Captain Manning’s nineteen year old orphaned step-brother. According to his will dated 1803, this thirty-something Seaward was a mariner who would leave behind a “beloved wife” Hannah, mother Sarah Arney and nephew John Hickey, son of his sister Nancy. The bonders listed on John D. Seaward’s 1805 probate records include his wife Hannah Seaward, Joshua Brackett and Daniel Smith. Among his inventoried assets are a “Hadley’s Quadrant & Spyglass” and a dwelling house on Maudlin Lane, now known as Howard Street in Portsmouth. Captain John D. Seaward was married to Hannah, known as Polly Brackett, on 27 September 1801. Hannah’s death on 29 July 1806 is recorded at Greenland, NH in a newspaper published on 5 August following. She is noted as the daughter of George Brackett Esq, of Greenland (1737-1835) and is therefore the niece of Portsmouth physician Dr. Joshua Brackett (1733-1801), a judge of the New Hampshire Court of Admiralty during the Revolution. After the death of Captain Thomas Manning’s father in July 1777, Sarah Beck Seaward Manning was married yet again to John Arney sometime before May of 1779. Arney may have been the Boatswain’s Yeoman who served under John Paul Jones on the ship of war Ranger. Innholder Thomas Manning willed the westerly side of his “Mansion House” near Liberty Bridge “with the water privilege, wharf & warehouse” to his widow. John Arney appears still living in 1789 when his pew rent at the South Meeting House church is advertised as delinquent however is gone fourteen years later by the time of John D. Seaward’s will. The widow Sarah Arney is reported as having died in Portsmouth at the age of sixty-nine on Saturday 18 August 1810. Widow of James Hickey who “fell overboard and drowned” at about the age of thirty in 1796, Nancy Hickey was remarried on 15 June 1826 to Stacy Hall. Her reported death at the age of seventy-eight on 3 September 1844 suggests she was John D. Seaward’s older sister.

The Gazette’s indictment against John H. Seaward is prosecuted further, “Now for the Ranger story, with John Paul Jones. It was not our object to call up the political, or other sins of Seaward at this time, merely because he is appointed “commodore” of the British bottom that is to go to Concord, but since the Journal has made such a boast of his being what he is not, and never was, it seems to have become our duty so far as we are acquainted with the facts, to set history right. First, then, we are authorized to say from his contemporaries that John H. Seaward may have gone on board the Ranger when she lay in this harbor, as many other citizens did by way of paying her a visit, but this is the only way in which “he was ever on board the Ranger with John Paul Jones.” He had a brother on board who is well remembered as an honest and worthy Democrat, and an uncle, John Seawards the latter of whom was sailing master, but we have good authority for saying that John H. Seaward was never attached to a U.S. public vessel during the Revolution or at any other time. Seaward has heretofore represented himself to have been on board the Ranger, and in such a way, we should say, as redounds not much to his credit. We are informed by those who know, that he attempted, a few years since, to palm himself off as an officer, or one of the crew of the Ranger, with a view to obtaining a pension- that on application to a person for some advice and assistance in the matter, he was advised to call on Dr. Greene, of Dover, a very aged man, who was surgeon of the Ranger, to obtain his affidavit of the facts. Seaward first applied through his daughter, to whom it is said, Dr. Greene stated that he recollected one or two persons of that name who were on board. Seaward then applied in person, and from his representation, and knowing that there was one or more on board of that name, and supposing he must be one of them, gave a certificate to that effect. It now became necessary, as a next step for Seaward to give his own affidavit of the fact, before the District Court, and consulted with a person engaged in the pension business, as to the course to be pursued. An old gentleman of this town, one of his contemporaries, of the Revolution, hearing of his design, determined to watch his movements and expose him; he waited during the whole session of the Court, but Seaward did not appear. In the mean time Dr. Greene, as we understand, revoked his certificate, having, as he said, been deceived by J. H. Seaward, who, it appears, thus sought to identify himself as his uncle, who actually served on board the Ranger. So far, it appears, he did march towards without committing the overt act. The public may judge how far he is entitled to credit as a “Patriot of the Revolution”.

Yet another accusation by the New Hampshire Gazette is fired against John H. Seaward’s character, “Since the “Commodore” is about to navigate a British bottom to Concord, an appropriate story occurs to us, of his having heretofore used American papers and the American flag, to cover British property- so that his present appointment seems quite appropos to the occasion. In 1823 or ’24 when the claims of our merchants, under the Spanish treaty, were settled by the commissioners, Seaward preferred a claim for the loss of a vessel and cargo, of which he was master, which was captured by the French, carried into a Spanish port and condemned. His claim, however, was not allowed by the commissioners, and he became extremely wrathy against them on account of the failure, and also against Mr. Webster, who was his counsel. After the award was published, he went to Boston to make enquiry of one of the commissioners, to know why it was not allowed; but the commissioner had then left Boston. He saw Mr. Webster; but as he stated when he returned, could get no information from him respecting it, except that it was rejected; but he could not inform him why or wherefore. Some person in this town, not believing this story to be fully correct, and supposing his ravings against the commissioners and his counsel, to be kept up with a view to conceal the real cause of the rejection of his claim, and to give false appearances to his creditors, wrote to one of the commissioners to ascertain the facts, which were very promptly given. We have a copy of this letter, from one of the commissioners, now before us giving a brief statement of the case of Seaward’s claim, with the conclusive and unanswerable reasons for its rejection. The substance of the facts are these: that John H Seaward was master of the ship Hope, which sailed from Portsmouth as the property of merchants of this place, and was sold at London to a firm of the name of Skinners, and by way of making it appear to be still American property, the bill of sale was made to the father of the Skinners then residing at Boston! After this purchase one of the Skinners at London conveyed to Seaward, the master, a part of the ship. Notwithstanding this sale and transfer of property, Seaward sailed in the ship as master, making use of the original papers, and representing the property to be that of the original owners; with these fraudulent documents the ship proceeded to Holland, from thence to Surrinam, was finally captured by the French, and when condemned the sale in London was proved, and it was also proved that the persons named in the register under which she was navigated, had not any interest in either vessel or cargo. The Commissioners did not, therefore, consider this vessel navigated as an American vessel should have been, to entitle her to receive the countenance and protection of the country, and hence the claim was disallowed.”

The Gazette’s 16 June 1840 vicious attack of Seaward closes with their editorial summary judgment, “So it appears that this old “Patriot of the Revolution” which the Journal has so white washed up for exhibition at Concord, with his “full rigged ship” the “Constitution”, was not only willing to receive a pension from the Treasury by false representations; but has denationalized himself and his vessel- sailed under false colors, use stars & stripes to cover British property in a contraband trade, represented himself as an Englishman or American as best suited for his purposes; and even put in a fraudulent claim for property alleged to be American, which he knew to be bona fide the property of British merchants, which in effect, if allowed, was to draw from the pockets of honest American merchants a portion of their rightful claim for the benefit of the fraudulent and contraband foreign adventurer. We have no disposition of a personal nature, to call up and publish these facts in relation to Seawards; we have no unkind feeling towards him personally, nor can we have; but when things are alleged as facts which are grossly incorrect, with the direct object of deceiving the public and affording political capital to swell out the flourish around the coming Whig Convention, it becomes our duty not only to state things as they are, but to hold up to public contempt the schemes of a party who are resorting to every possible means of deception and false glare to deceive an honest and cheated people. If Seawards be fool enough to lay himself thus exposed, let him take the truth without wincing. If the facts we have stated be denied we are ready to publish the correspondence on the subject of the claim, and give our authority with some further particulars on the subject of the Ranger. We are informed that Seawards went a privateering in the revolutionary war, and very probably may have been taken prisoner in that capacity. But Not “on board the Ranger with John Paul Jones”. There is not to be found within the limits of Portsmouth a more bitter reviler of administrations of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson and Van Buren, or a greater stickler for the cockade administration of John Adams, then has been John H. Seawards.”

The 20 June 1840 response of Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics to the Gazette’s several allegations concerning John H. Seaward is measured, “A whole column of abuse is bestowed on Capt. Seaward, because we stated that he was in the Ranger with John Paul Jones and that he rode in the Ship through the Streets of Portsmouth with Thomas Manning when the new constitution was adopted. We have enquired of Capt. Seaward whether we were correct in our statements and he says that he was with Jones as a common sailor in the first cruise of the Ranger, and that what he was put on board the first prize she captured, and sent into France. He is also ready to affirm that he was on board the ship with Manning when it passed through the streets in 1789. These are the only statements in our article contradicted by the Gazette.” Three days later, the Gazette fires her final salvo, “Our informant is still confident in the correctness of his statement, that J. H. Seawards did not serve on board the Ranger. We have also further evidence, which will be attested to if necessary, that a distinguished Whig, always an inhabitant of this town; and who is, we believe, about four-score, did say, about the time Seaward was talking of getting a pension “Capt. Seaward will never come forward and swear that he served on board the Ranger”. This gentleman probably, would not now voluntarily give his evidence, but we can produce evidence that he said so. If Capt. Seaward did serve on board the Ranger, why did he not get his pension? There was no difficulty in identifying himself, if you are an officer, or common sailor, on board. The Government, we understand, have complete roles of her officers and crew. Why did the venerable Dr. Greene revoke his certificate, into which it seems he was deceived by Seaward’s statements? If he was put on board the “first prize” and sent into France, he must have been still in the service of the government. The Ranger went directly across the Atlantic to France, when she sailed from here. Did Seaward ever arrive in France with the “first prize” of the Ranger, if so, did he join the Ranger there? Or was he taken a prisoner in this first prize? If so, he was in the eye of the law, still on the government service. Nothing could have prevented his obtaining a pension, if he was bona fide what he represents himself to have been. We have no confidence what ever in Seaward’s statement. The whole is a mere humbug to gull the public into the belief that Seaward was a “Patriot of the Revolution”; to give eclat to the exhibition of the British bottomed ship, with all the paraphernalia of the grand British whig procession. The Journal does not deny the story of the British bottom. Does not deny that Seaward attempted to get a pension under false representation, and does not deny that he sailed in the employ of British owners under American papers to cover British property, and afterwards put in a false claim for indemnity, which if allowed would have drawn precisely the same amount from the pockets of honest merchants. The whole of the above remarks of the Journal seem to convey a strong impression to the mind, that the editor himself does not believe in the correctness of the “Commodore’s” own statements.

Running in the undercurrent of this venomous discourse were the election politics leading up to the Presidential election of late 1840. Incumbent Democrat Martin Van Buren was swimming upstream during a period of economic turmoil following the Panic of 1837. The Whig party unified for the first time in the country’s history behind the candidacy of war hero William Henry Harrison, the last president born a British subject. Easily elected ninth President of the United States, Harrison died just thirty-one days into his term leading to longtime champion of states’ rights John Tyler’s succession to the highest office. President Tyler rewarded the loyalty of John H. Seaward to the Whig party with his appointment of the octogenarian, along with friend John McClintock, to the Portsmouth Custom House in 1841. The Gazette’s reporting however, raises interesting and pertinent questions regarding whether John H. Seaward is the Continental Navy veteran worthy of the title ‘Patriot of the Revolution’.

The rejected pension application #R-9355 of John H. Seaward (1759-1845) includes his 14 September 1841 statement taken at the age of eighty-two in which he testifies that [at the age of nineteen] he entered on board the 20-gun South Carolina state brig General Gadson under the command of Joshua Horne in the capacity of Master’s Mate at Boston on 17 June 1778. Seaward testifies that on 1 July 1778, the Gadson sailed on a cruise by way of Nantucket and in about five days fell in with the Cork fleet of “15 or 20 sail” bound to New York. In an engagement with a British transport of 20 guns lasting “2 Glasses” and upon seeing the British frigate HMS Daphne under Captain Jordan bearing down sought to flee. After a chase that lasted into the following day, the brig struck. According to John H. Seaward, all officers and crew of the Gadson were put on board the Old Jersey three days later and confined 8 or 9 months afterward. On or about 29 April 1779, Seaward and the others were placed on a cartel to Portsmouth. John H. Seaward’s testimony was partially supported by that of Gadson’s armorer Benjamin Bunker of Nantucket in his own pension application #S-19575. Bunker named Charles Rhodes as 1st Lieutenant, William Branscon as 2nd Lieutenant and Christopher North of Nantucket as Sailing Master, in addition to Master’s Mate John H. Seaward. Bunker’s testimony indicates however that the captured officers and crew of the General Gadsden were confined just two months on the Prison ship Prince of Wales and two months on the Old Jersey. This length of service did not qualify John H. Seaward for enough time to gain a pension. The name John Seawards appears on an undated list of prisoners sent from New York to Portsmouth to be exchanged for British prisoners. He is identified as Prize Master taken in General Gadsden by Daphne. It is notable that John H. Seaward does not claim any other wartime government service in his pension application, despite the additional testimony of friend and fellow Portsmouth Custom House official John McClintock, that John H. Seaward served on board the 20-gun ship General Sullivan under Thomas Manning as Master’s Mate in October 1778. According to McClintock, on 9 January 1779 after the 20-gun British ship Weymouth was taken by the General Sullivan, John H. Seaward was put on board Weymouth as Prize Master and ordered to Portsmouth. Apparently someone in the treasury department noticed the second obvious discrepancy in his pension application- that John H. Seaward could not have served as prizemaster of the Weymouth in January 1779 while at the same time, he was allegedly confined on the Jersey prison ship between July 1778 and April 1779. These facts support the allegation of false testimony in his pension application and call into doubt any claim of John H. Seaward for public service in the War for Independence. Clearly it is the naval record of his uncle John Seaward on which the Whig loyalist was trading for personal and political gain.

Who was John H. Seaward? Several Seaward families were present in the Kittery and Portsmouth locale in the decades leading up to the Revolution. In order to identify the master mariner who fought so bravely and consistently throughout the war, we must assume the veracity of the New Hampshire Gazette’s sources and first examine the genealogy of his impostor John H. Seaward. Because the genealogies of the Seaward clans has not been well developed, it can be best analyzed through newspaper accounts, published birth and marriage records, and will and probate records. Captain John H. Seaward (1759-1845) was born 9 April 1759 to Captain Giles Seaward (1717-1797), also known as Seward, and Mary Hodgdon (1710-1783) who were married at Portsmouth in 1738. John’s middle initial appears to stand for Hodgdon, his mother’s maiden name. Captain Giles Seaward was the son of English-born William Seaward (1690-1770) and Mary Shackford (1697-1722) who also were married at Portsmouth on 28 July 1715. The will of Giles Seaward penned on 22 August 1789 and proved on 21 February 1798 fleshes out most of John H. Seaward’s siblings. Receiving half of their father’s dwelling house were brother William, also named executor, and sister Deborah, who was born in 1739 and married to John Shackford in 1758. Brothers George, Giles, Joseph and sister Christian were also mentioned in addition to John, a mariner named as administer of the estate. By the time of the senior Giles death in 1798, both his son Giles Seaward (1745-1769) and daughter Christian Seaward Place had already passed. The will notes his grandson Giles, son of the junior Giles and Elizabeth Lord married in 1767, and grandsons James and John Place, sons of Christian and her husband John Place. Unmentioned in the records is daughter Mary Seaward (1750-1784) who had already passed by the time the will of Giles Seaward was written, presumably dying unmarried or with no issue. John H. Seaward and his wife Elizabeth Stavers (1764-1847) had a son John Seaward born 11 June 1793 who also became a shipmaster and who died at about forty years old in Haiti, as well as daughters Lucy (1795-1877), Elizabeth (1797-1825) and Mary Hodgdon born in 1799. A member of St. John’s Church at Portsmouth, Captain John H. Seaward in 1827 was appointed “occasional inspector & gauger” and in 1841 “coastwise inspector” at the Portsmouth Custom House. For some years Captain John H. Seaward lived at the corner of Raynes and Maplewood Avenues overlooking the North Mill Pond in what is known as the Boyd House. Near the time of his death he rented a home at 45 Vaughn Street, in 1834 lived on Daniel Street and ten years earlier in the long two-story house of his father-in-law, stagecoach mail proprietor John Stavers on State Street. Seaward was known for being one of the last in Portsmouth to sport a queue, a braided pigtail, and powdered hair.

Based on the Gazette’s reporting, one of John H. Seaward’s brothers served honorably on board the Continental Navy ship Ranger. We suspect this to be Joseph Seaward (1752-1822) about which is little known. A newspaper article appearing in the 12 July 1941 edition of the Portsmouth Herald reports that Miss M. Ella Seaward of Leominster, MA donated a small trunk belonging to her great grandfather Joseph to the collection of the John Paul Jones House claiming his service as an officer on the Ranger and Bon Homme Richard under Jones. Most pertinent in the article is the mortuary notice originally published in the Portsmouth Journal, “At Portsmouth, on the 19th inst. (Dec. 19, 1822). Joseph Seaward, aged 71 years. He maintained through life the character of an undeviating friend. In the Revolutionary War, he shared in the toils, the danger, and honors of the momentous struggle. He served with honor aboard the sloop of war, Ranger and also the brig McClary.” This short memorial brings to light yet another master mariner named John Seaward active in the Portsmouth area recorded in Volume 12 of “Naval Documents of the American Revolution” as a British prisoner at Newport, RI on 29 April 1778, having been taken by HMS Unicorn on 5 February 1778 as prizemaster of the schooner Susannah. Of course, this John Seaward could not possibly have been the same person who served with John Paul Jones on the ship Ranger as that vessel sailed from Portsmouth on 1 November 1777 and did not return to her American home port until under Thomas Simpson’s command on 15 October 1778. Nor was it likely to have been John H. Seaward who made no claim to service on the McClary in his rejected pension application. Seamen John Seaward and James Seward were among the fifty-man crew of the 8-gun New Hampshire privateer brigantine McClary owned by over a dozen of Portsmouth’s leading citizens. One of the witnesses to the vessel’s commissioning and $5,000 bond on 28 January 1778 was Henry Seaward. Joseph Seaward himself had been a witness to the previous commissioning of the McClary under Captain Joshua Stackpole in September 1777. After three other successful cruises, the McClary under commander John Gregory took the schooner Susannah which was owned by Boston merchants Elisha Doane, Isiah Doane and James Sheppard and sailing under a British flag to Halifax on 10 October 1777. The Portsmouth jury of Judge Joshua Brackett’s New Hampshire Maritime Court awarded the prize vessel to her McCary captors and according to the eyewitness testimony of Joseph Seaward, the Susanna and her cargo were sold at auction on or about 18 September 1778. Unconcerned about the disposition of her cargo, Elisha Doane was outbid at the libel auction for his vessel. Susannah’s owners argued in court that the ship was voluntarily returning to her American owners in disguise which instigated a lengthy contested court case finally decided by the United States Supreme Court in 1795 in favor of her original Boston owners. It is probably this John Seaward who submitted an invoice to Col. John Langdon for payment of L 9.0 for “Pilotage of the ship Ranger into the [Portsmouth] Harbor” on 3 May 1779 as the vessel’s former Master’s Mate was already confined in Old Mill Prison by that time.

The object of our attention then is the uncle of John H. Seaward, brother to his father Captain Giles Seaward (1717-1797) and son of William Seaward (1690-1770); Continental Navy veteran and ‘Patriot of the Revolution’, master’s mate of the Ship of War Ranger John Seaward. His generation of the Seaward family is largely a mystery, perhaps due to the early death of William’s first wife Mary Shackford and his second marriage of which no details are presently published. After the birth of Giles in 1717, genealogical records appear to suggest Mary Shackford Seaward died in 1722. However, it is known that Giles had at least one other half-brother Shackford Seaward (1727-1797) born after that date. It is suspected that the Continental Navy master’s mate is yet another half-brother of Captain Giles Seaward named John of whom nothing is known for certain. According to Perspectives ’76, being a Compendium of Useful Knowledge about Old-Time Vermont and New Hampshire, “In 1757, during the French and Indian Wars, the schooner Prince Edward, armed with ten guns and carrying a crew of picked men, sailed out of Portsmouth against the French privateers which were interfering with our ocean commerce. John Seaward was its commander.” Swann Auction Galleries 28 September 2023 Auction Sale # 2646 included Lot 153, a “Round robin” manuscript letter signed by 37 crew members addressed to Captain John Seaward of the New Hampshire-based privateer Prince Edward during the French and Indian War, after they realized that bringing their vessel through the French blockade of Halifax would result in catastrophe. The letter reads, “Capt. Seaward, sir: The whole ship’s company begs the favour of you that you w’d proceed home to Portsmouth, for to go into Halifax we are not willing, as knowing that if we do, that a man of war will be our portion & if you do intend to go in there, we will not take up arms against our enemies if in case we shoud have occasion. Neither will we lend a hand to work the vessell. Sir, if you do go into Halifax, the cruize will certainly be broke up, for there is not one of us all that will come out in her again. Sir, you know how the case is as well as we, that the vessell is not fiting for the business that she was intended for. We, only eating the owner’s provision, spend’g our time for nothing, we have entered(?) suit already & we coud not go after them by reason that we coud not carry suit.” It is speculated that it is this John Seaward who signed the Portsmouth Association Test in 1776 pledging to, ”immediately to cause all Persons to be disarmed, within their Respective Colonies, who are notoriously disaffected to the Cause of AMERICA, Or who have not associated, and refuse to associate, to defend by ARMS, the United Colonies, against the Hostile Attempts of the British Fleets and Armies” and “to shew our Determination in joining our American Brethren, in defending the Lives, Liberties, and Properties of the Inhabitants of the UNITED COLONIES.”

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Alphabetical List of the Crew of the Frigate Alliance (1782-1783) who received prize money associated with the capture and sale of the Kingston, Brittannia, Anna and Commerce

Alphabetical List of the Crew of the Frigate Alliance (1782-1783) who received prize money associated with the capture and sale of the Kingston, Brittannia, Anna and Commerce. A modern tag in the front of the rebound original ledger, designated as Collection # 3033 in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, indicates prize monies distributed to the crew between 1782-1783 are included. According to the HSP website, “Each man has an account, and each account is numbered. There were a total of 237 men, but the first twelve accounts became detached from the volume at some point and are now absent. Each account has an October 1782 entry for “prize money on account of the Kingston, Britannia, Anna, and Commerce.” The amount paid was almost always ₤120, which was probably the amount awarded to the lowest-ranking crew members for those particular prizes. Each account also has a December 1782 entry for “an order on Thomas Barclay Esq. in favour of Mr. P. F. L. Doinet.” Those sums varied, but most were in excess of ₤200. Thomas Barclay was the American Consul in France and was often responsible for doling out prize money from captured vessels that were brought to French ports. Mr. Doinet is not identified, but it was noted that he was a merchant. A few men’s accounts have one or two additional entries for prize money that the men received in the early months of 1783. No account has more than four entries, and no credits were ever posted in the ledger.”

The Britannia and Anna and their cargos of coffee, logwood, sugar and rum were taken by the frigate Alliance under Captain John Barry during a North Atlantic cruise on 24 September 1782. The snow Commerce was taken three days later on 27 September and the following day Alliance captured the dismasted Kingston. Barry led the convoy to France arriving at Groix Roads on 17 October. Records indicate that some of the prize crew aboard the Commerce conspired to seize the vessel and carry her into Ireland instead. Interestingly, the culprits- seamen Robert Cane, Denis Dohorty, Francis Courteal and Manuel Jack do not appear to be awarded any prize monies associated with her capture. All four prize vessels were condemned by Benjamin Franklin and sold at public auction in France. The final accounting attested to by naval agent Thomas Barclay on 15 April 1783 indicates the Commerce brought £198,597, the Kingston £144,446, the Anna £136,488, the Brittannia £83,087 for a total of £562,618. The amount of prize money advanced to the crew of the Alliance totaled £107,091. The later payment adjusted for the balance of the half total portion due the officers and men, minus expenses. The captain was entitled to six shares with other officers due less but more than the single share entitled each crew member. Based on the ledger entries, each crew member typically received £355-365 total prize money, while the Surgeon’s Mate and Midshipmen received approximately £1,275-1,350, Lieutenant of Marines £2,580 and the vessel’s Lieutenant £3,040. The remaining half of total prize monies was due the Continental Congress. The Alliance returned to America on 20 March 1783, arriving at Newport, RI and anchoring just below Providence. After refitting and re-manning, the Alliance sailed for the Chesapeake on 20 June but through a series of misfortunes, sailed into Philadelphia instead where the vessel was taken out of service and her crew dismissed.

These 223 names of crew members of the Alliance receiving prize monies between October 1782 and March 1783 have been transcribed by Joseph Ross with the full Christian name first and the surname following as they are recorded in the ledger with several noteworthy editorial changes. Entry names were cross checked with other Alliance manuscripts for accuracy. Invariably errors in spelling are to be anticipated in transcribing eighteenth century script and the author welcomes corrections. Some restraint was exercised to refrain from using a more contemporary spelling of the surname which may negatively affect the accessibility of the records to an internet surfing public. The transcribed name is generally taken from the ledger with alternate spellings in parenthesis. “Qualities” or rates denoting pay grade and thereby rank or position are listed next for reference purposes although they do not appear in the ledger. Finally, editorial notations have been added to some names indicating significant facts pertaining to the individual, such as death at sea. The actual order of prize money recipients found in the ledger is included for reference at the end of the alphabetized list.

Aaron Abbot, Marine

Nathaniel Abbot, Marine

William Abbot, Boy

John Allin (Allen), Seaman

Francis Alworthy (Alivorthy), Seaman

Amos Anderson, Seaman

Thomas Anderson, Steward

Pissant Antonio, Landsman

William Archer, Landsman

John Auline, Rate Unknown

Samuel Badger, Carpenter’s Crew

Chipman Bangs, Midshipman

Andrew Barber, Carpenter’s Crew

Samuel Barron (Barson), Boy

John Bassey Seaman

Moses Beard, Carpenter’s Crew

Robert Bell, Marine

Robert Bingham, Landsman

John Blanchard, Marine

James Boman, Seaman

James Boyles (Boyle), Seaman

Peter Bristor (Bristow), Landsman

Peter Brock, Landsman

Thomas Brown, Landsman

Thomas L. Brown, Surgeon’s Mate

William Brown, Landsman

Joseph Bryer (Breyer), Landsman

Abraham Bump, Marine

Uriah Bunker, Rate Unknown

Joseph Burnes (Burns), Seaman

John Byrnes (Byrne), Marine

Mial Camp, Landsman

Francis Caramo, Seaman

Michael Carter, Marine

John Carthwright (Cartwright), Marine

Samuel Cavanah (Cavanaugh) Ordinary Seaman

John Childs, Landsman

Job Clary, Marine

Jonathan Coffin, Boy

Thomas Collins, Seaman

John Cook, Gunner’s Crew

Ambrose Coones (Coines), Seaman

Patrick Cowen, Seaman

Patrick Cunningham, Seaman

Stephen Curtis, Marine

Thomas Curtis, Seaman

Prentice Cushing, Midshipman

Benjamin Darrow, Seaman

John Davey (Davy), Seaman

William Davis, Seaman

John Dawson, Seaman

James Deacon, Landsman

Antonio Decost (Decot), Seaman

Francis Derma, Seaman

Daniel Dixon, Boy

Jerathmeel Doty (Jarathmial Dotty), Marine

George Douglass, Carpenter’s Crew

John Drew, Carpenter

Nestis Drouse (Droise), Seaman

Charles Dubois, Seaman

Luke Durfey, Marine

Timothy Dwire (Dwise), Marine

Joseph Eayres, Captain’s Clerk

William Ebons, Gunner’s Crew

Thomas Edwards, Carpenter’s Crew

Thomas Ellis, Marine

Thomas Elwood, Lieutenant of Marines

Benoni Evens (Benony Evans), Marine

Even Evens, Ordinary Seaman

David Fairbanks, Marine

Thomas Farmer, Carpenter

John Farrell, Boy

John Fearig, Landsman

Maurice FitzGerald (Fitzgerald), Marine

William FitzMorris (Fitzmorris), Armourer

John Flechner (Flitchner), Marine

Hugh Flemming (Fleming), Gunner’s Crew

John Fobester (Fobister), Seaman

Francis Forrester, Seaman

William Fowler, Seaman

Antonio Francisco, Seaman

Robert Frazer, Marine

James Gardiner, Gunner’s Crew

Shubald Gardner (Gardiner), Master’s Mate [Died at Sea 3/11/1783]

Thomas Giles, Seaman

Charles Gleason, Landsman

Ceasar Godfrey, Boy

Eli Greene (Ely), Landsman

John Greene, Carpenter’s Crew

Joseph Young Greene (Youngreen), Boy

Thomas Gunner, Landsman

Samuel Hacker, Acting Midshipman

James Halfpenny, Marine

Benjamin Hall, Boy

York Hallam, Landsman

Thomas Hambleton (Hamilton), Seaman

John Harmon, Rate Unknown

John Harris (Jonathan), Seaman

Samuel Harris, Cook

Charles Hayes, Seaman

John Hayes, Landsman

John Haynes, Quarter Master

John Hearsey, Landsman

Samuel Hearsey (Hearsy), Landsman

Robert Hill, Rate Unknown

Pleasant Hitch, Landsman

William Hogan, Quarter Master

Thomas Holland, Seaman

John Holley (Holly), Rate Unknown

Thomas Hope, Boatswain’s Mate

Ebenezer Hopkins, Midshipman

Rufus Hopkins, Midshipman

James Hotchkins, Boy

Anor Hotchkiss (Amor), Landsman

George Hudson, Seaman

Job Hull, Landsman

Thomas Hunter, Landsman

Peter Hussey, Landsman

Steward Jemmison (Jammison), Landsman [Died at Sea 3/15/1783]

Thomas Joice, Sergeant of Marines

James Jorden (Jourdan), Gunner’s Crew

Manuel Joseph, Seaman

John Karr, Midshipman/ Master

John Keese (Kease), Lieutenant of Marines

Philip Kelly, Landsman

John Kessler, Master’s Mate

James King, Seaman

Thomas Laing, Seaman

Peter Larry, Seaman

William Leadbetter, Carpenter’s Crew

Jesse Leason (Leeson), Seaman [Died at Sea 12/14/1782]

Richard Leet, Landsman

Mathew Lemmon (Lerman), Seaman

Phineas Lemonier (Limonier, Limoniex), Landsman

Sebastine Lepine (Spine), Seaman

Joseph Lewis, Boatswain

Antonio Lorego (Lorejo), Seaman

Antonio Lorenzo (Lorentz), Landsman

Richard Ludlow, Landsman

John Marrin (Marren), Seaman

James Marshall, Seaman

John Martin, Seaman

Manuel Martins (Matthias Martin), Marine

Alexander McClelland, Landsman

Neal McComb (McConnel), Seaman

Hugh McCoy (McCery), Landsman

John McDonnell (McDonnel), Seaman

Michael McDonnell (McDonnal), Boat’s Yeoman

James McGuire, Marine

Thomas McGuire, Landsman

Jonathan Merry, Gunner’s Mate

John Middleton, Landsman

Joshua Misick (Messick), Gunner’s Crew

Richard Molineux (Mullinex), Landsman

William Moodey (Moody), Seaman

Charles Moon (Moore), Corporal of Marines

Francis Moses, Seaman

Joseph O’Bryan, Landsman

William O’Bryan, Seaman

John O’Bryant (O’Bryan), Ordinary Seaman

David O’Herron, Landsman

Samuel Orr, Landsman

Hugh Osborne, Marine

Thomas Osborne, Marine

James Owens, Boatswain’s Mate

Migal Pass (Myal), Landsman

John Payne, Landsman

Jeremiah Perry, Ordinary Seaman

James Peters, Landsman

Samuel Pitman, Landsman

John Pratt, Seaman

Thomas Ramsey, Landsman

Joseph Ransford, Fifer

Robert Ransom, Landsman

David Rice, Acting Midshipman

William Richardson, Landsman

John Rieves (Reeves), Landsman

John Roberts, seaman

Thomas Robbinson (Robeson), Seaman

Isaac Royall, Marine

William Rugg, Landsman

Josiah Sawyer, Seaman

John Scott, Seaman

William Scurry, Landsman

John Sears, Corporal of Marines

Nathaniel Service, Sailmaker

Patrick Shea, Landsman

Robert Sinnet (Sinnet), Landsman

Hugh Smith, Master’s Mate, Acting Lieutenant

Lawton Spencer, Landsman

William Stanley, Rate Unknown

Jerry Stanton, Landsman

Jepther Stevens (Jepthar), Boy

Even Stevenson, Seaman

Daniel Stewart, Carpenter’s Mate

Robert Stout, Seaman

Thomas Sweetser (Sweetzer), Seaman

John Tarr, Gunner’s Crew

John Thompson, Seaman

Thomas Thompson, Seaman

John Trepon (Trippon), Marine

Joseph Trippet, Marine

Elisha Turner, Marine

William Turner, Seaman

John Turril (Tirrell), Marine

Nathaniel Veal, Marine

Samuel Vose, Landsman

Ebenezer Welch, Cooper

Benjamin Welsh, Boy

Hezekiah Welsh, Lieutenant

James Welsh, Gunner

John Welsh, Boy

John Williams, Seaman

Solomon Williams, Landsman

Thomas Williams 1st, Seaman

Thomas Williams (Black), Seaman

Peter Wilson, Landsman

Ebenezer Witham (Whitaker), Seaman

John Wright, Sergeant of Marines

Samuel Wright, Carpenter’s Crew

William Wroth, Rate Unknown- Likely an Officer

Vincent Wymondesole (Wymodisol), Landsman

William Wyott (Wyatt), Seaman

 

George Hudson, James King

James Boyles, Thomas Williams 1st

Thomas Laing, Joseph Burnes

Thomas Ramsey, Francis Moses

John Pratt, William FitzMorris

Charles Dubois, John Trepon

John Blanchard, Daniel Dixon

Benjamin Darrow, Eli Greene

Jeremiah Perry, Lawton Spencer

Samuel Pitman, Joseph Eayres

James Boman, Neal McComb

Samuel Vose, Joseph Bryer

Peter Larry, James Peters

Ebenezer Welch, James McGuire

Joseph Ransford, Charles Moon

Benoni Evens, Samuel Cavanah

Robert Stout, William O’Bryan

John Martin, Thomas Ellis

William Stanley, John Allin

Benjamin Welsh, William Fowler

James Gardiner, Thomas Curtis

Francis Derma, Richard Ludlow

John Flechner, John Sears

Luke Durfey, Phineas Lemonier

Ebenezer Hopkins, Joseph Youngreen

Francis Forrester, Even Stevenson

James Jorden, Amos Anderson

Even Evens, William Abbot

James Hotchkins, Francis Alworthy

Pissant Antonio, Migal Pass

Francis Caramo, Manuel Martins

Alonio Lorego, Sebastine Lepine

Patrick Cunningham, Prentice Cushing

Ambrose Coones, Antonio Decost

John Harmon, Robert Hill

Nathaniel Service, Anor Hotchkiss

John Holley, Thomas Sweetser

Thomas Collins, John Thompson

Jonathan Merry, Hugh Flemming

John Haynes, Samuel Harris

John Davey, Moses Beard

Samuel Orr, John Marrin

John Fobester, Samuel Hacker

Joseph O’Bryan, Mathew Lemmon

William Scurrey, Samuel Hearsey

Thomas Hambleton, Josiah Sawyer

William Archer, Daniel Stewart

Jonathan Coffin, Charles Gleason

William Moodey, Solomon Williams

James Marshall, Antonio Lorenzo

John Bassey, Joshua Misick

Charles Hayes, Peter Hussey

John Dawson, Isaac Royall

Nathaniel Veal, James Halfpenny

John Wright, Antonio Francisco

Thomas Hope, Thomas Giles

Michael Carter, Patrick Cowen

Septher Stevens, Thomas Anderson

David Fairbanks, William Brown

Thomas Joice, William Leadbetter

John Middleton, John Farrell

John Cook, William Rugg

Samuel Badger, Andrew Barber

Robert Sinnet, John Harris

John Roberts, Joseph Trippet

John Keese, Alexander McClelland

Thomas Holland, John Williams

John Childs, Robert Frazer

Timothy Dwire, Thomas Hunter

James Owens, William Richardson

Thomas Edwards, John Welsh

John Auline, John Fearig

John Byrnes, Vincent Wymondesole

Patrick Shea, Thomas Thompson

Samuel Barron, David Rice

James Deacon, Robert Bingham

Robert Ransom, Ebenezer Witham

John Kessler, John Rieves

John Greene, Samuel Wright

Thomas Gunner, Hugh McCoy

David O’Herron, William Wyott

Manuel Joseph, John Tarr

John Scott, Jerry Stanton

Aaron Abbot, Nathaniel Abbot

Elisha Turner, Benjamin Hall

Uriah Bunker, George Douglass

John Payne, William Turner

Steward Jemmison, Ceasar Godfrey

Richard Leet, Michael McDonnell

Philip Kelly, Thomas Osborne

Abraham Bump, Job Clary

Mial Camp, Hugh Osborne

John Hayes, William Hogan

Thomas McGuire, Thomas Robbinson

Pleasant Hitch, Richard Molineux

Stephen Curtis, John Turril

Maurice FitzGerald, Jerathmeel Doty

Shubald Gardner, John Hearsey

John O’Bryant, John Drew

John Carthwright, York Hallam

John McDonnell, Robert Bell

Peter Brock, Job Hull

Thomas L. Brown, Nestis Drouse

Thomas Brown, James Welsh

Hugh Smith, Thomas Farmer

John Karr, William Wroth

Peter Bristor, Joseph Lewis

Hezekiah Welsh, Thomas Williams (Blk)

Jesse Leason, William Ebons

Peter Wilson, Thomas Elwood

William Davis, Chipman Bangs

Rufus Hopkins

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