Illustrations

1 The ordination of the Reverend Thomas Barnard, Jr.

2 The temperature on Sunday, 21 February, at 2 p.m., was 5° below zero, Fahrenheit. The following day, a half-hour after sunrise, it was 9½° below zero.

3 The bulk of the material concerning smallpox comes from Bowen’s “Smallpox Journal,” item number 7569, at the Marblehead Historical Society. Additional material, not from the “Smallpox Journal” comes from Bowen’s Day Book, item number 7573, at the Marblehead Historical Society; and his Interleaved Almanacs (1773–1775) at the Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts.

4 The smallpox narrative, here introduced at the time of its first appearance, is continued at the entry for 22 July 1773 when the epidemic began to make itself felt in Marblehead.

5 A large two-masted boat belonging to the Custom House in Salem sailed from thence between 10 and 11 o’clock in the morning, bound to Baker’s Island on a pleasure excursion. There the passengers went ashore and picnicked. During the afternoon, they reembarked and stood to the eastward of the island for the purpose of fishing. By midafternoon, they returned to an anchorage between Baker’s and Misery Island, where they had tea. The passengers were Mrs. Rebecca Giles, widow of Eleazer Giles and daughter of Captain John White; Paul Kimball, cooper, and his wife Lydia; Mrs. Desire Holman, wife of John Holman, mariner, then at sea; William Ward, boatman, and his wife Mary; Miss Esther Masury, sister of Mary Ward; Nathaniel Diggadon, Custom House Tidewaiter, and his wife; John Becket, Jr., boatbuilder, and his wife Sarah; and Philip Becket, an apprentice to John Becket. All were from Salem. While they were having their tea, the weather began to turn dark and threatening, whereupon they decided to make a dash for Marblehead Harbor. “As the Wind arose, they furl’d the Jibb, and took a double Reef in their Mainsail. Mr. William Ward was the Commander of the Boat; and as the Wind increased, he was desired by the other Men, who apprehended Danger, to lower the Sails; but he declined, saying the Boat would stand it, and the others, trusting his Judgement, thought proper to submit.”

The boat, of twenty-nine foot keel, was constructed with a deck which extended about half way from the bow to the stern, thus forming a cabin, or cuddy. “The 7 Women were all confined in the Cabbin. About 7 o’Clock, Ward being at Helm, a sudden, smart Gust of Wind canted the Boat over on one Side; Mr. John Becket, who stood near the Cabbin, opened the Door, but had only Time to tell the Women they were all going to the Bottom; he heard their Shrieks, immediately jumped upon the Deck, and the Boat instantly sunk.—Mr. Becket found that Messrs. Kimball, Ward, and Diggadon, had got into a small Skiff, (which floated off the Boat as she sunk) and the Lad had hold of a Piece of Plank, about three Feet long. Mr. Becket swam for the Skiff, which before he could reach, overset, when Kimball and Diggadon sunk; Ward got hold of Mr. Becket, but in a Minute or two was disengaged and sunk also. There were now none left but Mr. Becket and the Lad, the former held to the Skiff and the latter to their Piece of Plank.—As this Disaster happened within about one Mile of Marblehead, it was seen by some People there, who, by their timely and vigorous Efforts, got off a small Schooner, which the Tide had left a-Ground near a Foot; and happily took up Mr. Becket and the Lad, after they had been in the Water about half an Hour.” Five of the women were pregnant, “two or three of them far advanced.” Essex Gazette, 15–22 June 1773. A broadside, from which the above quotations have been taken, was also printed, a copy of which is in the Peabody Museum of Salem.

6 During the day a large number of men from Salem and Marblehead, in two sloops and a number of small boats, went out to raise the boat, one of the masts being just visible at low water. Raised, it was towed to a wharf in Salem, where the bodies of the women were discovered, except that of Mrs. Diggadon. None of the men’s bodies were discovered at the time, although during the first week of August those of Messrs. Kimball and Ward were taken up in a much mutilated condition. The bodies of Nathaniel Diggadon and his wife were seen on several occasions but for unknown reasons were not taken up. Ibid., and Essex Gazette for 3–10 August 1773.

7 “We hear by a Person from Halifax, That there is a Brigantine called the New Gaspee, between 60 and 70 Tons Burthen, single Deck’d, a Lion Head, carries a Foretopsail Gallant Yard, and Main-topsail-Pole, fitting out there, for the base Purpose of going into every Harbour and Creek between that Place and this, which it is thought will be a more proper Method to take the fair Trader in his honest Industry, and pilfer him of all he has in the World; as no Body will suspect that said Vessel, without any Signs of Gun-ports, &c. is in the King’s Service. It is therefore hoped that every Person in the least Danger of being hurt in Circumstances, will take Warning by this, and be looking out most vigilantly for those pimping R—ls, those Locusts of America, and be ready to receive them in such a Manner as they shall think the Nature of their Errand demands.” Essex Gazette, 13–20 April 1773.

8 “We hear from Marblehead, that two Persons lately had the Small-Pox in that Town, and recovered, before it was suspected that they had that Disease, attributing their Eruptions and Sickness to some Kind of Poison which they had inadvertently taken. Those Persons were occasionally visited, during the Course of their Disorder, by a Number of Persons who were liable to catch the Small-Pox. Several of these Persons breaking out with it, the latter End of last Week, was the first Discovery the Inhabitants made of the Danger they were exposed to, which occasioned great Consternation in the Town, as, at a moderate Computation, it contains not less than five or six thousand Persons subject to receive that Disease. We have the Pleasure, however, to hear, that, by the careful and vigilant Conduct of the Selectmen, under God, there is at present no great Danger of its spreading.” Essex Gazette, 20–27 July 1773.

“MARBLEHEAD, July 26, 1773. THE SELECT-MEN of MARBLEHEAD hereby notify the Publick, That the Small-Pox is in but two Houses, which are near each other, close to the Water-Side, the Passages to which are fenced up, and they are more than a quarter of a Mile below the Market-House [Town House], so that People coming to Market will be in no Danger of taking any Infection at present.” Ibid.

During the various smallpox epidemics which occurred at Marblehead during the eighteenth century any house with smallpox cases in it could be recognized immediately by a pole hung out from it, flying a red flag. The poles were required to be at least six feet long; the flags at least a yard long by a foot and a half wide.

9 At the Town Meeting the Selectmen were empowered to requisition as manv houses as necessary for pesthouses or hospitals. All dogs running at large on the streets were to be killed immediately.

10 “The Selectmen of Marblehead hereby notify the Publick [as of 2 August], That the Small-Pox is but in one House in the Town, which is a Quarter of a Mile below the Market-House, and close to the Water-Side—And in two Houses at the Ferry, one Mile from the Market-House.—No other Place in Town being infected with that Distemper, (a Committee of Inspection daily examining every House in Town) Travellers and Market-Men may come as usual, and be in no Danger of any Infection at present.” Essex Gazette, 27 July–3 August 1773.

11 A Town Meeting this day debated the question of whether or not a hospital for inoculation should be built on one of the islands in Salem Bay. The town turned down such a project at the public expense, but gave its approval for private individuals to undertake it provided Salem agreed to it and that the Marblehead Selectmen could regulate it. Marblehead Town Records.

“The Select-Men of Marblehead hereby assure the Publick [as of 9 August], That the Small-Pox is in but one House in Town, which is the House where it first broke out: That all the Persons who have broke out with that Distemper, for a Fortnight past, are all removed to the back Side of the Town, one Mile from the Market. The House, which is infected in the Town, is fenced up . . . and there is a great Probability that no more Persons will be taken down with the Distemper.” Essex Gazette, 3–10 August 1773.

12 “The Select-Men of Marblehead Notify the Publick [as of 16 August], that the Small-Pox is but in one House in the Town, which is the House where it was first discovered at, and there is only one Person but what is almost well. The other infectious Place is at the Ferry . . . not one [person] has broke out since Tuesday last.” Ibid., 10–17 August 1773.

13 “The Town of Marblehead having made Application for Liberty to erect an inoculating Hospital on Cat-Island, within the Jurisdiction of this Town [Salem], a Meeting of the Inhabitants was held Yesterday for considering the same. It appeared by the Debates that they were generally sensible of the Utility of such an Hospital’s being established; but a Doubt arose respecting the Propriety, Safety or Legality of adopting and prosecuting a Measure of that Kind by any less Authority than an Act of the Legislature. A Vote was accordingly passed to this Effect: That the Inhabitants of this Town are content that the Town of Marblehead, or any Inhabitants thereof, should erect an Hospital on Cat-Island, for inoculating for the Small-Pox, provided they first obtain Leave of the General Court.” Ibid., 10–17 August 1773.

14 “The Select-Men of Marblehead hereby assure the Publick [as of 23 August], That there is no Person now sick with the Small-Pox in the Town; that the House, where the Infection first broke out, is now cleansing: That all Persons who are taken down with the Distemper are immediately removed to some Houses which are situate on the Back of the Town, a Mile from the Market-House . . . That daily Search and Inspection is made among the Inhabitants, so that every Person who is taken with the Distemper is removed before he becomes infectious. . . . N.B. Only five Persons have broke out the Week past.” Ibid., 17–24 August 1773.

15 “We hear that a fishing Vessel arrived at Marblehead last Friday, and brought in about 270 Quintals of Fish; the People of whom, or some of them, before they sailed from that Place, had been in the House where the Small-Pox first broke out, before it was known ’twas that Distemper, and on the Voyage they all had that Disease without suspecting what it was, & one of them (a Boy) died of it; they afterwards found themselves so weak and poorly that they were obliged to get a Cape-Ann Vessel to spare them two Hands to bring them in.” Ibid., 24–31 August 1773. See the letter from William Cooper, Boston Town Clerk, to the Marblehead Selectmen, 4 October 1773, authorizing the release from the “Well house” on Rainsford Island of “John Trash & Joseph Pope, who came in Capt. Dolliver’s Schooner.” Marblehead Town Records, Smallpox File, at Abbot Hall, Marblehead.

16 “The Select-Men of Marblehead hereby notify the Publick [as of 20 September], That the House where the Small-Pox first broke out is now cleansed; the Fences, which fenced it in, are taken down, and People pass and repass as usual. There has but one Person been taken down with the Distemper this Fortnight, and there are only three but what are recovered.” Essex Gazette, 14–21 September 1773. For the method of cleansing an infected area, see Bowen’s entries for 10 and 11 June 1776.

17 “Mr. John Tucker, of Marblehead, Fisherman, was drowned in that Harbour last Friday, by the oversetting of a Canoe, in which he was bringing Fish ashore from a Boat that lay off at Anchor. He has left a Widow and 4 or 5 Children.” Essex Gazette, 21–28 September 1773.

18 “The Select-Men of Marblehead hereby notify the Publick [as of 27 September], That the Town is entirely clear of the Small-Pox, and that only one Person has it at the Ferry, above a Mile from the Town.” Ibid., 21–28 September 1773.

19 The Rules and Regulations of the Essex Hospital on Cat Island, “approved by the Gentlemen Select-Men of Salem and Marblehead” were published this day in the Essex Gazette, issue of 28 September–5 October 1773; which see, and also the Editor’s introduction to this chapter. The surveyors mentioned by Bowen may have been a team working under Samuel Holland, who had spent many years conducting similar surveys along the coast of North America. Much of Holland’s data was used in the publication of Des Barres’ Atlantic Neptune charts.

20 Bowen’s acid sarcasm respecting the Essex Hospital now begins to come to the surface by comparing the act of inoculation with a pitched battle and by according the participants military titles.

The sloop Ashley, either named for Ashley Bowen himself or for his mother’s family inasmuch as the Martins had married into the Bowen family, was normally employed as a coasting vessel, of 30 tons burthen. Item number 7643, Short Clearance Form, at the Marblehead Historical Society.

“On Tuesday last the first Class of Patients went down to the Essex Hospital. As a Number of respectable Persons, of both Sexes, were in it, and the Hospital was clear of Infection, many Gentlemen of the Town accompanied it to the Island, and the Hospital was thronged in every Quarter. In the Afternoon the House was cleared, and Doctor [Hall] Jackson proceeded to inoculate the Patients, being One Hundred and Three in Number. Doctor [Ananias] Randall was unexpectedly detained ’till towards the Evening.—The Patients are daily displaying their Signal of Health from the Middle of the Island, and are all in high Spirits.” Essex Gazette, 19–26 October 1773.

21 The name given to the cattle and fodder boat.

22 Pope’s Day; see note for 6 November 1769, celebrated on 5 November. “On Friday Evening last the Patients of Essex Hospital commemorated the happy Deliverance of the English Nation from the GUN-POWDER PLOT. Tar Barrels on the Occasion were ordered from Town, and a large Fire displayed from the Middle of the Island; the Hospital was likewise illuminated, and made a most beautiful Appearance here. Rockets were ordered from Boston, but happening rather the latest for the Hospital, a Number of Gentlemen, who spent the Evening at the Assembly Room, had them played off from their Quarters, and spent the Evening after very jovially, as did their Friends and Acquaintance under Inoculation.” Essex Gazette, 2–9 November 1773.

23 “On Thursday Evening died at the Essex Hospital, of a nervous Fever, Sarah Roads, aged 15 Years. The Circumstances of her Death were as follows: Avery Clark, a young Woman who heretofore had had the Small Pox, was employed by the Proprietors as a Waiter to the Hospital; she was soon after her coming to the Hospital seized with a nervous Fever; which she had to a very great Degree. The Deceased came to the Hospital to be inoculated, and afterwards to serve as a Nurse; for Want of Room and other Convenience, she was obliged to lodge with the above young Woman, during part of her Sickness. She went through the Small-Pox, which she had equally favourable with any in the Hospital, not having more than twenty Pustules, and those of the mildest Kind, in her Face, and a less Proportion in her Body. During the whole Time she did the business of a Nurse in the Hospital, until about six Days before her Death, she was seized with a Pain in her Head, Back and Limbs; a violent Fever and Delirium came on; and notwithstanding she had the united Consultation and Advice of six Physicians, was obliged to submit to the Stroke of Death. The above Avery Clark is on the Recovery.” Ibid., 9–16 November 1773.

24 “We hear from Marblehead, that the Regiment of that Town appeared under Arms last Tuesday, and the three following Days; and after the Publication of the Commissions, and Performance of several military Manœuvres, the Officers and Gentlemen of the Town were genteely entertained at the Assembly-Room by the Field Officers. The Conduct of both Officers and Men gave universal Satisfaction to a great Number of Spectators from the neighbouring Towns; and seems to have raised a Spirit for military Discipline, which we hope will be properly nurtured.” Ibid., 30 November–7 December 1773.

25 “Last Saturday Capt.—Lowell of Newbury-Port, a Patient at the Essex-Hospital, in charging a Cannon (a Four Pounder) just after its being fired, and not properly sponged, the Cartridge took Fire while he was ramming it down: by which unhappy Accident both his arms were blown almost to Pieces, one Hand entirely carried away with the Rammer; one Eye lost, and the other very much hurt, if not ruined; and the Skin and Flesh so tore away from below his Chin, and towards one Side of his Neck, as to lay his Windpipe almost bare. As the Accident happened near the Hospital, he was immediately carried in, and Doctor Jackson proceeded to the Amputation of both Arms, one just above, and the other below the Elbow. We have not yet heard of his being dead, but it was thought he could not live long.” Ibid., 30 November–7 December 1773.

A more detailed and grisly enumeration of Lowell’s wounds appeared in The Essex Journal and Merimak Packet (Newburyport) on 26 January 1774. Lowell, despite his terrible wounds, had so far recovered of them that after thirty-seven days he no longer required a surgeon’s care.

26 “We learn from Marblehead, that considerable Disturbance arose in that Town, last Week, with Respect to the landing a Number of Patients from the Essex Hospital. It seems, as we hear, that they were coming ashore at a different Place from that lately voted by the Town for their Landing; whereupon a considerable Number of the Inhabitants mustered, and beat or pushed them off two or three Times; and the Patients were at Length obliged to look out for another Landing-Place.” Essex Gazette, 11–18 January 1774.

27 I.e., the hospital boat.

28 A pointless remark, inasmuch as Captain Lowell had had both of his arms amputated.

29 “Last Week, four Men belonging to Marblehead were suspected, by some Circumstances in their Behaviour, of having a Design of attempting to steal a Quantity of Cloathing from the Essex Hospital; they were accordingly watched; and on Wednesday Night last, on their Return from the Island, were pursued and taken. It appeared that they had picked up a Quantity of Cloathing, near the Hospital, that was put out for airing: But, on their Return to the Town, finding themselves pursued by several Boats, threw a considerable Part of it overboard. Their Persons being secured till the next Day, Thursday, a large Body of Mobility assembled; when it was determined, by a great Majority, that the Mode of Punishment should be Tarring and Feathering—In Consequence of this Determination, the most extraordinary Exhibition of the Kind, ever seen in North-America, was drawn forth to public View. The Procession formed, on Thursday Morning, at the Town-House in Marblehead. The four Objects of Resentment were placed in a Cart, facing each other, having been previously tarred and feathered in the modern Way. A Fifer and one Drummer were placed in the Front of the Carriage, which, according to the Computation of some Persons, was preceded by one thousand People, chiefly dressed in Uniform, among whom were four Drummers. In this Manner they marched from Marblehead to Salem, 4½ Miles, and entered the Town about 12 o’Clock. Here, forming a Junction with a numerous Body of the Inhabitants, they paraded through the principal Streets, with Drums beating, a Fife playing, and a large white Flag flying from the Cart, which, with the exquisitely droll and grotesque Appearance of the four tarred and feathered Objects of Derision, exhibited a very laughable and truly comic Scene. They went out of Town before one o’clock, and returned to Marblehead, where they dispersed.” Essex Gazette, 18–25 January 1774.

30 The Town Meeting considered the question of whether or not the Town would purchase the hospital from the proprietors, which was voted in the negative. It was further voted that a committee of three persons (Joel Smith, Ebenezer Foster, and John Pedrick) inspect the cleaning of the infected clothing and furniture at the Essex Hospital.

31 ‘“On Monday, last Week, a Meeting was called at Marblehead, to put a Stop to the Disorders which for several Days before had happened in the Place. As the Dispute respected the Essex Hospital, it was agreed by the Proprietors to shut it up; and at their Desire a Committee of the Town was chosen to inspect the cleaning of Furniture, Apparel, &c. On Tuesday the Committee went to the Hospital, and attended their Business until Wednesday Night, when they awaked with the Rest of the Family, being eleven in Number, surrounded with Flames. The Ruffians, who perpetrated this Act, went from the Town prepared with Tar Tubs, &c. and proceeded setting Fire to all Parts of the House without any Attempt to awake the People. So infernal were the Villains that they struck down one Man who in Amazement had jumped from his Bed, and was running from the Flames. The Steward had a Blow from another of them with an Andiron; it was aimed at his Head, but happily missing it, took his Shoulder, and brought him to the Floor. One of the Patients, with a Child at her Breast, was driven to the Smoke-House, fainting several Times as she went. And others were turned out, cold as it was, with scarcely any Thing to cover them.—The Perpetrators are not yet apprehended.—The Town is in such Confusion that a military Watch is nightly kept, as it’s thought Lives and Properties are not safe without it.’ The above Account we received from a Correspondent; in Addition to which, we hear, that the Number of People who went over to Cat-Island, to burn the Hospital, was about 20; Part of them, in Disguise, went up from where they landed, and set Fire to the Building, which contained 70 Beds, with Bedding, and all the other Furniture belonging to the Hospital, the whole of which was consumed, together with a Barn.—The Loss to the Proprietors (four in Number) is estimated at Two Thousand Pounds L[awful] M[oney].” Essex Gazette, 25 January–1 February 1774.

32 That is, to shovel out a road through the snow.

33 “We hear that a Petition was preferred to the General Court, a few days since, by a Number of the principal Inhabitants of Marblehead, setting forth the great Confusion that Town is in, occasioned by the lawless Proceedings of a Number of Persons in burning the Hospital there, committing other Acts of Violence, and by their Threats of doing further Mischief: And praying such speedy Relief as the Court in their Wisdom, should see meet. Upon which a Committee of the two Houses was appointed to repair to Marblehead, to enquire into the Grounds of the Uneasiness subsisting there.” Essex Gazette, 8–15 February 1774.

34 “Last Friday, in the Forenoon, Mr. [Nathan] Brown, of this Place [Salem], Deputy-Sheriff, went on board a fishing Vessel, at Marblehead, and arrested John Watts and John Guillard, in an Action of Damages for £3000, commenced by the Gentlemen who were Proprietors of the late Essex Hospital, on Suspicion that the said two Persons were concerned in burning that Building on the 26th of January last.—The Prisoners were committed to his Majesty’s Goal [sic] in this Town about 2 o’Clock, p.m. Almost as soon as the Keys were turned upon them, the People began, in small Companies, to enter the Town from Marblehead, and continued coming over in this Manner till near Night, rendezvouzing near the Goal. The Magistrates were busy in consulting upon Measures for preserving the Peace, and for dispersing the People who were assembling from Marblehead; from whence a still greater Number was expected after Dark. About Sunset, on Application to the Colonel of the Militia, the Drums were ordered out, and beat To Arms.—Immediately upon hearing this, the Mob, to the Number of 4 or 500, arming themselves with Clubs, Sticks of Wood, &c. and while it was yet Day-Light, made a most furious Attack upon the Goal.—They first burst open the Doors, and broke most of the lower Windows in that Part of the Building which is the Prison-Keeper’s Dwelling; and then, with Iron Crows, Axes, &c. they soon beat their Way through four of the Prison-Doors, each of which was very strong, and well secured with many large Locks. Thus, having got into two Apartments of the Prison, in less than 10 Minutes, from the first Onset, carried off the abovementioned two Prisoners in Triumph, and went immediately to Marblehead, where they soon dispersed. They assembled again the next Day, and obliged the Gentlemen abovementioned to declare, that no Prosecutions should ever after be commenced on Account of burning the Hospital.” Ibid., 22 February–1 March 1774.

35 “In Consequence of the Rescue of the two Prisoners . . . the High Sheriff of the County, on Monday Afternoon, last Week, gave orders to his Deputy in this Town [Salem] to command the Inhabitants to meet in School Street at 9 o’Clock the next Morning, with Arms and Ammunition according to Law, to assist the High Sheriff in the Execution of his Office; in Pursuance of which Orders, several Hundred were commanded to appear.—This Body, when assembled, was to march to Marblehead, and assist the Sheriff in retaking the said Prisoners, as well as to apprehend the Principals concerned in breaking the Goal. On the other Hand, it was given out, that the Marblehead People, to the Number of 6 or 800, were arming, and were determined to repel, to the last Extremity, any Force that should be brought against them. In this critical Situation of Things, a Number of the principal Gentlemen of Marblehead were happily instrumental in effecting a Compromise; the Proprietors of the late Essex Hospital being influenced to relinquish all Demands that they might have either on the County or Sheriff, in Consequence of the Rescue and Escape of the abovementioned Prisoners, and to discontinue all Proceedings respecting the burning of the Hospital. This Measure, which restored Peace, was reported abroad just before the Time at which the People were ordered to assemble, and was the Cause of much Joy and Satisfaction to the Town in general.” Ibid., 1–8 March 1774.

36 “We hear from Marblehead, that a Person, named Clark, went to Cat-Island last Wednesday, and took away some Cloaths, (said to be his own) which he brought up to the Town. As they had been infected with the Small-Pox, and it was uncertain whether they were cleansed or not, he was immediately ordered, by the Selectmen, round to the Ferry, back of the Town, where the Cloaths were to be examined. He accordingly obeyed: But returning to Town again, he was surrounded by a considerable Number of People; and lest they should proceed to any Violence with him, the Selectmen appeared, and promised that he should be properly and legally punished, if deserving of it, the next Day. This seemed to satisfy the People: But about 10 or 11 o’Clock at Night, 20 or 30 of them went and pulled him out of his House, carried him to the public Whipping-Post, and whipped him most cruelly. The next Day he went to Ipswich, made his Complaint to the Justices of the Inferior Court, then sitting, and told who the Persons were that had abused him. A Warrant was issued, one of the Criminals were taken up and committed to Goal, and a good Look-Out is kept for apprehending the others; one of whom, as he was returning from Meeting on the last Sabbath, an Officer gave Chace to, but could not catch him.—The abovementioned Clark is one of the Persons who were tarred and feathered some Time since.” Ibid., 29 March–5 April 1774.

37 One of the persons arrested for being concerned in the whipping of John Clark. See also, 7 April.

38 Probably as a result of the severe gale which struck the Banks on 3 April.

39 “Last Tuesday his Excellency the Governor [Thomas Hutchinson] came to Town from Boston, accompanied by General Brattle, Mr. Secretary Flucker, and several other Gentlemen. His Excellency entered the Town [of Salem] in the Afternoon, preceeded by the High Sheriff of the County and two of his Deputies on Horseback, and followed by a considerable Number of the principal Gentlemen of the Place in their Carriages.—The next Morning the first Regiment of Militia in this County, commanded by Colonel Browne, was mustered on the Plains between this Place and Danvers; and at 12 o’Clock the Regiment, led by Lieut. Col. Frye, marched thro’ this Town into the Common, where, about one o’Clock, his Excellency appeared, accompanied by General Brattle, and a Number of other Gentleman, and reviewed the Regiment. After the usual Firings, &c. the Men were dismissed. His Excellency was then escorted to an elegant Entertainment.—In the Evening a Ball was given at the Assembly Room, where a great Number of Ladies shone with their usual Brilliancy, and where his Excellency honoured the Company with his Presence. His Excellency returned Home on Thursday, by the Way of Marblehead, to which Place he was invited by the Hon. Robert Hooper, Esq.” Essex Gazette, 26 April–3 May 1774.

40 The Act of Parliament concerning the impending closure of the Port of Boston on 1 June 1774.

41 Gage arrived aboard H.M.S. Lively, Captain Thomas Bishop, in twenty-six days from England, having left Plymouth Sound on 17 April. Captain’s Log of H.M.S. Lively, Adm. 51/546, at the P.R.O., London.

42 As a Representative to the Great and General Court.

43 “We have just heard that the Town of MARBLEHEAD have unanimously agreed to join the GRAND UNION now forming for the Salvation of AMERICAN LIBERTY.” Essex Gazette, 17–24 May 1774. This meeting committed the town to join in a non-importation and non-exportation agreement, if necessary, and to establish a Committee of Correspondence for the purpose of communicating with other towns in the Province. Also, at this meeting, the complimentary address by a number of Marbleheaders to outgoing Governor Hutchinson, reproduced in the Editor’s chapter introduction, was read. See Marblehead Town Records and the issues of the Essex Gazette for 24–31 May 1774 and 31 May–7 June 1774.

44 The firing of cannon was due to the election of H.M. Councillors for the Province.

45 The last day before the Boston Port Act was to take effect.

46 Governor Gage had come to transfer the General Court from Boston to Salem. As he approached, followed by a concourse of gentlemen, he was met on the road by numerous people from Salem and Marblehead who accorded him a rousing welcome. The seat in Danvers where he was to reside was Robert Hooper’s elegant country house, where Hooper was to spend much time during the Revolution, away from the rancor of Marblehead.

The Town Meeting of 2 June was a long one, for it took under consideration what was to be done about the Marbleheaders who had signed the address to Governor Hutchinson and demanded recantations from the subscribers.

47 The Town Meeting was to formulate and to approve the town’s instructions to its Representative to the Great and General Court, John Gallison. The instructions dwelt on the necessity of relieving the suffering at Boston, the utility of a “Congress of the Committees from the Several Houses of Assembly on the Continent,” that the Charter of Massachusetts Bay should not be altered, and that all Parliamentary measures to further oppress the Colonies should be opposed and corrected. Marblehead Town Records.

48 The bells were rung for a Town Meeting regarding Committee of Correspondence business between Marblehead and Boston.

49 “This Morning was found the Body of a Person, whose Name is unknown, about two Miles from the Town, at a Place called Bartlett’s Beach; he appeared to be of a large Stature, was defaced entirely, his Head and Hands gone, and appeared to have been drowned some Time; his Breeches, Trowsers and Stockings seemed to be almost new; there was a Pair of Buckles in his Shoes, marked with the Letters B C.” Essex Gazette, 21–28 June 1774.

50 A Town Meeting to select jurymen and to consider the town’s proportion of the £500 to be raised for the use of the forthcoming Congress. Marblehead Town Records.

51 Actually two Town Meetings, called by separate warrants. In addition to routine business, one called for a committee to circulate a subscription paper for relief to the poor of Boston and to offer the use of the Town House cellar (Market), Powder House, &c. without charge to persons from Boston, then under the necessity of operating from Marblehead. The other meeting authorized the payment of £9.8.10 toward the expenses of the Congress.

52 A Town Meeting to choose one or more suitable persons to attend the Congress and to pay their expenses. Jeremiah Lee was chosen but declined serving in that capacity; the matter was then held over to an adjournment.

53 “Last Tuesday Morning came to Town from Marblehead, twelve Cart loads of good Salt Fish, also a Quantity of Oil, being the generous Donation of our sympathising Brethren of that Place. The above Provisions having been judged by the Revenue Officers not to be ‘Victuals [the Word in the Port-Bill] for the necessary Use and Sustenance of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston,’ it was therefore not permitted to be brought into this Port ‘Coastwise.’” Essex Gazette, 2–9 August 1774.

On 30 July 1774, John Gerry, Clerk of the Marblehead Committee of Correspondence, wrote to the Boston Committee to explain the donations that were to arrive under Deacon Samuel Gatchell’s care: “ . . . The inhabitants of this Town, whose circumstances are at present greatly impared by a reduction of the fishery, as well as distresses arising from the small-pox, beg leave, like the widow, to cast in our mite, which, please to favor by a kind and friendly acceptance of the same. The donation consists of 224 quintals of good eating fish, such as our inhabitants all of them use, except those whose circumstances afford them winter fish,—the price of this, if you should have occasion to turn into cash, is 13/4 at least at this time, and usually has been at 14/8 per quintal; one and ¾ casks of olive oil, one of which we presume you have received ere this can meet you, and thirty-nine pounds, five shillings and three-pence in cash. In justice to the characters of some who signed the address to Mr. Hutchinson, and were probably misled in that matter, we must acquaint you that Messrs. Joseph Lee, Jno. Prince, Robert Ambrose, Robert Hooper, Junr., and Joseph Swasey, were subscribers to the donations of this Town before mentioned. We truly wish we could say that the other barely refused subscribing to so rational and humane a purpose, but we forbear to pursue so disagreeable a subject, and shall conclude by wishing you that support under a burthen (which our enemies thought at first view intolerable), which shall finally free America from its present bondage . . . P.S.—We would also inform you that we find two more of the addressers subscribers to the donations, viz. Messrs. John Webb and John Stimson, and that the carters who bring this donation most generously do it at half price. . . .”

“Correspondence in 1774 and 1775, between a Committee of the Town of Boston and Contributors of Donations for the Relief of the Sufferers by the Boston Port Bill,” Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 4th Series, iv (1858), 29f.

54 The transports, with the 59th Regiment on board, landed near the Fort on Winter Island, Salem, and “Pitched their tents upon ye rising ground on this side.” See Essex Gazette, 9–16 August 1774; and “Extracts from the Interleaved Almanacs of William Wetmore of Salem, 1774–1778,” Essex Institute Historical Collections, xliii (1907), 116.

55 Bowen is in error here. Johnson, described, as a “transient, strolling Vagrant” received 15 stripes at the Salem whipping post with two other “Villians” for stealing goods at a very severe fire at Salem. The fire occurred on 6 October 1774, not in August of the year. Essex Gazette, 4–11 October 1774; and The Salem Gazette and Newbury and Marblehead Advertiser, 7 October 1774.

56 Efforts were being made at this time to conserve available stocks of gunpowder. A Marblehead Town Meeting of 12 September voted to place the town’s supply in a secure place.

57 Due to mob reaction against the Mandamus Councillors and demands that they resign their seats on the Council.

58 “The Town of Marblehead have agreed that their Regiment of Militia shall turn out four Times in a Week, with Arms and Ammunition according to Law, in order to perfect themselves in the Military Art.” Essex Gazette, 30 August–6 September 1774

59 “Last Saturday Morning a Distill-House at Marblehead, belonging to Col. Gallison, took Fire, and was very considerably damaged before the Flames were extinguished.” Ibid., 20–27 September 1774.

60 The Editor has been unable to uncover further information about this incident. Among other sources checked were W.O. 27/30, W.O. 27/31, W.O. 71/145 and W.O. 71/146 at the P.R.O., London, without results.

61 One of the more disastrous fires to strike Salem during its early history. The Marbleheaders rushed to Salem to bear a hand, and, with the combined efforts of many volunteers from surrounding communities the fire was stopped. The town of Salem subsequently invited 132 volunteer firemen to breakfast, paying as well for three gallons of West India rum and three gallons of gin. James Duncan Phillips, Salem in the Eighteenth Century (Boston, 1937), 340–342.

62 H.M. Schooner Magdalen, which remained in the area until 2 November. Captain’s Log, Adm. 51/3894., at the P.R.O., London

63 The second “tender” was H.M. Schooner Halifax.

64 Halifax off Baker’s Island; Magdalen in Marblehead Harbor.

65 Magdalen fired 19 guns (26 October according to sea time where the day is reckoned from noon to noon), it being the Anniversary of His Majesty’s Accession to the throne. Before the day was out, Magdalen brought to a brig bound to Salem, and the following day two brigs, one from Cadiz and one from the West Indies.

66 One of these ships was the ship Thomas, Thomas Robson, master, from London and bound for Salem. Captain’s Log of H.M. Schooner Magdalen, Adm. 51/3894, at the P.R.O., London.

67 Pope’s Day was celebrated a day early this year.

68 “On Monday Night last [sic] we had a Storm of Wind, blowing violently from ESE, attended with Rain . . . At Marblehead, three or Four Vessels were drove on Shore from their Anchors and received much Damage, one of them a Sloop loaded with Wood, from the Eastward, belonging to Col. Lee, was bilged. . . .” The Salem Gazette and Newbury and Marblehead Advertiser, 25 November 1774.

69 H.M.S. Scarborough from England, with dispatches for Governor Gage.

70 H.M.S. Asia, with Major John Pitcairn and a reenforcement of 460 Marines. William Bell Clark, ed., Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1964–), 1. 4. This monumental work, henceforth cited as Naval Documents, is a mine of information about the naval aspects of the Revolutionary War. As of the year 1971, five volumes, of a contemplated twenty or more, had been published.

71 A committee was chosen “to wait on all the Militia officers in this Town and acquaint them that the Town is of opinion they cannot hold or execute their Military Commissions which issued from the late Governour Hutchinson or his Successor General Gage without hostile Designe against the Liberties of America, and that sd Committee desire such as agree with the Town to publish their Resignation as soon as may be in the Essex Gazette.” The meeting also considered what action should be taken with respect to those addressers of Governor Hutchinson who had not yet publicly retracted their stand. Marblehead Town Records.

72 “Captain Stiles in a large Schooner from St. Thomas’s, belonging to Marblehead, foundered, the Captain, Mate, and one more saved, all the rest perished” during a gale off Hispaniola on 8 December 1774. Essex Gazette, 24–31 January 1775. Stiles’ schooner was Jonathan Glover’s Hannah, formerly commanded by Richard James. See Philip C. F. Smith and Russell W. Knight, In Troubled Waters: The Elusive Schooner Hannah (Salem: Peabody Museum of Salem, 1970).

73 The most important piece of business at this town meeting was that goods imported contrary to the Association of the Continental Congress (which the importers refused to store, reship, or sell as directed by the Association) would be seized and detained until the importers were willing to conform to the Association requirements.

74 The following officers had been commissioned in the Marblehead Regiment: Colonel, Jeremiah Lee; 1st Lieutenant Colonel, Azor Orne; 2nd Lieutenant Colonel, John Glover; Major, John Gerry. Officers of the Train: Captain, with rank of Major, William Raymond Lee; Lieutenant, Samuel Russell Trevett; 2nd Lieutenant, Thomas Grant; 3rd Lieutenant, Joel Smith; 4th Lieutenant, Knott Pedrick. Company Captains: 1st Co., William Courtis; 2nd Co., Francis Felton; 3rd Co., Benjamin Eaton; 4th Co., William Bacon; 5th Co., Samuel Gatchell; 6th Co., Benjamin Tyler Reed; 7th Co., Joseph Lee.

75 The Town Meeting was to consider the present state of the fishery at Marblehead and to communicate with the Committees of Correspondence of the other principal fishing towns about what was to be done to improve it.

76 The recently arrived cargoes from Falmouth, specifically those of Captains Hooper, Tittle, and Rapell were auctioned off at the house of Benjamin Burdick, innkeeper at Marblehead (opposite Jeremiah Lee’s) on 16 February. The cargoes consisted mainly of raisins, Malaga wine, and lemons.

77 “At 2 a.m. manned & armed the Pinnace and Cutter sent to Marblehead to Impress men at 9 ye Boats retd with 10 Men.” Captain’s Log of H.M.S. Lively, Adm. 51/ 546, at the P.R.O., London. Admiral Samuel Graves had given orders to Captain Thomas Bishop of Lively to impress thirty men for the use of the squadron.

78 Two boxes of wax candles had arrived in the ship Champion, Captain Fellows, at Marblehead. Destined for the personal use of Admiral Graves, they had been consigned to his purser, John Williams. “These packages, agreeable to the continental association, ought to have been reshipped, or delivered to the committee of inspection for sale, or to be stored during the continuance of the association; but instead thereof Williams utterly refused to comply with the association, and with some other inferior officers of the navy demanded the boxes, alledging that they contained candles for Admiral Greaves; the committee as well as the town, thought the doings of the Continent too important to be thus treated by a common purser, and the matter was so regulated that the candles were detained, until application was made to the committee in the name of the purser, for selling the same, and the association was fully complied with.” Massachusetts Spy, 16 February 1775, cited in Naval Documents, I, 91.

“The Admiral issued press-warrants at Marblehead on account of the detention of some wax-candles imported for his own use, and which were seized by the Committee of Inspection. At first the people of Marblehead had determined on rescuing any pressed men; accordingly, after Mr. [William] Lechmere, Lieut. of the Lively, had pressed two hands from on board a vessel coming in, on his return he was surrounded by eight or ten whale-boats manned and armed; he called to them at their peril to keep off, which they did at a distance of two boats lengths; they then asked him if he had pressed any men out of the vessel he had boarded, which he answered in the affirmative; they bid him deliver them up without making any resistance; on his refusal, they pointed their pieces into his boat, and Mr. L—ordered his men to do the same; one of the impressed men took this opportunity and leaped overboard; Mr. Lechmere snapped his piece at the man, which missed fire, and he was taken up by the whale-boats; the other man was immediately secured, and without further opposition carried on board the Lively. From this time they continued pressing without molestation, when the Select-men of Marblehead seeing their trade distressed, obliged the Committee of Inspection to write to Admiral Graves, in the most penitential manner, for having disobliged him, and laid the blame entirely on their Chairman, which the Admiral took not the least notice of. The Select-men were obliged to wait on him, and promised to return the candles, and pay all costs and damages, and there should never be in future any cause of complaint. Lo! their prayers were heard, and the press-warrants ordered to be withdrawn, as soon as they had satisfied the purser, whom one of the Committee waited upon, and paid him betwixt four and five pounds to defray the expence he had been at in going to demand them, and told him the candles were at Mr.—house, and would be delivered on his sending for them; this the purser refused, and insisted on their being laid within the threshhold of his door, which was punctually complied with.” Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser, 8 April 1775, cited in Naval Documents, I. 93f

79 See note 7, above

80 A committee of twenty-one persons was chosen to visit the skippers and owners of the fishing vessels to request that they not go to sea before 20 March 1775. Marblehead Town Records.

81 An intelligence report to Thomas Gage that there were twelve brass cannon secreted in the back part of Salem caused him to dispatch Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Leslie and a detachment of the 64th Regiment to take possession of them. Leslie arrived at Marblehead aboard the transport Sea Venture and disembarked at 2:30 p.m. The troops set off overland. By the time he arrived at the long drawbridge crossing the North River, over which he had to pass to get at the cannon, the alarm had been sounded. All small boats had been ferried to the far shore or scuttled, an angry crowd had gathered to receive him, and the drawbridge had been raised. After a length of time a major incident was averted when Leslie and the townspeople reached a compromise. If the draw were lowered, he would cross, march a short distance on the other side; then turn and retrace his steps back to Marblehead. See the various, detailed accounts of “Leslie’s Retreat,” cited in Naval Documents, I. 101, 109, 111, 114.

82 H.M. Schooner Halifax, Lt. Joseph Nunn, was wrecked near Machias, Maine, on 15 February. The officers and crew returned to Boston in a wood sloop. Naval Documents, I. 116, 117.

83 The anniversary of the “Boston Massacre,” which had taken place five years before, in 1770.

84 “Wednesday last the Schooner—, commanded by Capt. Lee, lately arrived from Dominica, was seized at Cape-Ann, by his Majesty’s Ship Lively, for Breach of the Acts of Trade.” The Salem Gazette and Newbury and Marblehead Advertiser, 24 March 1775.

85 Possibly H.M. Schooner Diana and H.M. Sloop Margaretta, both recently hired by Admiral Graves.

86 The vessel was the brig Dove. Captain’s Log of H.M.S. Lively, Adm. 51/546, at the P.R.O., London.

87 Presumably referring to Lord North’s conciliatory plan, whereby the several Assemblies on the Continent should tax themselves, agreeable to a Resolve of the House of Commons on 20 February.

88 “We hear that the Captains Andrews and Barker, who arrived at Marblehead a few Days since from Falmouth, are preparing to return to England with their Vessels and Cargoes, agreeable to the continental Association.” Essex Gazette, 4–11 April 1775

89 The Town Meeting on 3 April was convened and immediately adjourned without any business transacted.

90 Bowen’s only reference to the Battles of Concord and Lexington

91 How Bowen happened to be taken aboard or why he was let go is a mystery. Lively’s Muster Book (Adm. 36/7625, Series I, at the P.R.O., London), however, shows that on 20 April (possibly the same day as Bowen’s experience due to the difference between sea time and land time) William Brown and James Mugford were entered on the ship’s books as Able Seamen. Brown escaped (ran) on 9 May; Mugford preceded him by five days, taking French leave from Lively on 4 May 1775

92 “Stopt the Vessels in this Port,” Captain’s Log of H.M.S. Lively, Adm. 51/546, at the P.R.O., London. Captain Bishop, who had been ordered to caution the inhabitants of Marblehead against assisting the “rebels” on pain of having their town destroyed, summoned the Selectmen on board to issue his ultimatum. The Selectmen bent and promised not to send any men or provisions to the army or to be seen themselves under arms. Despite its hostility towards Lively and the other, subsequent, blockading vessels, Marblehead played it safe for a number of weeks. See Naval Documents, I. 202, 210, 211.

Nathan Bowen, inflexible Loyalist, removed himself to the farm near Legg’s Hill, now principally owned by his son-in-law, John Prince.

93 Josiah Quincy, Jr. (1744–1775) had been sent to England to explain the American stance to the British government. He died while returning, within sight of Cape Ann.

94 The female relations of Lively’s, captain. On the same day the Massachusetts Committee of Safety at Cambridge had ordered Colonel John Glover to “take such effectual methods for the prevention of Intelligence being carried on board the Lively ship of war . . . or any other as may have a tendency to injure the most important cause we are engaged in, and that he take such effectual methods for carrying this order into execution, as shall appear best calculated to effect this purpose.” Naval Documents, I. 229.

95 Harvard educated, Joseph Hooper was the son of Robert (“King”) Hooper and operated the ropewalk in Marblehead. His Tory sympathies forced him to flee ultimately, after laying (so he said) forty-two nights on some dried fish in a vessel of his father’s, which, according to Bowen, was the brig Nancy. “Essex County Loyalists,” Essex Institute Historical Collections, xliii (1907), 305–309.

96 “A Spanish ship of about 150 Tons, bound from the Havanna to Cadiz, having lost her Rudder and all her Masts, was met with in great Distress on the Grand Bank, by two Marblehead fishing schooners, who took up her Men, together with a Quantity of Snuff, Tobacco, &c. and 23,000 Dollars in Cash; all which were brought safe into Marblehead on Saturday last, but soon after taken Possession of by the Lively Man of War.” New England Chronicle, 12 May 1775, cited in Naval Documents, I. 318.

97 Jeremiah Lee (1721–1775), one of the most influential Marbleheaders of pre-Revolutionary days, was elected by the town as a representative to the Provincial Congress which convened in February. In mid-April 1775, the Marblehead delegates, Lee, Azor Orne, and Elbridge Gerry met with other members of a committee at Wetherby’s Black Horse Tavern. All went on to pass the night elsewhere except the Marbleheaders who remained behind. During the night of 18 April, British troops en route to Concord stopped to search the tavern. Lee, Orne, and Gerry were forced to flee in their nightclothes into a cornfield, there to remain until the soldiers passed by. As a result of exposure, Jeremiah Lee contracted a severe fever and, after a lingering illness, died.

98 Admiral Samuel Graves had ordered H.M. Schooner Diana to Marblehead to retrieve the money from the Spanish wreck, not knowing that Captain Bishop of Lively had already done so. Diana apparently returned to Boston without the money, then safely secured aboard Lively. Graves, in a fury, ordered Diana back to Marblehead to take the money. Lieutenant Alexander Graeme went as a passenger to relieve Bishop of the command of Lively while Bishop returned to Boston in Diana to explain why 1) he had not informed Graves about the money, and 2) why he had not sent it to Boston in Diana as ordered. Graves ultimately decided to subject him to a court-martial, held 5 June 1775, when Bishop was acquitted of acting intentionally to the prejudice of the Service or with disrespect to the Admiral but was repremanded for an error of judgment. Naval Documents, I. 296, 302, 310, 614.

99 During the night of 14 May a number of Marblehead inhabitants boarded a vessel loaded with molasses and in custody of Lively, when “they slipped her Cables & after running her into the Wharf Where a Number of our Men armed were posted to receive her they unloaded her Cargo & saved the whole.” Elbridge Gerry to the President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, 15 May 1775, cited in Naval Documents, I. 333f.

100 Lively’s Captain’s Log (Adm. 51/546, at the P.R.O., London) called the tender Halifax. Inasmuch as the old Halifax had been wrecked off Machias in February and as a new schooner of the name had only just been hired and presumably was at Halifax fitting out on or just after 15 May, the identity of the “new tender” mentioned by Bowen is undetermined.

101 Azor Orne, Elbridge Gerry, Jonathan Glover, and Joshua Orne were chosen delegates to the Provincial Congress at Watertown.

102 Graves had been promoted to Vice Admiral of the White. The salutes occurred when he hoisted his white flag at 8 a.m. Naval Documents, I. 546.

Lively was ordered for Boston due to the court-martial of her late commander, Captain Thomas Bishop. Her place was to be taken by H.M. Sloop Merlin, Captain William C. Burnaby. Lively’s station in the harbor was at a point almost midway a line drawn between the end of Blackjack Point on Marblehead Neck (where the modern Corinthian Yacht Club building stands) and Koman’s Cove on the town side (or, at the foot of present-day Selman and Franklin Streets).

103 A party of American soldiers under orders to drive off the livestock from Hog and Noddles Island, drew the attention of H.M. Schooner Diana which came down to prevent them. Shortly thereafter a hot fire began between Diana and a detachment of provincial soldiers on Chelsea Neck. The cannonading became so intense that Diana was abandoned, and finally burned by the Americans. See Naval Documents, I. 544. 551

104 The salutes were in honor of the Restoration of King Charles I.

105 The delegates had gone to the Provincial Congress.

106 “The Town of Salem, and other Parts of the County of Essex, were alarmed last Tuesday Morning by the Appearance, off Salem Harbour, of 2 or 3 armed Vessels, supposed to be on some hostile Design. A large Body of Men immediately assembled: But nothing extraordinary being attempted by the Enemy, the People dispersed, after taking some necessary Measures for their future Safety.” New England Chronicle, 25 May—1 June 1775, cited in Naval Documents, I. 585.

107 Graves had ordered Burnaby to seize and send to Boston all vessels laden with arms and ammunition, provisions, grain, flour, salt, molasses, and wood. Naval Documents, I. 820.

108 “Sunday last the schooner Pelican, Capt. Tucker, arrived at Marblehead from London in Ballast, and brought Dispatches for General Gage and Admiral Greaves which were immediately secured by the Committee of that place and sent to the Provincial Congress at Watertown.” Providence Gazette, 10 June 1775, cited in Naval Documents, I. 646.

109 Merlin’s salute was in honor of the King’s Birthday. The “salt fleet” described here by Bowen does not correspond with a similar convoy from Marblehead to Boston later in the month, nor do the vessels appear in “An Account of Ships and Vessels Seized, and Brought into Port by His Majesty’s Squadron in North America under the Command of Vice Admiral Graves, Between the 1st of June & the 31st of December 1775” reproduced in Naval Documents, II. 1373–1377. “The Account of Ships,” although dated from 1 June, contains the names of only two vessels during the entire month of June. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that “The Account of Ships” began nearer 1 July than 1 June.

110 The schooner arriving from Barbados, of which John Gale was captain, was John Glover’s Hannah. The white flag with the blue diamond was John Glover’s private signal. This was the Hannah fitted out as the first of “Washington’s Navy.” See 5 September 1775. Despite Glover’s “Colony Ledger” which states that the schooner was of 78 tons, John Glover’s Hannah is consistently listed in the Barbados Naval Office lists as a schooner of 45 tons, built at Salisbury, Massachusetts, in 1765. See Philip C. F. Smith and Russell W. Knight, In Troubled Waters: The Elusive Schooner Hannah (Salem: Peabody Museum of Salem, 1970).

111 See “Broadsides, Ballads &c. Printed in Massachusetts 1639–1800,” Massachusetts Historical Society Collections (Boston, 1922), item number 1814, p. 250.

112 Merlin’s Log only mentions having fired three guns at a schooner.

113 Captain Burnaby must have been under orders to repeat the order that Marble head and local towns supply the demands of his ship. On the nineteenth, Graves wrote to Burnaby: “I am very glad you have got all the Bread from Salem which was demanded for the Merlin and I desire you will get as much more as you can without Risque.” Also about this time Graves was advised that Marblehead had vessels out off the coast to warn incoming vessels to put into Newburyport rather than to attempt coming to Marblehead. Naval Documents, I. 685, 718

114 “Fired 4 Guns & 4 Swivels at Some Rebels who fired at the Ship.” Captain’s Log, H.M.S. Merlin, Adm. 51/604, at the P.R.O., London.

115 The brig General Wolfe, coming to Marblehead from Turks Island with salt, had been taken by H. M. Schooner Hope and was being conducted to Boston where she was left. Naval Documents, II. 1373.

The “Committee of Friends” may have included Robert Hooper, seeking the release of his General Wolfe. On this day Admiral Graves broadened Captain Burnaby’s powers. “You are hereby required and directed to cruize in his Majesty’s Sloop [Merlin] under your Command between Cape Ann and Cape Cod, anchoring occasionally at Marblehead or Salem. . . . you are also at Liberty to extend your Cruize to the Isle of Shoals or Piscatagua River . . . in order if possible to prevent every Kind of Supply getting to the Rebels by Sea. And whereas his Majesty’s Schooner Hope is stationed within the Limits of your Command, for the same purpose of cutting off the Rebels Supplies You are to take Lieutt [George] Dawson under your Command and amploy him and the said Schooner in the most effectual manner you can . . . And in respect to pressing from Vessels fishing to supply the Towns of Marblehead and Salem; You are hereby required and directed not to impress any of the said Fishermen so long as your Boats are allowed to land at the sd Towns to purchase and bring away such things as his Majesty’s Service may require, but whenever that Intercourse shall be stopped on their parts or they shall act in an hostile manner towards any of the Squadron, You are then to seize not only their People but their Boats and send them to Boston, or otherwise dispose of them as upon your representing the circumstances I shall hereafter direct.” Graves to Burnaby, 5 July 1775, cited in Naval Documents, I. 820.

116 Hooper went to secure the release of the brig General Wolfe and her captain, Hugh Hill. In the former, he was unsuccessful. Hooper and Hill returned to Marblehead on the thirteenth.

117 The brig Betsey, John Dixey, master, was taken to Boston with her cargo of salt and left. Naval Documents, II. 1373.

118 Captain John Derby, in the schooner Quero, had sailed from Salem shortly after the Battles of Concord and Lexington to London carrying the American version of the encounters. In his later bill for his expenses, Derby headed the listing with a description of his mission: “Express to England—To Forestall Gen. Gage’s Despatch about the Lexington Fight—(Successful).” Ibid., 1. 934, 941, 967, 968

119 Boston Light was burned by the Provincials (as was the twin light on Thacher’s Island off Cape Ann about the same time) to make the navigation into Boston more difficult for the English.

120 “We hear from Cape-Ann, that a Vessel bound in there from the West Indies, being discovered off that Harbour last Tuesday, several of the Inhabitants went off in a Boat to assist in bringing her in. Soon after, about 30 armed Men, from the Man of War commanded by Capt. [John] Lindzee, boarded and took Possession of the Vessel; but she running aground on the Cape, was vigorously attacked by a Number of Men from the Town of Glo[u]cester, who soon obliged the Enemy to give up the Vessel to the proper Owners, and to surrender themselves Prisoners. The whole Number was immediately sent to Ipswich Goal, in which 24 of them were confined. The Rest (4 or 5 in Number) were discharged, it appearing that they had been cruelly forced into the Enemy’s Service. Lindzee was so enraged that he fired several Cannon Shot into the Town of Glo[u]cester, but did little Damage.” New England Chronicle, 10 August 1775, cited in Naval Documents, I. 1108. See also: Ibid., 1. 1093, 1110, 1114, 1132.

121 Gloucester, understandably, was jumpy after the attack by Falcon. This threat, as well as another one on the nineteenth, was more imagined than real, yet had not the seacoast towns begun to fortify themselves soon after that time Admiral Graves might, eventually, have laid waste to them, as by early September he was beginning to think of doing.

122 The schooner Hannah. See the note for Bowen’s remarks of 5 September.

123 The schooner Hannah, “first” of the schooners hired under authority of General Washington to attack British shipping to and from Boston. The fleet of other schooners, hired during the next several months, became known as “George Washington’s Navy.” The comings and goings of Washington’s fleet are well covered in Naval Documents, volumes I–V et seq., and in William Bell Clark, George Washington’s Navy (Baton Rouge, 1960), but Bowen adds significant information, material not covered elsewhere.

Hannah’s role is a difficult one to follow. Recent, new investigations from eighteenth-century source material, including Bowen, have proved that much about Hannah written to date is wrong or based on circumstantial evidence. The tonnage figure in John Glover’s “Colony Ledger” disagrees with the tonnage figure given for his Hannah in the Barbados Naval Office Lists (78 vs 45, respectively). Jonathan Glover, John’s elder brother, also simultaneously owned a schooner Hannah (70 tons), yet this one appears to have sunk in the West Indies many months before the armed schooner Hannah went into service. There is also considerable reason to question whether Hannah’s service extended beyond this first, abortive cruise, begun on 5 September. For further details, see Philip C. F. Smith and Russell W. Knight, In Troubled Waters: The Elusive Schooner Hannah (Salem: The Peabody Museum of Salem, 1970); also published under the same title but without explanatory appendices in The American Neptune xxx (1970), 86–116.

124 Nicholson Broughton, commander of Hannah, had captured the ship Unity, a recapture inasmuch as she belonged to John Langdon, a “noted Patriot” of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but had been captured by H.M.S. Lively several days before. See Naval Documents, II. 36, 56–57, 169.

125 When Hannah’s crew discovered that Unity was only a recapture and that they therefore were not entitled to prize money, they mutinied. The date of the mutiny has never been established exactly, except that it must have been between 7 and 20 September. Troops are known to have been dispatched to Gloucester to subdue the mutineers and bring them to Headquarters; it therefore seems possible, according to Bowen’s remarks, that 11 September may have been the day in question.

126 A committee was elected to examine the Fort and to report on the expense of repairing it (£32.0.0). The same Town Meeting, recognizing the approach of winter and the dwindling supplies of firewood available to the inhabitants, voted that it be recommended to the poor of the town that they dig stumps and turf out of the swamps for fuel.

127 By the “Canadian fleet” Bowen means the transports which sailed from Newbury-port bearing Benedict Arnold and his troops on the first leg of their journey to the Kennebec and hence through the Maine and Canadian wilderness to besiege Quebec.

128 Tried for mutiny aboard Hannah, thirty-six men from Glover’s Regiment were court-martialed on 22 September. One, the ringleader, was to receive thirty-nine lashes on the bare back and be drummed out of the army. Thirteen others were to have twenty lashes and be drummed out. The remainder, minus three men who seemed to be proper objects of mercy, were to be fined twenty shillings apiece. When the time came for punishment, one only (Joseph Searles) was whipped. See Naval Documents, II. 175, 186.

129 The schooner Industry, Francis Butler, master, from New Providence with turtle, limes, lemons, and oranges. Ibid., 11. 249.

130 The brigantine Dolphin, William Wallace, master, from Quebec with cattle, sheep, and oatmeal. Ibid., 11, 226, 262–263.

131 The three cruisers, according to Bowen, were to be Hannah (presumably), and the two captured vessels, Industry and Dolphin, but they were not taken up after all, except possibly for Hannah.

132 H.M. Sloop Raven, Captain John Stanhope, from England with orders for Admiral Graves. Naval Documents, II. 292.

133 Thomas Grant’s schooner was Speedwell, renamed Hancock, 72 tons. Archibald Selman’s was Eliza, renamed Franklin, 60 tons. They formerly had been fishing vessels and were described as such. See Smith and Knight, op. cit. Two others were later taken up, also from Marblehead owners. These were Two Brothers (renamed Lee), 74 tons, owned by Thomas Stephens, and Hawk (renamed Warren), 64 tons, owned by John Twisden. Their appraisals are given in Naval Documents, II. 387, 412.

134 Broughton was chased into Beverly Harbor by H. M. Sloop Nautilus. The schooner he commanded has been supposed to have been Hannah, yet no contemporary source yet discovered actually says so. See Smith and Knight, op. cit., and Naval Documents, II. 385, 386, 417.

135 H.M. Sloop Nautilus and prize schooner Charming Polly, John Guliker, from Cayenne. Naval Documents, II. 400.

136 Although the purpose of Boden’s whaleboat is unknown, a contemporary description of their use is probably not far off the mark in this case. “The Bay at present is very unsafe for vessels unarmed, as it swarms with privateers, and a great number of whale boats, each carrying from ten to twenty men; these boats take the opportunity of putting out in moderate weather to intercept the vessels bound to Boston, and as we have no King’s ships in any of the Ports but Boston, they do just as they please, and can always make a Port on one side or other of the Bay; they were so daring few days ago, as to board a brig off the Light-house, from Liverpool, which was at anchor; as they came on board on one side, the crew left it on the other; in the mean time an armed transport slipped her cables and run down to her assistance; when the Provincials saw the transport coming down, they left the brig, but endeavoured to set her on fire, by leaving some lighted coals on the cabin floor.” Lloyd’s Evening Post and British Chronicle, 1–3 January 1776, cited in Naval Documents, II. 1169.

137 A small fleet under the command of Lieutenant Henry Mowat, acting under orders from Admiral Graves, opened fire on the town of Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) and reduced about three-quarters of it to rubble. See Naval Documents, II. 7, 324, 372, 471, 487, 488, 500–502.

138 Nicholson Broughton was in command of Hancock; John Selman of Franklin. Although the vessels taken up locally for Washington’s Navy were owned by Marbleheaders and appear to have spent much time in or around Marblehead, they were supplied and repaired in Beverly Harbor, a maze of mud flats and gravel banks. As a less exposed and less easily accessible harbor to enemy warships than either Marblehead or Salem Harbors, Beverly turned into a quasi supply base during the first years of the war.

139 John Manley, in Lee, had captured the sloop Ranger, William McGlathry, a recapture, originally from Piscataqua to Salem with firewood. The Master, Midshipman, two marines and four sailors (mentioned by Bowen on the seventh as having been captured in the sloop) were from H.M.S. Cerberus. Naval Documents, II. 945, 979.

140 Nicholson Broughton and John Selman in Hancock and Franklin had been ordered to the Gulf of St. Lawrence to intercept two ordnance brigs reported en route from the British Isles. The majority of the vessels they captured during the course of their ill-fated expedition turned out to be recaptures or, in fact, actually American vessels. The two mentioned by Bowen were the schooner Prince William and the schooner Mary. Both were released to their owners. See Clark, George Washington’s Navy, and Naval Documents, volume II.

141 The schooner Two Sisters, Robert Robins, master, with beef, butter, and pork. Naval Documents, II. 944.

142 Manley, in Lee, had captured a schooner of about forty tons, carrying lumber and bound for Newburyport. She was subsequently released. Ibid., 11. 965.

143 Twisden’s schooner refers to the armed schooner Warren, Captain Winborn Adams.

144 The Salem cruiser was the schooner Dolphin, Richard Masury, master. See Naval Documents, II. 1098, 1217.

145 “Yesterday se’nnight a large ship being near the Light off Cape Ann was struck with lightning, which set her on fire, and burnt to the water’s edge, ’till she sunk. A number of cannon were heard to go off, [while] she was on fire, and ‘twas thought [first that she was] at least a 20 [gun] ship; but we have an account from Boston, that it was the Juno [sic Jupiter] transport ship from London, laden only with hay for Burgoyne’s heavy horse at Boston, which will [soon become] light, if forage fails at this rate.” Boston Gazette, 4 December 1775, cited in Naval Documents, II. 1263

146 On this day Vice Admiral Samuel Graves wrote to Major General William Howe proposing to destroy the town of Marblehead. Fortunately, he never had the chance to make the attempt. Three hundred soldiers, he felt, with two frigates could seize the Fort at Marblehead, “and with a little Assistance from the Artillery burn the Town.” Naval Documents, II. 1144.

147 The brig Nancy, Robert Hunter, master, from London to Boston with ordnance stores, including a great brass mortar soon christened “Congress.” This was one of the first signs that Washington’s Fleet was beginning to justify its existence.

148 William Bell Clark’s George Washington’s Navy (Baton Rouge, 1960) does not bring William Burke into the picture until several months later. During the early months of the year 1776 he commanded the schooner Warren, but if Bowen may be relied upon he was already active by early December 1775.

149 Although Nicholson Broughton and John Selman in Hancock and Franklin had been sent into the Gulf of St. Lawrence in search of two ordnance brigs of supreme importance, they had failed to carry out their orders. Instead, on flimsy grounds, they had sailed to the Island of St. John (Prince Edward Island) and there had carried on a piratical raid of the sort that never before or after occurred along the coast. After breaking into private homes and warehouses, the schooners’ crews abducted the Acting-Governor of the Island, Philip Callbeck, and returned with him to New England. When he arrived at Washington’s Headquarters, the General released him; Broughton and Selman learned that their actions had been thoroughly disapproved of, despite Broughton’s later Memorial to the contrary, and that their services would no longer be sought after. See Naval Documents, II. 1319, 1322.

150 The ship was Jenny, William Foster, master, from London to Boston with coal, porter, and provisions. The brig was Little Hannah, Robert Adams, master, from Antigua to Boston with rum. See Naval Documents, III. 17, 45, 48.

151 “An express arrived [at Cambridge] from Marblehead, with advice that three British men-of-war were standing for that harbour. Col. [John] Glover’s regiment, with Capt. [Thomas Waite] Foster’s company of artillery, and a company of riflemen, were ordered to march to Marblehead with all expedition.” Memoirs of Major General William Heath, cited in Naval Documents, III. 80

152 A rumor only, although Newport had been much harassed for months, particularly by H.M. Frigate Rose.

153 The sloop Betsey, John Atkinson, master, from Norfolk for Boston, with corn and oats. See Naval Documents, III. 145, 147.

154 The charitable relief to the poor was sent by the Society of Friends of Philadelphia. Moses Brown, one of Bowen’s “wise men from the South,” described the procedure followed at Marblehead in a letter to William Wilson. “18th, Visited Marblehead, Assembled the Select men and letting them into our Business of Visiting the poor, &c.; devided into three Companies, a Select Man attending Each, we went to House to House of the poor, seeing and Enquiring their Circumstances and where need required and they were within the Intention of the Donation we relieved, avoiding those families that did not come within, as well as the Guides could Inform us.” See “An Unwritten Chapter in the History of the Siege of Boston,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 1 (1877), 171–172. The actual persons assisted are individually listed in “Quaker Relief during the Siege of Boston,” The Colonial Society of Massachusetts Transactions, xxxiv (1937–1942), 39–179.

155 H.M. Schooner Hinchinbrook, Lieutenant Alexander Ellis. See Naval Documents, III. 273.

156 This was a continuation of the charitable relief to the poor begun earlier in the month and concluded by a local committee. See “Quaker Relief during the Siege of Boston,” The Colonial Society of Massachusetts Transactions, xxxiv (1937–1942), 39–179.

157 Molyneux Shuldham arrived at Boston on 30 December 1775 aboard H.M.S. Chatham to replace Samuel Graves. Graves sailed for England in H.M.S. Preston on 2 February 1776. See Naval Documents, III. 300, 318, 320.

158 William Burke in the armed schooner Warren. “At 5 a Large schooner Came down from Beverley and Fird several shott at her but it being a thick fogg and fresh of wind she soon got past us after fiering seven shott at us, and Not being acquainted wt that passage she got safe out to sea at Sunsett cleared for Action the Fowey feird several shott at a Schooner comeing through the So Wt Passage but could not bring her too.” Master’s Log of H.M. Schooner Halifax, cited in Naval Documents, III. 912–913.

159 John Manley in the armed schooner Hancock.

160 “Gave Chase to a Schooner on the Et Side of the Bay fird several shott to bring her too Sent the Yawl Mannd & Armd after her The Schooner run on shore the Boat boarded her and brought her off Notwithstanding the feiring of the Rebels from the Beach found the Chace to be a Small fishing schooner belonging to Marble Head with two Men on bd.” Master’s Log of H.M. Schooner Halifax, cited in Naval Documents, III. 913.

161 The news being that Montgomery had been killed, Arnold wounded in the leg, and the Provincial Army repulsed in their attempt to take Quebec.

162 Manley in Hancock took the ship Happy Return, James Hall, master, from Whitehaven to Boston with coal and provisions; and the ship Norfolk, Jonathan Grendal, master, also from Whitehaven with a similar cargo. See Naval Documents, III. 1024, 1033, 1060, 1076.

163 Franklin (Samuel Tucker) and Lee (Daniel Waters) captured the brig Henry & Esther, Nellis, master, from Nova Scotia to Boston with wood and soldiers’ bedding.

164 On 30 January 1776, John Manley in the armed schooner Hancock encountered Lieutenant George Dawson in H.M. Brig Hope. In an attempt to escape, Hancock ran ashore near Cohasset, but subsequently sank in shallow water. Hope’s crew endeavored to destroy her completely but were repulsed by the fire of Hancock’s crew from shore. She was raised and refitted. See Naval Documents, III. 1062n, 1078f, 1097n, 1169–1170.

165 H.M. Brig Hope, Lieutenant George Dawson.

166 This presumably is a reference to Frederick Wilhelm Baron de Woedtke. Woedtke was commissioned brigadier general by the Continental Congress on 16 March 1776, but he died at New York four months later.

167 The brig Yankee Hero, 14 guns, at this time was under the command of James Tracy of Newburyport. Gardner Weld Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, Massachusetts Historical Society Collections (Boston, 1927), volume 77, p. 329. Hereafter cited as Massachusetts Privateers

168 “The Committe of Correspondence upon a ReExamination of the Prisoners, (taken by Capn Manly on board the Brig Sally bound to Hallifax) have made a Discovery of Joseph Wheaton & his Brother Caleb Wheatons Stealing & Carr[yin]g away a Fishing Boat in the night of the 28th Feby last, from Eleazer Ingalls of this Town, & then made their Escape to one of the Men of Warr Station’d here—An Acct of the Boats amount with stores &c, Will be forwarded by the Owner who also Attends to Wait your Honours Determination respecting what Steps He shall pursue in the Recovery of his Intrest Again.” Joshua Orne, Marblehead, to the Massachusetts Council, 17 April 1776, cited in Naval Documents, iv. 857f

169 “Saw four sail to the North ward . . . at 1 Made Sail after the four Vessels to the No wd at 4 Came up with them [and found them] to be Rebel arm’d Schooners at ½ Past 5 Engaged them, they Still Runing, Fired a Number of Shot at them, Got Damaged by them one Man Wounded and Several Rops Shot away and Shot in the Hull, at 6 pm Do Schooners Boraway for Cape Ann Harbr Hauld our Wind to the East ward.” Master’s Log of H.M. Brig Hope, cited in Ibid., iv. 147. The four schooners were Hancock (John Manley), Franklin (Samuel Tucker), Lee (Daniel Waters), and Lynch (John Ayres).

170 H.M.S. Niger, Captain George Talbot.

171 Probably H.M. Sloop of war Nautilus which had been sent from Boston to recall all cruisers for instructions relative to the impending evacuation of Boston by the British.

172 The ship Stakesby, James Watts, master, from London to Boston with provisions. Stakesby went on the rocks at Brace’s Cove, south of Gloucester Harbor. On the 15th, H.M. Brig Hope appeared and set fire to the wreck, but not before some of the cargo and stores had been salvaged. Naval Documents, iv. 317, 520, 1303.

173 Either Bowen had become confused or Tucker had temporarily taken command of Hancock, the “flagship.” Manley officially commanded Hancock until he resigned from Washington’s Navy some weeks later; Tucker’s schooner was usually Franklin until that time.

174 Manley’s prize brig was Elizabeth, Peter Ramsey, master, from Boston to Halifax with Tory goods. On board as passengers were a number of Tories, a sergeant with twelve privates, a Royal Navy midshipman, women and children, and four negro servants, for a total of sixty-three persons. Naval Documents, iv. 694, 733, 828–829. William Jackson, the merchant, and other prisoners were marched through Salem under guard on 11 April. At Newburyport, en route, he was stopped and obliged to leave his carriage and to walk from there to Salem and from thence to Boston. At one point he was stopped again and, after his hat had been knocked off, was forced to go down on his knees to beg the pardon of the assembled mob. Fitch Edward Oliver, ed., Diary of William Pynchon of Salem (Boston, 1890), 7f.

175 Twenty-two persons were landed, including Caleb Wheaton, one of the persons who had stolen Eleazer Ingalls’s boat and “who from his own Accounts has heretofore Been Esteemed Inimicall to his Country.” Naval Documents, iv. 733.

176 John Ayres’s cruiser was the armed schooner Lynch, hired from Colonel John Lee of Manchester in January. Lynch was not taken up into Washington’s Fleet until that time; the error repeated by historians that she had been hired in October 1775 being due to a contemporary slip of the pen by Colonel Joseph Reed.

177 Daniel Waters’s cruiser was the armed schooner Lee.

178 John Manley had commanded Lee during the autumn of 1775. Her regular captain during the spring of 1776 was Daniel Waters; Samuel Tucker at this time normally commanded Franklin.

179 Probably Joseph Cunningham in the privateer schooner Lady Washington, 4 guns and 12 swivels, owned by John G. Frazier of Virginia, but bonded by Boston men. Massachusetts Privateers, 198–199.

180 The Town Meeting voted to further fortify Marblehead, and a committee was vested with full power to raise the necessary fortifications. Marblehead Town Records.

181 Tucker’s prizes were the brig Jane, James Fulton, master, from Cork to Boston with provisions; and the brig William, Richard Price, master, from Fayal to Boston with wine and fruit. Naval Documents, v. 6.

182 The prize was the powder ship Hope, Alexander Lansdale, master, from Cork to Boston with powder and guns. She was taken by James Mugford, Jr., then in command of the schooner Franklin. Tucker now commanded Hancock as Manley had resigned to assume command of the Continental frigate Hancock, then completing at Newburyport. See Ibid., v. 134–136, 141–142.

183 After leaving the powder ship Hope at Boston on 19 May, Mugford accidentally grounded during the ebb tide in the tricky channel outside the harbor. Toward evening, he was sighted by British ships which put over their barges and pinnaces, manned and armed. By mid evening they began to close in on Franklin. Mugford put up a terrific battle which eventually drove the attackers off, but in the process he was mortally wounded. The next day, Franklin floated clear and made her escape. Mugford was the hero of the hour and soon was the subject of a broadside printed in Salem.

184 Mugford’s funeral was an occasion of ceremony in Marblehead. The corpse was brought from Mugford’s house to the New Meeting House where the Reverend Isaac Story delivered a prayer. A procession then followed the corpse to the grave, consisting of the officers and a detachment of privates belonging to the Marblehead Regiment stationed at Beverly, Mugford’s widow attended by his father, relatives, and, bringing up the rear, the citizenry of Marblehead. Three volleys were fired by Glover’s Regiment as the corpse was buried. Minute-guns were fired from on board Franklin during the course of the procession. The colors at the Fort and on board the shipping in the harbor were hoisted to half-mast, church bells tolled, and muffled drums beat a dead march throughout the procession. Item number 11242, Marblehead Historical Society.

185 The Town Meeting considered routine matters only—settlement and examination of the town’s accounts and a committee was chosen to determine for what weekly rate the poor of the town could be supported. Marblehead Town Records.

186 The privateer sloop Yankee of 9 guns, Henry Johnson, master, was owned by Paul Dudley Sargent & Co. of Boston. Massachusetts Privateers, 328.

187 The “O’Burke” frequently mentioned by Bowen is William Burke of the armed schooner Warren.

188 The privateer Yankee Hero, Captain James Tracy, was captured after an engagement of nearly two hours by H.M.S. Milford. Bowen’s term “Scotch prize,” which he uses from time to time, refers to a capture by miscalculation

189 Ann was captured by Lee (Waters), Warren (Burke), and Lynch (Ayres). Commanded by John Denniston, Ann was bound from Greenock, Scotland, to Boston, a transport with Highland troops. See Naval Documents, v. 423, 434, 508.

190 Captain Francis Banks of H.M.S. Renown had taken in convoy a fleet of transports from Scotland carrying Highland troops. The fleet had parted from their escort, H.M.S. Flora, and had entered Boston Harbor, unaware of the fact that it was no longer in British hands. Banks was conducting them to Halifax. Ibid., v. 658.

191 Hancock (Tucker), Lee (Waters), Lynch (Ayres), Warren (Burke), Franklin (John Skimmer), and the Connecticut Colony brig Defence (Seth Harding) captured the transports from Greenock to Boston with Highlanders—i.e., the ship George, Archibald Bog, and the brig Annabelle, Hugh Walter. The sequence of events is narrated in William Bell Clark, George Washington’s Navy (Baton Rouge, 1960), 154–165. See also Naval Documents, volume V.

192 The sloop Tyrannicide, 14 guns, was commanded by John Fiske and was owned by the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. She was soon converted into a brig. Massachusetts Privateers, 310. Tyrannicide’s log for this period is at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts.

193 The ship Lord Howe, Robert Park, another transport with Highlanders from Greenock to Boston, taken by Washington’s armed schooners.

194 Lieutenant Josiah Harris, of H.M.S. Renown, who had been wounded and then drowned during the attempt on the armed schooner Franklin when James Mugford was killed. The body was found on Deer Island.

195 H.M.S. Flora, Captain John Brisbane, worked her way out of the Clyde at the end of April with a convoy of 33 transports carrying Highland troops. During the early stages of the passage to America, stormy weather scattered the convoy, so that during most of the crossing she had but nine of the transports in sight. Some of those captured by Washington’s armed schooners had left the Clyde in company with Flora. Not knowing Boston had been evacuated, Flora and her remaining transports milled around the area for some days, attempting to make themselves known to the nonexistent British fleet at Boston. Captain’s Log of H.M.S. Flora, Adm. 51/360, at the P.R.O., London

196 “O’Brian” may refer to Jeremiah O’Brien, sloop Machias Liberty (ex Unity), although he was not in the Colony service officially until 25 July.

197 The captain of H.M.S. Roebuck was Andrew Snape Hamond. For a possible connection with the “captain’s lady” mentioned by Bowen, see the letter from Catherine Sprowle to Hamond, 28 June 1776, in Naval Documents, v. 793f., although the timing of the incident is inconsistent.

198 The prizes of the privateer sloop Yankee, Captain Henry Johnson, were Zachariah Bayley from Jamaica with sugar, rum, and cotton; and Creighton from Antigua with rum. Naval Documents, v. 969–970, 1026.

199 The privateer sloop Rover, 8 guns, 10 swivels, and 2 cohorns, was commanded by Simon Forrester at this time and was owned in Salem by Jacob Ashton and Joseph Sprague. Massachusetts Privateers, 267.

200 Tyrannicide’s prize was H.M. Schooner Dispatch, Lieutenant John Goodridge, taken 12 July. Naval Documents, v. 1032, 1176–1177.

201 By “Salt Peter’s” Bowen means the Old Meeting House. His equivalent term from the New Meeting House is “Dry Bones.”

202 The commissions were for the 5th Regiment of Militia in the County of Essex, Jonathan Glover, colonel.

203 Peter Lander was captain of the privateer schooner Sturdy Beggar, 6 guns, owned by Elias Hasket Derby of Salem. Massachusetts Privateers, 289. Her prize was the ship Princess Royal, which was recaptured by H.M.S. Milford. Naval Documents, v. 1208n, 1267.

204 Probably a report to the effect that the squadron under Sir Peter Parker had failed in an attempt upon Charleston Harbor.

205 While engaging a ship and a schooner, supposed to be transports, a quantity of powder took fire aboard Warren and blew up part of the quarterdeck, killing and wounding several men. The ship was Peggy, James Kennedy, master, from Nova Scotia to New York with provisions and Tory goods. See Naval Documents, v. 1268.

206 John Bradford was the new Continental Prize Agent at Boston who superseded the old agents at individual ports, such as William Bartlett at Beverly, Jonathan Glover at Marblehead, and Winthrop Sargent at Cape Ann. Bradford was opinionated, cantankerous, and inefficient. For a running narrative of his role during this period, see William Bell Clark, George Washington’s Navy (Baton Rouge, 1960).

207 Captain Joseph White was commander of the privateer sloop Revenge, 12 guns and 16 swivels, owned at this time by Joseph Lee of Beverly and Miles Greenwood of Salem. Massachusetts Privateers, 260. Her prize was the ship Anna Maria. Naval Documents, v. 1178.

208 The privateer schooner True Blue, 10 guns and 12 swivels, was owned by numerous Marbleheaders, including Jonathan Glover, the Selmans, and the Gerrys. Many of her accounts are at the Marblehead Historical Society, items number 3519, 3735–3740, 3853–3868, 4184 (1–31), 11275. New Mills was a shipbuilding area at Danvers.

209 The brig Perkins, William Jenkins, master, from St. Augustine to Bristol with deerskins and indigo. See William Bell Clark, George Washington’s Navy (Baton Rouge, 1960), Appendix B

210 Daniel Souther, in the brigantine Massachusetts, built by William Hackett for the Massachusetts State Navy. Massachusetts Privateers, 218.

211 The privateer brig Reprisal, 8 guns, John Wheelwright, commander, owned by Samuel White, Job Prince, and others, of Marblehead and Boston; and the privateer sloop Phoenix, 10 guns, Joseph Cunningham, commander, owned by Carter Braxton of New Castle, Virginia. Massachusetts Privateers, 253, 235, respectively.

212 A cartel “due to be exchanged for Men of equal Rank now in our Possession.” Among the prisoners was the crew of Washington’s schooner Warren which had been captured on 26 August by H.M.S. Liverpool. William Bell Clark, George Washington’s Navy (Baton Rouge, 1960), 180, 188.

213 The ship Zachariah Bayley?

214 Nathan Bowen, Jr. was Ashley’s nephew, son of his brother Edward. Nathan Jr. had been working as a cabinetmaker with his uncle, William Boden, at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The Bowen Papers at the Essex Institute, Salem, contain an account of his return to Marblehead, written by himself, in an open shallop from Malagash with a number of men from Cape Ann who had been captured and carried to Halifax but had escaped. They had been secreted by Uncle Boden at Malagash until the opportunity arose for them to come away. See Biographical Appendix.

215 Fort Lee, on the Hudson River, facing Fort Washington. It surrendered to the British on 16 November.

216 The privateer sloop Rover, formerly commanded by Simon Forrester, was now commanded by Abijah Boden. The privateer sloop Satisfaction, 14 guns, Captain John Stephens, was owned by John Cushing and Samuel White of Boston. Massachusetts Privateers, 267, 274.

217 The privateer schooner Warren, 6 guns, was owned by Josiah Batchelder & Co., Beverly. Ibid., 320.

218 The frigate Hancock, recently completed with the frigate Boston at Newburyport, was headed for Boston to complete her outfitting. Boston, under the command of Hector McNeill, had come around from Newburyport already. Neither, despite hopes to the contrary, would be ready for sea until well into the year 1777.

219 The privateer sloop Polly, 12 guns and 18 swivels, Captain Nathaniel Leech, was owned by William Blackler and James Mugford and company, of Marblehead. Massachusetts Privateers, 239.

220 Lee was captured by the British on 13 December 1776 at Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

221 By “Twisden’s schooner” Bowen means the armed schooner Warren of Washington’s Fleet. Warren had been captured by H.M.S. Liverpool on 26 August and afterwards was converted to serve as a tender for H.M.S. Milford. Late in December 1776, she ran ashore in a storm near Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and was seized by the Americans.

222 The victory at Trenton.

223 Probably referring to fines extracted from men who preferred to pay up rather than to serve with the army.

224 An eclipse of the sun which would have been in progress from 9:14 a.m. to 12:03 p.m. Bickerstaff’s Boston Almanack (1777).

225 Glover was returning after Trenton, uncertain as to what course to follow with regard to his service in the Continental Army. See George Athan Billias, General John Glover and his Marblehead Mariners (New York, 1960).

226 Edward Bowen, Jr. (1755–1777) was Ashley Bowen’s nephew and the son of Edward Bowen and his wife Elizabeth (Boden).

227 St. Michael’s, the Anglican church built at Marblehead in 1714, was not to reopen for regular services until 1786. From 6 February 1780 until 11 June 1786, however, a lay reader, Woodward Abrahams, was permitted to hold unofficial services in the church.

228 The brig Freedom, owned by the State, was commanded by John Clouston of Dighton. Before her conversion into a brig she had been a sloop. Massachusetts Privateers, 138.

229 A committee was appointed to wait on the several inhabitants of Marblehead who had estates to know if they would consent to have an assessment on their property for raising a sufficient sum to give the persons who enlisted in the town an additional bounty. Another committee was charged with seeing that the Price Act was carried into effect.

230 The privateer brig Liberty, 6 guns, Captain Ebenezer Peirce, was owned by Samuel Webb, Samuel Flagg and others, of Salem. Massachusetts Privateers, 205.

231 Probably Joseph Olney of the Continental brig Cabot.

232 The brig Massachusetts and brig Tyrannicide (altered from a sloop), were part of the Massachusetts State Navy. Massachusetts was now commanded by John Fiske; Tyrannicide by Captain Jonathan Haraden of Salem.

233 The privateer ship Boston (not to be confused with the Continental frigate of the same name), 22 guns, Captain William Brown, was owned by Paul Dudley Sargent and others, of Boston. Massachusetts Privateers, 86.

234 The three vessels were commanded respectively by John Fiske, Jonathan Haraden, and Joseph Olney.

235 “The Cabot Briga drove ashore at ye Eastwd by ye Milford, ye people escaped. Ye Briga tis said bilgd before she was abandond. Capt. Fiske in ye Massa[chusetts] & Capt. Harriden in ye Tryannicide, Brigs, were in compa[ny] with ye Cabot, & thinking it imprudent to attack ye M[ilford] yy [they] stood off. Ye M[ilford] out saild ye Cabot upon ye wind & so took her. Many people blame Capts F[iske] & H[araden]. I think yy did right not to attack.” “Extracts from the Interleaved Almanacs of William Wetmore of Salem, 1774–1778,” Essex Institute Historical Collections, xliii (1907), 120

236 A Town Meeting on the eleventh, rather than the fourteenth, voted to remove all persons infected with the smallpox to the Neck. Like the epidemic of 1773 there were discussions about the propriety of inoculation. A committee was chosen at length to secure physicians and medicine for the purpose. In accordance with the decision, Dr. Hall Jackson, who had overseen the inoculation at the hospital on Cat Island in 1773, was summoned to Marblehead from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Several letters, dating from the 1790s, written by Jackson to the Selectmen of Marblehead respecting financial reembursement for his services in 1777 are in the Marblehead Town Records. See the Smallpox File at Abbot Hall, Marblehead. Of particular interest is his letter of 9 December 1793, which lists all the persons inoculated as families or as households during late April and early May 1777. His total count of inoculated persons numbered 448.

237 The “lines” refer to the fences erected to prevent smallpox from being brought into the town from the outside. For Bowen’s similar duties at the fence and a smokehouse during a later epidemic, see Chapter XIX.

238 This Town Meeting was called to order and immediately adjourned. On the fifth, Azor Orne, Jonathan Glover, William Dolliber, and Samuel Pote were elected by Marblehead to represent it at the Great and General Court.

239 The privateer True Blue was now commanded by Richard Stiles and owned by Azor Orne and others, of Marblehead. Bellona was a privateer brigantine commanded by Thomas Stevens. Massachusetts Privateers, 79, 307.

240 The privateer ship American Tartar, 24 guns, Captain John Grimes, was owned by John Dean, Joseph Barrell and others, of Boston. Ibid., 73.

241 Representatives had already been chosen at a Town Meeting on 5 May. William Dolliber and Samuel Pote, however, declined to serve, and they were replaced at the meeting of 19 May by Joshua Orne and Richard Stacey. Marblehead Town Records.

242 The Continental frigates Hancock (John Manley) and Boston (Hector McNeill), after many delays, put to sea on their first cruise which was to end disastrously for both men. See note for 17 July 1777.

243 Bowen compares the behavior of John Manley and of Hector McNeill, who disliked each other by reasons of jealousy and misunderstanding, with Thomas Mathews and Richard Lestock whose mutual disregard and lack of communication resulted in the naval fiasco in the Mediterranean in 1743/44. See his remarks and accompanying footnote in Chapter I and also his evaluation of the Mathews-Lestock affair, reproduced in Chapter XX.

244 Jonathan Glover and Richard Stacey had been among the Marbleheaders who ill-advisedly had sent the complimentary address to Governor Hutchinson on 25 May 1774 and had had to retract their support as a result of the furor the address created in Marblehead at the time.

245 William Morony was captain of the privateer schooner Buckram, 8 guns, owned by Thomas Adams and others, of Boston. Massachusetts Privateers, 88.

246 These seven men were declared at this Town Meeting “enemical to the American States.” Marblehead Town Records.

247 The privateer brigantine Fancy, 12 guns, Captain John Lee, was owned by-Jonathan Jackson, John Tracy and others, of Newburyport. Massachusetts Privateers, 126.

248 Probably the privateer schooner Buckram, owned by Daniel Martin and Thomas Adams of Boston; and the privateer ship Mars of 22 guns, owned by Isaac Sears and Paschal N. Smith of Boston. Ibid., 89, 217.

249 The privateer brigantine Oliver Cromwell, 16 guns, Captain William Coles, was owned by John Derby and company, Salem. Ibid., 230.

250 Nicholas Bartlett was master of Penet from 28 December 1776 to 8 July 1777, and was succeeded by John Harris. Penet sailed from Boston to France for the purpose of shipping home naval stores acquired through the Nantes firm of Pliarne, Penet & Cie. In this case, the stores probably consisted of anchors and cables for a proposed 74-gun ship for the Continental Navy.

251 The privateer schooner Dolphin, 10 guns, Captain Edward Fettyplace, was owned by Samuel Russell Gerry and others, of Marblehead. Massachusetts Privateers, 117. Numerous bills and papers pertaining to this vessel are at the Marblehead Historical Society.

252 The various localities mentioned in this and the subsequent wooding voyage are as follows: Pepperrell Cove—on the south side of Kittery Point in the Piscataqua River; Cape Newagen—at the end of Southport Island, between the Sheepscot River and Boothbay Harbor, Maine; Townsend. (or Townshend) Harbor—Boothbay Harbor; Seguin Island—south of the mouth of the Kennebec River; Simonton Cove—on the west side of the channel to Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) in Casco Bay; Owl’s Head—a promontory south of modern Rockland, Maine; Bagaduce—modern Castine in Penobscot Bay; Two Bush—a channel on the southwest extremity of Penobscot Bay.

253 John Skimmer in the armed schooner Lee, the last vestige of George Washington’s Navy.

254 On 7–8 July 1777, the frigates Hancock (John Manley) and Boston (Hector McNeill), while cruising off Cape Sable in company with their prize, H.M.S. Fox, were sighted and engaged by H.M.S. Flora, of 32-guns, and H.M.S. Rainbow, of 44-guns. Hancock was cut off and hotly pursued by Rainbow. Flora went after Fox and recaptured her. Meanwhile, McNeill in Boston put his tail between his legs and fled without attempting to rescue Manley in Hancock. Hancock was captured, a brand new frigate, and was taken into the Royal Navy for the duration of the war as H.M.S. Iris. McNeill spent the next month skulking about the coast of Maine before returning to Boston, where he was cashiered from the service. His place as captain of Boston was taken by Samuel Tucker, formerly of Washington’s Fleet. See “Captain Hector McNeill,” Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings (1923), volume 55.

255 “This day Pleasant weather wind to the North East. No thoughts of Saileing. I know not when we shall. This Day arived two prise Briggs and one Brigg belonging to hear from St. Crux and a Ship from Bilbo with Anchor and Cables for the two 74 Gun Ships. Our Barg was sent to help hir in witch they did at a bout 12 oclock at Night all hands Emploid Gitting of a Ship that had Rune on Shore the Day before.” Journal kept aboard the frigate Boston, Ibid., 97.

256 Two weeks later, Ashley Bowen was drafted, but somehow he managed to avoid service. The following letter, which contains at the end the names of twenty Marblehead men, including Bowen, was published in the Essex Institute Historical Collections, xxxi (1894), 68:

Marblehead, Aug. 27, 1777.

Honle Mich. Farley Esqr

Sir:

Agreeable to ye Resolve of ye General Court of ye 8th Inst. attended with your order—you have below a List of one sixth part of the Men Drafted from ye Train Band & Alarm List. The Draft would have been made & a return to you ye 15th Inst. agreeable to your order—but such is the scarcity of men that we were put to ye Greatest Difficulty to obtain these—Colo Glover being absent is the occasion of my writing—I am Sir with due Respect yr very

Hble servt   Tho: Gerry

Another document, relative to the same draft, may be found in the Marblehead Town Records, “Military-Soldiers in the Continental Army” file, at Abbot Hall. Most of the names of draftees are followed by the names of persons hired to take their place. Bowen’s is not.

257 The above summary comes from Bowen’s “Autobiographical Journal.” The remainder of Chapter XVII is from Bowen’s diary at the Peabody Museum of Salem.

258 Does the sudden name change of the sloop from Eagle to Dolphin mean that her name changed depending upon which flag she was flying at the time? Hayward certainly gives the impression of trading under whichever flag was the most convenient at the moment.

259 The brig Hibernia, 14 guns, Captain Robert Collings (or, Collins), was owned by Joseph Deane, John Purviance, and Benjamin Harbeson of Philadelphia. Naval Records oj the American Revolution 1775—1788 (Washington, 1906), 337.

260 The frigate Deane and the frigate Confederacy were commanded, respectively, by Captains Samuel Nicholson and Seth Harding. The “States frigate” was probably General Greene.

261 The ship Hunter was probably the privateer ship of 18 guns, Captain Nathan Brown, owned by Elias Hasket Derby and others, of Salem. Massachusetts Privateers, 183.

262 The privateer brig Freemason, 14 guns, Captain William Dennis, was owned by Samuel Russell Trevett and others, of Marblehead; the privateer sloop Bowdoin, 8 guns, Captain Thomas Stephens, was owned by Samuel Williams and others, of Salem. Ibid., 87, 139.

263 The privateer schooner Spring Bird, 4 guns, Captain John Patten, was owned by Samuel Gale and others, of Marblehead. Ibid., 286f.

264 Tyrannicide’s captain now was John Cathcart. Tyrannicide File at the Peabody Museum of Salem. The privateer brig Hazard, 18 guns, Captain Joseph Olney, was owned by Mungo Mackay and others, of Boston. Massachusetts Privateers, 171.

265 The privateer schooner Porcupine, 6 guns, Captain George Andrew, was owned by Samuel Williams, Nathaniel Lindsay, and others, of Salem and Marblehead; the privateer ship General Putnam, 20 guns, Captain Daniel Waters, was owned by Nathaniel Shaw. Massachusetts Privateers, 152, 243.

266 The privateer ship Harlequin, 18 guns, Captain Francis Bowden Dennis, was owned by John Tucker, Aaron Wait, and others, of Salem. Ibid., 166.

267 The privateer ship Pilgrim, 16 guns, Captain Hugh Hill, was owned by Andrew Cabot and others of Beverly. Ibid., 237. The rumor that Samuel Tucker had been killed was false.

268 The privateer ship Sky Rocket, 16 guns, Captain William Burke, was owned by Joseph Stanwood and others, of Newburyport. Ibid., 280.

269 The privateer ship Hector, 20 guns, Captain John Carnes, was owned by George Williams and others, of Salem. Ibid., 173.

270 The privateer ship Black Prince, 18 guns, Captain Nathaniel West, was owned by George Williams and others, of Salem. Ibid., 84.

271 The privateer brigantine Defence, 16 guns, Captain John Edmonds, was owned by Andrew Cabot of Beverly. Ibid., no.110

272 The British moved to establish a post on the Penobscot River in Maine for the purpose of establishing a colony for the Loyalists who had fled to Nova Scotia following the evacuation of Boston and for a naval base of operations. When word of the enterprise reached New England it was viewed with acute alarm. An expedition was formed, to be led by Captain Dudley Saltonstall in the Continental ship Warren as Commodore, to dislodge the British from the area. The fleet consisted of three Continental naval vessels, three ships of the Massachusetts State Navy, one belonging to New Hampshire, and a number of leased privateers. Saltonstall procrastinated for weeks, declining to attack the British fleet although he had superiority. By mid-August, a British relief squadron consisting of a 64-gun ship, two 32-gun frigates, one 28-gun frigate, two 20s and a 14-gun sloop under Sir George Collier arrived in Penobscot Bay. The American vessels, in consequence, were destroyed to prevent capture. The Penobscot Expedition proved to be a ruinous one for the Americans and led to Saltonstall’s court-martial. See William James Morgan, Captains to the Northward (Barre, Massachusetts, 1959), 169–179, and Kenneth Scott, “New Hampshire’s Part in the Penobscot Expedition,” The American Neptune, vii (1947), 200–212.

Item number 4229 at the Marblehead Historical Society is a list of the American vessels on the Penobscot Expedition. The memo is dated “War Office, July 14th 1779.”

21 Transports Victulers &c.

273 The privateer brigantine General Glover, 14 guns, Captain Samuel Horton, was owned by John Waite and others, of Marblehead. Massachusetts Privateers, 145.

274 John Manley, after numerous adventures since his capture in the Continental frigate Hancock, was now in command of the privateer ship Jason, 18 guns, owned by Mungo Mackay and others, of Boston. See Robert E. Peabody, “The Naval Career of Captain John Manley of Marblehead,” Essex Institute Historical Collections, xlv (1909), 1–27.

275 The privateer brig Franklin, 18 guns, Captain Joseph Robinson, was owned by Elias Hasket Derby and others, of Salem. Massachusetts Privateers, 136.

276 A committee of seven was appointed to estimate the prices of European goods in proportion to West India produce. Another committee of forty persons was to be selected whose task it would be to detect any violations of the resolves of the convention held at Concord on 14 July last respecting prices of articles by them affixed and to adjudge any person so offending an enemy to his country. See Andrew McFarland Davis, “The Limitations of Prices in Massachusetts, 1776–1779,” The Colonial Society of Massachusetts Transactions, x (1904–1906), 119–134.

277 The privateer brigantine Terrible, 12 guns, Captain John Conway, was owned by Samuel Pote and others, of Marblehead. Massachusetts Privateers, 296f.

278 The privateer ship General Pickering, 16 guns, Captain Jonathan Haraden, was owned by George Williams and others, of Salem. Ibid., 150.

279 Bowen was again drafted but paid his fine instead of serving.

280 Probably the privateer schooner John and Sally, 6 guns, Captain Benjamin Humphreys, owned by John Waite, of Marblehead. Massachusetts Privateers, 194.

281 The privateer brigantine Rambler, 14 guns, Captain John Stephens, was owned by Samuel Williams of Salem. Ibid., 248.

282 The Continental frigates Boston (Samuel Tucker) and Deane (Samuel Nicholson) had been cruising off the Delaware and New Jersey Capes. They were passing to Boston from Falmouth, Maine, where they had gone to convoy several of their prizes into port.

283 “At ½ past Seven this Evening a Sad Accident Happen’d the Arm’d Brig Freemason being all filled for a Cruise took fire and about 8 She Blew up [in Marblehead Harbor] and Did a vast a Deal of Damage to the Houses Brock about 50 Squairs of Glass for me . . . it Seems as if providence at present froons on the Priviteers.” Extracts from the “Interleaved Almanacs of Nathan Bowen, Marblehead, 1742–1799,” Essex Institute Historical Collections, xci (1955), 276.

284 The privateer schooner Swett, 12 guns, Captain Jesse Fearson, was owned by Edward Norris, of Salem. Massachusetts Privateers, 294.

285 Thorn had been captured in August 1779 by the frigates Boston and Deane. The Navy Board of the Eastern Department at Boston had attempted to purchase her at auction for the Continental Navy but had failed. She became a privateer and during the next several years before her recapture she was commanded by Daniel Waters, Richard Cowell, and Samuel Tucker.

286 The privateer schooner Spring Bird, 6 guns, Captain Joseph Northey, was owned by Thomas Oliver, of Marblehead. Massachusetts Privateers, 287.

287 Bowen refers to Thorn as “Copper Thorn” because the vessel was copper-sheathed, still an uncommon procedure.

288 The privateer brigantine Starks, 10 guns, Captain Ezra Ober, was owned by Andrew Cabot, of Beverly. Massachusetts Privateers, 289.

289 During the late summer and fall of 1779 Glover had been in the vicinity of Lower Salem, Salem Church, and Bedford near the New York-Connecticut border. George Athan Billias, General John Glover and his Marblehead Mariners (New York, 1960), 180.

290 Details of this, Bowen’s latest capture, are not known. His brother, Edward, gives the date of his return to Marblehead as 18 August 1780: “My Brother Ashley from Pronops [Penobscot] being taken.” Extracts from the “Interleaved Almanacs of Nathan Bowen, Marblehead, 1742–1799,” Essex Institute Historical Collections, xci (1955), 279.

291 Hooper, a son of Loyalist Joseph Hooper who had fled to England at the beginning of the Revolution, committed suicide at Robinson’s Sun Tavern at Salem by drinking an ounce of liquid laudanum (a tincture of opium). The details of his untimely decease are given in a letter written by the Reverend Thomas Fitch Oliver, quoted in Harold D. Hodgkinson, “A Clergyman’s Comments On The Life Of Young America, 1787–1791,” Essex Institute Historical Collections, cii(1966), 80–81.

292 Samuel Seabury (1729–1796). A Loyalist during the war, Seabury nevertheless was chosen Bishop of Connecticut in 1783. In 1789 he became presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States.

“We hear from Marblehead, that on Sunday last, being Easter Sunday, the Right Reverend the Bishop of Connecticut administered Confirmation in St. Michael’s church in that town; and on the day following, upwards of 120 persons received the benefit of this apostolick rite.” The Salem Mercury, 25 March 1788.

293 The settlement of his father’s estate was a bone of contention with Ashley Bowen for many years. The Indenture of Partition was finally accomplished in September 1788. The house in which Ashley Bowen was living and which came to him as a result of the divisional deed was in the vicinity of the New Wharf, probably the so-called Norden House mentioned in Chapter VI.

294 Ambrose, who died 26 November 1798.

295 Item number 5538 at the Marblehead Historical Society, a Letter Book kept by John Glover from 1785, contains an interesting description of the method of loading a vessel for merchantable fish. “The hole wash to clean & well Dried; & if she be a double deck & what the seamen call a tender side, she ought to have shingle, or small ballist, from her bows, aft to ye run, & Levell with the Keelseat, and if she has a flat bottom, it would be best, to raise ye ballist four inches above; there lay a platform, with season’d boards, then Clabboard her hole, thick edges reverst, from each side of ye platform to the deck; thus prepar’d you may begin to take in fish which ought to be done in fair weather & NW Winds. The fish to be stow’d in three bulks, one forward; one aft, the forepart of which, to come square, with the forepart, of ye wellroom; the third or midship bulk in the centre of ye vessel, the reason I recommend stowing the whole in this manner is being very convenient when the fish comes near the deck beams; that the midship bulk should be the lowest, in that Case, the fore & after bulks Can with much greater ease, be fill’d out; while the midship bulk will be setling and of convenience the vessel will stow a greater quantity fish—Besides those advantages the master will find absolutely Necessary, when he comes to discharge his cargo as the midship bulk may be taken out, and ballist taken in before her whole Cargo is discharg’d which may be (as the seamans frase is) to Keep ye vessel on her legs nessessary as too much Care Cannot be taken in Shipping a Cargo of spring fish—I would further recommend, the fish to be parced from hand to hand, from ye boat or vessel that brings it along side ye ship; in small parcels not exceding six or eight at a Time, till it comes to the man that stows it away on ye bulks which should be stow’d rounding with ye deck; That is the middle of ye bulk should always be kept the highest, as the fish will press better & lay much easyer.”

296 Commencement at Harvard College.

297 Brookfield was a parcel of eight acres of land on the “backstreet” of Marblehead, formerly owned by the late Nathan Bowen. See Book 149, leaf 129 at the Essex County Registry of Deeds, Salem, Massachusetts.

298 “Friday last, arrived in Boston harbour, the squadron of his Most Christian Majesty, under the command of the Marquis de Senneville. The squadron sailed from Cape Francois the 2d instant, and consists of 7 sail, viz. the Suferbe (the Admiral’s ship) of 80 guns, the Achilles, of 74 guns; 4 frigates, from 32 to 36 guns, and one ship of 20 guns.” The Salem Mercury, 26 August 1788.

299 The Indenture of Partition of Nathan Bowen’s estate was finally accomplished and signed 26 September 1788. The property was divided between Edward Bowen (yeoman), Ashley Bowen (rigger), Knott Martin, Jr. (coaster) and his wife Elizabeth, Sarah Stiles (widow), Anna Prince (widow), all of Marblehead, and Abigail Wight (widow) of Andover. Nathan Bowen’s will had given each of his children a one-sixth share. Ashley Bowen’s portion consisted of all the dwelling house with the land under and adjoining it near New Wharf, and a share of cows commonage in the Middle Division. The contention between Dr. Nathaniel Oliver and Bowen stemmed from a mortgage on the house near New Wharf. See at the Essex County Registry of Deeds, Salem, Massachusetts, the following Books and Leaves: 142/119 (1784), 149/129 (1788), 150/205 (1789), 150/206 (1789), and 156/27 (1792).

300 This is probably a reference to the “Rock Church” or “Separate Society,” an attempt to form a new church at Marblehead. The Massachusetts Historical Society has material relating to it from 2 October 1788 to 6 August 1789, and among the Bowen papers at the Essex Institute, Salem, is a manuscript copy of the articles “entered into by the new Church in Marblehead the 30th of January 1789.” A pencil notation on the flyleaf notes it as being a Baptist church which eventually broke up. Among the signers are numerous members of the Bowen and Martin families, undoubtedly a sore point with Ashley Bowen at the time.

301 This again refers to the dispute between Ashley Bowen and Dr. Nathaniel Oliver regarding mortgages on the house occupied by Bowen near the New Wharf.

302 The sloop, loaded with wood, had been cast away on Phillips Point on 4 November. Interleaved Almanac of Nathan Bowen, Jr., at the Essex Institute, Salem.

303 “I with others to Cat Island after Cattle the Gundelo got aground A Number went down in the Eveng but Could not bring up the Cattle for the wind blew hard at NW. Came up again at 2 am.” Ibid.

304 Robert Graves was a son of Ashley Bowen’s third wife, by a previous marriage.

305 For additional detail about Oliver’s years in Marblehead, see Harold D. Hodgkinson, “A Clergyman’s Comments On The Life Of Young America, 1787–1791,” Essex Institute Historical Collections, en (1966), 74–85.

306 The smokehouse was set up due to a serious outbreak of smallpox at Boston. Smoking was done with brimstone (sulfur).

307 Pope’s Day.

308 Bowen had mortgaged his house near New Wharf to Dr. Nathaniel Oliver. Oliver conveyed the mortgage to Dr. Josiah Lord who, in turn, conveyed it to Edward Bowen.

309 The Diary of William Bentley, D.D. (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1911), in. 124–125. The contents of Chapter XX are verbatim transcriptions, without editorial alterations.

310 Bentley mistook the dates. Bowen was born in 1728; his “marine service” was in 1759.

311 John Prince Papers, Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts, 2.

312 Jacob Graves probably was a son of Ashley Bowen’s third wife, Hannah, by a previous marriage. Daniel Bowen, born 30 March 1797, was Ashley Bowen’s youngest son, born when Ashley was sixty-nine years old. At the time this letter was written, Daniel would have been eight years old and his father, seventy-seven. Evidently, due to his old age and his poverty, Bowen placed Daniel with the Graves family to be brought up.

313 The Diary of William Bentley, D.D. (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1911), in. 211.

314 The Salem Register, 16 January 1806.

315 The Diary of William Bentley, D.D. (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1911), III, 214.

316 “Burlington” was Brislenton; “Duncan” was Duke of Cumberland.

317 The Diary of William Bentley, D.D. (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1911), iii. 290

318 Ibid., iii. 293.

319 The drawing’ of the genealogical tree may be the same as the drawing owned by the Essex Institute, Salem, illustrated in Plate XXXII (Upper). Although the shipping sketch is definitely Bowen’s work, the handwriting is not his and could be that of Hannah Crowninshield, Bentley’s “pupil.”

320 The Diary of William Bentley, D.D. (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1911), iii. 294–295.

321 The composition supposed to compare Bowen’s life with the sailing of a ship is illustrated in Plate I.

322 William Bentley Correspondence, 1783–1819, ii. 8, at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. The manuscript is not in Bowen’s hand but appears to be a fair copy of the original.

323 The Diary of William Bentley, D.D. (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1911), in. 331

324 Ibid., in. 368–370.

325 The view of Halifax, illustrated in Plate XII, is now owned by The New York Public Library (Manuscript Division), Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.

326 Owned by the Marblehead Historical Society.

327 The Diary of William Bentley, D.D. (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1911), in. 416.

328 The Columbian Museum.

329 Miscellaneous Papers of the Reverend William Bentley, at the Peabody Museum of Salem. The latter half of the letter dealing with the impressment episode in Boston Harbor has been incorporated into the text of Chapter I in its proper sequence.

330 Bowen’s memory was entirely at fault regarding the killing of Panton. Corbett was a seaman aboard the brig Pitt Packet, not Bilbao. Thomas Power did not command Bilbao until after the episode (see notes for 30 April 1769). Panton was killed on 22 April 1769, not 22 July 1770. The brig upon which Bowen was working and which Hugh Hill was to command was the brig General Wolfe, but she was not even under construction at the time of the incident. General Wolfe was constructed at New Mills, Danvers, during 1770. Hill was mate of Pitt Packet under Captain Thomas Power in April 1769.

331 William Bentley Correspondence, 1783–1819, II. 8, at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. The manuscript is undated but appears to fit roughly in the chronological sequence used.

332 Ibid., II. 9. Only the signature is in Bowen’s hand.

333 See Samuel Holland’s letter quoted in the Editor’s Introduction to Chapter III.

334 William Bentley Correspondence, 1783–1819, ii. 8, at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts.

335 The Essex Register of 18 November 1809 contained a column and a half about Bowen, substantially a repetition of Bentley’s diary entry for 1 July 1808 (above).

336 The Diary of William Bentley, D.D. (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1911), in. 487.

337 William Bentley Correspondence, 1783–1819, ii. 9, at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. Only the signature and the subscription are in Bowen’s hand.

338 Exshaw was the captain of the transport Thornton in which the Marbleheaders returned to Boston following the Siege of Quebec in 1759.

339 The Diary of William Bentley, D.D. (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1911), in. 528.

340 John Prince Papers, Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts, 4.

341 The Diary oj William Bentley, D.D. (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1914), IV. 148–149.

342 A note on the last page of Bowen’s Quebec Journal states: “Ashley Bowen Departed this Life Feby 2d after an illness of 48 hours.”

343 Undoubtedly the obituary was written by the Reverend William Bentley.

344 The Diary of William Bentley, D.D. (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1914), iv. 518–519.

345 A drastically edited version of Bowen’s Day Book and Journal (1775–1777), now owned by the American Antiquarian Society, appeared in The Essex Register in seven installments between 6 May 1818 and 3 June 1818.