Kaminkow, Marion and Jack. Mariners of the American Revolution, (Magna Carta Book Company, 1967).
Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina During the American Revolution, (The Kent State University Press, 1999).
The two separate posts dated respectively "10/29/2015" and "11/05/2015" cite the names of all members of the crew and marines of the frigate South Carolina that may have experienced imprisonments at the hands of the British prior to their service on board the frigate South Carolina. Together, these two posts cite the names of ninety-eight officers, NCOs, and enlisted men. Yet, Kaminkow's work, Mariners of the American Revolution, contains two hundred and twelve pages of citations of imprisoned rebels, far more than collected for the purposes of this blog. Even, these ninety-eight men whose names are cited might not have all served on board the frigate South Carolina during her maiden voyage or the second, brief voyage she experienced on December 19-20, 1782. But, there are certainly some of them, at the very least, who did serve on board the frigate South Carolina during one or both of her voyages between August 4, 1781 and December 20, 1782. The purpose of this post will be to ascertain, if possible and/or feasible, which of these men might have served on board the frigate South Carolina.
The first point to be made in attempting to decide which of these men served on board the frigate South Carolina is the most obvious point that almost "leaps out" at the reader of this list of imprisoned men - many of them have extremely common first and last names. Some of these names, cited both in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, and in Kaminkow's work, Mariners of the American Revolution, are cited below. The number appearing to the right of the full name is the number of individuals who have that same name and are cited in Kaminkow's work, Mariners of the American Revolution. These names are as follows:
James Adams - 4
Joseph Brown - 3
Thomas Brown - 4
William Brown - 3
John Clark - 3
John Connor - 3
John Davis - 5
James Dean - 2
John Downs - 3
William James - 2
John Jones - 9
Daniel Lane - 3
John Lewis - 3
John Morrison - 3
James Robinson - 2
John Smith - 6
Samuel Smith - 3
Thomas Smith - 4
Thomas Welch/Welsh - 4
Thomas White - 4
William White - 2
There are twenty-one names cited here. All of them are cited at least twice in Kaminkow's work, Mariners of the American Revolution, and some of them are cited multiple times - John Jones is cited no less than nine times - in one or both of the works cited in this post. Not only did the possibility exist that multiple individuals across colony lines possessed these very common names but, there could easily have been multiple individuals within a single community that had these identical names, both first and last names.
Yet, just because these men all have very common first and last names does not mean that they did not serve on board the frigate South Carolina. In the section of Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", all of these men whose names appear above are cited as having served on board the frigate either for her first, maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from August 4, 1781 to her docking in Philadelphia, PA on May 25, 1782 or for her brief second voyage just off the Cape of the Delaware in December 1782. Thus, in many of these instances of commonly occurring names, further evidence would need to be collected in order to properly identify these men as having served on board the frigate South Carolina. One manner in which this confirming information can be assembled is through corroboration of several sources by which a more firm or definite decision can be formulated. The writer of this blog will attempt this task but, ultimately, will leave any of his conclusions to the discernment and judgments of his readership. The goal of this attempt to identify the men who did serve on board the frigate South Carolina is to ascertain how many Americans were members of the total crew and marines of the first or second cruises of the frigate South Carolina. Any men who are identified will also have any information associated with them recorded here so that more might be made available concerning their services on board the frigate South Carolina.
The following men have been tentatively identified as having served on board the frigate South Carolina on either of the two voyages. The men will be cited in the same manner as they were cited in t he two earlier posts, dated, respectively, "10/29/2015" and "11/05/2015". The first citation will be from Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia and the second citation below this first one will be that contained in Kaminkow's work, Mariners of the American Revolution. These men are as follows:
John Adams - (he is also cited as "Juan Adan") sea captain (capitan del mar)
John Adams - he was a native of Boston, MA. He served as a captain. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on June 1, 1777.
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Josiah Arnold sea captain, volunteer
Josiah Arnold - he was a lieutenant. He was committed to Forton Priosn on February 18, 1779. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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John Baker sailor, midshipman
John Baker - he was a native of Beverly, MA. He was a prize master. He served on board the Black Princess, a French prize ship. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on October 20, 1781 and, according to records, was still in Old Mill Prison in April 1782.
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Joshua Barney passenger
Joshua Barney - he served on board the Continental frigate Saratoga. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on January 16, 1781. He escaped on May 18, 1781.
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Jonathan Bartlett lieutenant of marines
Jonathan Bartlett - he was a native of Marblehead, MA. He served on board the Fancy. He was captured on August 7, 1777 and committed to Old Mill Prison. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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John Beckford, Bickford, Brickford carpenter's mate
There are three separate entries for what appears to be the same man in Kaminkow's work, Mariners of the American Revolution. Lewis's work, also contains three separate entries for this same man. For ease of reference, all three entries will be combined together into a single entry and cited below.
(Note: it is still unclear as to the proper spelling of his last name but, this should be easily cleared up by cross-referencing him in the several works in which he is cited.)
John Beckford, Bickford, Brickford - hew as a native of Newburyport, MA. He served on board the Fancy. He was captured on August 7, 1777 and committed to Old Mill Prison. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Richard Briggs surgeon's mate
Richard Briggs - he was committed to Forton Prison. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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William Brown mariner
William Brown - he was a mariner. He served on board either the Monmouth or the Rambler. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on February 16, 1780. According to records, he was still in Old Mill Prison in April 1782.
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John Buckley no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
John Buckley - he was a native of either Maryland or North Carolina. He served on board the Black Snake. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on March 12, 1778. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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James Burney no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
James Burney - he was a native of Pennsylvania. He served on board the Chatham. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on August 23, 1781.
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James Carpenter lieutenant of marines, 2nd officer
James Carpenter - he served on board the Black Prince. He was committed to Forton Prison on April 26, 1779.
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John Chandler no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
John Chandler - he served as a mariner. He served on board the Aurora. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on July 25 or 27, 1780. He signed the House of Lords Petition in June 1781. According to records, he was still in Old Mill Prison in April 1782.
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John Cockran no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
John Cockran - he was a boatswain. He served on board the Yankee. He as committed to Forton Prison on June 14 or 26, 1777. He escaped and was recaptured. He was placed in the "black hole" on July 30, 1777. He escaped in December 1777.
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John Craw (or Crow) no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
John Craw (or Crow) - he was a native of Marblehead, MA. He served on board the Fancy. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on August 7, 1777. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Michael Cremer no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
Michael Creamer - he was a seaman. He served on board the Morning Star. He was committed to Forton Prison on October 16, 1781. According to records, he was still in Forton Prison in April 1782.
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John Cushing surgeon's mate
John Cushing - he was a native of Haverhill, MA. He was a doctor. He served on board the schooner Warren. He was committed to Old Mill Prison in June 1778. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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John Dawson no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
John Dawson - he served as a "boy" on board the Monmouth. He was committed to Forton Prison on January 11, 1780. According to records, he was still in Forton Prison in April 1782.
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John Deane no "position" in Lewis's work for this individual
John Deane - he was committed to Old Mill Prison. He was pardoned for exchange on December 20, 1778.
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James Dick midshipman
James Dick - he was a native of Ireland. He served on board the Lexington. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on September 19, 1777. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Elias Ellwell captain, volunteer
Elias Ellwell - he was a prize master. He was committed to Forton Prison on April 19, 1779. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Caleb Foot sailor
Caleb Foot - he was a prize master. He served on board the Black Snake. He was committed to Forton Prison on February 18, 1779. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779 but, did not go then. Instead, a prisoner was sent over from France on August 19, 1780 to procure his release in exchange.
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Samuel Foot master's mate
Samuel Foot - he was a native of Salem, MA. He served on board the Warren. He was committed to Old Mill Prison in June 1778.
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William Fowler sailor
William Fowler - he was a native of Casco Bay, ME. He served on board the Revenge. He was committed to Old Mill Prison in May 1778. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Henrich Fr-----? marine
Henry Fritze - he was a captain of marines. He served on board the Rising States. He was committed to Forton Prison on June 14, 1777. He escaped on June 17, 1777.
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John Glover volunteer
John Glover - he was committed to Forton Prison. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779 but, was still there on May 8, 1781. He was pardoned for exchange on October 16, 1781.
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William Grant no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
William Grant - he was a seaman. He served on board the Fair American. He was committed to Forton Prison on November 30, 1780. According to records, he was still in Forton Prison in January 1782.
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Jacob Harmon no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
Jacob Harmon - he was a native of Philadelphia, PA. He served on board the Marquis de Morbec. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on October 2, 1781.
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------- Hicks first mate
Benjamin Hicks - he was a master's mate. He served on board The Swallow. He was committed to Forton Prison on January 23, 1778. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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John Hopes midshipman
John Hopes - he was a native of Ireland. He served on board the Lexington. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on September 19, 1777. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Abijah Hunt midshipman
Abijah Hunt - he was a native of New Jersey. He was a mariner. He served on board the L'Uzerne. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on July 7, 1781.
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?-----am James landsman
William James - he was a native of Marblehead, MA. He served on board the Roebuck out of Salem, MA. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on January 9, 1781. He was pardoned for exchange on October 16, 1781 and was exchanged. He signed the House of Lords Petition in June 1781.
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James Johnson secretary
James Johnson - he served on board the Oliver Cromwell. He was committed to Forton Prison on October 13, 1777. He escaped.
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John Jones sailor
There are nine "John Jones" in Kaminkow's work. It is the "educated guess" of this blog writer that the following individual is probably the likely one:
John Jones - he was a native of Salem, MA. He served on board the Warren. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on June 4, 1778. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779. He escaped.
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Daniel Lane carpenter
There are three "Daniel Lanes" in Kaminkow's work. It is the "educated guess" of this blog writer that the following individual is probably the likely one"
Daniel Lane - he was a native of Newburyport, MA. He served on board the Fancy. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on August 7, 1777. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Henry Lawrence master's mate
Henry Lawrence - he was a native of Virginia. He served on board the Lexington. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on September 19, 1777. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Richard Lunt gunner's yeoman
Richard Lunt - he was a native of Newburyport, MA. He served on board the Dalton. He was committed to Old Mill Prison in June 1777. He was pardoned for exchange on December 26, 1778. He joined the frigate Alliance.
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------- McLaughlin sailor
Philip McLaughlin - he was a native of Ireland. He served on board the Lexington. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on September 19, 1777. He was pardoned for service in the Royal Navy on October 14, 1778. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Daniel Manchester no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
Daniel Manchester - he served on board the Angelica. He was committed to Forton Prison on July 7, 1778. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Luke Matthewman lieutenant
Luke Matthewman - he was a lieutenant. He was committed to Forton Prison. He escaped.
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John Maxwell no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
Johnn Maxwell - he was a seaman. He served on board the Confederacy. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on February 27, 1782. According to records, he was still in Old Mill Prison in April 1782.
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Alexander Moore midshipman?
Alexander Moore - he was either a midshipman or a prize master. He served on board the Muscator (Mosquito?) out of Virginia. He was committed to Forton Prison on August 7, 1777. He was pardoned for exchange on May 31, 1779.
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John Morrison no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
John Morrison - he was a native of Boston, MA. He was a mariner. He served on board the Essex. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on July 20, 1781. According to records, he was still in Old Mill Prison in April 1782.
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The initial post concerning the men who may have experienced imprisonment at the hands of the British contained the men whose names began with A-M and was dated "10/29/2015". The original post contained the names of sixty men whose last names began with these same letters of the alphabet. The post above contains the names of forty-two of these men. Again, for clarification purposes, men by all of these names served on board the frigate South Carolina. Some of these men have very common first and last name combinations. In certain instances, the writer of this blog has chosen to not select a specific man with a common name due to uncertainty regarding which man cited in Kaminkow's work, Mariners of the American Revolution, is the correct individual. This does not mean that the writer of this blog is denying that a men by that specific name served on board the frigate South Carolina. He is only unclear as to which specific man by that name did indeed serve on board the frigate. Other individuals are much easier to identify and document as having served on board the frigate South Carolina.
The writer of this blog has chosen to maintain this same delineation and end this post with the last names related to the same letters of the alphabet. The following post will deal with the men whose last names begin with the letters N-Z. As with the earlier two posts, respectively dated "10/29/2015" and dealing with last names beginning with the letters "A-M" and "11/05/2015" and dealing with last names beginning with the letters "N-Z", the writer of this blog assumes that this second post dealing with the "N-Z" section of the alphabet will be much shorter than the first post dealing with "A-M".