The writer of this blog has always benefited from the section of Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of entries covered in these roughly thirty-five pages that, man by man, give a special type of life to the long-gone frigate. Frequently, these entries have a "position" cited alongside them, giving the work or function that the individual performed while on board the frigate. Some of these are straightforward while others are a bit more confusing or possibly inaccurate. Once again, this confusion and inaccuracies are to be expected in recording so many men and their stations on board the frigate South Carolina.
The bulk of this information is gleaned from the following works:
Moss, Bobby Gilmer. Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, (Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1983).
Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina During the American Revolution. (The Kent State University Press, 1999).
Pieces of information will be labelled as to which source they emanated from as well as pagination being provided for future reference. The writer of this blog will also give his opinion as to why this confusion or inaccuracy occurred but, even these assumptions or explanations may be wrong in themselves.
Each of the men's citations are listed alphabetically by their last names:
Richard Baiggs - He served as a surgeon's mate aboard the frigate South Carolina. C.S. (Moss, page 36)
Richard Briggs - He served as a privateer and was also aboard the frigate South Carolina as a surgeon's mate. He was married to a woman named Huldah -------. A.A.754A; C533; Revill, p. 285. (Moss, page 100)
This would seem to be a case of the same individual being cited twice. Both first names are identical and the last names differ by a single letter only. In both cases, he is cited as a "surgeon's mate". But, in the two cases, different sources are cited for each individual. The "C.S." in the first citation stands for Columbia State, January 4, 1904 - February 1905 issues. In the second citation, the A.A.754A and C533 are the South Carolina Audited Accounts and Stub Indent Numbers associated with that specific account. Interestingly, the Revill source is mis-cited here. Only on pages 385-386 is the personnel of the frigate South Carolina discussed, not on page 285. In Lewis's work, both men's citations have their "positions" cited as "surgeon's mate".
But, a pension application for Richard Briggs was filed in the "Commonwealth of Massachusetts Hampshire County", "Pension Application of Richard Briggs W10458". He states in this application that "at L'Orient in the month of April or May 1780, I engaged as Surgeon's first Mate on board the Frigate South Carolina..." This corroborates with the above information concerning Richard Briggs. Thus, he name must be Richard Briggs, not Richard Baiggs. It also cites in his pension application that he married a woman named Huldah Reed in Plymouth, MA on August 12, 1784. This is interesting on two counts. First, it confirms further that this is the correct spelling of his name due to corroboration with the cited information in Moss's work cited above for Richard Briggs. Also, it specifically states the maiden name of Briggs's wife, Reed. In numerous earlier cases, only the first name of a wife is cited with no last name provided. This pension application provided both his wife's first and maiden names, thus saving her from even more obscurity and providing more information on Richard Briggs.
John Beckford - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. Revill, p. 385. (Moss, page 58)
John Brickford - He served as a carpenter's mate aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.477B; C670. (Moss, page 99)
Again, the same first names in both cases and last names that differ in their spelling only slightly. But, these could conceivably be two different individuals. Their citations are different as are the sources for these citations. The former individual could be an able seaman while the later individual is definitely cited as a "carpenter's mate" which would have made him a junior petty officer. In Moss's work, page 68, the citation for John Bickford says, "see John Brickford". In Lewis's work, John Beckford is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate. John Brickford is cited as a "carpenter's mate" on board the frigate South Carolina.
Samuel Boyland - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.1880A. (Moss, page 92)
In Lewis's work, page 139, a John Boyland is cited with no "position" given for him. A parenthetical alternate to his first name is Samuel. No John Boyland is listed in Moss's work. Thus, it may be that John Boyland is confused with Samuel Boyland and thus possibly never served on board the frigate South Carolina.
Some of the confusing entries may well be those caused by an alternate spelling of an individuals name when only one man by that name existed. Thus, the task of this blog writer is to attempt to discern which is the correct spelling and which is not. Each of the following entries are first the name that this writer feels to be correct followed by the incorrect, alternate spelling. A short description of the writer's reasoning in choosing one of the names over the other one follows that and concludes the entry.
John Crow - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.1880A; Moss, page 221. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 143, he is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate. He is also alternately cited as John Craw, who has no citation in Moss's work, Roster. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 142, he is cited as having no "position". The fact that John Craw does not appear at all in Moss and is cited as having no "position" in Lewis's work seems to point to this later alternate spelling as being incorrect.
Henry Dracon - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.1880A; Moss, page 267. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 145, he is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate. He is also alternately cited as Henry Deacon, who has no citation in Moss's work, Roster. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 143, he is cited as having no "position". Again, the fact that Henry Deacon does not appear at all in Moss and is cited as having no "position" in Lewis's work seems to point to this later alternate spelling as being incorrect.
Dennis Dumont - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. C719; Moss, page 273. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 145, he is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate. He is alternately cited as Dennis Duman who has no citation in Moss's work, Roster. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 145, he is cited as having no "position". The fact that Dennis Duman does not appear at all in Moss and is cited as having no "position" in Lewis's work seems to point to this later alternate spelling as being incorrect.
Edward Gastage - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.2720A; C531; Moss, page 346. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 148, he is cites as a "mariner or marine".
Edward Gostage - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. Revill, p. 385; Moss, p. 375. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 149, he is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate.
It would seem that the greater sense of authenticity lies with the spelling of Gastage but, the Revill source cited in the second entry also spells it as Gostage. There may have indeed been two separate individuals on board the frigate South Carolina by names so incredibly similar. But, it would seem from these entries that the last name is unique enough to almost preclude that type of occurrence. Also, the first names are identical. One would sense from the fact that the documentation lies with the spelling of Edward Gastage rather than the spelling as Edward Gostage but, this is merely conjectural.
Henry Laurence - He served a master's mate on the frigate South Carolina and was the auditor general of the state. A.A.4454A; C401; Moss, page 555. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 154, he is cited as a "master's mate". In Revill, page 385, he is cited as having received 116p/9s/10.5d on July 1, 1784 by a certificate being issued to him.
Henry Lawrence - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.1880A; Moss, page 556. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 154, he is cited as a "master's mate". There is no citation of this individual in Revill.
This individual is a bit more problematic. Both citations have the same first name and the last names only differ by a single letter in their spelling. The former individual would seem to be the correct spelling of the name in that the citation in Moss contains other pertinent information on this individual as well as the citation in Revill. In both cases, Lewis cites him as being a master's mate. Yet, in each citation from Moss, there are different sources cited in their stub indent numbers. The writer of this blog thinks that the former individual's spelling of their last name has the stronger case for being the man in question. But, there is still the possibility that these are indeed two separate men, though the fact of both of them being a "master's mate" is unusual.
John Evans - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.1880A; Moss, page 298. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 146, he is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate.
John Evins - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.1880A; Moss, page 300. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 146, he is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate.
There is no indication as to which one of these may be the correct spelling of the individual's name. In fact, this is one of those situations in which there easily could be two separate individuals by these names. As the reader can observe, the only difference between these two individuals is the spelling of their last names which differ from one another by a single letter.
Peter Dematez - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. C717; Moss,page 247. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 144, he is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate. In Revill, page 386, Peter Dematz is cited as having received 30p/1s/0d through stub indent C717.
This is almost certainly a case of the same individual being cited by two slightly different last names. Lewis also offers as alternate spellings for his last name DeMatez or Dematz. Yet, there is very little information given to indicate which is the correct spelling of his last name.
William Laycock - He served as a mariner aboard the frigate South Carolina during 1782. A.A.4471; V592; Moss, page 557. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 154, he is cited as a "sailor".
William Laycoch - There is no citation in Moss's work, Roster, for this individual. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 154, this name is cited as a possible alternate spelling for the last name of the above individual.
This entry may be easy to deal with. Most likely, the individual's name is "William Laycock" rather than William Laycoch. This can be deduced from the entry in Moss's work, Roster, as well as the fact that this entry is followed by the citations of stub indent numbers that seem to be unique rather than more frequently seen stub indent numbers like A.A.1880A. Unfortunately, there are no further resources against which to cross-reference these assumptions.
John Ervin - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.1880A; Moss, page 296. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 146, he is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate.
John Ervan - There is no citation in Moss's work, Roster, for this individual. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 146, he is cited as a "captain and second mate on prize ship".
The name of Erven is also cited as a possible alternate spelling of this individual's last name. The problem here is that the significant sources of information are divided in that one piece of information is associated with John Ervin and another piece is associated with John Ervan. So, there is no real way of knowing whether or not this is a single individual who has been cited twice under a slightly altered name or, if indeed, these are two distinct individuals.
John Leit - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.1880A; Moss, page 562. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 155, he is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate.
John Leif - There is no citation in Moss's work, Roster, for this individual. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 155, he is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate.
It is the opinion of this blog writer that these are the same man whose name is John Leit, not John Leif. The only piece of pertinent information associated with this individual is attached to the former individual rather than the later one. Once again, neither of these men have any "position" on board the frigate associated with them or their names.
In continuing this research into additional information on the crew and marines of the frigate South Carolina, this writer has occasionally run across individuals who are cited in Moss's work, Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution but, are not cited in the section of Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina". Since the later work is used as a type of primary reference source for names of crew and marines of the frigate, it is always unusual to encounter names that are not contained in the roster within Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia. Only once before now was name encountered that was cited in Moss's work, but, not in Lewis's work. This was Joseph Croker and his citation appears on page 218 of Moss's work. Now a second name has been encountered that again is cited in Moss's work but, not in Lewis's work. This entry is as follows:
David Love - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.1880A; Moss, page 582.
Entries of this nature fill out the picture of the crew and marines of the frigate South Carolina a bit more. If other names are encountered that fill this same criteria, then they will also be added.
Richard Luat - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.1880A; Moss, page 585. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, 155, he is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate.
Richard Lunt - He served as a gunner's yeoman aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.1880A; C669, Moss, page 587. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 156, he is cited as a "gunner's yeoman". In Revill's work, Copy of the Original Index Book, p. 385, he is cited as having received 52p/13s/3d on May 31, 1783 through an issued certificate.
Once again, this seems to be a single individual whose name is Richard Lunt, not Richard Luat. The preponderance of more detailed information seems to lie with the later citation rather than the former citation. Th single stub indent number cited for the former individual is repeated with the later individual and then added to through additional information.
So many of the naval and marine officers of the frigate South Carolina have copious amounts of information recorded concerning them. Frequently, these same men have information recorded on their lives before the American Revolution and their time on board the frigate South Carolina, while they were on board the frigate and their service, and, often, after the end of the war until their actual deaths. But, sometimes, only sparse information is recorded concerning these commissioned individuals. But, also at times this is enough information to clear up some confused point concerning them. The following citation is on one of these men:
Nathaniel Marston - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. Revill, p. 385; A.A.404; Moss, page 657. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 156, he is cited as a "midshipman, 2nd lieutenant, Lieutenant". In Revill's work, Copy of the Original Index Book, page 385, he is cited as receiving 453p/9s/10.5d on May 29, 1783 through an issued certificate.
The only other piece of information concerning this individual comes from a pension application of Joshua Mersereau, "Pension Application of Joshua Mersereau S7224". Mersereau cites himself as a "carpenter's mate" on board the frigate South Carolina when she was captured by the three British men-of-war on December 20, 1782. Towards the end of his pension application, Mersereau provides a "...List of persons who served with him on board the Continental Ship South Carolina, and taken prisoner in 1782". The third name on the list is "-------- Marston, 2nd lieutenant". Even though the individual's first name is omitted, it is almost certain that this is Nathaniel Marston. Also, his string of citations given in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 156, of "midshipman, 2nd lieutenant, Lieutenant" lends credence to the earlier reference that "Gillon promoted from within the ship, and those that stayed any length of time usually rose in rank" (Lewis, page 35). The list of captured prisoners transported by the HMS Diomede to New York City harbor after the capture of the frigate South Carolina on December 20, 1782 contains the name of Nathaniel Marston. Being that he was an officer, he was most probably paroled on Long Island relatively quickly until he could be exchanged. Much of this above information is conjectural, being based in typical exchange processes as exercised by the British during the American Revolution.
Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 156, cites several alternate spellings for his last name - Maston, Masston, Marton and Mastin. The spelling of Marston is almost certainly the correct spelling due to this being the manner of spelling in Moss's work, Revill's citation, and in the Joshua Mersereau pension application. Again, a preponderance of corroborating evidence issuing from diverse sources.
Yet, even with these copious amounts of information, various sources can indeed provide new information concerning these individuals, even ones who were well-known on board the frigate South Carolina. In previous posts, quite a bit of information has already been provided on John Mayrant, midshipman and 3rd lieutenant on board the frigate South Carolina. John Mayrant and Robert Coram fought together in one of the most remembered sea battles in the annals of American naval history - the battle off Flamborough Head, England between the HMS Serapis and the BonHomme Richard on September 23, 1779.
A lengthy post on John Mayrant was posted on "10/15/2014" and can be referred to for information pertinent to the life of John Mayrant during and after the American Revolution. But, fresh information is introduced through Moss's work, Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution. The entry for John Mayrant appears on page 669 of this work and is as follows in full:
John Mayrant - born December 1762, Parish of St. James, S.C. He died in August 1836. He married Isabella Norvell. On May 23, 1778, he was appointed midshipman in the South Carolina Navy by Commodore Alexander Gillon. In August, he sailed with Gillon on the sloop Tartar to Havana. From there, he was sent with Capt. William Robertson in the Gustave to Mantes [sic, Nantes]. In June 1779, he was assigned to Commodore John Paul Jones on the Bon Homme Richard. While engaged in the battle with the Serapis, he was wounded in the leg by a pike as he attempted to board the enemy ship. In October or November 1779, he rejoined Gillon at Amsterdam and was promoted to lieutenant and sailed on the South Carolina. In July 1781, he was again promoted and assigned to receiving prisoners in Charleston. He was discharged in 1783. (Moved to Ala. and Tenn.)
The new information we obtain from this entry is that the woman's name whom Mayrant married was Isabella Norvell. That he was born in December 1762 in South Carolina. That the date of his commission as a midshipman was May 23, 1778, making him either fifteen or sixteen years old at the time. Also, he was commissioned in the South Carolina Navy and not the Continental Navy. At the time of his wounding in the battle between the HMS Serapis and the BonHomme Richard, he was only sixteen or seventeen. His pension application, "Pension Application of John Mayrant S32390" states that "...in boarding the Serapis the deponent received a pike wound through his leg, and after the fight was over gave him great pain, and he was unable to put his foot to the ground for three months." Thus, he received this wound on September 23, 1779 and returned to the frigate South Carolina "...in October or November 1779..." he must have still been quite incapacitated in the performance of his duties. He was discharged from service in 1783. The sentence in his pension application just prior to this one states that "..he was again promoted and assigned to receiving prisoners in Charleston." His pension application states that he was sent along with Michael Kalteissen to Charleston, SC, which was in daily expectation of being evacuated by the British. There they were supposed to recruit crew members and marines for the frigate South Carolina of which Commodore Gillon wanted about a hundred. That in Charleston he learned of the capture of the frigate South Carolina. But, "...that the deponent was then ordered by Commodore Gillon to remain in Charleston, and by his direction and that of Governor Guerard to receive prisoners, make exchanges &c. That he continued there under the orders of Commodore Gillon until the peace in 1783, where by an act of the Legislature of South Carolina the naval force was discharged." The final parenthetical addendum cites that he moved to Alabama and then Tennessee, where he died in August 1836.
As stated so long ago on this blog, John Mayrant was possibly one of the best combat officers under Commodore Alexander Gillon's command. His bravery in combat, his steadiness in executing his orders, his faithfulness to his commanding officer, and his steadfastness to the very end of the war are a testimony to his character and honor.
William McCassett - He served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A.1880A; Moss, page 599. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 157, he is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate.
William McHassett - there is no citation for this individual in Moss's work, Roster. In Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 157, he is cited as having no "position" on board the frigate.
This appears to this blog writer to be another instance of two different names being applied to the same man. The small amount of tangible information is associated with William McCassett and not William McHassett. He did file a claim with the state of South Carolina, which there is no application for recompense filed by William McHassett as far as we know.