Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, (Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1999.)
South Carolina Audited Accounts Relating to Samuel Bulfinch SC 992
South Carolina Audited Accounts Relating to Joseph Crown, Asa Cole, et al. SC1723
The principal document of the preceding post, "Possible Members of the Second, Brief Cruise of the Frigate South Carolina: From an Examination of the South Carolina Audited Accounts" and dated "08/03/2020" was itself dated November 28, 1805 and was the first "group petition" for recompense for services on board the frigate South Carolina seen by the writer of this blog. Yet, not even three years later, a very similar document turned up, again another "group petition" for recompense for services rendered on board the frigate South Carolina. This second document is entitled "South Carolina Audited Accounts Relating to Samuel Bulfinch SC 992" and was dated May 25, 1808. This second document is much more brief than the first document in both text of the document as well as the number of individuals named within the document. But, there also appears to be a connection between the men referenced in both of these documents. There exist indicators that both groups of men referenced were from Pennsylvania. Six of their names are repeated in both documents. Certain men in each specific document are known to have received certificates issued by the state of South Carolina prior to the later "petition" being sent to the authorities of South Carolina. Finally, there is no indication that either document was successful in attaining any monetary recompense for these men who supposedly served on board the frigate South Carolina.
The writer of this blog will illustrate numerous points concerning why he feels that both of these "petitions" represent men who were crewmembers and marines of the frigate South Carolina for her second, brief cruise. This writer does indeed believe that both of these "petitions" contain members of the second cruise of the patriot frigate and that indications are given to point to this fact. Yet, he also finds it interesting that these two "petitions" were filed almost two and one-half years apart, the first being filed in late November 1805 and the second being in late May 1808. He again finds it interesting that both "petitions" repeat the names of some of these men.
The second "petition" is briefer than the first document. It was cited in full in the preceding post - "Possible Members of the Second, Brief Cruise of the Frigate South Carolina: From an Examination of the South Carolina Audited Accounts" and posted on "08/03/2020". For the sake of ease of access by the readership of this blog, the document will once again be cited in full here. Yet, unlike the first "petition", the original of the second one does not include the names of the individuals for whom the document is being issued. The names are included in the South Carolina Department of Archives and History Record Detail document attached to this "petition". These names will be cited in alphabetical order and each one will be examined in the same manner as those of the first "petition" of the immediate previous post. The text of this document is as follows:
"[p2]
State of South Carolina
Office of the Comptroller-General May 25, 1808
No. 2715 514 dollars .25
Sir,
Pay to Ara [Asa] Delozier Attorney of Samuel Bulfinch five hundred fourteen dollars 25/100 being the Account of the balance due the said Bulfinch in the Portage Bill book without Interest for which this shall be your legal warrant
S/ Thomas Lee Comptroller-General
To H.B. Cochran Esqr. [???]
Commissioner
[p3]
No. 12... 514.25 Dollars
May 25th: 1808
Legionnaires who served on board SC [South Carolina] Frigate"
(Note: It has already been established in the previous post that the true name of the attorney for Samuel Bulfinch is "Asa Delozier" and not "Ara Delozier".)
(Note: The individual referred to as "H.B. Cochran, Esqr." is indeed "Charles B. Cochran, Esquire - Commissioner to the Treasury". Again, the initial "H" may be for "Honorable" or a mis-transcription of his first initial "C".)
(Note: The above cited document is found in the post prior to the previously cited post and is entitled "An Accidental Discovery of Surprising Individuals on board the Frigate South Carolina: Women on board the Frigate South Carolina, Pt. II - Further Information Uncovered" and was posted on "07/15/2020".)
As in the immediately preceding post, the writer of this blog will organize the men's names in alphabetical order for ease of locating a specific individual and his associated information. The writer will also indicate which of the men's names are repeated in this second "petition" and whether or not these men received any monetary recompense as a result of this second effort. Also, two names appear in the attached South Carolina Department of Archives and History Record Detail document that we know either did not serve on board the frigate South Carolina or were already deceased prior to the document being issued to the Office of the Comptroller-General of the state of South Carolina on May 25, 1808. The first one is the name of the attorney for Samuel Bulfinch - Asa Delozier. According to the Record Detail document, his name does appear associated with the document but, probably does not appear on the actual document itself. According to the Record Detail document, the official title of this "petition" is as follows:
"Petition in Behalf of Sundry Persons on Board the Ship South Carolina Concerning Their Pay for Revolutionary Service"
Asa Delozier's name precedes this title and thus is associated with the document according to the Record Detail document.
The second individual whose name appears did indeed serve on board the frigate South Carolina as the Commodore of the Navy of South Carolina - Alexander Gillon. There are three reasons for discounting the name of Gillon as one of the men who is associated with this "petition". First, he had already received quite ample recompense for his services to the state of South Carolina in terms of financial recompense as well as bounty land grants. Second, and as with Asa Delozier, his name is probably referenced in this "petition" but, not directly as one of the signatures on the document itself. Third, by the time of the issuance of this "petition" on May 25, 1808, Commodore Alexander Gillon had already been deceased by several years. According to Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 131, "...in 1794, at the age of fifty-three, the Commodore died." A reference to "Find a Grave Memorial", entry for "Alexander Gillon (1741-1794)", gives his death date as October 6, 1794. So, Alexander Gillon was indeed fifty-three years old at the time of his death and had been dead for fourteen years prior to the document being sent to the Comptroller-General's office of the state of South Carolina. These two men's names will be included in the citations for the document itself but, will be cited as having been addressed previously. The information presented in this portion of this specific post is taken from the following sources:
Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, (Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1999.)
Moss, Bobby Gilmer. Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983.)
Revill, Janie. Copy of the Original Index Book: Showing the Revolutionary Claims Filed in South Carolina Between August 20, 1783 and August 31, 1786, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969.)
The remaining individuals and their associated information are as follows:
Ashard, Joseph - According to Lewis's work, page 136, Joseph Ashard's position on board the frigate was give as "no position given". Moss's work, page 28, states that "he served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A. 1880A." No information is provided for Joseph Ashard in Revill's work.
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Bantlion, Catherine - According to Lewis's work, section entitled "Appendix; Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170, there is no reference for Catherine Bantlion. Moss's work, page 6, this individual is cited as "Catherine Bantlion Adamson" and the entry further states that "she served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A. 1880A." No information is provided for Catherine Bantlion in Revill's work.
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Bullfinch, Samuel - According to Lewis's work page 140, Samuel Bullfinch's position on board the frigate was given as "Lieutenant". Moss's work, page 121, states that "he served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A. 1880A." No information is provided for Samuel Bullfinch in Revill's work.
(Note: Lewis's work gives an alternate spelling for the last name as "Bulfinch". Moss's work only cites him as being "Samuel Bullfinch". The South Carolina Department of Archives and History Record Detail document gives his last name as being "Bullfinch". The writer of this blog has decided to reference this individual as "Samuel Bullfinch".)
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Clarke, Isaac - According to Lewis's work, page 141, Isaac Clarke's position on board the frigate was given as "no position given". Moss's work, page 171, the individual is cited as "Isaac Clark" and states that "he served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A. 1880A." No information is provided for Isaac Clarke in Revill's work.
(Note: Lewis's work does give an alternate spelling of this individual's last name as "Clark". Moss' work only cites his last name as "Clark". But, the South Carolina Department of Archives and History Record Detail document only cites him as "Isaac Clarke". The writer of this blog has decided to reference this individual as "Isaac Clarke".)
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Cole, Asa - According to Lewis's work, page 142, Asa Cole's position on board the frigate was given as "interpreter". Moss's work, page 185, states that "he served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A. 1880A." No information is provided for Asa Cole in Revill's work.
(Note: Asa Cole is the first of the four men who are referenced in both of the "petition" documents held by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.)
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Delozier, Asa - attorney for Samuel Bullfinch, Lieutenant on board the frigate South Carolina. Asa Delozier has been addressed in the paragraphs preceding this alphabetical citation of the crew members of the frigate South Carolina.
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Dice, Andrew - According to Lewis's work, page 144, Andrew Dice's position on board the frigate was given as "officer". Moss's work, page 252, states that "he served as an officer aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A. 1880A". No information is provided for Andrew Dice in Revill's work.
(Note: Lewis's work gives an alternate spelling of the first name as being "Andres".
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English, Joseph - According to Lewis's work, page 146, Joseph English's position on board the frigate was given as "no position given". Moss's work, page 294, states that "he served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A. 1880A". No information is provided for Joseph English in Revill's work.
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Ervin, John - According to Lewis's work, page 146, John Ervin's position on board the frigate was given as "no position given". Moss's work, page 296, states that "he served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A. 1880A". No information is provided for John Ervin in Revill's work.
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Evans, John - According to Lewis's work, page 146, John Evans's position on board the frigate was given as "no position given". Moss's work, page 298, states that "he served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A. 1880A". No information is provided for John Evans in Revill's work.
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Gillon, Commodore - Alexander Gillon, Commodore of the Navy of South Carolina and the senior officer on board the frigate South Carolina for her initial cruise from Holland to America. He was written on extensively in the early months of this blog. The dates for the posts concerning the life of Alexander Gillon are "03/31/2015", "04/02/2015", "04/04/2015", and "04/10/2015".
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Leit, John - According to Lewis's work, page 155, John Liet's position on board the frigate was given as "no position given". No information is provided for John Liet in either Moss's work or Revill's work.
(Note: Lewis's work gives an alternate spelling of the last name as "Lief".)
(Note: John Liet is the second of four men who are referenced in both "petition" documents held by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.)
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Patterson, George - According to Lewis's work, page 160, George Patterson's position on board the frigate was given as "master's mate". Moss's work, page 757, states that "he served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A. 1880A". No information is provided for George Patterson in Revill's work.
(Note: George Patterson is the third of four men who are referenced in both "petition" documents held by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.)
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Sandiford, Rowland - According to Lewis's work, page 164, Rowland Sandiford's position on board the frigate was given as "no position given". No information is provided for Rowland Sandiford in either Moss's work or Revill's work.
(Note: Lewis's work gives the alternate spelling of Sandiford's first name as "Roland".)
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Spencer, John - According to Lewis's work, page 166, John Spencer's position on board the frigate was given as "Captain of Marines". Moss' work, page 887, states that "he served aboard the frigate South Carolina as an officer. A.A. 1880A; A.A. 7238." No information is provided for John Spencer in Revill's work.
(Note: John Spencer is the fourth of four men who are referenced in both "petition" documents held by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.)
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Stoy, John - According to Lewis's work, page 167, John Stoy's position on board the frigate was given as "Volunteer, Lieutenant of Marines'. Moss's work, page 902, states that "he was a lieutenant of marines aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A. 1880A; Y245." No information is provided for John Stoy in Revill's work.
(Note: the writer of this blog is in possession of the citation from "Books Y-Z" from the work entitled Stub Entries to Indents: Issued in Payment of Claims Against South Carolina Growing Out of the Revolution. This stub entry - Y245 - indicates that on October 29, 1785, John Stoy received from the state of South Carolina a certificate for 96p/17s/0d for his services on board the frigate South Carolina. The text of the stub entry refers to "Lieutenant John Stoy" and states that the payment to this man was "...for wages as volunteer in the Marine Corps on board the frigate Carolina...". The amount is within the amounts paid to an individual who served as a junior officer on board the frigate South Carolina.)
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Stoy, Susannah - According to Lewis's work, section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170, there is no reference for Susannah Stoy. Moss' work, page 6, cites her as "Susannah Story Adamson" and states that "she served aboard the frigate South Carolina. A.A. 1880A." No information is provided for Susannah Stoy in Revill's work.
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This shorter list contains the seventeen men as compared to the list of twenty-two men in the immediately previous post. Some of these individuals must have their names excluded from further examination simply because of who they were in relation to the frigate South Carolina. "Commodore Alexander Gillon" was the senior officer on board the frigate and was deceased at the time of the creation of this "petition" document. "Asa Delozier" is the attorney for Samuel Bulfinch and was never on board the patriot frigate. Finally, the two women cited as being a part of this "petition" - Catherine Bantlion and Susannah Stoy - are not cited in any published work except Moss's work, Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution. That leaves thirteen men for further examination. Yet, in comparison to the previous list of twenty-two men, these thirteen men are even more compact in terms of their respective positions on board the frigate South Carolina. These men occupied the following positions on board the frigate:
Officer, Lieutenant, Lieutenant and Captain of Marines - 4
Skilled Enlisted Men - 2
No Position Given - 7
(Note: Again, the position cited as "no position given" is the most frequently encountered ranking/rating found on board the frigate South Carolina. The writer of this blog has yet to locate a decent explanation for this occurrence. Possibly, it is due to the second crew and marines of the frigate may have had their names added to Lewis's work, section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170 by their names occurring on the prisoner lists of the three British men-of-war that captured the frigate South Carolina on December 20-21, 1782, just off the Capes of the Delaware. The British only recorded the names of the prisoners and almost never their position on board the captured frigate.)
As with the previous post - "Possible Members of the Second, Brief Cruise of the Frigate South Carolina: From an Examination of the South Carolina Audited Accounts" and posted on "08/03/2020" - there are a few salient points that should be addressed concerning this set of second findings. First, and already addressed, is the names of some of the individuals contained within the listing. The appearance of the names of Commodore Alexander Gillon and Asa Delozier have already been previously enumerated and discussed. Yet, there is no attached explanation as to the reason for these two additional names being introduced into the "petition". It is completely understandable yet still disconcerting that the names of Catherine Bantlion and Susannah Stoy appear cited as "legionnaires" unless they were filing in hopes of receiving bounty money due their deceased husbands (if their husbands were indeed deceased at the time of the filing).
Second, and unlike the post referenced in the paragraph above, only a single member of this "petition" had received monetary recompense for his services on board the frigate South Carolina - Volunteer, Lieutenant of Marines John Stoy. His stub entry - Y245 - clearly states that he was recompensed for services on board the patriot frigate on October 29, 1785 in the amount of 96p/17s/0d "...for wages as a volunteer in the Marine Corps on board the frigate Carolina.". The date of this "petition" is May 25, 1808, twenty-three years after John Stoy had received this earlier amount from the state of South Carolina for services in behalf of that state during the American Revolution. The previous post cited four men as having received monetary recompense for their services on board the frigate South Carolina. All five of these men should have been disqualified from receiving further monetary recompense due to their earlier payments from the state of South Carolina.
Third, and exactly like the previous post, there is only a single individual whose name appears on the prisoner lists of the three British men-of-war that captured the frigate South Carolina - Volunteer, Lieutenant of Marines John Stoy. His name appears on the list of prisoners being transported on board the HMS Diomede. As an officer he would have been quickly paroled on his word of honor to not escape and would have been given freedom of movement in whatever community he would have been housed, more than likely Flatbush, New York, a small Dutch community where most of the officers from the frigate South Carolina were placed. Again, the question arises - why is this man's name the only name that appears as a prisoner of the British if indeed all of these men were on board the frigate South Carolina for her second, brief cruise?
Fourth, and finally, there is the rather cryptic textual entry appearing immediately after the first stated date of the document. This entry simply states:
"...pay to Ara [Asa] Delozier Attorney of Samuel Bulfinch five hundred fourteen dollars 25/100 being the Account of the balance due the said Bulfinch in the Portage Bill book without interest for which this shall be your legal Warrant.
S/ Thomas Lee Comptroller-General"
This amount - $514.25 - is within the typical amount for a naval lieutenant or a lieutenant of marines to be paid for their services on board the frigate South Carolina. But, yet why are there the other names attached to the "petition" and why are they signified as "legionnaires who served on board SC [South Carolina] Frigate."? They too deserved recompense for their services on board the frigate South Carolina. And, finally, what is meant by the phrase "...for which this shall be your legal Warrant."? The beginning of the sentence clearly indicates that Attorney Asa Delozier was receiving this money and not Samuel Bulfinch who actually served on board the frigate South Carolina as a Lieutenant. Possibly Asa Delozier was receiving this money for the immediate family of a recently deceased Samuel Bulfinch. But, until a death date for Samuel Bulfinch can be verified, this is pure conjecture on the part of the writer of this blog.