Hannings, Bud. "Captain John Trevett, USMC", (usmilitaryhistory.com/seniram, posted: July 10, 2011).
JT, Brenna. "Find a Grave Memorial: Capt John Trevett (1747-1823)", (www.findagrave.com, record added - October 13, 2009).
Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, (Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1999.)
Smith, Charles M. Marines in the Revolution: Continental Marines in the American Revolution, 1775-1783, (Washington, D.C.: History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1975).
The incident related in the previous post which has the same title as this post, Pt. III, and is dated "12/20/2017", is only found in the source cited in Smith's work, Marines in the Revolution, "Appendix C: Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines", page 342. The time and services of John Trevett spent on board the frigate South Carolina is only recorded in the same source, pages 341-342. The only other source that relates any of Captain of Marines John Trevett's experiences on board the patriot frigate is Hannigs's article, "Captain John Trevett, USMC", page 6, in which the following very brief statement is made:
"In France, Trevett declined serving with John Paul Jones, but later he went aboard a prize ship and participated in two cruises. Afterwards, he headed for Amsterdam and from there he returned to the States on May 28, 1782.".
So much information pertinent to the life and military services of Captain of Marines John Trevett are recorded in the two pages of his diary as contained in Smith's work, Marines in the Revolution, "Appendix C: Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines", pages 341-342. The writer of this blog must assume from this glaring omission that Mr. Hannings must not have had the diary available to him or that he did not know of its existence to have not included its information in his article on Captain John Trevett.
The writer of this overall blog ended the previous post by posing a question as to the exact reason for Captain of Marines John Trevett acting in a manner that seemed to be inconsistent with his prior exemplary military deportment. He went against the explicit orders and intentions of Commodore Alexander Gillon and independently freed and stole away Samuel Foot and William Coal who were valued Master's mates and necessary crew members of the frigate South Carolina. John Trevett them went further in placing them on board a brig headed for Salem, MA, the home town of both of these experienced crew members of the patriot frigate. This brig evidently did not participate in the assault upon and occupation of New Providence, Bahamas but, instead sailed directly for Salem, MA and home, with both these valued Master's mates on board of her. Yet, the precise, and potentially deeper, reason for this action on the part of Captain of Marines John Trevett might possibly be "hidden in plain sight". It is the postulation of the writer of this blog that John Trevett may well have assisted Samuel Foot and William Coal because they were fellow New Englanders. Whether one was a native of Salem, MA and the other of Marblehead, MA (as stated in Smiths' work, Marines in the Revolution, Appendix C: "Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines", page 342) or they both were natives of Salem, MA (as stated in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 205 note 13) is seemingly immaterial - both of them were native of Massachusetts and, by definition or association, native New Englanders. John Trevett established early on in his diary that he was a native of Newport, RI, also located in New England. The writer of this blog has another piece of information gleaned from John Trevett's personal diary that also seems to confirm this postulation.
The writer of this blog has based his assumption/postulation on statements made prior to the recording of this overall blog that make it clear that even though the colonists were opposed to English taxation and other oppressive policies directed towards them by the English Crown and Parliament, they were fundamentally strangers to each other. To enter another colony was akin to travelling to a foreign country in modern times. They all spoke a common language - English - but the similarities almost stopped there. Each had its own economy that its population supported to one degree or another, directly or indirectly. Each had its own settlement patterns, some more densely packed together, others more scattered out. Some were more deeply religious while others had religious expressions but, were more "lax" in practicing those demonstrations of faith. In the same manner, some were much more Protestant, like the Puritans/Congregationalists of New England, while other adhered to the Church of England, like the Virginians and South Carolinians. Still others had significant populations of Dutch Reformed Church (NY and NJ), Moravians (PA and NC), and, of course, Quakers (PA and NJ). In the southern colonies, there were also Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians to be found in large numbers. Also, there was the ever-present issue of slavery and its practice which would become increasingly divisive as the decades passed with the conclusion of the American Revolution and the American Civil War approached. All of these taken together made these strange people we know today as "Americans" alien to one another at this crucial moment in our nation's history.
But, all these "differences" seem to be less expressed and less divisive in New England. There may be several reasons for this increased sense of similarity and "common bonds" between New Englanders. First, all of the New England had their boundaries well established prior to the commencement of the American Revolution. ALL the other colonies, with the single exception of New Jersey, still had significant areas referred to as "frontiers". Their border areas were still largely occupied by native peoples of North American that were becoming increasingly hostile to white encroachment on lands that they viewed as their traditional tribal lands. Second, all of the New England colonies initially arose due to population migrations out of Massachusetts. Even Vermont, known earlier as the "Hampshire Grants" and not established as a separate republic known as Vermont until 1777, still had significant immigration from Massachusetts as well as other New England areas. Third, the dominant churches located in New England were heavily influenced by the Puritans of Massachusetts. Their adherence to this particular "way of faith" would also influence their subsequent forms of government established throughout New England. Fourth, the occupations of New Englanders were more limited than in other larger colonies. Everyone was either involved largely in agriculture such as farming or animal husbandry, mercantile pursuits such as shop owners or larger, wealthier business men, some type of "support fields" such as pastors and civil servants, or in some type of industry related to the sea such as fishing, the merchant marine, or, later, whaling.
But, the fifth, and possibly most significant, reason actually contains a dual clause. All of the New England colonies, without exception, are much smaller than their middle and southern colonial counterparts yet, possess extensive coastlines, with the exception of Vermont. Distances separating communities and commercial areas were shorter. This small territorial size, connected with their lengthy coastlines seem to join all of them together in having significant parts of their economic activities focused on the sea and its bounty. Each of the New England colonies had several major or minor port cities located along their coastlines with a large amount of shipping crossing the rather short sealanes between them. It may possibly be this last similarity that was the real "binding force" that connected all New Englanders and, again possibly, made them feel like one people unified and separate unto themselves.
Now, back to the additional information shared in Smith's work, Marines in the Revolution, "Appendix C: Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines", page 342. Right at the end of John Trevett's narrative, he makes the following statement:
"Now Comes a List of the Volenteairs [volunteers] that was on Board ship [the frigate South Carolina] While I was on board --"
This terse statement is followed by an extensive listing of individual men and their towns of origin who also served on board the frigate South Carolina at the same time as Captain of Marines John Trevett served. These men are addressed both in this listing at the end of the diary of John Trevett and also in the section of Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170. Their individual, personal information will be presented here in the form of a compilation of these two citations. The first column will contain the name as is given in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170. Variant spellings of first names in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia will not be given for space considerations. Just below this name citation will be given the name as it appears in Trevett's diary. The second column will be their position on board the frigate South Carolina as given in the same section of Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia. Trevett cites all of these men as having been "...Volentearis..." at the same time as he was on board the patriot frigate. Thus, there will be no need to cite these men again as Trevett does. The third column will be their hometown as cited in Trevett's diary. The fourth and final column will be the pagination in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, where their information can be found.
(Note: John Trevett cites these men in a random order but, the writer of this blog feels that for ease of reference they should be cited in alphabetical order and has organized them accordingly.)
Name - Lewis/Trevett: Position: Town of Origin: Lewis's pagination:
Josiah Arnold Sea captain, volunteer Providence, RI 136
Capt. Josiah Arnol
Joshua Bowen Volunteer Swansea, MA 138
Mr. Joshaway Bowen
Robert Burrell Sea captain, volunteer Boston, MA 140
Capt. Robert Burvel
Joseph Dessmore Captain, volunteer Marblehead, MA 144-145
Capt. Joseph Dizamore
Elias Elvell Captain, volunteer Cape Ann, MA 146
Capt. Elias Ellwell
John Ervan Captain, second mate on prize ship Philadelphia, PA 146
Capt. John Erven
Caleb Foote Sailor Salem, MA 147
Mr. Caleb Foot
Abraham Freeland Captain, volunteer, boatswain Salem, MA 148
Capt. Abraham Freland
John Glover Volunteer Marblehead, MA 148
Mr. Johnathon Glovyer
Jacob Higgins Captain?, volunteer, gunner? Cape Cod, MA 151
Capt. Jacob Higens
Edward McAgroth Volunteer Boston, MA 157
Mr. Edward Mc Agroth
Samuel Rice Sailor, volunteer East Greenwich, RI 163
Mr. Samuel Rise
Thomas Smith Captain Salem, MA 166
Capt. Thomas Smith
Nathanael Tibbets Captain?, volunteer East Greenwich, RI 167
Capt. Nathanel Tibbets
John Tiler Captain, volunteer Salem, MA 167
Capt. John Tiler
Jacob Tucker Marine, volunteer Salem, MA 168
Mr. Jacob Tucker
Eber Warters Captain, volunteer Gilford, CT 169
Capt. Eber. Warters
Samuel Williams Sailor?, volunteer Salem, MA 170
Mr. Samuel Williams
Thomas Williams Soldier Marblehead, MA 170
Mr. Thomas Williams
-------------- not cited in Lewis's work Cape Cod, MA no pagination in Lewis's work
"Doctor Wing"
(Note: So far, the search by the writer of this blog for a "Doctor Wing" who supposedly served on board the frigate South Carolina has yielded nothing. The writer of this blog is hopeful that, in light of previous definitive discoveries of personnel who did indeed serve on board of the patriot frigate but, are not recorded in Lewis's work, Neptune's MIlitia, "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170, [as of this date, two enlisted men have been discovered and recorded in this overall blog who are not cited in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia] that through some means this individual's story of his relationship to the frigate South Carolina will be discovered and recorded in this blog. What we do know is recorded directly above this footnote - that his last name was "Wing", that he came from Cape Cod, MA, he was evidently a doctor by training, and that he served on board the patriot frigate during the same cruise as Captain of Marines John Trevett. Unfortunately, that is all we know for now.)
Captain of Marines John Trevett's list of fellow "Volenteairs...[volunteers]" cited above contains the names of twenty men. Only one of these men, John Ervan of Philadelphia, PA, is not a native of New England. Of the remaining nineteen men, fifteen of them are natives of Massachusetts, three are natives of Rhode Island, and one of them is a native of Connecticut. All of these men are almost certainly newly-released American maritime prisoners of war who had been transported to France in one of the numerous prisoner cartels that were very common towards the end of the American Revolution. There were certainly prisoners of other colonial points of origin who were released via these same prisoner cartels. The presence of John Ervan of Philadelphia, PA, a middle colony, signifies this fact. Yet, John Trevett only cited men from the New England colonies, with the sole exception of the same John Ervan. It may well have been a character trait of John Trevett to favor fellow New Englanders in his personal associations, friendships, and companionships and to treat those from the middle and southern colonies as "strangers", "foreigners", and "outsiders". Earlier, in the episode concerning Samuel Foot and William Coal, he stated that they were fellow "mess mates". These two were also natives of New England. John Trevett was a product of his times and locale of origin and may well have seen those non-New Enlander fellow colonists as being "strangers from a distant land". He would thus have treated them as such, choosing only to associate with those who were familiar to him.
This citation of these twenty men, nineteen of them from New England colonies, is the final passage in the "Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines". The very brief footnote that follows was added by his biological son, Eleazor Trevett, some years after the death of his father, the John Trevett in question here. This footnote only adds a few genealogical pieces of information, mainly of a lineage nature, to the overall narrative. Yet, at this point in the narrative of John Trevett, Captain of Marines we come to an unanswerable question regarding his post-war choice of career. According to Smith's work, Marines in the Revolution, "Appendix C: Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines, page 325, the following passage appears:
"In the years following the Revolution, Trevett worked as a joiner (carpenter) "until infirmities disease & blindness" rendered him incapable of any further labor."
(Note: According to Hannings's article, "Captain John Trevett, USMC", page 6, Captain of Marines John Trevett's blindness came upon him gradually and by degrees, with him going completely blind about 1819.)
The occupation of carpenter seems an unlikely one for a former officer, especially a gallant and daring officer in combat, like John Trevett to select and then to pursue. Officers usually chose occupations that seemed to "fit" them more rather than a common place occupation of a carpenter. Frequently, these occupations were associated with a position in state and local politics or, more rarely, in federal politics. They went on to become judges, large landowners, and civil servants such revenue collectors at ports of entry into the country or sheriffs. Yet, to the knowledge of the writer of this blog, there exists no reference as to why John Trevett chose such a mundane field of physical labor to occupy him for the remainder of his life. That he remained at this profession for the remainder of his natural life is attested to in the passage above cited from Smith's work, Marines in the Revolution. There must have been "other factors" at work here for John Trevett to have chosen such a common, working man's career. Possibly, he had become skilled at carpentry prior to the commencement of the American Revolution and simply returned to what he knew best after the conclusion of the war. Perhaps he had a penchant for working with his hands and chose this particular field of skilled work. The possibilities are almost endless. But, history does indeed record that this former daring and brave Captain of Marines chose a lowly and simple field of skilled labor to which to apply himself.
Very little additional information can be located concerning the post-war life of John Trevett. What we do know informs us on his marital status. It appears that John Trevett was married twice during his natural life but, the actual dates of both the marriages are not recorded as far as the writer of this blog knows. We do not even have causes of death for either of these two women. We only have partial dates for the lives of the two wives of John Trevett. According to Brenna JT's entry in "Find a Grave Memorial: Capt. John Trevett (1747-1823)", we know that the first wife of John Trevett was Sarah Graves Trevett whose dates are given as 1754-1784. But, according to the Brenna JT's entry in "Find a Grave Memorial: Sarah Graves Trevett (1754-1784)", the birth date is given as the year 1754 while her death date is given as March 15, 1784. There appears to have been no children born to this union. Sarah Graves Trevett is recorded as being interned in the Common Burying Ground, located in Newport, RI. Again, according to Brenna JT's entry in "Find a Grave Memorial: Capt. John Trevett (1747-1823)", the second wife of John Trevett was Elizabeth Gardner Trevett. Her dates are given as 1749-1823. Thus, the second wife of John Trevett was about five years older than the first wife, Sarah Graves Trevett. According to Brenna JT's entry in "Find a Grave Memorial: Elizabeth Gardner Trevett (1749-1823), the dates of her life are 1749 to January 22, 1823. Hannings's article, page 6, verifies the date of death. John and Elizabeth Trevett had two children between them - Henry John Trevett (1789-1882) and Sarah Ingalls Trevett (1789-1846). There is no further information given to ascertain whether or not these two children were twins or if the first one was born early enough in 1789 for the second one to be born later on in the same year, 1789. According to Brenna JT's entry in "Find a Grave Memorial: Capt. John Trevett (1747-1823)", Elizabeth Gardner Trevett's full name is also appears on the headstone of John Trevett in the Common Burying Ground, located in Newport, RI. We do not possess a definite death date for John Trevett. According to Hannings's article, page 6, John Trevett "...died on November 3, 1823, at age 76 [years old]...". But, according to Brenna JT's entry in "Find a Grave Memorial", page 1, the death date of John Trevett was cited as being November 5, 1823. There also exists a third date of death for John Trevett. This is contained with Smith's work, Marines in the Revolution, "Appendix C: Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines", page 325, where it is stated that "...on September 5, 1823, he [John Trevett] died at Newport, aged 76 years...". It would appear that John Trevett died at some point in the fall of 1823 and was seventy-six years old at the time. His second wife, Elizabeth Gardner Trevett predeceased him by about ten months.
(Note: As far as the writer of this blog is concerned, there remains one final issue in the life of Captain of Marines John Trevett. According to Smith's work, Marines in the Revolution, "Appendix C: Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines", page 325, the following passage appears:
"The words, spelling, and punctuation are Trevett's own, but because the first several pages of the original diary no longer exist, the missing material has been taken from a copy made by Eleazor Trevett following his father's death.".
This passage seems to clearly state that the individual who copied the diary of John Trevett was his son and that he copied the diary "....following his father's death.". The two children of John and Elizabeth Trevett were named Henry John Trevett and Sarah Ingalls Trevett, respectively. According to Brenna JT's entry in "Find a Grave Memorial: Capt. John Trevett (1747-1823)", the only individual related to John Trevett who carried the first name of Eleazor (or Eleazer) Trevett died in 1784, well prior to the death of John Trevett. For the two conditions of: (1) a son who (2) copied the diary "...after his father's death..." to be fulfilled by a single person, the copier of the diary would have to have been Henry John Trevett. According to Brenna JT's entry, Henry John Trevett was born at some undetermined date in 1789 and did not die until 1882, at the age of almost 93 years old. His father died almost sixty years prior to the death of Henry John Trevett, so there would have been plenty of time and opportunity to copy down the diary for posterity's sake.)