Patriot Pirates (29 page)

John’s lust for speculation was matched by other appetites. When he died in 1803 his nickname, “the Providence Colossus,” was as much a tribute to his girth as to his commercial stature. In the last years of his life he devoted much energy to Rhode Island College; he’d served as its treasurer for twenty-five years. He was a fierce advocate for public education, scolding wealthy citizens who educated their children privately when “hundreds there is in this town who is not able to build a house to school their children in.”

A year after John’s death, his nephew endowed a professorship of English oratory in his uncle’s name. The college subsequently changed its name to Brown University in honor of its benefactors. In 2003 it sponsored a multiyear study of the controversial issue of government reparations for slavery. University president Ruth J. Simmons termed the inquiry “a special obligation” due, she wrote, to “Brown’s history.”

In his biography of the clan,
The Browns of Providence Plantations
, James B. Hedges illuminates John’s moral obstinacy while crediting him at least with a lack of hypocrisy. And while acknowledging his contributions to the Revolution and to higher education, Hedges ultimately highlights the one objective John sought above all others: “A record such as this can hold its own with that of the best businessmen of the period.”

A truer epitaph never was written.

1783

P
ROVIDENCE,
R
HODE
I
SLAND

Andrew Sherburne was one of the last men released from the Brooklyn prison ships, remaining until after George III declared an end to hostilities in the spring of 1783. In five months of confinement on
Jersey
, “I had some trying scenes to pass through,” he later recalled. It was an understatement.

Sherburne’s memoir, written forty years after the war, grimly details
Jersey
’s omnipresent hardship, despair, and death. Yet one of its strongest passages carries no physical descriptions. Of rumors that ran among the prisoners that so much death could only result from jailers poisoning their food, he simply shakes his head. “No—there was no such mercy there. Nothing was employed which could blunt the susceptibility to anguish, or which, by hastening death, could rob its agonies of a single pang.”

Penniless and lame from frostbite suffered the past winter (he’d often awoke covered in snow that blew in through the seams of
Jersey
’s decrepit planking), Sherburne was ferried to Newport with a boatload of other ex-prisoners. From there, he traveled by horse and foot to Portsmouth, arriving home just before his nineteenth birthday.

Five years later, he returned to New York seeking back pay for his service on the Continental sloop
Ranger
. It amounted to “about seventy-three dollars, worth at this time between twelve and thirteen cents on the dollar.” From town he walked to the East River and gazed across to Wallabout Bay, “where yet lay that wretched old prison ship where I had suffered almost everything but death.” On the far shore, the sand embankment “under which a large majority of my shipmates had left their bones” lay barren and unmarked. “I shall not undertake to describe the sensations of my soul on this occasion.”

Never fully healthy again, Sherburne had trouble finding work. Eventually he established himself as a schoolteacher, got married and had children, then became a Baptist minister and military chaplain in the War of 1812. He published his memoir in 1828 for two reasons. Regarding his children’s welfare, he was “not ashamed to confess that the avails which may arise from the sale of this humble performance must be almost their only inheritance.” And he believed that through reading of his travails, “Americans may properly appreciate the freedom which they enjoy while they learn the price of its purchase.”

At a dollar per copy, the book sold well. Some people bought it out of charity “to relieve the declining years” of its author. Others wanted to understand “the sufferings and deliverances of our naval prisoners during the Revolutionary conflict.”

Sherburne’s gratitude for their patronage is best captured in his expression of lifelong debt to the citizens of Rhode Island, who, in a welcome revision of the colony’s reputation for rank self-interest, had generously opened their homes and pocketbooks to the emaciated, traumatized, lice-ridden mariners after their release from
Jersey
.

Ashamed of their haggard appearance, the privateersmen initially had declined what was the first of many offers of food and lodging from local families. “We are not fit to be where clean people are.”

Their hosts would have none of it. “Come, sit down and make yourselves as comfortable as you can. You must have had a hard time of it. You have been sick. But now you have got among your friends again.” Sherburne saw tears in their eyes as they spoke. “I scarcely know of any one circumstance in my life that has more frequently occurred to my mind than this.”

Resuming their northward trek the next morning, he and his companions walked through Providence and saw its bustle of new construction. It was spring, the war was over, and they were going home. The power of the moment overwhelmed them. “We could not help but exalt that we had once more set our feet in the land of liberty.”

N
OTES

Abbreviations

P
ROLOGUE

“very much torn”:
William Bartlett to George Washington, April 11, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 881.
“’Tis luck”:
Captain John Collins to Vice Admiral Samuel Graves, Oct. 12, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 417.
“very badly”
and
“blowed off”:
Almanacs of John White and William Wetmore, Oct. 10, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 386.

“burn, sink, and destroy”:
Admiral Samuel Graves to Captain James Wallace, Sept. 17, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 129.
“Graves and his harpies”:
William Tudor to John Adams, Sept. 30, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 248.
“
a thief”:
Comments of a New York Tory, NDAR, vol. 1, p. 1269.
“their loose discipline”:
Journal of Ambrose Serle, July 13, 1776, NDAR, vol. 5, p. 1062.
“bold enough to dare”:
“Extract of a Letter from one of the fleet at Boston, Dated Nov. 30, 1775,” NDAR, vol. 3, p. 1203.

I
NTRODUCTION

“in the land way”:
George Washington to Benedict Arnold, Dec. 5, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 1283.

righteous zeal:
Robert A. East,
Business Enterprise in the American Revolutionary Era
, p. 27.

the lowest taxed:
Robert Harvey,
A Few Bloody Noses,
p. 4.
“This corrupt age”:
Nathanael Greene to Griffin Greene, May 25, 1778, NGP, vol. 2, p. 405.
“a gamester’s hope”:
Nathanael Greene to Jacob Greene, May 6, 1778, NGP, vol. 2, p. 381.
“doing something constantly”:
Robert C. Alberts,
The Golden Voyage
, p. 36.
“to sink Britain”:
George Washington to John Augustine Washington, July 7, 1775, NDAR, vol. 1, p. 983.

“this country likewise”:
Sheldon S. Cohen,
Yankee Sailors in British Gaols
, p. 28.

“some accident”:
Helen Augur,
The Secret War of Independence
, p. 234.
“insult”:
Lord Stormont to Lord Weymouth, April 16, 1777, NDAR, vol. 8, p. 772.

“No kind of business”:
Gardner Weld Allen,
Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution,
p. 15.

The date is interesting:
Mack Thompson,
Moses Brown
, p. 15.

O
NE

“disturbed our navigation”:
William R. Staples,
The Documentary Description of the Destruction of the Gaspee,
p. 3.
“stormy petrel”:
East, p. 71.
“lose the whole”:
James B. Hedges,
The Browns of Providence Plantations,
p. 16.
“reputation for contraband”:
Harvey, p. 12.

“out of my line”:
Samuel Adams to James Warren, Feb. 1, 1777,
Samuel Adams Papers
.
“gentlemen of this town”:
Staples, p. 3.
“hogstealer”:
Merrill Jensen,
The Founding of a Nation,
p. 425.
“conveniences”:
Gordon S. Wood,
The American Revolution
, p. 13.

“salutary neglect”:
Ibid., p. 18.
“I have devoted”:
Nathanael Greene to Samuel Ward, Jr., April, 1772, NGP, vol. 1, p. 26.

“my duty” and “unwarrantable”:
Staples, p. 5.
“a pirate himself”:
Ibid., p. 6.
“as bait”:
Ibid., p. 8.
“violent infringement”:
Samuel Adams,
The Rights of the Colonists, A List of the Violations of Rights and a Letter of Correspondence,
Nov. 20, 1772,
Samuel Adams Papers.

“brutal, hoggish”:
John Adams diary 19, 16 Dec. 1772–18 Dec. 1773,
Adams Family Papers.
“you have no business”
and
“ridiculous errands”:
Staples, p. 6.

“the opposite point”: The Saturday Evening Post
, vol. VIII, no. 421. Philadelphia, Aug. 22, 1829.

“I am the sheriff”:
Staples, p. 14.
“penalty”
and
“gold laced beaver”:
Ibid., p. 108.
“daring insult”:
Ibid., p. 25.

“take an advantage”:
Hedges, p. 206.
“the self-denial of their neighbors”:
Ibid., 204.
“Star Chamber Court”:
John Adams diary 19, 16 Dec. 1772—18 Dec. 1773,
Adams Family Papers.
“such provocation”:
Samuel Adams to Darius Sessions, Jan. 2, 1773,
Samuel Adams Papers.
“We were all sensible”:
Thomas Jefferson, July 27, 1821,
Thomas Jefferson Papers. “bears no resemblance”:
Charles Dudley to Admiral Montagu, July 23, 1772,
Gaspee Papers,
Manuscripts Collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society.

“public emolument”:
Thompson, p. 57.
“zeal”:
Ibid., p. 62.
“ruffled shirts”:
Staples, p. 87.
“principal inhabitants”:
Ibid., p. 105.
“general bad character
” through
“could not possibly be guilty of”:
Ibid., p. 35.

“no intimation”:
Ibid., p. 87.
“no probability”:
Ibid., p. 105.
“whatever reparation”:
Editor’s note, NGP, vol. 1, p. 34
“exceeding tempestious”:
Ibid., p. 35.

“drunken sailors”:
Susan Danforth. “No New Taxes! Conflicts that led up to the burning of the
Gaspee
.”
The Bridge, Newspaper of the Pawtuxet Village
Association,
Spring 2003, p. 3.
“the holding of Negroes in slavery”:
Thompson, p. 83.

“unrighteous traffic”:
Hedges, p. 82.
“love of money”:
Ibid., p. 341.
“the arch individualist”:
Ibid., p. 84.
“mad fits”:
Nicholas Cooke to Samuel Ward, July 7, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 972.

“a more moderate and conciliatory attitude”:
Thompson, p. 112.
“binding”
and
“in the power of this colony”:
Hedges, p. 213.

“sincerity”
and
“so clear in opinion”:
Ibid., p. 214.
“Divine providence”:
Nicholas Brown to Nathanael Greene, Feb. 2, 1776, NGP, vol. 1, p. 191.
“for want of them”:
George Washington to Philip J. Schuyler, November 16, 1775,
The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress,
1741-1799.
“a generous price”:
Journal of the Continental Congress, July 15, 1775, NDAR, vol. 1, p. 892.
“undue advantage”:
George Washington to Nicholas Cooke, Aug. 31, 1775,
The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress,
1741-1799.

“give them the preference”:
John Brown to George Washington, Nov. 3, 1775, NDAR, vol. 1, p. 871.
“entirely failed”:
Hedges, p. 219.
“run in by night”:
Nicholas Brown to Captain Sylvanus Jenckes, Jan. 19, 1776, NDAR, vol. 3, p. 859.

“It unfortunately happened”:
Narrative of Willing, Morris & Co. to the Secret Committee of the Continental Congress, Sept. 19, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 329.
“good Florence oil”:
Nicholas Brown to Captain James Westcott, Feb. 14, 1776, NDAR, vol. 3, p. 1278.

“Powder expected to fall”:
William Spear to John Spear, Jan. 1, 1776, NDAR, vol. 3, p. 659.
“vitriolic” exchanges:
East, p. 130.

“many accusations”
and
“as deeply engaged”:
Hedges, p. 271.

1775 M
ACHIAS,
M
AINE

“fouling pieces”:
Edgar Stanton Maclay,
A History of American Privateers,
p. 56.

“the special malice”:
Ibid., p. 61.

“not pay any regard”:
Petition of Boston Committee to the Massachusetts General Court, July 13, 1776, NDAR, vol. 5. p. 1055.
“unjustly received”:
Journal of the Massachusetts Council, Nov. 16, 1776, NDAR, vol. 7, p. 184.
“glad they’ve got rid of him”:
John Bradford to John Hancock, March 6, 1777, NDAR, vol. 8, p. 36.

T
WO

“gradual and therefore incurable”:
Edmund Burke to Lord Rockingham, Sept.
14, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 716.
a tentative approach to warfare:
Wood, p. 79.

“Where is the boasted navy”:
“Intelligence from London,” Sept. 25, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 733.
“power to plunder anything”:
Governor James Wright to Admiral Samuel Graves, NDAR, vol 1, June 27, 1775. p. 764.
“continually popping out”:
Narrative of Vice Admiral Graves, Sept. 1, 1775, NDAR, vol. 1, p. 1282.
“put on the appearance”:
Admiral Samuel Graves to Captain George Vandeput, July 18, 1775, NDAR, vol. 1, p. 913.
“the most ungracious duty”:
Mark M. Boatner III,
Encyclopedia of the American Revolution,
p. 446.

“more hated and despised”:
“Extract of a letter from Boston, Aug. 19, 1775,” NDAR, vol. 1, p. 1183.
“in every way more harassed”:
Admiral Samuel Graves to Philip Stephens, Sept. 12, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 83.

“all the calamities”:
George Washington to the inhabitants of Bermuda, Sept. 6, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 28.
“care of Mr. Hugh James”:
Anonymous letter to New York Committee of Safety, Nov. 4, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 885.
“under the sole guidance”:
James Thomas Flexner,
George Washington in the American Revolution
, p. 50.

“deliberated at intervals”:
Douglas Southall Freeman,
George Washington
, vol. 3, p. 529.
“A fortunate capture”:
Chester G. Hearn,
George Washington’s Schooners
, p. 7.
“a great means of protecting”:
Nicholas Cooke to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, June 27, 1775, NDAR, vol. 1, p. 762.
“at the yard arm”
and
“always catch a man”:
Sally D. Wilson, “Who Was Whipple?”
Revolutionary Portraits: People, Places and Events from Rhode Island’s Historic Past
, Providence: Rhode Island Bicentennial Foundation, 1976, p. 6.
“a speedy reconciliation”:
Benjamin Franklin to Silas Deane, Aug. 27, 1775, NDAR, vol. 1, p. 1243.

“quixoticism indeed”:
Donald W. Beattie and J. Richard Collins,
Washington’s New England Fleet
, p. vi.
“pecuniary zeal”:
E. James Ferguson,
The Power of the Purse
, p. 10.
“The delicacy is absurd”:
William Tudor to John Adams, Sept. 30, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 248.
“equip any vessel”:
Massachusetts Act Authorizing Privateers and Creating Courts of Admiralty, Nov. 1, 1775, NDAR, vol. 3, p. 834.

“can we doubt the propriety”:
Elbridge Gerry to Samuel Adams, Oct. 9, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 369.
“not less than one hundred”:
Elias Hasket Derby to Nathaniel Silsbee, Feb. 23, 1776, NDAR, vol. 3, p. 1245.
“intercept transports daily”:
“Letter from the Camp at Cambridge,” Oct. 1, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 262.

“so basely sordid”:
George Washington to the New York Provincial Congress, Aug. 8, 1775, NDAR, vol. 1, p. 1093.
“The price you mention”
through
“the General is much dissatisfied”:
Joseph Reed to John Glover, Oct. 16 and 17, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, pp. 472, 474.

“the idlest scoundrels”:
Stephen Moylan to Joseph Reed, Oct. 21, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 598.
“all prizes”:
Agreement between Jonathan Glover and William Bartlett, Nov. 14, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 1019.
“too polite”:
Beattie and Collins, p. 5.

“rules which take place”:
Hearn, p. 12.

“He met us on the steps”:
Ibid., p. 46.

“not a competent judge”:
Ibid, p. 44.
“sectional balancing”:
Charles Royster,
A Revolutionary People at War
, p. 108.
“attacked by a twenty gun ship”:
Diary of Ezekiel Price, Dec. 12, 1775, NDAR, vol. 3, p. 96.

“totally unserviceable”:
Carpenters’ Survey of the Armed Brig
Washington
, Dec. 8, 1775, NDAR, vol. 3, p. 9.
“hanged as traitors”:
“Extract of a Letter from Portsmouth,” Jan. 21, 1776, NDAR, vol. 3, p. 522.
“voluntarily, which was false”:
Hearn, p. 75.
“Uncertainty about the fate”:
Beattie and Collins, p. 14.

“to secure and detain”:
Cohen, p. 27.
“and never fired since”:
Captain William Coit to Major Samuel Blachley Webb, Nov. 11, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 914.
“stripping the prizes”:
Beattie and Collins, p. 39.
“plague, trouble, and vexation”:
George Washington to the Continental Congress, Dec. 4, 1775,
The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress,
1741-1799.

“deficiency of public spirit”:
Hearn, p. 68.
“the most fortunate circumstance”:
Stephen Moylan to William Bartlett, Nov. 26, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 1160.
“universal joy”:
Caspar F. Goodrich, “Washington’s Attitude Toward the Navy,”
The Washington Association of New Jersey Archive
(1907).
“opened with a tragedy”:
Brigadier General Horatio Gates to Benjamin Franklin, Dec. 5, 1775, NDAR, vol., 2, p. 1283.
Jefferson’s giddy estimate:
Thomas Jefferson to John Page, Dec. 10, 1775, NDAR, vol. 3, p. 39.
“made their fortunes”:
Edward Green to Joshua Green, Dec. 3, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 1247.

digging graves:
Account submitted in connection with the capture of the British schooner,
Margaretta,
Oct. 14, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 448.
“with regard to such vessels”:
William Bartlett to George Washington, Nov. 9, 1775, NDAR, vol. 2, p. 944.