“Dispatch’t Him for America”: the Journal of Dr. Edmund Hagen, Privateer and Prisoner of War, Part 1 of 2

Edmund Hagen presumably never intended the publication of his daily journal of his 1776 stint as the surgeon on a successful, but ultimately ill-fated, privateer. But it is exactly the fact that his journal contemporaneously records what he at the time regarded as the important facts of the day, rather than retrospectively identifying important events through the haze of later recollection, that makes his diary such a valuable window into the turbulent world of privateers. These are not paraphrases, or redacted accounts, or even the author’s own clean copy—Dr. Hagen’s terse lines describe events as they happen, and leave it to us to put his remarks into context.

Physician Dr. Edmund Hagen[1] of Scarborough, Maine, served as a surgeon on a privateer during the American Revolution and died aboard the Royal Navy prison ship Boulogne sometime in early 1777. After his death, his family received his medical chest and the surviving portions of the journal he kept during the privateering excursion and later captivity. These items remained in the family’s possession, the journal fragment later becoming a part of the Americana Collection of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) archives.[2]

A transcription of the extant portions of the journal was published in 1904 in American Monthly.[3] This transcription unfortunately lacked the sort of accompanying notes that would make the manuscript useful for researchers—especially lamentable given the shortage of ship logs and contemporaneous journals from privateering expeditions. The objective of this current article and its sequel, “‘Very Cold & Nothing Remarkable’: Prison Journal of Dr. Edmund Hagen,” is to remedy that shortfall and bring this resource into closer focus for modern researchers. This article presents and discusses the first half of the journal, which deals with Hagen’s experience on the privateer. The sequel examines the second half of the manuscript, dealing with Hagen’s experience on board the prison ship Boulogne, and addresses historiographical puzzles raised by the journal.

The manuscript consists of thirteen sheets of paper loosely sewn together, resulting in an octavo-size booklet containing eighteen pages of journal entries and eight pages of accounts of medical services rendered and sums due; the medical accounts are dated from April through August 1776, the time immediately preceding the privateering expedition, in Scarborough where Hagen lived and practiced. As noted, the journal’s binding is loose. Its physical condition, combined with the chronological gaps in the text, makes it clear that pages have been excised from the front and possibly back, as well as from at least two other locations within the text.

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Dr. Edmund Hagen

Based on the fact of his marriage in 1756 in Falmouth, Maine, Edmund Hagen can be presumed to have been born in the early 1730s.[4] Reputed son of possible Irish immigrant Fergus Hagen, Edmund Hagen resided in Scarborough, where town records note the birth of his children.[5] He was certainly employed as a doctor by June 1757, when both “Dr. Edmond Haggens” and “Fergus Haggens” of Scarborough were exempted from training in Daniel Fogg’s militia unit.[6]

As was common for doctors in colonial Massachusetts (of which Maine was then a part), Hagen presumably received his medical training from a local physician. His experience as a military surgeon derived at least partly from serving as surgeon’s mate under well-known Scottish doctor Donald Cummings during the French and Indian War, accompanying Col. Jedidiah Preble’s regiment on its expedition to Lake George from March 13 to November 15, 1758.[7]

The Voyage of the Putnam

Although Hagen’s journal never explicitly names the ship he served on or its commander, it is possible to conclude with a substantial degree of certainty that the vessel was the Putnam, commanded by John Harmon, privateering with a commission from Massachusetts.[8] This identification is based on the records of sailing, matches with prizes taken, and Hagen’s ties with the vessel’s captain and crew.

The Putnam was commissioned on August 26, 1776. From later references in Hagen’s journal, it can be calculated that the expedition left Saco, Maine, on or about September 18, 1776. The surviving pages of the journal begin sometime in late September 1776, suggesting that we are missing the first ten to twelve days of journal entries.

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Encounter with HMS Scarborough

The extant pages begin mid-sentence with an account of the Putnam’s escape from an unnamed British warship, presumably Scarborough, operating from La Have, Nova Scotia:

[Page 1]

[line crosshatched out] [two words crosshatched out] ye[9] Ship gave us a broad Side we gave him a nother in a 1/4 of an hour got off we Ran in to a little harbour ye Hever[10] man[-o-war– unclear superscript] was in before ye Ship got on a Reaff but hove off gave us 3 [one word crosshatched out] Shoot [three words crosshatched out]

[line crosshatched out] Cut away her forestays and other Riging ___

Next morning landed A four pounder fir[e]d and did her damage but She kept us their four days we Ran up ye bay and She left us ye 5th day

The identification of Putnam’s probable antagonist as Scarborough rests on Scarborough’s log, which reports what nearly certainly is the same engagement viewed from the opposing perspective.[11] Scarborough’s log also identifies the location of the action—presumably Port Latour harbor, near the southern tip of Nova Scotia. Scarborough’s log reads:

Octr 76  At a Single Anchor in Port La tour Harbr

Tuesday 1st  AM the Boat empd sounding, Lost a hand Lead and Line; the Rebell Privateer fir’d 3 shott at the Boat. Modte & Clear,

PM the Boat Empd sounding, sighted the Anchor, let it go again;

Wednesy 2d  at 9 AM sent an Officer with the Cutter to Reconnoitre the Privateer who got out of the Creek in the Night at 10 the Boat return’d Ending the Privateer up at the head of the Harbr 4 miles above us in shoal water, at 1/ 2 past weigh’d & made sail, sent 4 men on board the Schooner which we retook from the Rebell Privateer.[12]

Andrew Barkley, Scarborough’s commander, was a highly experienced officer.[13] The Scarborough itself was a twenty-gun frigate with a crew of about 160, and represented a formidable adversary to the privateer, which used its comparatively small size and shallow draft to its advantage.[14]

Scarborough’s account suggests that the missing pages from Hagen’s journal would have recorded the Putnam’s capture of at least one prize, since at the time of the Scarborough-Putnam encounter, the privateer was accompanied by a captured schooner which the British reported retaking.[15]

This is consistent with a contemporaneous account of this action. A prize crew from the Putnam offered this description, which appeared in Portsmouth, New Hampshire’s Freeman Advertiser:

one [prize] that they took, which was afterwards drove ashore by a frigate—the Vessel lost, but the people got on board the privateer again; the frigate drove the Privateer into a harbour, and came to anchor with intention of keeping her in; but Capt. Harmon got one of his guns ashore on a point of land & fired on the frigate, when she returned whole broadsides into the woods at them, but did no damage—Capt. Harmon after a few shots was so lucky as to cut away her fore-stay, which obliged her to come to sail, and put to sea.[16]

Prize-Taking

Without break in the narrative, Hagen’s journal passes from this escape to the privateer’s resumption of its raiding.

at 8 Saw a Sail

[Page 2]

She went in to port Letore[17] Sent our barg[e] on bord brougt her a long Side provd a

Prise at 6 next morning sent her off. Capt. SamllTarbox [crosshatched out] Card [inserted above] Comander

at 1/2 after 10 Saw a Sail gave Chase came up with her found her a good prise Sam: Tarbox prise Master dispatcht him for Ama[attempted correction to e]rica God send him Safe home

we Stand in for East passage[18] harbour See a sloop gave her a Shoot she Ran on Shore cut one Cable cut away her four Sail our barge mand. & armd. Comand. By ye. Lt. Loon made after another

[Page 3]

Comand. By ye. Sailing Mstr. Got her off & left a gard on board boat came on board at 9 oclock ye. Capt. Mand. & armd. Ye. Boat went him Silf Next morning brought her along Side with a Small jig [two letters Crossed out] which he gave to Some prisoners & Sent next Morning being Sunday 6th of Octr. Sent off ye prize Sloop Capt. Ross

Came to Sail our Selves God Send us Success ___

At 10 oclock made a Sail standing towards us layd too for her & ketchd. Fish for diner at 2 oclock gave her a Shot brought her too borded her found her a prise schoner at four Sent her home Capt Coit Comander God Send her Safe to her Desird. Port.

[Page 4]

Stand it  to the Eastward at Sundown got up with Cape Neger[19] & hove too

The first two prizes described in Dr. Hagen’s journal were presumably the schooner Sally and the sloop White Oak, whose prize crews provided the Freeman Advertiser with the account of the Putnam’s encounter with the Scarborough.[20]

Hagen was careful to note the specific men put in charge of the prizes, correcting that it was Mr. Card, not Samuel Tarbox, who was sent home with the prize captured in Port Latour, Nova Scotia.[21] Despite this care, it is difficult to precisely identify the Samuel Tarbox put in charge of the second prize, except to note that the Tarbox family was connected to the Moultons, who were prominent in Hagen’s native Scarborough, and who not only had invested in the Putnam but had provided at least one crew member.[22]

The commander of the third prize captured and sent back to New England could have been any number of captain Rosses active at the time: e.g. the Captain Ross exchanged for John Forsyth, master of the brig Nancy, on February 24, 1778;[23] the Alexander Ross who asked to be commissioned as commander of privateer Monmouth in 1779;[24] the William Ross of Salem who was the commander of privateer Active in 1782;[25] or the Ross who commanded Rival  in 1779.[26]

The identity of Lieutenant Loon has not been established.

The Captain Coit who became the prize master of the fourth ship sent back home is likely to have been Solomon Coit of Saco, who in 1781 commanded schooner William (owned by Ebenezer Norwood, part-owner of the Putnam) when she captured Halifax Bob.[27] A few weeks after that venture, Coit was commissioned as commander of the Massachusetts privateer schooner Saco Bob, quite probably the ex-Halifax Bob, now owned by, among others, another part-owner of the Putnam, Joseph Morrill.[28]

Following these four captures, the Putnam  proceeded with its raiding without interruption, though with a little less luck.

[Page 4]

Tuesday ye. 8th. This Morning becalmd. Of Cape Negar

Catchd fish [added above] for all hands at 10 AM Sat Mainsail & gib & @ four Stat Squair sail & filyingig Topsail at 1/2 past five Came to ancor Neare Barrencor East passage harbour[29] Hoisted out our barge & ye. Capt. Comdd. Her after a Sail 1/2 past 2 p m ye. [two words crossed out] Commander with a proper Crew together with myself went on Shore properly armd. Soon Returnd. With Some

[Page 5]

Company from Shore

Nothing more Remarkeable all well on board

________

Thursday October 10th 1776

This 24 hours begins with Rainy weather at 11: AM Cleard of and at 12 AM Came to Sail from Barrington[30] and of Cape Negar harbour[31] Spy’d a Schooner therein and 2 Sail more to the Westward at 7 PM hoisted in our Barg Stearing to the Eastward.

At 9 PM Lay By and So Continued till Morning

________

Fryday October 11th. 1776

These 24 hours began with Som Rain at 5 AM Spy’d a Sail to windward and gave her Chase on at 9 AM gave her a Shot with our Larboard Bow Chase th[—] Bore

[Page 6]

Bore Down for us, we hoisted out our Barge our Lieutenant went on Board and Brought the Skipper and one man on Board our Ship. She Proved to be a Schooner from Liverpool bound to Jordans River[32] after a Load of hay at 11 AM Came to Sail with Said Prize under Convoy Bound to Port Rosaway[33] and at 3 PM. Released Said Schooner She being not worth Carrying home at 4 PM we Made another Sail gave her Chase and at 1/2 past 4 fired our Starboard Bow [c]hase and Brought her too She Proved a Small Schooner from Cape Negar and at Sunset Released her [a]nd at 9 PM hove too with our [h?]ead to Sea being Close under the [l]and Near Port Rosaway[34] Nothing [m]ore Remarkable all well

As indicated, Friday, October 11, 1776, was a frustrating day for the privateer, as neither vessel captured that day (the fifth and sixth captures listed in the journal) was worth the bother of sending home. Their release demonstrates the practicalities of privateering—not every ship captured was valuable enough to become a prize, because neither its cargo nor the vessel itself was worth the work or risk of getting it to port. The fact that Dr. Hagen’s ship had already captured and claimed at least four prizes may also have entered into the equation, as it would have meant that there were a more limited number of men onboard who might be capable of commanding prizes, and a dwindling number of men to sail and fight on the Putnam.

[Page 7]

Saturday October 12th. 1776

These 24 hours Begins with Cool but Pleasant Weather at 5 AM Spy’d a Sail to Windward & gave her Chase at 1/2 Past 11 AM Set flying gib Squairsail & Topsail and at 12 AM Took in our Topsail at 3 PM Spyed a Schooner to Wind ward of us gave her Chase and Fired our Starboard bow Chase and brought her too & ordered her

Boat on Board of our Ship Our Commander went on Board & Carryed her into Port Matune[35] & Likewise ordered our Ship in and at 6 PM Came to anchor in Said Port Matune Nothing More Remarkable all well

[Page 8]

Sunday Octr. 13th. 1776

These 24 hours begins with Fair Weather, Lay at Port Matune with our Prize we Took yesterday at 10 am. We Discharged our Prisoners and at 1 P.M. Took in a Rief in our Mainsail at 1/2 Past 1 PM. Dischar[g]ed our Mate Mr. William Patten being Prize Master of the schooner Mary which we took yesterday to Proceed to New Englnd

At 2. P.M. we both Weighed Anchor and Came to Sail & at 4 PM Spy’d 2 Sails to the Westward of us at 5 PM came up and we fired our Starboard Bow Chase and 1 of them Returned another and bore Down upon us

[leaves missing here]

The seventh prize—Mary—was dispatched back to New England, and its contents auctioned off in Boston, starting on November 7, 1776.[36] The loss was reported in London papers in late December 1776.[37] There were at least two William Pattens, members of the same seafaring family, who may have been the individual entrusted with bringing Mary to New England: the William Patten who was an uncle of Dr. Hagen’s wife Anna (Simonton) Hagen and his distant cousin William Patten from nearby Saco, who had captained his brother John Patten’s ship the Merrymeeting prior to the war.[38]

Here begins the first internal gap in diary entries, spanning about ten days between October 13 and October 23, 1776. The pages were presumably removed because of the content on their reverse side, which would have described Putnam’s capture and the beginning of the crew’s incarceration.

Encounters with Other Privateers and Re-provisioning

The journal resumes, mid-sentence, presumably on October 23, 1776:

[Page 9]

A privatear belonging to Salem and at two Came to Ancor in Portletore[39] with Said Schooner and another Privateer belonging to Salem Capt. Maskell[40] Commander Out 6 Weeks at 4 PM. Came to Sail with the Wind at SW at 5 PM Put back and Stood

In and at 1/2 5 PM Came to anchor and Frighted a Privateere Schooner out of the Harbour though we Did not Mean too

Nothing more Remarkable this 24 hours

________

Thursday Octr. 24th. 1776

These 24 hours begins with with the Wind at SSW we [word Scratched out] Lay in Port Lature[41]

The Captain Maskell encountered in Port La Tour was likely Stephen Mascoll of Salem, who had posted the Revolutionary-era’s first privateering bond in December 1775 in order to be commissioned the commander of the Massachusetts privateer schooner Boston Revenge.[42] The ship he was commanding in late 1776 was likely the Massachusetts schooner General Putnam, which had been commissioned as a privateer in August 1776.[43]

The identity of the schooner that was frightened out of the harbor by Putnam is unknown.

[Page 10]

Later Sat 10 AM hove out our Barge and the Commander Went on Shore and at 1 PM Returned on Board at 3 PM our Command[er] Went on Shore again Together with our Carpenter & Steward at 4 our Comander Sent ye Barge on bord & orderd me on Shore I went & at 5 Returnd. Found all well. The Latter Part of this 24 hours are attended with Rain and Heavy Thunder and Verry Sharp Lightning

Nothing More Remarkable all Well on board.

________

Fryday Octr. 25th. 1776

These 24 hours begins with thick and dark weather we lay in Port later[44]

[Page 11]

at 1/2 Past 10 Last Night we went within a 1/4 of a mile of her but Tacked and stood off and got away Undiscovoured at 8 this Morning we Spied her but soon Roed her out of Sight it being almost Calm.

At 2 PM Came to Anchor in Georges Island[45] Went on Shore in the Evening so Nothing More Remarkable all Well on Board

________

Wednesday Octr. 30th. 1776

The begining of this 24 The wind being NWBW we lay in Georges Island all well

[Page 12]

Thursday Octr. 31 1776

This 24 begins with wind at SW and Rain ___

Nothing more Remarkable all well

________

Friday Novbr. 1st. 1776

This 24 hours begins with Clear weather wind NBW at 7 Came to Sail for Sawco[46] wind variable at 4 past by Segwin[47] Nothing More Remarkable

Encounter with HMS Lizard

Unfortunately for Hagen and his shipmates, at this point their luck ran out.

[Page 12]

Saturday Novr. 2nd. 1776

This Morning about 6 o’Clock Spy’d a Sail Close along Side we Tackd. About and Stood to the Eastward we were about 2 Leagues to the Eastward of Boon Island[48] Rock the Sail Proved to be a Ship of War called the Lizard Commanded by Thomas mckinsie

She

[pages missing]

The Lizard that Putnam encountered was a twenty-eight-gun frigate, launched in 1757 and commanded at the time by captain (later admiral) Thomas Mackenzie.[49] The journal of the Lizard reports an engagement with a ship (described as a “privateer of 5 guns and 23 rebels”) on November 2, 1776 and the capture of it the next day.[50] That this privateer was the Putnam seems highly likely, given Hagen’s account of encountering the Lizard  on that date, given that the Lizard’s description of the privateer is consistent with our expectations regarding the Putnam, and that the “List of Vessels seized as prizes, and of recaptures name, by the American Squadron, between the 10th of March and the 31st of December, 1776,” submitted by Admiral Lord Richard Howe on March 31, 1777 includes the Putnam.[51] Presumably not coincidentally, it is also at this point—November 2, 1776—that we encounter the second excision from the journal, running from that date to December 11, 1776.

As previously noted, it appears most likely that the pages were deliberately destroyed. The reason for their destruction can not be determined, but it is striking that the missing portion of the manuscript would have documented how and when the Putnam was captured and how Hagen ended up on prison hulk Boulogne. It is possible that pages were removed out of concern of giving information to captors, from fear of them serving as incriminating evidence, or from the desire to save the feelings of family members who received the diary after Dr. Hagen’s death.

(to be continued)

[1]The name alternately appears as Haggen, Hagen, Hagens, or Haggens. Descendants changed the name to Higgins by an act of Maine legislature in 1836 (lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/Laws/1836/1836_PS_c171.pdf). As the name was spelled “Edmund Hagen” in the 1904 transcription, current article followed that tradition.

[2]Americana Collection item No. 03126.

[3]The journal was published over two issues: January 1904, services.dar.org/members/magazine_archive/download/?file=DARMAG_1904_01.pdf, and February 1904, services.dar.org/members/magazine_archive/download/?file=DARMAG_1904_02.pdf. The 1904 transcription was made by Walter Higgins, grandson of the journal’s author, born in Maine in May, 1825 (1900 U.S. census, District of Columbia, Washington city, population schedule, p. 525B, dwelling 67, family 72, Walter Higgins; image, Familysearch.org; citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 161. He died on January 26, 1916 in Washington, DC, and is buried at the Rock Creek Cemetery. “District of Columbia Deaths, 1874-1961,” death certificate 227847, Walter Higgins, January 26, 1916, familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7B9-4R2. For specific lineage information, see the DAR membership application of Harriett Walter Higgins Scovill (5349).

[4]”Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921,” database with images, Edmund Hagen and Anne Simonton, intention May 5, 1756, marriage September 30, 1756, Familysearch.org. For births of children, see Scarborough, Maine, “Town and vital records, 1681-1893 (1908),” digital images, Scarborough Town Clerk, FHL# 007724808, images 128, 130 and 134 of 297, Familysearch.org.

[5]No New England birth record has been found for Edmund Hagen, and it is possible he was born in the Old Country before Fergus Haggen, his reputed father, was elected one of the assessors in the town in Scarborough in March 1745. Scarborough, Maine, “Town and vital records,” FHL# 007724807, image 122 of 693.

[6]“Massachusetts State Archives collection, colonial period, 1622-1788,” Vol. 95, 407, Fergus Haggens, Edmond Haggens, Doct’r, June 16, 1757, www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YB-JDLX?i=664&cat=1055547.

[7]“Massachusetts State Archives collection, colonial period, 1622-1788,” Vol. 97a, 67, Edmond Haggins, January 30, 1759, www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YY-N5KX?i=898&cat=1055547. Donald Cummings, the regimental surgeon, was apparently a native of Scotland, and had arrived in North America as a military surgeon. Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Maine,Register of the officers and members of the Society of colonial wars in the state of Maine(Portland, ME: Marks, 1906), 121, hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89058617861?urlappend=%3Bseq=160.

[8]“Massachusetts State Archives collection, colonial period, 1622-1788,” Vol. 165, 163, petition of John Harmon, August 26, 1776, www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9Y5-LTHK?i=102&cat=1055547. Gardner Weld Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution (Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1927), 245, archive.org/details/collectionsofmas77mass/page/n283/mode/2up. Maclay, in his study of American privateers thought that Putnamwas a New Hampshire vessel. Edgar Stanton Maclay, A History of American Privateers (London: Sampson Law & Marston, 1900), 77, hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015050936635?urlappend=%3Bseq=128.

[9]All spelling idiosyncrasies have been retained.

[10]Possibly LaHave, Nova Scotia, sometimes spelled La Haive or Heve. Jedidiah Morse, The American gazetteer (Boston, MA: Hall, Thomas & Andrews, 1797), HER-HIG, hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101072329061?urlappend=%3Bseq=242.

[11]PRO, Admiralty 51/867, cited in Naval documents of the American Revolution (NDAR) (Washington, DC: Superintendent of Documents, 1972), 6: 1098, archive.org/details/navaldocumentsof06unit/page/1098/mode/2up.

[12]Ibid.

[13]“Andrew Barkley,” The Royal Navy 1776-1815: a Biographical History and Chronicle, Richard Hiscocks, morethannelson.com/officer/andrew-barkley.

[14]“Andrew Barkley,” Three Decks – Warships in the Age of Sail: Andrew Barkley,Cy Harrison, threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=3091; “British Sixth Rate ship ‘Scarborough’ (1756),” ibid.,threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=6488.

[15]PRO, Admiralty 51/867, cited in NDAR, 6: 1098, archive.org/details/navaldocumentsof06unit/page/1098/mode/2up.Also: “Andrew Barkley,” morethannelson.com/officer/andrew-barkley.

[16]NDAR,6: 1230, archive.org/details/navaldocumentsof06unit/page/1230/mode/2up.

[17]Probably Port La Tour, Nova Scotia.

[18]Possibly East Baccaro, Nova Scotia.

[19]Possibly Cape Negro, Nova Scotia or Cape Negro Island, Nova Scotia.

[20]“Putnam,” American War of Independence – at Sea,K. Kellow, www.awiatsea.com/Privateers/P/Putnam%20Massachusetts%20Sloop%20[Harmon].html#T000014B; NDAR, 6: 1230, archive.org/details/navaldocumentsof06unit/page/1230/mode/2up.

[21]It is possible that this “Capt. Card” was William Card, who petitioned shortly after (November 21, 1776) to be commissioned the captain of Phoenix. “Massachusetts State Archives collection, colonial period, 1622-1788,” Vol. 166, 59, petition of William Card, November 21, 1776, www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9Y5-LT5H?i=957&cat=1055547. Also: Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (MASS) (Boston: Wright and Potter, 1897), 3: 89, hdl.handle.net/2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t4qj7869x?urlappend=%3Bseq=98.

[22]Samuel Tarbox had married Deborah Sayward of Ipswich in 1767, and settled in Gloucester, Massachusetts, moving from there to New Gloucester, Maine. Increase N. Tarbox, “John Tarbox of Lynn, and His Descendants,” New England historical and genealogical register,42, no. 2 (1888): 27-39, esp. 39. The family also did have a Samuel who had married Deborah Sayward of Ipswich in 1767, and settled in Gloucester, moving from there to New Gloucester, Maine. Ibid. One Samuel Tarbox also served six months at the defense of the sea coast in 1775. “Muster/payrolls, and various papers (1763-1808) of the Revolutionary War [Massachusetts and Rhode Island]: Vol. 36, Sea coast defense rolls 1775-1780,” p. 1, www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSJ7-W32J-9?i=15&cat=729681.

[23]Based on Council decision of December 22, 1777. MASS, 13: 579.

[24]MASS, 13: 580; “Massachusetts State Archives collection, colonial period, 1622-1788,” Vol. 170, 189, petition of John Coffin, June 28, 1779,www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9Y5-1QZ7?i=772&cat=1055547.

[25]Allen, Massachusetts Privateers, 66.

[26]Granville W. Hough, “American Maritime Units and Vessels and Their Supporters During the Revolutionary War, (1775-1783), (Including French and Spanish), (Q-R),” American War of Independence – at Sea,”K. Kellow, awiatsea.com/Hough/Hough%20List%20Q-R.html.

[27]Allen, Massachusetts Privateers, 327; Boston Gazette, June 18, 1781.

[28]Library of Congress, Naval records of the American Revolution: 1775-1788 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1906), 450, hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044080271208?urlappend=%3Bseq=444.

[29]Possibly East Baccaro, Nova Scotia.

[30]Possibly Barrington, Nova Scotia. Not to be confused with the island by the same name.

[31]Probably Cape Negro harbor, rather than Cape Negro Island.

[32]Jordan River enters Jordan Bay in the same area of Nova Scotia.

[33]Shelburne, Nova Scotia, formerly Port Roseway.

[34]Port Roseway, Nova Scotia.

[35]Possibly Port Mouton, Nova Scotia.

[36]Boston Gazette, June 18, 1781; Independent Chronicle and Universal Advertiser (Boston), November 7, 1776.

[37]NDAR, 7: 810, hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112005302465?urlappend=%3Bseq=838.

[38]Walter Goodwin Davis, The ancestry of James Patten, 1747?-1817, of Arundel (Kennebunkport) Maine (Portland, ME: Southworth-Anthoensen, 1941), 15 and 83, ia800608.us.archive.org/32/items/ancestryofjamesp00davi/ancestryofjamesp00davi.pdf.

[39]Port La Tour, Nova Scotia.

[40]Allen, Massachusetts Privateers, 86.

[41]Port La Tour, Nova Scotia.

[42]This was the first regular privateering commission of the Revolutionary War. NDAR, 2: 1316, hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112005302416?urlappend=%3Bseq=1366; “Massachusetts State Archives collection, colonial period, 1622-1788,” Vol. 164, 212, petition of Thomas Adams, Stephen Mascoll, and William Shattuck, December 7, 1775, www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9Y5-SP45?i=497&cat=1055547.

[43]“Massachusetts State Archives collection, colonial period, 1622-1788,” Vol. 165, 170, petition of Stephen Mascoll, Joseph Lambert and William Bakett, August 28, 1776, www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9Y5-LTT5?i=115&cat=1055547. Mascoll would be killed in action in January 1777. NDAR, 8: 97, hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.$b324315?urlappend=%3Bseq=122.

[44]Still Port La Tour, Nova Scotia.

[45]Georges Island, Barrington, Nova Scotia.

[46]Possibly Saco, Maine.

[47]At N43°32’29.9″ W69°45’28.9″, Seguin Island is 2.5 miles of the mouth of the Kennebec River. www.seguinisland.org/the-island/island-overview/.

[48]Possibly Boon Island, Maine.

[49]“HMS Lizard(1757),” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Lizard_(1757); Rif Winfield, British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates(Barnsley, UK: Seaforth, 2007), 227-228; “British Sixth Rate frigate ‘Lizard’ (1757),” Three Decks, threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=5151. Probably Admiral Thomas Mackenzie (1753-1813), who commanded the Lizardat the time. “Thomas Mackenzie (Royal Navy officer),” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Mackenzie_(Royal_Navy_officer);“Thomas Mackenzie (1753-1813),” Three Decks, threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=10034.

[50]NDAR, 7: 26, archive.org/details/navaldocumentsof07unit/page/26/mode/2up/search/Lizard. Interestingly, the muster book of the Lizard (ADM 36/8575, National Archives, London,) lists the men of the Putnam as captured on October 22, 1776, which appears to conflict with both its own captain’s log and Dr. Hagen’s journal.

[51]Peter Force, American Archives: Fifth Series, Containing a Documentary History of the United States (Washington, DC: [n.p.], 1853), 3: 1526, hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951002076377e?urlappend=%3Bseq=834.