Richard Grinnell (1717 – 1789)

 

     Richard Grinnell was born March 8, 1717, in Little Compton, Newport, Rhode Island.  He was the sixth child of Richard Grinnell and Patience Emory.[1] 

     His early life is largely undocumented, but rumor, conjecture, and storytelling have earned him the nickname Pirate “Dick”, and quite a swash-buckling legend.  There is a story of capturing a foreign princess who eventually lays a curse on him and his family out to 7 generations.  In some people’s view a few tragic deaths bear out the rumors of this curse.  And of course there are tales of hoarded treasure.    Some have said he sailed with the pirate captain William Kidd, and others with Robert Glover.  But since both were dead by 1701, that would be impossible.  Richard’s father was born ca. 1669, and died in 1725, a much more likely candidate to have sailed with one or both pirate captains.  However, as you will see Richard lived quite an adventurous life as borne out by the facts. 

     On December 21, 1738, in Little Compton, Newport, Rhode Island, Richard married Alice Church.  She was the daughter of Captain Nathaniel Church and Innocent Head.  It’s highly likely that she died in childbirth since she passed away on September 29, 1739, nine months and eight days after their marriage she was 21.[2]

     On October 22, 1741, in Little Compton, Newport Rhode Island, Richard married Comfort Billings.  Comfort was the daughter of Richard Billings and Sarah Little.  She was married first to William Bailey, on May 2, 1734, in Newport, Rhode Island.  They had four children together, but then William died on January 11, 1741.  By 1761, Richard and Comfort had brought 12 children into the world.[3]

     Twice between 1748 and 1757 Captain Richard Grinnell was appointed guardian of his brother, Daniel Grinnell also of Little Compton.  Daniel was deemed unable to care for his property.  (The supposition was he indulged too freely in hard cider and New England rum.)[4] 

     Grinnell family history says that Richard commanded a Privateer during the French and Indian war and was quite successful.[5]  The first possible record of this was in 1745.  According to the Salisbury Journal, an English newspaper, a Captain Grinnell, master of the New York privateer ship Hester, captured a large French ship the Aurora, bound from Haiti to France.  The ship was taken by the Hester to New England.  It’s not certain that this Captain Grinnell is Richard, since he had an older brother William who was also a ship captain and known Privateer.[6]

     On April 22, 1767, Captain Richard Grinnell, master of the sloop Industry, applied to depart the port of Charleston, South Carolina, for Boston.[7]  On May 6, 1767, the Industry was cleared for departure.[8]

     On November 18, 1768, Captain Grinnell’s schooner Endeavour was docked in Newport, Rhode Island.  A sailor on board stole one man’s hat, and silver shoe buckles, and broke into another sailor’s chest taking out all the clothes and jumped ship.  Captain Grinnell posted a $10 reward for the man’s capture.  The mans name  was William Martin, he was 5’7” tall, had a dark complexion, very freckled, pitted with smallpox scars, and wore his own almost black hair.[9]       

      December 13, 1768, the schooner Adventure left port to the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean just a little north of Hispaniola.  (In those days Haiti and the Dominican Republic were called Hispaniola.)  Captain Grinnell was master of the ship which not long out of port developed a significant leak.  Unable to deal with the leak themselves, the Adventure returned to port arriving shortly before dusk on December 14.[10]

     On May 20, 1769, Captain Grinnell still on the Adventure departed Honduras for Newport, Rhode Island.  On June 25, off the coast of New Jersey, Captain Grinnell reported sighting Captain David Sowle, and Captain Spooner of Newport, hunting whales.  Captain Sowle’s ship had a Sperm Whale harpooned and alongside.  The Adventure made it back to Newport on June 26.[11]

     On September 16, 1769, Captain Richard Grinnell departed from Cape Nichola Malo, Haiti with Captain Hathaway, after selling his ship several days before.  Grinnell was accompanied by several other ships masters who also had sold their ships.  They arrived in Newport, Rhode Island on September 30, 1769.  The harbor Hathaway sailed from was declared a free port 10 days before he departed.  He also reported that a French Man-of-War carrying two companies of soldiers had arrived and planned on setting up a garrison.[12]

     On April 26, 1772, a little after midnight in Cape Nichola Malo, Haiti, Richard was rudely awakened by two officers accompanied by a soldier.  Earlier the previous day he had gotten all of his papers in order, and had been granted leave of the harbor.  The soldier armed with a musket loaded with a brace of balls, stormed into Captain Grinnell’s cabin demanding he get out of bed and light a lantern immediately.  The soldier guarded Richard, while the two officers searched the ship.  Posting a guard they removed Captain Grinnell from his vessel and deposited him in a nearby jail cell. 

     Four other ship captains were treated similarly, Captain Amasa Davis from Boston, Captain Brown from New London, Captain Tucker from Salem, and Captain Martin from Philadelphia.  Having been imprisoned since shortly after midnight, the captains respective vessels tried to send food to them in jail.  Their efforts were rebuffed, until a grievance was made to the Governor, ‘respecting the cruelty of depriving them of food.’  As it turned out, the Governor suspected that the arrested ships captains were attempting to smuggle out ‘articles not allowed to be exported’.  It was determined after searching the vessels that the Governor’s suspicions were unfounded.  After ‘being obliged to give the Governor a present, and paying the charges of keeping guards on each of their ships, each of the captains were discharged.’  Captain Grinnell reboarded his ship and made way as soon as was practicable.  His ship arrived in Newport, Rhode Island on May 14, 1772.[13]

     Sometime before October 1774, Captain Grinnell made a voyage aboard the sloop Maria to Sierra Leone, Africa.  He traded for or purchased 40 slaves, eventually making it to Charleston, South Carolina with 36.[14]  This enterprise was backed by Powell, Hopton, & Company, prominent merchants in Charleston, South Carolina.  They were in the slave business from 1771 – 1774.[15]  According to the advertisement above those slaves were to be auctioned off on October 27, 1774.  On November 4, 1774, Grinnell filed the paperwork to leave the port of Charleston, to head to New York.[16]  On November 8, 1774, Captain Grinnell’s sloop Maria was cleared for departure for New York.[17]

       On September 23, 1775, Richard Grinnell sailed from Warren, Rhode Island on the ship George, captained by Aaron Sheffield.  They were on a whaling venture to the coast of Brazil.  Grinnell saw about 100 whaling ships from different parts of America.  He also saw 3 ships from London all commanded and manned by American sailors, except for the cooks, ship keepers, and boys.  Having a successful voyage they had obtained about 600 barrels of oil.  (One Sperm Whale could yield 100 barrels of oil, a Blue Whale 120, a Right Whale 34 to 67, and smaller whales from 10 to 20.)  With their holds full they departed the waters off Brazil and headed for Holland.  But on that voyage back they were taken by British Privateers and taken to Dover, England.[18]

     Grinnell eventually made his way to London.  He had no money or friends, and authorities offered him two choices.  He could willingly sail with an English whaler, or he could be ‘pressed’ into military service on one of His Majesty’s Naval vessels.  (Impressment or being ‘pressed’ was a British practice used to fill their manpower needs on necessary commercial maritime ventures, or the military’s naval ships.  Candidates were captured on the high seas by military vessels or privateers, and sometimes just kidnapped from various ports.  Men with sailing experience were preferred, but if shorthanded men of any background would do.)  Richard chose to sail on the Brig Dennis.  Jonathan Meader was master, and Richard signed on as Second Mate, Harpooner, and Surgeon.  They left London on September 20, 1776, bound for the waters off the coast of Brazil.  This year he saw only 12 whaling ships, all based out of London.  All 12 ships were manned by Americans who had found themselves in the same position as himself.  On this voyage they obtained around 400 barrels of oil, mostly from Sperm Whales.  They headed back to London and arrived on June 2, 1777.[19]    

       Upon the Dennis’s arrival the ship was boarded and some of the crew were ‘pressed’ into His Majesty’s Navy.  Grinnell was one of the chosen ones.  He was placed on the Man-of-War Belle Isle as a midshipman.  The Belle Isle boasted 74 guns, and was commanded by John Brooks, Esq.  They had been ordered to go after any American shipping they happened upon.  A few days later about 100 leagues from England, the Belle Isle encountered an Irish fishing vessel.  Richard was able to give them a letter he had written to Dennis DeBurdt, Jr., an American merchant who controlled a whale fishery, and was based in London.  DeBurdt applied to the Lords of the Admiralty and obtained a discharge, and a Letter of Protection for Grinnell.[20] 

     On August 28, 1777, Captain Grinnell arrived at Nieuwpoort, Belgium.  Immediately Richard left Nieuwpoort and headed to Dunkirk.  (Dunkirk had been considered French territory since 1662.)  Grinnell contacted Joseph Nesbitt for advice on his plan to go to Paris, obtain a commission (Letter of Marque), then take a ship to the waters off Brazil and attack British shipping.  Nesbitt recommended he meet with Francis Coffin.  (Coffin was a colonial agent  involved with American Privateer operations out of Dunkirk.)  Coffin had Captain Grinnell write the board of Commissioners in Paris about his plan to attack British shipping in Brazil.  (The Board of Commissioners was Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee who were sent to Paris to secure a military alliance with the French.  Later in 1778, John Adams joined the board in Paris.)  Grinnell included a letter of recommendation from a merchant in Rhode Island.[21]

     In his letter, Grinnell gave a detailed report of British shipping around the area of Brazil, and information he was able to pick up from ship captains he encountered on his whaling expedition.  He reported the British usually leave on their whaling expeditions in September or October.  This year their whaling fleet was comprised of 17 ships, almost entirely manned by American sailors.  Richard listed the names and home ports of all 17 ships captains.  Some of the ships, usually 4 or 5, left in February or March to continue whaling around Greenland.  In English newspapers, and conversations with other ship masters, he learned that they spoke openly of sending a military convoy to accompany the English whaling ships, but that was not done the last two seasons.  “But when I was In London I a Gain made Inqurrey and was Informd that there was no Convoy apointed and Several Vessels has already Sailed without Convoy and others Daly Sailing and that these Letters are all a Sham. But Should a Convoy Sail with the fleete it was Never ment that they Should Go any further than the Equater as they Could be of no Sarvis on the Coast Braizels as the Vessels are all Disparced and as Sone as one Gits Loded makes the Best of his way home.5 Given under my hand In Pasy this 7th oct. 1778”   Captain Grinnell said that he felt one Privateer with 12 to 20 guns, and 100 men, would be sufficient to take and or destroy the entire whaling fleet.  Besides possible captured ships, the cargoes of whale oil and bone would be quite valuable.  In turn it would be depriving the British of those same assets.  He felt the best time to leave for such a mission, from Dunkirk, England or Boston, Massachusetts, was in early December.[22] 

     Richard waited not so patiently for two months, never receiving a response.  Francis Coffin explained that all that could be done had been done to secure permission to attack British shipping near Brazil, and as it seemed nothing was going to come of the request, Coffin suggested Grinnell take command of a whaling vessel bound for Brazil.  Captain Grinnell decided to accept Coffin’s offer.  He then wrote a letter to London requesting any American sailors who might be interested in joining his crew.  10 Americans showed up with four signing on for the voyage.[23]  The four who signed up were James Buchanan, John Wood, Elias Porter, and Abel Trent.[24]  (These American sailors had to escape England; they weren’t free to travel.)  The other six were sent to Nance, France.[25]

     With Grinnell as Captain, the Brig New Enterprise left for Brazil on November 5, 1777.  In all Richard saw 14 ships leaving London for their chosen whaling waters.  Captain Grinnell cruised around the Rio De La Plata, estuary of the Paraná & Uruguay rivers pouring into the Atlantic, sometimes considered a river.  These waters were located just off the coast of Buenos Aries, Brazil.  He went a little further south sometimes, always staying in waters between 360 and 540 feet deep.  Several other ships went further south to the Falkland Islands, seeking Right whales and Sea Lions.  5 or 6 ships sailed to Greenland, and several others cruised to the Strait of Gibraltar seeking Sperm and Right whales.  Whaling in the Straits was kept a secret in London.  The New Enterprise harpooned 5 Sperm whales and returned to Dunkirk on June 17, 1778.[26]              

     Richard contacted Francis Coffin who financed the Whaling expedition and settled his account for the voyage.  Coffin asked if he would be interested in being master of another whaling venture to Brazil.  Grinnell was still set on privateering and sent a letter dated July 9, 1778, with Captain Peter Amiel to the board of commissioners, which now included John Adams.  In his letter Richard said, “Mr. Coffin wants me to Go a Nother Voige from hence to the Braizels in his Imploy but I will not Ingage untill I heare from Capt. Amy the Barer of this—as I Should be Glad to do Something for my Cuntry.[27]

     Having waited almost two months without a response, on August 29, 1778, Captain Richard Grinnell set sail for America from Paimboeuf, France, on the schooner Dispatch, Corbin Barnes was master.  Only three days into his voyage his vessel was taken by the English ship Speedwell Cutter, a 12-gun ship, captained by Abraham Bushall.  Captain Barnes was able to dispose of all his ships’ papers before they were captured.  Richard said that Bushall treated Barnes and himelf as if they were brothers.  From there the Dispatch and Richard were taken to the Ilse of Guernsey.[28]

     While on Guernsey, Captain Grinnell made a point to scout around.  The island of Guernsey is about 20 miles in circumference, 7 to 8 miles long, and 3 to 4 wide.  The town of Guernsey was fortified with a fort on an island called Castle Island about a quarter of a mile into the harbor.  The fort had 80 to 100 cannons, but the fort and guns were in bad condition and repair.  There were never more than 50 soldiers at a time in the fort.  Only 500 Scottish Highlanders garrison the entire island, they were inexperienced troops, and they had written to Scotland requesting another Regiment which at that point had not arrived.  There was a well-armed militia around the island, but they were not exercised, if needed it was estimated they could muster 4 to 5 thousand.  They had built new batteries of four to six guns, and block houses in places where boats could land.  The island has around 35 miles from Cape La Hague, France.  The citizenry had very bitter feelings towards the French but treated American prisoners very well.  In the harbor there was a 40-gun ship, two frigates of 28 to 30 guns, and two Kings Cutters of 12 to 14 guns.  There were several more ships cruising around the island as well.  It was said there were 46 Privateers from 8 to 20 guns from Guernsey, and about 20 more from Jersey, Alderney and Sark.  Grinnell recommended that an American Privateer could do well harassing the Island of Guernsey.  He thought a 36-gun Frigate could cruise 35 to 45 miles to the west of the island and could intercept prizes going in provided she was a fast sailer.[29]

     Having received Richard Grinnell’s reports and recommendations on England’s whaling ventures around Brazil, John Adams wrote Privateer Captain Daniel McNeill suggesting he might want to have Richard as a member of his crew.  McNeill must have decided to do so, and Grinnell must have arranged passage from Guernsey, because by October 23, 1778, Richard was a member of McNeill’s crew.  On board the General Mifflin, Grinnell wrote a letter to the Board of Commissioners, informing them of prizes French Privateers had taken.  The brig New Enterprise, bound from London to Brazil, was taken by the French frigate Belle Poulle.  The English ship Pitt from London was taken by the 64-gun French Man-of-War Avenger.  The Pitt at one time had been an American vessel out of Rhode Island that Richard had once sailed on, and he had taken the New Enterprise to Brazil.[30]   

     Sometime shortly after the October 23 letter was written, Captain Richad Grinnell was captured.  On April 18, 1779, his name was included in a list of prisoners aboard the British prison ship Good Hope.[31]  The captive population on these ships was mainly privateer captains, privateer sailors, and sailors that refused impressment.  The British implemented prison ships for two reasons, it gave a use for decrepit ships, and being anchored a mile or two offshore it made escape a more difficult endeavor.  Most prison ships were manned with a minimal crew depending on the size of the ship and how many prisoners were aboard.  The British made good faith efforts to treat their prisoners humanely, but with supply issues, and crowded conditions this sometimes was a difficult task.  The enclosed and crowded environment was conducive to the quick and deadly spread of disease.  During the Revolutionary War, the Americans suffered around 70,000 deaths, 63,000 from disease.  It is estimated that 11,000 of those deaths took place on the prison ships.[32]

     Captain Richard Grinnell must have been released and captured again, or had been transferred, because on August 15, 1780 he escaped from the prison ship Scorpion.  The Scorpion was anchored a little off shore from New York City.  Five days later he had made his way to Philadelphia, on August 20.  He reported that on the day he fled New York City he witnessed the ‘hottest press ever known’.  British soldiers pressed 700 men that day and at the time he left it still continued.  They not only took seaman, but all refugees, laborers, and merchants clerks they came across.  He also shared that there were 300 prisoners on the prison ships Scorpion and Strombillo.  These two ships and the Good Hope were the most notorious of all the prison ships.[33]

     March 27, 1782, Captain Richard Grinnell, on the ship Lady Jay, set sail from Cadiz, Spain bound for Philadelphia.  On May 16 the Lady Jay anchored off the coast of New Jersey at Cape May, taking a pilot on board to navigate the harbor.  The pilot was unable to proceed due to the fact that six English Men-of-War were engaged in an altercation blocking the harbor entrance.  On the following day the 17th, the Lady Jay was attacked by seven enemy ships.  Grinnell got his ship close to shore, then set up a warpe (A heavy rope or cable attached to fixed points, normally used to get a sailing ship back into deeper water after running aground.) to run her aground to escape the attacking ships.  Several inhabitants of Cape May came to Richards aid.  Some helped set up the warpe, while others did their best to engage the enemy ships from shore with small arms.  One man armed a field piece, laying down fire until his powder was expended.  Unfortunatelly the warpe broke due to a brisk eastward gale.  The Lady Jay was then boarded and towed off under the cover of the English Men-of-War.  Even though he had safely gotten himself and his crew off of the ship, he was mortified the next day to see the Lady Jay in flames.  Before Grinnell left on his voyage he stated that the seige at the Strait of Gibralter was still on, and that Spain had sent 6,000 men as reinforcements.  (The seige at Gibralter was a joint venture involving France and Spain to take the strait.  The Spanish started a weak blockade there in June 1779.  There were several military pushes but all failed and the seige was lifted on February 7, 1783, a decisive victory for the British.)[34]

    In 1783, late June or early July, Captain Grinnell was sailing a vessel from Portsmouth, Virginia, bound for Newfoundland.  Not long after he entered the Gulf Stream he encountered a heavy gale, which caused much damage to his ship.  Adjusting his course, he was able to limp his ship in to Martha’s Vineyard on July 4, to seek repairs.  He was able to get underway again after two days of hard work.[35]

     On August 11, 1783, Richard Grinnell, master of the sloop Deer, arrived in Boston having left St. John’s, Newfoundland 22 days before.  Richard said that in Newfoundland American vessels were not permitted to enter, wear colors, or sell their cargoes, unless the garrison had need of them.  Fish was selling for 16 pounds sterling per quintal.  (A quintal was between 100 and 112lbs.)  He went on to say that a number of American ships were waiting for the arrival of the Governor, hoping for the revocation of the restrictions that were in place.  The Governor had been expected for some time.  On his way home the Deer stopped in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  He witnessed the arrival of British troops, having been shipped out from Penobscot, Maine.  Hessian troops who had arrived at an earlier date, embarked on the same ship for their final destination.[36]

      Captain Richard Grinnell executed his will on September 29, 1787, and it began with this pious statement: 

     “Principally and first of all I give and recommend my life to God who gave it, and my body to the earth out of which it was taken, to be buried in a decent Christian manner at the discretion of my executor, hereafter named, hoping and trusting that at the Resurrection Day I shall receive the same again by the Almighty Power of God.”

     After providing for his wife’s comfortable maintenance during her life he made his eldest son, Captain Billings Grinnell, who had remained in Little Compton, his chief heir and executor, and remembered his other children with bequests of money and personal property, also providing for the children of a deceased daughter, Mary Cook.  Among the bequests to Billings Grinnell were ‘my negro man and woman’.[37]  

     Kate Hilliard was a black woman owned by Colonel David Hilliard in Little Compton, Rhode Island.  During her lifetime she was passed down to three different owners within the Hilliard family.  On March 7, 1784, Kate married and enslaved man named Prince Grinnell.[38]  Kate continued to live with the Hilliards while Prince lived with his owner Richard Grinnell.  Around this time Kate gave birth to twin boys, who lived with her and the Hilliards.  The two boys were born free due to Rhode Island’s 1783 Gradual Emancipation Act.[39] 

     In January 1813, Prince ran away from his new owner Billings Grinnell.[40]  Billings inherited Prince from his father Richard after his death.  On August 5, 1816, Kate received her freedom.  That was the day that Colonel David Hilliard’s will was proved.[41]  After Kate’s emancipation her small family is lost to history.  It’s not known if Prince was recaptured or returned, or when he or Kate died, or what became of their two boys.  In Richard Grinnell’s will it mentions a black female slave along with Prince, nothing is known of her either.

    The provision for the son Richard Grinnell was as follows:  “To my beloved son Richard Grinnell, first, that I have already given him, sixty two silver dollars, to be paid by my executor hereafter named within six months after me decease; also I give to my said son my best suit of wearing apparel and one dozen silver coat buttons and my gold buttons.”[42]

     On March 15, 1789, Richard Grinnell passed away in Little Compton, Newport, Rhode Island.  He was buried in the Old Commons Burial Ground in Little Compton.[43]      

 

[1] Little Compton Families Vol. 1

[2] Rhode Island Vital Extracts, 1636 - 1899

[3] Little Compton Families Volumes 1 & 2

[4] Grinnell Family History Page 10

[5] Grinnell Family History Page 8

[6] Salisbury Journal March 10, 1745

[7] The South Carolina Gazette and County Journal pg. 3 4/28/1767

[8] The South Carolina Gazette and County Journal pg. 4 5/12/1767

[9] Newport Mercury November 25, 1768

[10] Newport Mercury December 19, 1768

[11] Newport Mercury June 26, 1769

[12] Essex Gazette October 17, 1769

[13] Boddely’s Bath Journal Page 2 July 27, 1772

[14] The South Carolina Gazette and Country Journal Page 2 October 24, 1774

[15] The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 65 #4, October 1964

[16] The South Carolina Gazette and Country Journal Page 3 November 8, 1774

[17] The South Carolina Gazette and Country Journal Page 2 November 15, 1774

[18] Memorandum from Richard Grinnell to Benjamin Franklin October 7, 1778

[19] Memorandum from Richard Grinnell to Benjamin Franklin October 7, 1778

[20] Memorandum from Richard Grinnell to Benjamin Franklin October 7, 1778

[21] Captain Richard Grinnell’s letter to the Board of Commissioners July 9, 1778

[22] Diary of John Adams October 7, 1778

[23] Captain Richard Grinnell’s letter to the Board of Commissioners July 9, 1778

[24] Memorandum from Richard Grinnell to Benjamin Franklin October 7, 1778

[25] Captain Richard Grinnell’s letter to the Board of Commissioners July 9, 1778

[26] Memorandum from Richard Grinnell to Benjamin Franklin October 7, 1778

[27] Captain Richard Grinnell’s letter to the Board of Commissioners July 9, 1778

[28] Richard Grinnell to the American Commissioners September 15, 1778

[29] Diary of John Adams October 8, 1778

[30] Richard Grinnell to the Board of Commissioners October 23, 1778

[31] Hartford Courant Page 3 May 4, 1779

[32] Harford Courant Page 3 May 4, 1779

[33] The Pennsylvania Evening Post Page 4 August 25, 1780

[34] Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser Page 3 May 28, 1782

[35] The Pennsylvania Evening Post and Advertiser Page 1 July 22, 1783

[36] Hartford Courant Page 2 August 26, 1783

[37] Grinnell Family History Pages 9 - 10

[38] Marriage Record

[39] Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

[40] The Rhode Island Republican Page 4 June 3, 1813

[41] Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

[42] Grinnell Family History Pages 9 - 10

[43] FindaGrave