Israel
Born: June 22, 1729, Ipswich or Hamilton, Massachusetts
Died: February 15, 1776, of pleurisy, Ipswich, Essex County,
Massachusetts.
Occupation: Mariner
Spouse: Ann
(Storrs) Dane, married January 15, 1753 in Mansfield, Connecticut.
Children: Anne Dane, b. February 8, 1755
Zerviah Dane, b. January 22, 1757
Israel Dane, Jr. b. 1757
or 1762
Mary (Dane) Farley (?), b. abt
1765
Thomas Dane b.
January 8, 1766
John Dane (?)
Father’s name: Nathaniel
Dane
Mother’s name: Anna
Low
Siblings: Elizabeth Dane
Nathaniel Dane
Edward Dane
Nehemiah Dane (died an infant)
Anna Dane
Mary Dane
Francis Dane
½ brothers
and sisters, same father, different mother. (See father Nathaniel’s page for more information.)
Nathaniel Dane
Elizabeth Dane
Ephraim Dane (twin)
Esther Dane (twin)
Abigail Dane
Martha Dane
Esther Dane
Nehemiah Dane
There has been much
confusion regarding who the father of Thomas Dane, first in Yarmouth may have
been. Based on My Great Aunts Caroline
and Ina’s research (Click here to see the family tree drawing.) which
was done so they could be recognized by the Daughters of the American
Revolution (whom I understand checks the work) Thomas’ father is Israel
Dane. Trying to back up that claim has
been a daunting task, so far my research hasn’t come up with any reason to
doubt Caroline and Ina; their work has been completely accurate. My mother remembers that Caroline, Ina and
their niece, Eunice Wingrove,
traveled out east researching genealogy.
They must have seen something that caused them to note Israel as Thomas’
father, but their notes are gone and we are only left with the family tree
drawing. It is possible that they heard
it word of mouth through first hand interviews with living relatives. This would explain why finding documentation
has been so difficult. Below are some
of the items I’ve uncovered. I welcome
everyone’s input and hope that someday we will discover the truth.
Israel’s birth is noted in
both the Vital Records of Ipswich kept in the archive vault of their library
and in the Essex Institute, Volume
IV, page 143, published in 1862. The Essex
Institute does have a curious spelling in its entry, “In Hamilton, Isaral, born to nath’l, June,
1729.” The Vital Records refers us to
more information in “CR5”, a volume of Church Records. I have not seen this volume yet.
Israel Dane may have had as
a namesake Israel Howe. Israel Howe’s
father, Abraham Howe, is brother to James Howe who is married to Sarah Dane,
sister of Dr. John Dane Jr. The Dane and the
Howe families travelled together when they emigrated from England and both
settled in Ipswich, MA. They have good
reason to be close.
By reviewing Israel’s
Probate records following his death, we learn that an Anna Dane will be
responsible for creating the inventory.
As the judge refers to her as Mrs. Dane, I’m going to assume that she
was his wife, and now his widow.
Probate Records
Probate Index shows a will
for Israel Dane of Ipswich, File # 7096 (Upham
numbering), proved on May 7, 1776. It is
again found in
Later we find the beginning
of the wrapping up of
Dane.
B.
Greenleaf, J. Proba.
Danl.
Noyes, Regr.
Examd. By Danl. Noyes, Regr.
Page 128?, Vol
320-322, book 20-22, 1732 -1781, LDS microfilm cat #0875131
And here is the Inventory
(Note: The film’s right margin is cut-off. ? = missing
info. - = no number entered or 0)
Dane. An Inventory of the Estate of Mr. Israel Dane
late of
Wearing Apparel, great Coat 15/,
Coat 2/4, old Ditto 3/, Jacket 12/ 2.14.-
one ditto
2/, two pair Leather Breeches 8/ -.10.-
Three pair Hose 4/6, two Hats 8/4, two Shirts -.12.-
one fine
Ditto 4/, pair shoes 8d, one Gun 36/ 2.0.?
Bayonet 4/, Cartouch
Box1/, two Horns and Powder 1/ -.6.?
Bed under Bed,
Bedstead & Cord Bolsters and Pillows 2.4.?
Two Coverlets 12/,
old Quilts4/, Chints Curtains 12/ 1.8.-
Two Cotton and Linen Sheets 13/4, two Linen Ditto 12/ 1.5.?
one Ditto
6/, three Tow Ditto 15/, one Table Cloth 5/, head Sheet & Tester 14/ 2.0.?
four Pillow
Cases 4/, four Towels 4/, Bed Bolster & Pillows, Bedstead & Cord 2.16.?
Coverlet 2/, Blanket 12/ -.14.?
Two Tow Sheets
10/, Truckle Bedstead and Pillows 12/ 1.2.-
Pair tow Sheets 5/, two Table Cloths
2/, Low Case Draws 6/ -.13.?
Meal Chest 2/, Chest 1/, Woolen
Wheel 1/6, six Chairs 3/ -.7.?
Joiners Lave 2/, two Joiners Benches
3/, Cheese Ladder4d -.5.?
Case of Draws 24/,
Oval Table 12/, Table 1/, Small Ditto 2/ 1.19.?
Joiners Tools 30/, Foot Wheel 2/,
five pewter Platters 20/, dozen pewter plates 2.18.?
Three Basons
[sic] 4/, two Porringers 1/6, Sauce Pan, Pepper Box, & Spoons 1/ -.6.?
Six silver Spoons 12/, Patty Pans
1/6, Earthen Ware 4/ -.7.?
China Mugg
and Punch Bowl 3/, Wine Glasses, Tea Pot 3/ -.6.?
Canister and Mustard Pot 1/6, Tea
Kettle 1/6, Wooden Can & two Mortars 1/ -.4.?
Three old Pails 2/, Butter Box 8d,
Looking Glasses 6/, Box iron 1/6 -.10.?
Gallon Bottle 8d, half
& two Cheese bath[?] 1/4, Churn 2/, Cheese Tub 1/ -.5.?
one Barrel
half Cyder & two Barrels 12/, three Dry Casks 5/ -.17.?
Cheese Tub and two Wash Tubs 3/, forty Weight Salt Pork 20/ 1.3.?
Two Meat Tables 3/, old Ditto 8d,
Iron Kettle 12/ Ditto 3/ -.18.8
[illeg] Iron Pot 4/, flesh fork and skimmer 1/6,
Toaster & Grid Iron 2/8 -.9.8
Candles & [illeg]
1/, Hand irons 8/, Tongs & Flue [?] 2/ -.11.0
Two [illeg] 4/, old Saddle 3/, Chain 3/, Horse Traces & Haims 6/ -.16.-
[illeg] 2/, Dung fork 3/, Shovel 2/, Hoe 8d -.16.-
Plow 2/6, two
forks 2/6, Cart and Wheels 18/, old broad Ax 1/ 1.4.-
Narrow Ditto 3/,
Bridle [?] Rings 2/, Sled 5/, Plow Share 6/ 1.16.-
Six Bushels Indian Corn 24/, Razor 1/6 1.5.6
Eight knives and forks 1/6, one Sow
18/ -.19.6
Pair Oxen and Yoke 2/3/4, two Cows
& Calves 165/4 18.18.8
Two Heifers 72/,
one year old Bull 24/, Heifer 48/ 7.4.-
One Calf 8/, Mare
72/, Year old Colt 48/ 6.8.-
Part of a Wood Lot
over Chebacco Ponds 48/ 2.8.-
One Quarter of a Wood Lot in Salstonstalls Farm 120/ 6.-.-
Part of Wood Lot on
Four Acres of Salt Marsh lying at
Muscle Cove 16.-.-
A Piece of Land of about four Acres
lying on the Mile Brook 18.-.-
The Homestead
containing thirty nine acres with the buildings 214.10.-
Money due on Note
of Land from John Brown of 3d bearing Date April 3d 1773 3.6.-
Cash in the House 11.-.-
Gallery Pew in the
Meeting House 2.8.-
Anna Dane Admr
Joseph Tilton
John Dane
John Hubbard
Committee
sworn
Before me B. Greenleaf,
J. Proba
Examd
by Danl Noyes, Regr
Page 142-143, Vol 351-353, book 51-52,
1757-1777, LDS microfilm cat # 0875031
The John Dane mentioned
would not be
Mr. John Hubbard (1722 -
1785) is from another Ipswich family and is a contemporary of
I’ll discuss who Joseph
Tilton may be in the next section.
Discussion of Mrs. Anna Dane
Mansfield,
Connecticut Vital Records show Ann Storrs marrying Israel Dane on January
15, 1753. She was born there on January
18, 1731. The Hamilton, Massachusetts Vital Records show a widow, Anne Dane,
passing on April 2, 1814 at the age of 83.
This places her being born about 1731 and perfectly matches the
Connecticut records.
Ann Storrs is the daughter
of Thomas and Mehitable (Joyce) Storrs. She was their 11th child. Some records note the year of her birth as
1732, but January 18 remains consistent.
Among Ann’s siblings are Zerviah, Josiah, Judah, and Ameriah. The Storrs family had a trend of naming
children in this fashion andis likely where our later
Zerviah’s get there names. Ann also has a brother named Thomas. Genealogist
Charles Storrs collected notes outlines the family’s background
nicely. Charles Storrs in discussing
Ann, daughter of Israel and Ann, says,
“The above record of the family of her brother Thomas [Dane] was copied from a
Bible given by him to her, and which had this inscription: From my brother,
Thomas Dane of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Oct. 28, 1820.”
An Anna or Ann Dane is also
mentioned in a Marriage Bond posted with the Nova Scotia Deputy
Registrar-General dated August 22, 1796 showing her marrying Joseph Cowen,
possibly in Halifax. The record
indicates that she was a Spinster.
Nowadays, Spinster usually means an older, unmarried woman, possibly a
widow, and that may apply in this case.
As I review other marriage records of this time period and locale,
Spinster is commonly used to refer to any unmarried woman, young or old. However, someone who is a widow and is
remarrying is usually referred to as “widow” in the records. Spinster could also mean someone who knits
and spins yarn or thread for clothing.
This also may apply as a number of our Nova Scotia Danes did become
clothiers and tailors. I am unable to
place this Ann with any other Dane family and it is easy to speculate that she
may have followed her son Thomas from Ipswich to Nova Scotia, especially
following the death of her other son, Israel Jr. in Hamilton, Massachusetts
(More on this below) in 1794. Yet there
is no additional information that can link this Anna with our Israel Dane. Personally, I doubt if this is our Mrs. Dane.
I should clarify that the
Anna Dane of the Probate Committee is most likely not Israel’s sister. Israel’s sister Anna
married Jonathon Lamson or Lampson (with intentions
recorded) on March 3, 1742. They had 4
children: Josiah, Anna, Elizabeth, and John.
Jonathon passed first and the widow, Anna (Dane) Lamson
died at the age of 65 on August 27, 1788.
(Info derived from Ipswich
Vitals Records.)
The Census for 1790,
Massachusetts, Essex County, Salem includes an Anne Dane. The household includes one Freeman older than
16, no Freemen under the age of 16, herself and 2 other white free
persons. (No slaves.) (More about the census
information in discussions of children below.) This tends to support the above mentioned
Anne Dane of Hamilton, Massachusetts and weakens the case for the Ann or Anna
Dane in Nova Scotia.
So, of the committee that
processed
Expanding the search,
Abraham Tilton has another son named Isaac.
Among Isaac’s children is David Tilton born May 4, 1720. David Tilton’s second marriage was on
December 13, 1759 to Ann Wainwright.
David died May 8, 1786, leaving Anna (Wainwright) Tilton as a widow, and
she passed on July 5, 1802. These
details are from Ipswich Hamlet church records, so we can assume they did live
in the area. This Anna Tilton wouldn’t
carry the Dane name, but does have Cousin Joseph available. I very much doubt if this is the Anna
referred to in
There are other Joseph Tiltons. Some of the
more intriguing being:
- Joseph Tilton, b August 21, 1709. He married Abigail Brown April 10, 1741
and settled in Ipswich. Son of
Samuel and Sarah (Batchelder) Tilton, he did
have a sister named Hannah, b May 22, 1715 and is a possible candidate to
be Israel Dane’s wife. A little too old, but I am intrigued by the Brown
family relationship.
- The children of Joseph and Abigail (Brown)
Tilton include Joseph, b September 2, 1759 and Anna Tilton, b about
1750. These children are of an age
that would be similar to Israel’s children. This Anna ,
while a tad young, could also could be Israel Dane’s wife.
- A Joseph Tilton from
The Powder Horn Clue
I found the item below very
interesting. Haven’t been able to
confirm if the powder horn actually belonged to my Israel Dane, but the name is
right, the date is right, the place is right, what I’ve seen regarding the name
of the ship is right, so it is very likely his.
|
|
|
The French and Indian War engraved powder flask of Israel Dane
dated 1758; image courtesy of Cowan's Auctions, Inc. |
|
|
|
Opposite side of the Israel Dane 1758 powder flask; image
courtesy of Cowan's Auctions, Inc. |
Cowan Auctions, Inc.
PHONE: 513.871.1670
FAX: 513.871.8670
URL: http://www.historicamericana.com/
Here
is Cowan’s description: Israel Dane's
1758 Powder Horn, fine French & Indian War engraved powder horn with four
lines of text that reads,
“Israel Dane/His Horn Made On/Bord The
Schooner/Swan May The 12, AD 1758.” With
geometric and vining tulip surround, reverse with
large heart and tulip and 2-masted ship with inscription below S. Swan halberd
and sword above ship with Belttun engraved on blade
of sword. Step and ring turned spout with slight flair at lip, nearly flat
spruce/fir plug, attached with tiny wrought brass screws, with lobe with two
holes for strap. DIMENSIONS: Total length 13.25". PROVENANCE:
Ex-Collection of Jim and Carolyn Dresslar.
CONDITION: All with fine old patina, very slight insect damage near plug,
else VG+.
Sales
History: 8 June 2005, Lot # 993, Final auction price:
$ 10,350.00.
Oh, And One More Thing About
the Powder horn…
I’m very curious about the provenance
of the powder horn for the Cowan auction.
Where has it been since widow Anna Dane
acquired it amongst Israel’s possessions?
Did she give it to Thomas who would have taken it to Nova Scotia? Did Israel Jr. have it until he passed away,
in which case it may have travelled quite a bit? Maybe the Nova Scotian
Anna Dane that married Joseph Cowen is our widow and the powder horn survived
through the Cowan family. Currently, Mr.
Wes Cowan is a host of the Public Television series History Detectives. Wouldn’t
it be wonderful if he could focus his investigative eye onto this mystery?
…and the
Schooner Swan
Swan as a
ship’s name is by no means unique. I
have found many references and will try to sort through them. I have tenaciously searched and made every
effort to discern between civilian ships that may have been employed by the
military versus actual military ships of war.
With all these
various references for a ship named Swan,
it is perhaps too difficult to discern precisely which the ship that Israel
Dane served on is. The proximity in time
to both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War can easily lead us
to believe that Israel Dane had a powder horn.
He most likely had some peripheral relationship to Privateering or the
slave trade, and there is even the chance that he was a deserter. Any one of these may be the reasons why
Israel’s son Thomas never mentions his father?
Robert H. Patton in his book
Patriot Pirates (Pantheon Books,
2008) puts forth the point that inflation was out of control for goods during
this time period and the value of currency was unpredictable. Many sailors acquired land for stability of
their wealth. Examining the Probate inventory
for Israel Dane reveals that he did have a variety of land holdings: Part of a
Wood Lot over Chebacco Ponds, One Quarter of a Wood
Lot in Salstonstall’s Farm, Part of Wood Lot on
Turkey Island, Four Acres of Salt Marsh lying at Muscle Cove, A Piece of Land
of about four Acres lying on the Mile Brook, The Homestead containing thirty
nine acres with the buildings. I’ve
tried to examine these locations and have learned that they are somewhat
scattered throughout the Essex County, Massachusetts. Are these Israel’s investments from his
share of prizes taken by the Swan?
The wood lot in Saltonstall’s Farm probably refers to Dudley Saltonstall who captained the Continental Navy Frigate Alfred in 1776 and later, in 1779,
“commanded a fleet of three Continental brigs, fifteen privateers, and
twenty-four transports…to drive seven hundred redcoats from their foothold at
the mouth of Maine’s Penobscot River.” (Patton, pg 131.) Massachusetts’ Essex County is noted as
having contributed 4 armed vessels.
Patton also points out that Massachusetts generally was against slavery
while “three-fifths of all North American slave ships came from Rhode Island”,
with Virginia and South Carolina as the main receiving points. There is very little that suggests that
Israel Dane had slaves or was directly involved in the slave trade.
The
following notes are what I believe to be related to my Israel Dane’s Swan:
The Sloop Swan
was employed by the British
in the exile or deportation of Acadians from Nova Scotia. In a letter dated October 23, 1755, British
Colonel John Winslow reports that (along with other ships) the Sloop Swan leaves Annapolis Royal [Nova
Scotia] under Master Hazlum, arrives at Grand-Pre on
October 10, 1755, and is to be employed for three and a half months. She begins boarding on October 23. Other related documents report she had 168
Acadians and left Grand-Pre on October 27 bound for Pensilvania
[sic.]. She arrived in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania on November 19, 1755 and remained anchored there until March 5, 1756.
The Pennsylvania Gazette announces
the arrival of the Swan with 161
French Neutrals on November 20, 1755. If
the count of passengers is accurate, then 7 people died on the journey. Another researcher for Bayou Genealogy reports
that the Swan arrived in
Williamsburg, Virginia on January 21, 1756.
This may not be accurate as other sources cite the Ranger as arriving in Virginia at that time. (Please note that the place names Grand-Pre,
Minas, and Gaspereau are being used interchangeably
in these reports, they all are referring to the same location on the western
shore of Nova Scotia on the northern portion of the Bay of Fundy.) (If you are noting that the Schooner Swan is being called Sloop Swan, this is because the British at
this time did refer to vessels of this size and design as sloops while the
colonists used the term schooner, so it depends who’s making the
reference.) An excellent timeline for
the events of the Acadian exile can be found at: http://www.acadian-cajun.com/deporttime.htm. More information available
at Paul Delaney’s Chronology of the Deportations and Migrations
of the Acadians 1755 – 1816.
THE SHIPS OF THE ACADIAN EXPULSION: A
Compilation Of Information On The Eighteenth Century Transport Vessels, Used By
The British To Transport The Acadians, (ôNeutral Frenchö), During The Acadian Expulsion Of 1755, by Dr. Don Landry, D.D.S. 6512 Schouest
Street Metairie, Louisiana 70003 1-504-455-5596 (All Rights Reserved). In this genealogical work there is a review
of the Acadian expulsion and a review of each ship involved. Here is the entry for the Swan:
SWAN Sloop
80 tons GRAND PRE TO PENNSYLVANIA
The
sloop SWAN, 80 tons - Jonathan Loviette, Captain,
departed from Grand Pre and Gaspereau on 27 October,
1755 with 168 exiles destined for Pennsylvania - The Swan departed with the sloop Hannah
and they arrived on 19 November, 1755. (The British Empire Before The American
Revolution - Vol. VI by Lawrence Henry Gipson p. 279 -80 and also p.277 ) The sloop SWAN, 80 tons - Loviett,
Captain, arrived in Grand PrT from Port [Annapolis]
Royal on 10 October. She embarked 168 Acadials and
departed from Grand PrT and Gaspereau
destined for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - The Swan arrived with 161 Acadians. (Emile Lauviere
- "La TragTdie d'un peuple , vol
1, Librairie Henry Geulet,
Paris, 1924) According to copies of accounts transmitted by Charles Apthorp & Thomas Hancock, of Boston Mercantile Company Apthorp and Hancock , to Governor Lawrence published on
pages p. 285 - 293 of SELECTIONS FROM PUBLIC DOCUMENTS OF THE PROVINCE OF NOVA
SCOTIA, Published by resolution of the House of Assembly on March 15, 1865 in
1869 - The Sloop Swan, Jona. Loviett, Master was
chartered from Boston Mercantile Co. Apthorp and
Hancock from the 27th Aug to 23 Dec, 1755 to carry off French inhabitants from
Annapolis Royall to Philadelphia. (---, 1755) - The monthly charter fee for the Swan was 3 months 26 days at 44 16 per
month, pounds sterling - plus 60 s p. month for hire of a pilot, plus
provisions. The amount of provisions for the transports were included in the
sailing orders issued by Lawrence and was to be 5 pounds of flour and one pound
of pork (or 1 lb of beef 2 lbs bread and 5 lbs of flour) for (each) 7 days for
each person so embarked. (p. 280 of SELECTIONS FROM PUBLIC DOCUMENTS OF THE
PROVINCE OF NOVA SCOTIA, Published by resolution of the House of Assembly on
March 15, 1865 in 1869) Upon their arrival in Pennsylvania, the colony was in
the grips of raging Francophobia, which soon
translated into Pennsylvania’s governor Robert H. Morris' placing the exiles
under armed guard aboard the three vessels, the HANNAH, THREE FRIENDS and the
SWAN, that brought them from Nova Scotia. Because of this, the Acadians aboard
these vessels succumbed to epidemic diseases. They were then quarantined aboard
their vessels until legislation on March 5, 1756 provided for their dispersal
throughout the easternmost Pennsylvania provinces. (Carl A. Brasseaux
- Scattered to the Winds – The Dispersal and Wanderings of the Acadians, p. 19)
According to Al Lafreniere the SWAN, Jonathan Loviett, Master, left Grand PrT
with 168 exiles, and arrived in Pennsylvania with 161 exiles. (Albert N. Lafreniere - "ACADIAN DEPORTATION SHIPS" -
"Connecticut Maple Leaf", volume 6, published by the French-Canadian
Genealogical Society of Connecticut, Inc.). Sloops Hannah, Three Friends and
Swan reached the Delaware about 18
November, 1755 with 454 aboard and were sent to province Island and later in
Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, and Philadelphia Counties. The exiles declared that
their plight to be far worse than the Old Testament world of Egyptian or
Babylonian captivity. (p. 18 - Gregory Wood Acadians in
Maryland - A Guide to the Acadians in Maryland in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth
Centuries.)
The story as told from the Acadian point of view is
available on this Canadian
Genealogy website, though the dates are suspect. They are using September rather than October
and 1775 rather than 1755. So take it
with the proverbial grain of salt.
Documents
Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New
Jersey, Volume 4, Volume XX (By the
New Jersey Historical Society, Edited by William Nelson, Publ. by The Call
Printing and Publ. Co. of Paterson, NJ, 1898.) has six mentions for the comings
and goings of the Schooner Swan. These citations are from the Pennsylvania Journal. In edition #871 of August 16, 1759, Customs
House at Philadelphia reports the Schooner Swan
entered in under James Huitt from Piscataway, New
Jersey, accompanied by the Ship Little
John under Ebeneezer Stoker. The next edition of the newspaper, # 872,
shows the same pair of ships cleared and outbound for Piscataway on August 23,
1759. A similar pattern occurs next
year, seen in editions # 921 and 922; entering in on July 31, 1760 under Master
Giles Seward and clearing out on August 8, 1760, again from and to Piscataway,
NJ. And the pattern happens again in
editions # 980 and 981 with the Schooner Swan
arriving on September 17, 1761 and departing September 24, 1761, again from and
to Piscataway and under Giles Seward, but this time accompanied by the Schooner
Rye under James Gilmore.
Also in 1761, I found this story in the Essex County Notorial
records, 1697-1768, page 125. “John
Goodwin, master of the sloop Swan of Falmouth [Massachusetts], about 70 tons, made
declaration that on Mar. 4, he sailed from Falmouth, with a cargo of lumber,
bound for St. Eustatia, West Indies, and on Apr. 2, in
Lat. 20 and Long. 62 " We were chased by a French Privateer Schooner,
belonging to Martineco, called the Mary Ann, commanded by one Francis Tuck,
after pursuing of Us, in less than four Hours he came up with Us and took Us,
and after some time agreeing with sd
Privateer, We ransomed our sd
Sloop for one Thousd ps
of Eight, and then proceeded on our Voyage to St. Eustatia
and arrived there the third Day April, from thence we sayld
for St. Martins and from thence to Marblehead in New England where we arrived
the third Instant, June 4, 1761." Isaac Wait, mate, also made oath to the
same.
The Schooner Swan
is mentioned in THE NEW ENGLAND COD FISHING INDUSTRY AND MARITIME DIMENSIONS OF THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION, University of Pittsburgh, 2006,
submitted to the Graduate Faculty of School of Arts and Sciences in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Christopher Paul Magra,
B.A., Grove City College, 1999, M.A., The Pennsylvania State
University, 2001. He notes that the
schooner Swan was property of
merchant Thomas Davis. He cites an
instance of a slave being employed on the ship with pay nearly equal to what
white day laborers could earn. Magra also talks about the seasonal use of schooners for
fishing fares, then used for trade voyages in the winter. Jonathan Harry and William Ober are noted as the Swan’s
Masters. All the dates are from the
1760’s and 1770’s and the localities are
The New
London Summary, the newspaper of New London, Connecticut, mentions the
Schooner Swan Clearing out of harbor,
bound for the Carolinas, on Friday May 25, 1764.
Robertson, in Landmarks of Toronto, in the chapter
covering the years 1766 - 1809, describes ships used in the Revolutionary
War. He describes the Swan as an 80 ton vessel owned by James
May with four 4-pound guns and four swivel-mount guns. The Swan
was very similar to the Amistad,
better known for the historical slave revolt.
(Note that the replica Amistad
is a 96 ton vessel while the original is generally thought to be about 80
tons.) It is interesting to compare the
profiles of the Amistad and the
carved Swan in the powder horn.
The near-replica Amistad arriving in Liverpool, GB in
2005.
From: www.amistadamerica.org/
It is hard to see, but
this profile matches the one etched on the powder horn (From above, lower
picture, upper left.) very well.
I found a reference to the Swan
being used as a tender or supply ship for the brig HMS Beaver (2nd
paragraph). The year is
1772 and is related to the incident of the Gaspee, which is arguably the
first incidence of Privateering Revolutionary American Merchant Marine
action. Note that the
Swan is described as a sloop instead of a schooner and is supporting the
British efforts, not the Americans.
The Maritime Museum of the
Atlantic has a wonderfully informative article regarding the British Fleet in
the time of the Revolutionary War, Desertion,
Identity, and the North American Squadron 1765 – 1783. The Swan
is mentioned a number of times. The
article describes that during the period between 1770 and 1780, the Swan usually had between 90 to 125 men
on its crew. 475 men listed in the
payroll books over that decade and 182 or 32% had run or jumped ship. “The Swan,
under Captain James Ayscough, made at least seven
voyages to Halifax to load stores and carry them to the ships of the squadron
deployed at Boston between October 1771 and June 1776, and also spent some time
at the Halifax yard for repairs.” “The
case of the Swan amply demonstrates that Halifax had some attraction for
men wishing to desert...Immediately upon its arrival there from Boston on 18
April 1772, thirteen men of the vessel’s official complement of 100 seamen ran
from the sloop en masse and did not return.”
The author cites that the Swan
was at Halifax in October 1771, April and May 1772, September and November
1773, and April and June 1776.
In the papers of Christopher Champlin
(Papers
of the American Slave Trade, Part 2, Rhode Island Historical Society, page
8.), a notable merchant, ship owner, and financier of Rhode Island, there is a
reference to the Swan “victualizing”, which means it was used to supply food and
other supplies to larger ships.
“Depending on the financial climate, Christopher [Champlin]
dabbled in Privateering, the slave trade, and the West Indies trade. In 1764,
he won a contract to become a victualizing agent, a
job that provided food, drink, and other items for the British naval ships
docking at
The Swan
was at anchor in Newport, Rhode Island and witnessed the return of the British
Frigate Glasgow following its battle
with the Alfred of the Continental
Navy on April 6, 1776. Ken Kellow in his website about the History
of the Continental Navy says that the Swan’s
log keeper noted she was “much Shatterd in er Riggin
& Sails & her Mast Much Damaged.”
Incidentally, the Alfred was
commanded by Captain Dudley Saltonstall, the same man
that gave Israel Dane a wood lot from his farm.
On April 15, 1777, Ambrose Serle, secretary to
British Lord Howe, mentions the Swan
in his journal. They were in Long Island, New York and noted
the arrival of the Swan from Rhode
Island.
Jeanne Powell when researching the namesake of the Grater
Woods Town Forest, near Amherst, Massachusetts, tells the story of
Francisco Grater. Of interest to the Swan is:
”In September 1778 he entered the State of MA service.
He served on board the Schooner Swan
out of Marblehead. The ship sailed to Baltimore from Boston to procure a load
of flour for use by the U.S. Army. On their return trip, the vessel was
captured by a British sloop of war and taken to Halifax. There Francis was
imprisoned until February 1779 when he was exchanged and returned home.
(Source: Pension application filed by Francis in 1832)”
John
Thomas Scharf’s The
History of Maryland also discusses ships used to the benefit of the
Continental forces; carrying flour and grain, making runs between Baltimore and
Boston in the autumn of 1778, including the Swan,. Scharf also adds
for us that the Swan was mastered by
a Captain Styles. From The Stiles Family in America (By Mrs.
Mary Stiles (Paul) Guild of Lynn, MA, publ. by Joel Munsell’s
Sons, Albany, NY, 1892.) we learn that Captain Richard
Stiles of Boxford MA, lived near Marblehead, and was 20 years younger than
Israel Dane. She cites Historical Sketches of Marblehead that
Capt. Stiles first Mastered the ship Traveller, then the schooner Swan. Another edition adds
that Capt Stiles sailed Samuel Peters and Samuel Giles. We can further verify by looking at the Out-letters
of the Continental Marine Committee and Board of Admiralty, August 1776 –
September 1780, Vol 2 (Edited by Charles
Oscar Paullin, printed for the Naval History Society
by De Vinne Press, New York, 1914.) of a settling of
accounts for vessels employed, including Captain Stiles and the schooner Swan, dated October 10, 1778, from
Secretary John Brown. There is a series
of letters related to the Swan and Captain Stiles in Letters of Delegates to
Congress: Volumes 10 & 11, that describe her arrived from Boston at Sinepuxent about the 23rd of July [1778] with
cargo of flour and iron, a reluctance by the captain to make another trip for
fear of capture by the British, and an acknowledgement that the ship not be
dispatched until the bay is clear of enemy cruisers.
“1779 Nov. 24 Richard Stiles, Master Schooner Swann [Yes, a different
spelling] to Boston N[ew] England, 375 barrels of flour, shipped by Mr. William
Smith out of the
The 1915 book Old Marblehead Sea Captains and the Ships In
Which They Sailed, by the Marblehead, Massachusetts Historical Society,
there is mention of a Schooner Swan
at 80 tons being captained by a Richard Cowell in
1790.
In a History
of the Great Lakes, edited by J. B. Mansfield, I found, “The first vessel on Lake Erie to
float the "stars and stripes" was the Schooner Swan, owned by James May. It
was hired to convey troops to
Here are some other ships named Swan and are not likely related
to Israel Dane:
An
earlier mention of a Schooner Swan
comes from the History of Lloyd’s and of
Marine Insurance in Great Britain, by Frederick Martin, 1876. (I’m paraphrasing.) The Schooner Swan, commanded by Lester Falkner,
bound for
There
was a Brig Swan registered in Boston
in 1832 under the number 6443.
I have also found the HMS Swann in the historical listing of ships
in the Royal Navy and it is a larger ship.
Also listed amongst British
Royal Navy ships are 2 Sloops named HMS
Swan, both are larger vessels at 339
and 374 tons. One was built in 1745 and
sold in 1763, the other was built in 1767. Because of their size and that the dates
don’t coincide nicely, I’m certain they are not the Swan we’re interested in.
From Journals of the Continental Congress, dated Saturday, October 14,
1780 is a report from the Board of Treasury regarding Sloop Swan under Master Jacob Bennet being captured by the Privateer Spitfire and a payment of $36.
This is the American government paying the American Privateers for
capturing a British ship. There is also the
comment “…which afterwards foundered at sea and all on board perished.” If this is our Swan that was lost then the story ends here. But it is a British Sloop, not a Schooner,
and I’ve found references continuing to later years. I do not believe that this is our ship.
A Sloop Swan was built in the Scituate/Plymouth
area of Massachusetts in 1708. It was
owned by Samuel Daggett of Marshfield until 1744.
Mansfield’s History of the Great Lakes mentions
other boats/ships named Swan, including a schooner built around 1838, another
schooner built in Cleveland, Ohio in 1843, 2 tugs, and 2 steamers, one a sidewheeler and the other a propeller.
Wikipedia has this article regarding 2
hired armed cutters bearing the name Swan. Both are too large to be the Swan of our interest. And here is there list of all Royal Navy ships
bearing the name Swan.
Dane, Revolutionary War and Nova Scotia
In Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the
War of the Revolution, there are many men listed with the name Dane (Dean,
Deane, Dain, etc.) and some may be cousins, but none
that suit nor resemble our Israel Dane or his many brothers. Mariners operating privately, aka Privateers,
would not be listed in this work. And,
of course, those that were Loyalists, siding with the King and Britain, would
also not be listed.
In Notes On Nova Scotian Privateers, by George E.E.
Nichols (Published in the Collections of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical
Society, Vol. 13 (1903); 41 pages, http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/privateers/archives.asp?ID=322.)
there is the following discussion regarding
“At
“Gentleman of
Now let’s make the big leap…
· It is reasonable to assume Israel Dane would have
been familiar with Nova Scotia, including Yarmouth.
· He served aboard the schooner or sloop Swan, which appears to have been allied
most often with the British, but alliance may not have been of Israel’s
choosing. It appears that the owners of
the Swan contracted her out to whomever was willing to pay.
· While he was at sea, someone would have had to take
care of his children. Because of the
mention in the Probate record, I’m speculating that this was his wife Anna
(Storrs) Dane. However, she may not have
been alone. The Brown family name recurs frequently
· James Brown and his family had an important role for
Israel Dane’s family. Recall that
· With the Browns favoring Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and
sympathetic to the growing Revolutionary cause, but Israel Dane working on a
ship that frequently supported the British, would son Thomas Dane look down
upon his father? Or was Israel part of
the 32% of the Swan’s crew that
deserted, or maybe more properly stated, refused to serve the British and ran
away? Or because Israel may have
profited from Privateering? Are these
reasons why Thomas Dane apparently never proclaimed who his father is? Was Thomas embarrassed as to the identity of
his father?
· Many early Canadian settlers, especially in Nova Scotia, are from
colonial America and supported the Revolution while many others were Loyalists
from disbanded British regiments or pro-British refugees fleeing New York and
New England areas. Where do the Danes
and Browns fit in this spectrum? It is
ambiguous and I do not know if Israel Dane or Thomas Dane or the Brown family
should be considered as Loyalists or having supported the Revolution. There is evidence that could tip it either
way. It is interesting to note that
Israel’s grandson, James B. Dane, enlisted in
the King’s Army in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and served as an officer performing
duties as a Chaplin.
· Israel’s other son, Israel Jr., also becomes a
mariner (see below) and is not present for most of the time.
The Dane and Brown families must have faced
terribly conflicting circumstances and the move is understandable. I believe that this is how Thomas Dane came
to be in
Other interesting notes
Additional item of interest
is that Great-Grandson Thomas Dane owned a
“The Rev. Francis Dane, who was the ancestor
of the Dane family of Yarmouth, was born in 1646 and came with his father, John
Dane from Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire to Ipswich,
Massachusetts about 1640; and it is a remarkable coincidence that his
descendant Thomas Dane (1st) should go from Ipswich to Yarmouth in
1789 and meet and marry there Mary Barnard, a great grand-daughter of the Rev.
Thomas Barnard, who, from 1682 to 1687, was his colleague in the ministry of
Andover.”
I have failed to find a
descendant of Rev. Francis Dane that could be the father of Thomas Dane. Mr. Brown, in the same work, when addressing
the Dane genealogy also fails to name a father for Thomas Dane. I believe that it would be more accurate to
say that Rev. Francis Dane’s father, John Dane, is the ancestor that is in common with Rev. Francis Dane and Thomas
Dane. Or alternatively, Mr. Brown could
have said that Rev. Francis Dane is an ancestor,
rather than the ancestor. Mr. Brown’s comments have not changed my
opinions.
An interesting sidebar from Notes On Nova Scotian Privateer is that a John Brown became Master
and Commander of the Nova Scotian Privateer Schooner Rover with that ship going on to have an
outstanding record of service. I’m
curious if John Brown bears any relationship to Mary Brown or her father James.
Pen and ink wash drawing by T. W. Hayhurst from Thomas H. Raddall’s
book The Saga of the Rover (Halifax:
Royal Print, 1932).
Raddall’s book is a fictional account
inspired by the real ship’s voyages and that of others.
(Note that a brig is illustrated
rather than the historically accurate schooner.)
Children:
I’ve noted children for
Israel Dane as: Thomas Dane, Israel Dane, Jr., daughters Zerviah
and Ann, and I’ve speculated about 2 other children being John Dane and another
daughter, Mary. Thomas Dane is my relative. Please go to his page for more
information. He would have been gone
before 1790 and therefore is not found in the Census.
- Israel, Jr. in the 1790 Census is likely the one
male Freeman in the household older than 16. His marriage is noted in the Vital Records
of Ipswich, Massachusetts, Vol. 2, page
123. It shows an Israel Dane
marriage to Edner Dodge, daughter of William and
Hannah (Brown) Dodge, with intentions also recorded, on January 25,
1791. Vital Records of nearby
Hamilton, Massachusetts records a death for Israel Dane/Dean in Vol. 1,
page 88. He died on December 13,
1794 at the age of 37. This would
have him being born about 1757, though Storrs family genealogist dates his
birth in 1762. The Vital Record
indicates that he was a mariner and that he died from “A most singular
wasting of ye flesh, long standing, from some deleterious matter in the
West Indies.” A cross reference
with the Essex County, Massachusetts Probate Index shows a will being
proved (File # 7097) on February 3, 1795 with Israel Dane having a
residence in Hamilton and occupation of Mariner/Yeoman. It appears that Israel Jr. and Edner had one daughter, Ednah
or Edna, born in 1791. Edna married
Captain Israel Proctor and became a gifted Poet. I have not yet read her book Poems
(Available in Google Books) to discover if any biographical or
historical information might be within.
- John Dane is specifically mentioned in the
probate records. I do not know
anything more about him. If he is
Israel’s son, then he likely was the only son available to assist his
mother with father Israel’s affairs.
(Of the other two boys, Thomas was back and forth to Yarmouth, Nova
Scotia, possibly starting as early as 1767 and likely with the Brown
family, and Israel Jr. would have been in his teens and beginning his
seafaring career.) However, then
the 1790 Census failed to count him.
There are a lot of other Dane families in the area,
John could easily be a nephew, so my listing him as a son is speculative.
- Ann and Zerviah: these 2 daughters have been
added as children for Israel because of their suggestion through the 1790
Census and their specific mention in Charles
Storrs genealogy notes.
According to Storrs genealogy, Anne never married and lived in
Hamilton [Massachusetts] until a great age. According to Essex Antiquarian, Ipswich Town Records, page 138, Daniel
Brown Jr and his wife Zerviah (Dane) Brown inherited the estate of Zerviah’s father, Israel Dane Jr. of Ipswich, in
1795. Also found in this text (page
47) are the details that Zerviah married Daniel Brown Jr on January 5,
1777 and their children are Eunice Brown (bpt
9/28/1777), Alexander Brown (bpt 3/19/1780 and d
4/25/1780), Israel Dane Brown (bpt 3/11/1781),
and Jacob Brown (bpt 3/16/1783).
- Mary (Dane) Farley, born about 1765, who married
Daniel Farley on May 28, 1797. He was born September 26, 1765 and is
the son of Daniel and Mary Farley, all of Ipswich. We have a record of her marriage, but
not birth, which follows the same pattern of the other children. No records of this couple continue in
Ipswich. There is a later
suggestion of a Farley family in the Halifax, Nova Scotia area. Is it possible that they, with Mary’s
mother, Anne Dane, went there?
(That would lead us back to the idea that I had earlier
discounted. Oh, the confusion!)
I’d like to add another
piece of circumstantial evidence into the mix…
Back to the Genealogy Main Page.