Background and References to Jacob Nutter's Story

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Background and References to Jacob Nutter's Story

Over the course of the next few months I will be posting about the historical references and firsthand accounts that were used to compile Jacob Nutter's Journal. Hopefully, this will help others interested in this fascinating story and perhaps others to learn more about their own ancestors. During the course of this research and posting of Nutter's story in serial form on the web I have come across a number of very interesting people, some of whom have provided me with additional detail for this story, others looking for information that would help them to locate the wreck of the Bonhomme Richard, and many others just looking for genealogical reasons.

Hello, my name is Doug Hawks and you can view my profile on Blogger. Several years ago I knew absolutely nothing about Jacob Nutter, did not know he was my ancestor and nothing about American privateer and naval activities and actions in the European theater during the American Revolution. This exploration began about six years ago when I was visiting my Aunt in Massachusetts. She showed me a very old handwritten notebook that contained scribblings, notes and arithmetic. The penmanship was difficult to read as it was in an old style and the paper was in very bad shape. My aunt had been able to decipher the name of the original owner of the book as Jacob Nutter who we knew nothing about. The book had apparently been in our family for a very long time.

The book was full of arithmetic calculations, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. There was also a puzzling reference to the "Rule of Threes", the "Rule of Threes Inverse" and more. Being an engineer with a mathmatical background, I became intrigued and began researching just what this book was about. Here is an image showing the first two pages of Nutter's book, including his handwritten name

You can click on the image above to see an enlarged view. In the upper left corner see that Nutter noted on this page that he purchased this book at Mill Prison for the "prise of one shilling".

More about what we found about Jacob Nutter's history and our connection to him in my next post.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Overview

The hellhole of Mill Prison England where hundreds of American sailors are held for high treason and most probably the noose; John Paul Jones' bloody but victorius battle between Bonhomme Richard and Serapis; the Captain Queeg-like French captain of the American Frigate Alliance whose insanity finally drives the crew to mutiny; this is the story chronicled in Jacob Nutter’s journal covering the span of 1776 to 1780 during America’s battle for independence. This journal is actually fictional as Nutter documented very little of his experience during these 4 years; rather this is a compilation written from Nutter's perspective based on first hand accounts of others, historical documents and the many books written about this important part of America's early navy.

Jacob Nutter was my ancestor. He enlisted on the privateer Dolton in Portsmouth NH in November of 1776, expecting to cruise for 3 months with a crew of 120, capturing British merchant ships. Instead, on Christmas Eve 1776, off the coast of Spain, the Dolton was taken by the HMS Raisonable. Nutter and the Dolton's crew were taken to Plymouth England where they were committed to Mill Prison for piracy and treason. In early 1779, after nearly two years of imprisonment Benjamin Franklin obtained a prisoner exchange and roughly 100 of the Mill Prison inmates were set free and sent to France. Most had no money, no clothes and no way home and therefore enlisted on American ships then recruiting mariners. Nutter enlisted on the new American Frigate Alliance, commanded by Pierre Landais, as a quartermaster thinking that this ship would soon be returning to America with supplies for the war. Instead, Franklin re-assigned the Alliance to John Paul Jones' small flotilla. The Alliance participated in the famous battle between Jones' Bonhomme Richard and the HMS Serapis. Due to Landais' poor conduct during the battle he was subsequently removed from command by Jones when the flotilla arrived in the Netherlands. In early 1780 after cruising along the coast of France and Spain, and after a near mutiny by the crew, Alliance made her way to L'Orient France. While Jones basked in his glory in Paris, the crew remained at L'Orient suffering for want of clothing, food and money. In Jones' absence Landais made his way to L'Orient and convinced much of his former crew that he was rightful commander of the Alliance. After a showdown between Jones and Landais in which the Alliance was nearly fired upon by a French fort to prevent her departure, Alliance finally made sail for America. During the 2 month cruise home, the crew mutineed when Landais informed them he would cruise to Philadelphia instead of Boston. Landais began acting irrationally and the officers were forced to take command. Finally, in August of 1780, Alliance raised the American coast and Jacob Nutter was home after nearly four years away from his family and country.

Search This Blog

Saturday, October 31, 2009