Exploration of the Contents of Nutter's Prison Notebook

Monday, November 09, 2009

Exploration of the Contents of Nutter's Prison Notebook

When first looking at the arithmetic book we started by searching for direct references to Jacob Nutter. Here are clips from the scanned journal of what we found in no particular order:

You may click on the images to enlarge them.

The first clip is a reference to the death of Volentine (Valentine) Nutter in 1786; clearly a note made six years after Jacob returned home from France. Valentine was one of Jacob's older siblings. Other genealogical records confirm this as the date of Valentine's death.

The second clip appears to be in a child's hand and has the words Kittery and Berwick. There are some other scribbles elsewhere in the book and some abc's perhaps indicating a child had been given the book to practice their handwriting.

The third clip shows Jacob Nutter's name along with the well written "Kittery January 21st AD 1806. It is not clear whether Jacob wrote this, or perhaps it was his son, Jacob Jr. who was born in 1776.

The fourth clip shows Jacob's notation about purchasing the book at Mill Prison the 24th day of August. Prise one Shilling. It is not clear which year he bought the book but based on my research I believe it was 1778. There is another notation "Jacob Nutter his hand and his...: Then, "Cear of the Shoresman Samuel Clarck for Curon of the Same" Dated 1786. I am not exactly sure what it means, but I believe that curon is an older english word related to the word currency, or something of equal value. If anyone knows, I would like to understand more.

The fifth clip, in pencil says "Received of the Purser 2 Shirts 1 Pare of Shoos 1 frock 1 Pair of trowsers the 23 of June. There is no year listed but the only June possible would have been June of 1780 while Alliance lay at L'Orient Harbor just before weighing anchor for America.

The sixth and last clip directly related to Nutter or his family is a clarification of the note above and clearly written after the fact. It reads "Received of the Purser of the Continental Ship Alliance June the 23 1780 Two Shirts Wone Pare of Shoos Wone Frock Wone pare of trowsers From which I Served the 30 of aprill 1779 Untill the year 1780 September 6". Perhaps he made better note of government goods supplied upon his discharge on 6 September 1780.

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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.

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Monday, November 09, 2009