COMMODORE ABRAHAM WHIPPLE.
A PAPER BY HIS GREAT-GRANDSON,
DAVID FISHER.
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN -
From the
printed circular I hold in my hand, I
read, "the seventh
of April, 1888, is a day in which the
immediate descend-
ants of the first settlers of Marietta
principally have an
interest."
As a descendant of Commodore Whipple, it
is with
emotions of reverence, pleasure, and
pride that I am per-
mitted to be present at the Centennial
Celebration of Mar-
ietta, and pay respect to the memory of
those resolute,
determined, fearless pioneers, who
founded this beautiful
city, from which has extended the
civilization, growth,
prosperity, and influence of the "
Great Northwest." How
many, or who of these descendants there
may be present,
I am not aware, but to all such I extend
a hearty greeting.
The little I may have to say will have
reference particu-
larly to Commodore Whipple and incidents
in his earlier
life, leaving to other and more
competent persons the
eulogies of Putnam, Cutler, Varnum,
Parsons, Tupper,
Sproat, Devol, Meigs, and others.
Commodore Abraham Whipple was born near
Providence,
R. I., September 26, 1733. At the age of
thirteen, his
father having sold his farm, he, with
his parents, removed
to Providence. In 1761, August 2,
Whipple married Sarah
Hopkins, a niece of Governor Hopkins. By
this marriage
they had two daughters, Catherine, who
married Lieuten-
ant Colonel Sproat, and Polly, who
married Dr. Ezekial
Comstock, of Smithfield, R. I. By this
last marriage
there were two children, Dr. W. W.
Comstock, who died a
few years since at Middleboro, Mass.,
and Sarah Ann, who
was my mother, and who died at Wrentham,
Mass., in
September, 1855. Colonel Sproat died at
Marietta, August
29, 1819, his wife having died October 15,
1818.
The close of the Revolutionary war found many, who
180
Commodore Abraham Whipple. 181
had risked their all in sustaining the
government, penni-
less and in want, the paper currency in which they had
been paid having depreciated to almost a
worthless value.
This poverty was, in great measure, the
cause of the form-
ing of the " Massachusetts and
Rhode Island Company,"
who hoped by seeking new homes in the
then far West
to regain at least a small part of what
they had lost, or at
least to secure a living for themselves
and families. If I
have been rightly informed, Commodore
Whipple and
Rufus Putnam made the journey from
Providence to Mar-
ietta in the fall of 1787, and on their
return to New Eng-
land with a favorable report, the colony
decided to remove
in the spring of 1788 to where Marietta
now stands, arriv-
ing April seventh of the same year.
From boyhood Whipple had a strong love
for the sea,
and before he was twenty-one years of
age had made sev-
eral voyages. During these voyages he
taught himself
navigation and book-keeping.
In the old French war he became captain
of the priv-
ateer sloop " Game Cock," and,
as reported in the Boston
Post Boy and Advertiser of February 4, 1760,
he, during
one voyage, took twenty-three prizes,
from which he real-
ized some $60,000, a very large sum at
that time.
Commodore Whipple was a man of great
muscular
power, undoubted courage and daring, a
lover of the
truth, generous and kind, possessed of a
mind fertile in
expedients, which often made him a match
for superior
forces. As an illustration: In one
voyage he was chased
by a French privateer, with more men and
guns than
himself, but having made as great a show
of men as pos-
sible, by setting up hand spikes with
hats and caps on
them, he boldly turned his vessel and bore
square on the
enemy, who, taken aback by the maneuver,
with all haste
escaped from their cunning opponent.
The one thing for which Commodore Whipple's name
should be kept in remembrance is the
fact that he struck
the first blow of the Revolution,
in 1772, on the water.
182
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
On the 17th of June, 1772,
the packet "Hannah," plying
between Providence and New York, was
chased by the
armed British vessel "Gaspee,"
and was decoyed by Whip-
ple to a shoal place, where the
"Gaspee " stuck fast, while
Whipple, in the "Hannah,"
reached Providence in safety.
The news created great excitement, and a
large crowd was
soon collected by the beating of drums.
On a sudden a man,
disguised as an Indian, appeared on the
roof of a house
near by, and gave notice of a secret
expedition that night,
and invited all stout hearts to assemble
at the wharf at nine
o'clock that evening, disguised like
himself. That man
was Whipple. That night sixty men obeyed
the call, and
went out in eight row boats to capture
an armed vessel.
There was but one musket in the
expedition. They were
hailed by the sentinel on board the
"Gaspee," demanding
who commanded those boats. Whipple
replied: "I am
Sheriff of the County of Kent and
Providence Plantations.
I come to arrest Captain Dudingston, and
if you do not at
once surrender will blow you to
atoms." The boats were
well supplied with stones of a
convenient size, which were
brought into use. Whipple fired the
musket, wounding
the sentinel in the thigh, and at the
same time the men
poured in a broadside of stones, which
soon cleared the
deck of the "Gaspee," and
Whipple, leading the men,
soon had possession. They secured the
men as prisoners,
fired the vessel, returning to
Providence without casual-
ties. A Royal Commission offered a
reward of one hun-
dred pounds for the capture of any one
engaged in the
assault, and afterwards a reward for the
body of the Sheriff
of the County of Kent, dead or alive,
but without suc-
cess, as those loyal men could not be
bought. The silver
cup I now hold in my hand was at that
time taken from
the "Gaspee."
In May, 1776, the Legislature of
Rhode Island passed
an act renouncing all allegiance to the
King of Great
Britain, and ten days before the
battle of Bunker Hill the
same Legislature purchased and armed two
sloops, giving
Commodore Abraham Whipple. 183
the command of one to Whipple. On the
15th of June,
1775, Whipple, in his official capacity, attacked two
British
boats, capturing them and, by this act,
fired the first gun
of the Revolution on the water.
This bold act was done under the guns of
the British
frigate "Rose," commanded by
Sir William Wallace. Wal-
lace in the meantime had learned who
captured and burnt
the "Gaspee " and wrote the
following curt note: "You,
Abraham
Whipple, burned His Majesty's vessel, the
'Gaspee,' and I will hang you at yard
arm. Signed,
William Wallace." To this Whipple
replied with
commendable point, "To
Sir William Wallace, Sir:
Always catch a man before you hang him.
Abraham
Whipple."
Whipple soon after received an
appointment under Con-
gress, and did great execution among the
trading resorts
of the enemy, and there is nothing more
admirable in the
history of the Revolution than the
daring shown by Whip-
ple in attacking armed vessels many
times superior in size,
men, and armament.
One of the boldest exploits performed by
Whipple was
in 1778, when he was ordered to fit the frigate
"Providence"
for sea and carry important despatches
to our Minister in
France. The great difficulty was to get
to sea through the
cordon of the enemy's ships; but with a
picked crew, the
bold mariners, who knew every channel,
taking advantage
of a very dark and stormy night,
succeeded. He passed
within half a pistol shot of the British
frigate "Lark," of
forty guns, pouring in a broadside and
then passing the
frigate " Renown," of
sixty-eight guns, by a ruse deceiving
the enemy as he cried in stentorian
voice to his helmsman,
"Pass her on the Narragansett
side," while in a quiet tone
he ordered the man to steer to the
opposite side.
He reached Nantes, a French port, in
twenty-six days,
capturing, during the voyage, a merchant
ship. On his
return voyage he loaded his ship with
clothing, arms and
ammunition, and safely reached the
United States. For
184 Ohio
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
this gallant act Whipple received from
Washington, Frank-
lin, Adams and others, complimentary
letters.1
At the capture of Charleston, S. C., in
1778, Whipple
was taken prisoner and with his
companions remained such
to the close of the war, because the
British saw no other
way to preserve their commerce from the
bold seaman.
At Chester, Pa., where he was confined
as prisoner, he
hired a house for the use of his sick
men, and in 1786
petitioned Congress to refund his
expenses, stating that,
in order to perform this act of
humanity, he had been
obliged to mortgage his little farm. He
says: "The
farm is now gone, and having been sued
out of possession,
I am turned out into the world at an
advanced age, feeble
and penniless, with my wife and
children, destitute of a
house or home I can call my own, or have
the means of
hiring." "This calamity has
arisen from two causes, viz.:
In France, Charleston, and Chester I
expended in the serv-
ice of the United States three hundred
and sixty guineas,
besides the sea stores for a number of
gentlemen sent by
the commissioner in France to the United
States in my
care, for which I received nothing; and
secondly, my
having served the United States from
June 15, 1775, to
December, 1782, without receiving a
farthing of wages or
subsistence from them since 1776. My
advances in France
and Charleston amount to nearly $7,000
in specie, exclu-
sive of interest. The repayment of this,
or a part, might
be the means of my regaining my farm,
and snatch my
family from misery, want and ruin."
The result of this
petition was his being paid for his
expenditure in France
only, and this payment in "Continental"
paper money,
which he was obliged to dispose of at eighty per
cent. dis-
count to keep his family from suffering. On more than
one occasion he was forced to beg for
bread. Who can
listen to this recital without feelings
of pity and morti-
fication? The neglect and indifference manifested by
Congress towards the just rights and claims of Whipple
1For two letters, never before
published,concerning this voyage, see p. 186.
Commodore Abraham Whipple. 185
will always remain a stigma and blot on
the United
States.
In 1784 Whipple commanded the first
American vessel
that unfurled the stars and stripes in
the Thames after the
Peace.
In April, 1788, he emigrated to
Marietta, and after
"Mad Anthony's" peace with the
Indians in 1796, he
removed to a farm of about twelve acres
on the Muskin-
gum river, a few miles from Marietta,
sixty-three years
old, broken in health, with no other
means of support.
He and his aged partner lacked even
comfortable food
and clothing. In 1811, when he was
seventy-eight years
old, he was granted a pension of $30 per
month.
In 1802 he commanded the first rigged vessel built on the
Ohio, and had the honor of conducting
her to the ocean.
Commodore Whipple lived to be
eighty-five years of age,
dying May 29th, 1819; his
wife died the year previous. In
yonder beautiful " City of the
Dead" they rest, his grave
marked with a monument on which is
inscribed an epitaph
from which nothing could be erased, but
much added. I
am unable to determine the exact
location of the grave of
Mrs. Whipple.
Such, Mr. President, is a hurried and
brief history of
Commodore Whipple -the
lives of other of the emigrants
to Marietta were equally honorable-all
contributing of
their ability and means to found and
sustain that liberty
and independence which has made the
United States "the
greatest of nations."
What noble examples for us all, and
especially the young,
to emulate. Would that the same
integrity of purpose,
the same liberality, love of right, and
love of country
which actuated our forefathers, might
always be our stand-
ard! May we fully appreciate our
responsibilities! Let
every one feel it their duty and
obligation to assist in the
performance of these sacred duties and
act accordingly.
Then may you ask the patriotic American,
" when will
you sell the liberties you now prize so
highly?" With his
186 Ohio Archaeological and Historical
Quarterly.
hand resting on the
tombs of his fathers, whose examples
he venerates, and his
eyes raised to the God in whom he
trusts, he will
answer, " Never! "
NOTE.-The following letters have never before been published.
They
are in the possession of Mrs. Agnes B. Tribon, of
Middleboro, Mass., great-
granddaughter of
Commodore Whipple.
[ B. Franklin, A. Lee
and John Adams to Abrm. Whipple.]
PARIS, June 23-1778.
Sir:-As we have a prospect of an Exchange of Prisoners you are
directed
to send us with all
possible dispatch, a list or Return of all the prisoners you
have in your custody,
and we shall give orders concerning them as soon as
we shall be informed
to what place they are to be sent, to be exchanged.
As to your future
destination, we desire you to take on Board your Frig-
ate as many arms and
cloaks or other merchandise as you can without im-
peding her in sailing
or fighting, and no more, with which you are to acquaint
Mr. Schwerghauser who
will send them on Board-if Mr. Schwerghauser
should have a Vessel
bound to America, with stores for the public you are
to take her under
your convoy.
You are to use your
best endeavors to make Prizes in the course of your
Passage and in all
respects to annoy the enemy, as much as you can and are
at liberty to go out
of your way, for so good a purpose. If you can take or
destroy any of the
enemies Fisheries on the Banks of New Foundland you
are not to omit the
opportunity.
As transports are
constantly passing between England and Halifax, Rhode
Island, New York and
Philadelphia, and from each of these places to all the
others, you will use
your very best Endeavors to intercept some of them.
If you should have
despatches committed to your care, either from the
government of this
Kingdom, or from us, you are to have them carefully en-
closed in lead, and
in case of misfortune, which God forbid you are to take
effectual care, by
sinking them that they may not fall into the enemies hands.
We wish you a
prosperous Cruise and voyage, and are with much respect Sir,
Your most obedient
and most humble servants.
B. FRANKLIN
Capt. Abraham Whipple ARTHUR
LEE
of the Providence
Frigate. JOHN
ADAMS
[G. Washington to
Abm. Whipple.]
HEAD QUARTERS
FREDRICK'SBURG
25, Nov, 1778.
Sir:-Major Nicolass
handed me your favor of the 12th, inst.
I am greatly pleased
with the gallant circumstance of your passage
through a blockaded
harbour; and much obliged to you for the detail of
your voyage.
It was very agreeable to hear of your safe arrival, with the
valuable articles of
your invoice. With my best wishes for your future
success I am sir Your most humble Servant.
Ab'm Whipple
Esq. G.
WASHINGTON.
Capt. Ab'm Whipple
Esq.