A Sketch of the Life of George Roberts: Who Fought Under John Paul Jones

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GEORGE ROBERTS

JOHN PAIII inNF'

Compliments of

CHAS. H. ROBERTS.

Concord. N. H.

u.^

■y.r

•^\

nAilVAIlO eOLlESE UMAItr

GiFT OF

CH.i»LES H. rAYLOR

A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE ROBERTS.

By Charles H, Roberts,

HEN in the summer of
1 90 1 I made a short visit
to the home of my boy-
hood a letter, of which the

following is a copy, was handed me

by the postmaster :

Geo. W. Featherstonhaugh,
Counselor at Law,

Schenectady, N. Y., July 28, 1901.

Postmaster of Middleton^ N, H.

Dear Sir: About seventy years ago one
George Roberts who fought under' Paul Jones
in the battle between the Bon Homme Richard
and the Serapis died at Middleton, N. H., and I
presume he must have been buried there. *

If so, it must be a fact well known m your
town, to those interested in local history.

Can you kindly inform me if the grave of this
man is in your place, and if so, where and what
monument marks the spot and what the inscrip-
tion says of him ?

, If the facts are not within your knowledge
kindly hand this letter to some one who would
be likely to know. I take the liberty of troub-
ling you as I know no one in your town to
address. The purpose of my inquiry is simply
for historical information.
Very respl. yours,

Geo W. Featherstonhaugh.

I answered this letter giving him,
so far as I was then able to do, the
information sought. Later on I re-
ceived the following :

Schenectady, N. Y., Sept. 27, 1901.

C H, Roberts^ Esq., Concord, AT. H. w^,. -^ ,,

Dear Sir : I was much gratified at receiving
an answer to the inquiry which I sent out in
July last and also much surprised at its coming
from a grandson of George Roberts. I have
always been interested in the life of Paul Jones
and the brave men who fought with him. The
battle between the Bon Homme Richard and the
Serapis always seemed to me to be the most
terrific contest ever fought upon the sea.

Reading last winter the life of Paul Jones by'
Cyrus T. Brady I was struck with his descrip-
tion of this battle. He says, "A daring sailor
ran out upon the main yardarm which hung over
the after hatch of the Serapis and began to throw
grenades down the hatchway. At last a hand
grenade struck the hatch comlnng, bounded aft
and fell into the midst of a pile of cartridges.
There was a terrific crash which silenced the
roar of the battle. When the smoke cleared
away the decks were filled with the dead and
dying. It was this last shock that determined
Pearson to surrender."

I determined to investigate the truth of the
statement and to ascertain if possible the name
of the man who could perform such an act of
unparalleled bravery. The result of my investi-
gation has been that the act was performed as
described by Mr. Brady, and the name of the
sailor beyond all doubt was George Roberts.

I then attempted to find out who George
Roberts was, where he had lived and died. At
last I located him in Middleton, N. H., and con-
cluding that he might have died there and been
buried there I wrote my letter. I sho\ild be
much pleased if you could give me some account
of his birth, life, etc., as well as inscription on
stone.

I aih glad to learn that you are to publish a
sketch of his life and services. In these times
of the revival of interest in the American Revo-
lution it cannot fail to attract attention. The
part your grandfather acted in the battle between
the Richard and Serapis not only showed his
great bravery, but was of the first importance
and far reaching, and should not be lost sight of
in the passing years. The American sailor, the
man behind the gun, should have the credit due
to him. '

Very sincerely yours,

Geo. W. Featherstonhaugh.

.n.

k »'

[In response to a letter to Mr.
•Featherstonhaugh, inquiring how his
attention was first called to the mat-
ter of services rendered by George
Roberts, I received the following un-
der date of June 18, 1902 :

A SKETCH OF GEORGE ROBERTS.

My great grandmother lived at Scarborough,
England, at the time of the battle between the
Richard 2Xidi Serapis. Her son, after whom I am
named, and who was a Fellow of the Royal
Society, author, etc., became an extensive trav-
eler in the United States, recording in his jour-
nal everything of interest. These journals are
now unfortunately destroyed except a very few.
In one of the earlier ones between 1808 and
181 3 he mentioned meeting a man who was one
of the crew of the Richard^ who stated that the
Serapis surrendered because her magazine was
exploded by a common sailor named " Robert-
son,'* from New England states, who threw
down explosives from the rigging of the Richard
upon the deck of the Serapis. My attention was
next called to the matter by an article in an old
newspaper, on the death of George Roberts. I
at once recognized the "daring sailor" men-
tioned by Brady as the " Robertson " of my
grandfather's journal and the George Roberts of
the newspaper article.]

George Roberts was bom at Dover,
New Hampshire, August 21, 1755.
He was in direct descent from
Thomas Roberts who settled at Dover
Neck in 1623. There is nothing au-
thentic as to where he emigrated
from, but there is a tradition that he
came from near Chester, England.
The land upon which he settled is
still owned in the Roberts family.
George was of the fifth generation,
the genealogy being as follows :
Thomas (i), Thomas (2), Nathaniel
(3), Nathaniel (4), George (5); his
brothers were David, Isaac and Na-
thaniel.

His father was lost at sea, and his
sailor brother, Isaac, met a like fate.
When a lad George went to sea as a
cabin boy, and when quite a young
man was mate of a vessel trading
between Portsmouth, N. H., and the
West Indies.

As related by him his vessel took
out the first ice ever shipped to those
islands, and when the negroes came
on board to unload the vessel, they
dropped the first cake of ice, crying

out, ** It burns our fingers.'' On
May 29, 1775, he enlisted for two
months in Capt. Jonathan Went-
wOrth's company in Colonel Poor's
New Hampshire regiment, and served
as a sergeant until August first of
that year.

Poor's regiment was not at Bunker
Hill, but was guarding the coast.
Later it became a part of General
Washington's army at Dorchester.

He gave as his reason for not re-
enlisting that he preferred going to
war on the water rather than trudg-
ing around on land, carrying a heavy
knapsack and musket, and that he
disliked his captain, who, it seems,
was subsequently tried by court mar-
tial and dismissed from the service.

In the month of September, 1777,
he enlisted as a mariner on board the
continental ship of war. Ranger^ com-
manded by John Paul Jones.

The Ranger was built at Ports-
mouth, N. H., and sailed on the ist
of November, 1777.

In this connection the following
letters are of interest :

Portsmouth, August 29, 1777.

Gentlemen : As the continental ship of war
Ranger under my command is ready for sea —
and as I have particular orders from Congress
to proceed with all possible expedition — I take
the liberty of applying to you for authority to
enlist a few men from the Forts and garrisons
in the Harbour, whereby I may be enabled with
the greater facility to complete my compliment
and to fulfil the instructions of Congress . . .

I am with due respect Gentlemen,

Your most obedient very humble servant,

J NO. P. Jones.

To the Hon'ble The Committee of Safety
for the state of New Hampshire.

Portsmouth, Sept. 20, 1777.

Mr. Speaker *S: Gkntlemex: The enclosed
letter to the Committee of Safety having pro-
duced no effect, I think it my duty to lay it be-

A SKETCH OF GEORGE ROBERTS.

fore^you, — as the departure of the Ranger is
now impeded solely for the want of the liberty
which I then asked and which I now hope to
obtain from you.

United as the continent is its interest must
take precedence of all private concerns in every
patriot breast, and as I hope I have served
without blame since the first establishment of
the Navy, I am persuaded I shall meet with the
same countenance and assistance from you
which any other officer hath experienced.

Meantime, I have the honor to be, with senti-
ments of respect,

Gentlemen, your most obedient

Very humble servant,

J. P. J.
The Hon'ble The Speaker, and Representatives
of the State of New Hampshire.

On October, 30, 1777, Jones wrote
to his friend Joseph Hewes, member
of the Continental Congress from
North Carolina :

I have been for some time and am now de-
tained by a heavy gale from the N. £. When
it clears up I propose to embrace the first wind
that can convey me thro* the enemies* lines^ and
off the coast. I have received orders and dis-
patches for France and hope to be the welcome
messenger at Paris of Burgoyne's surrender.

The Ranger finally sailed in such
haste that a part of her '* small
stores ** were left on shore, and when
at sea it was discovered that but
thirty gallons of rum had been taken
on board.

She arrived at Nantes, France,
December 2, 1777. From Nantes she
sailed for Brest, reaching there on the
13th of February, 1778, where Jones
saluted the French admiral with thir-
teen guns, which was returned with
nine. This was the first salute to
the American flag by a foreign man
of war.

[Sometime previous to the salute,
Jones wrote the following letter to
William Carmichael, who was secre-
tary to the American Commissioners
to France :

Ranger, 13, Feb. 1778.
My Dear Sir : You will confer a singular
obligation upon me by presenting my respects
to the Freijich Admiral, whom I mean to salute
with thirteen guns under American colours —
provided he will accept the compliment and re-
turn gun for gun. This proposal I hope will be
the more acceptable to him as it may be a pre-
lude to future amity between the United States
and his Court. — I shall be happy to see you here
as soon as possible after you have the Admiral's
answer — meantime pray excuse this trouble. — I
am my dear sir with sentiments of esteem and
respect

Your very obliged
very obedient

most humble servant

Jno. p. Jones.

On the same day the French Ad-
miral wrote to Captain Jones that if
the Ranger and Independence salute
** The flag of the King'' with thir-
teen guns, the salute will be returned
with nine. On February 14 Carmi-
chael wrote Jones that he is convinced
that further application for salute of
gun for gun will be fruitless ; com-
mon salute is three guns for twenty-
one; to show respect for ** the flag of
Congress** the Admiral will return
nine guns; desires this to be ac-
cepted.]

After leaving France the Ranger
cruised in the Irish channel, tak-
ing several unimportant prizes. She
then entered Whitehaven where they
seized the forts, spiked the cannon,
and set fire to a ship in the midst of
a hundred other vessels. This ex-
ploit of Jones spread terror on the
coast and was no doubt the cause of
associating his name, with the idea of
piracy.

When my grandfather was asked if
he supposed he was fighting with a
halter about his neck he answered
that he thought if Jones or any of his
men had been captured their lives
would no doubt have been in great

A SKETCH OF GEORGE ROBERTS.

jeopardy, possibly nothing would
have saved them, but the fear of re-
taliation. That the British govern-
ment held them to be outlaws is
shown by the following official com-
munication :

Sir Joseph Yorke, the British
ambassador to France, addressed the
following letter to the French govern-
ment:

Hague, Oct. 13, 1779.

High and Mighty Lords : The undersigned
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the King of Great Britain, has the honor to
communicate to your High Mightinesses, that
two of His Majesty's ships the Serapis and the
Countess 0/ Scarborough arrived some dajrs ago
in the Texel, having been attacked and taken
by force .by a certain Paul Jones, a subject of
the king, who, according to treaties and the laws
of war, can only be considered as a rebel and
pirate.

Again he writes :

I cannot but comply with the strict
orders of His Majesty by renewing in the strong-
est and most pressing manner his request that
these ships and their crews may be stopped and
delivered up, which the pirate Paul Jones of
Scotland, who is a rebel subject and a criminal
to the state has taken. . . .

My grandfather's account of the
landing in Scotland, and taking away
the plate of the Karl of Selkirk, was
as follows :

That the people at the castle at
first thought them to be a British
press gang, and when they i[ found
they were Paul Jones's men they
were greatly alarmed, but the Ameri-
can ofl&cers very soon quieted their
fears; both ofl&cers and men were
served with plenty of food and drink ;
that there was very little looting aside
from the plate ; that among other tri-
fles, an old sailor whose life had been
spent on the ocean, accumulated a
pair of gilt spurs, his attempt to util-

ize them being extremely ludicrous ;
he tried them on his nose, hands and
feet, and finally threw them away
with great disgust saying, * ' I do n't
see any use to which the blanked
things can be put."

Shortly after the Whitehaven ex*
ploit, occurred the engagement with
and capture' of the British ship*
Drake. My grandfather said that
he went on board the Drake after
her capture and saw there the dead
body of an English officer in the
uniform of the land service, and that
an English sailor afterwards told him
thiTt this officer came on board to see
them whip the Yankees, and that a
hogshead of rum which had been
sent on board to drink to their vic-
tory had been demolished by a can-
non ball.

The Ranger took her prize to
France where Captain Jones left the
ship. She subsequently sailed for
Portsmouth, under command of Capt.
Thomas Simpson, where the crew
was discharged.

Late in the month of June, 1779,
he sailed from Portsmouth, for
Prance, joining the Bon Homme
Ridutrd a few days before the de-
parture of Jones's little squadron,
which sailed on August 14. The
battle with the Serapis was fought on
September 23, 1779.

It is a matter of unwritten history
in our family that when he left Ports-
mouth he was accompanied by four-
teen others, several of whom had
served on the Ranger, and that
among the number were Joseph Rob-
erts and Isaac Hanson, who after-
wards lived in Farmington, and died
there, Timothy Roberts of Milton,
who lived and died in that town, and
Caleb Roberts of Rochester. On

A SKETCH OF GEORGE ROBERTS.

^hich vessel of the squadron they
served I have no positive informa-
tion.

Mr. Oliver A. Roberts of Melrose,
Mass., who has in preparation a gen-
ealogy of the Roberts family, states
that the five named above served on
the Ranger^ and some, if not all of
them, on the Bon Homme Richard.

After his final discharge from the
rservice he made his home for several
years at Dover, but followed the sea
as an occupation. The parish rec-
ords show that he was married to
Elizabeth Horn, January 17, 1782,
by Rev. Jeremy Belknap. In 1796
he moved to Middleton, where he
built his cabin near Moose Mountain
and cleared the virgin forest from
some twenty acres. Subsequently he
moved to a small farm on the stage
road leading from Dover to Wolfe-
borough, where he continued to live
and till the soil of that quiet town.

The old men of the town said of
him that he was a good neighbor,
but not a very good farmer; not
given to boasting of his achieve-
ments, very rarely talking of them
unless urged to do so. That the
l)ears and wildcats had no terrors for
him, and the only living thing he
feared was a snake, and to the most
harmless of these reptiles he gave a
wide berth.

Being rallied at one time by his
companions regarding the taking of
the plate of the Earl of Selkirk, he
answered, ** After taking away what
we did, we left the earl more plate
than all of you have, or ever will
have.'*

One of his nearest neighbors, a
man by the name of Hinah, was one
of the 22,000 sold by the notorious
Frederick II of Hesse to George III

to fight his battles in America;* he
was captured at Trenton, but after
the war made his way to the wilds of
New Hampshire, settling in Middle-
ton. He became a good citizen and
an officer of the militia. His broken
English was a source of much amuse-
ment to his men, and when going on
parade he gave the order **Moosuc
to der froont,'* the smiles were audi-
ble. Between my grandfather and
this old Teuton a warm friendship
existed, and they spent much time in
the company of each other, cheering
themselves with their pipes, and an
occasional sip of the wine of New
England.

In religious belief his family were
followers of Penn. In his youth he
affiliated with that sect, but in later
life he neither wore the Quaker garb
nor attended the meeting, but con-
tinued on cordial terms with his rela-
tives and others of that faith. My
grandmother was a member of the
Baptist Church, but I well remember
that her home, and my father's as
well, was the stopping place for
Friends on their way to the yearly
meeting at Sandwich, and when these
visits occurred our family observed
the Quaker grace at mealtime. My
grandmother related that during her
husband's last illness and shortly be-
fore his death, his brother David, a
strict Friend, visited him, and, when
about to take his departure, went to
the bedside of his sick brother and
said': ** Peace be with thee, George.'*
** Peace be with thee, David," was
the answer; and thus the brothers
parted, to meet no more on earth.

The story of how the Roberts fam-
ily were converted to the faith of the
Society of Friends is interesting.

The emigrant, Thomas Roberts,

A SKETCH 0F> GEORGE ROBERTS,

was chosen president of the court
(council). His son John was ap-
pointed marshal, and his son Thomas
was a constable of Dover. During
their term of office the Quaker perse-
cutions in Dover occurred. Several
women of that faith had been arrested,
and the court adjudged them guilty
and ordered them to be whipped at
the cart's tail through nine towns.
The duty of the infliction of this
penalty in Dover fell to John and
Thomas Roberts. While the order of
the court was being carried out in a
very cruel manner, their father,
Thomas Roberts, followed after, la-
menting and crying, **Wo! that I
am the father of such wicked chil-
dren/' The patience and humility
with which these poor women bore
their wrongs so impressed him that
he investigated their belief, the re-
sult being that he and his family
became* members of the Society of
Friends with which their descendants
were also identified for several gen-
erations.

In the military history of George
Roberts, on file at the pension office
in Washington, I found the follow-
ing:

In his declaration for pension he makes no
allusion to anv service other than that on the
Ranger^ owing, no doubt, to the fact that the
law under which he applied. Act of March i8,

1818, required but nine months' service in the
Continental establishment. His widow, who
applied for and was granted a pension after his
death, stated that he also served on the Boji
Jlojume Richard under Capt. John Paul Jones
in the celebrated conflict with the British ship
Serapis.

He filed with the pension office an
inventory of his property, which was
as follows :

Three swine,

$7.00

Old homestead furniture,.

5.00

Land, 25 acres,

125.00

$190.00

Debts owed.

$40.00

Two oxen (small),
One cow,

Mooo
13.00

I also found, in connection with
his application for pension a certifi-
cate as to his service from Ezra
Green of Dover, surgeon of the Ran-
ger^ and from John Ricker, seaman,
there being no official roll in exist-
ence of the men who served on that
ship.

The sum granted him was S8 per
month; his widow received $63.44
per annum.

My grandfather died on the 12th
of May, 1829, leaving one son, my
father. My grandmother survived
him some thirty years, and from her
I obtained much of the material for
this sketch. A marble headstone
marks the place where his ashes rest,
in the family burial lot on the old
homestead.

The inscription on the stone is as
follows :

George Roberts

died

May 12, 1829,

A. E. 73 y'rs, 8 mo.

& 21 d'ys :

A soldier of the Revolution.

The sea chest, brought home by
him after his discharge from the 7?^?/-
gcr^ is in possession of my nephew,
Natt F. Roberts of Farmington.

[Not long after his death a com-
munication from an old sailor, who
had served with him, appeared in a
Natchez, Miss., paper, the same be-
ing reproduced in my sketch of the
life of George Roberts, printed in
The Granite Mojithly for August,
1902, as I then supposed in full. At

A SKETCH OF GEORGE ROBERTS,

that time I did not feel quite sure
that it was first published in the
Natchez paper ; as the name of Com-
modore Dale was mentioned I thought
it might have been first printed in
Philadelphia ; later on I searched the
newspaper files at the library of Con-
gress and found in Paulson's Ameri-
x:a7i Daily Advertiser of Philadelphia
of June 3, 1829, the following obit-
uarj^ notice :

Died in Middleton, N. H., May 12, 1829
■George Roberts, aged 74 years, a Revolutionary
soldier. He was an able seaman, and served
under the renowned John Paul Jones on board
the Ranger^ was at the taking of the Drake^ a
very superior ship after a severe action of one
hour and forty-five minutes, and had charge of
two guns in that quarter of the ship called by
the seamen the " slaughter house/* He was a
-favorite of his captain and first of his boat's
-crew.

In the same paper in the issue of
November 14, 1829, the following
appeared :

REMINISCENCE OF PAUL JONES.

[From the Natchez (Miss.) Ariel.]

Mr. Editor: — I observed in a late number
of your paper a notice of the death of George
Roberts of Middleton, N. H., at the age of 74
years. The notice of his death was crowded
into that column of your paper usually allotted
to the recording of such events, and among no-
tices of the decease of several other Revolution-
ary soldiers, it stated his numerous services ;
that he had served under Paul Jones on various
occasions, and that he was an able seaman.]

Sir: — I knew George Roberts well. I served
with him under our noble commander, in the
same ship, and on the same perilous cruises, and
fought side by side in the same engagements,
and that he was an able seaman, an honest man,
and a brave man, is true, and it is the desire of
an old man to offer a tribute to the memory of
an old fellow-sailor.

We were sailors under Paul Jones, in his ex-
pedition against the British in 1778, when he
terrified the commerce of that country by con-
stantly hovering about the coast of Scotland and
Ireland, though having only a ship of eighteen

guns. When Jones landed on the coast of Scot-
land, and took away all the family plate of the
Earl of Selkirk, Roberts was one of the sailors
who marched into the castle while that strange
deed was done. I remained on board the ship.
The plate was all brought on board and safely
disposed of; though as it turned out, much to
the commodore's loss, as he afterwards bought
it up in Paris and returned it to the owner. He
intended to capture the earl and detain him as a
hostage, but being absent from home at the time
we landed it was prevented.

In 1779, Roberts and I sailed again under our
noble commander from Brest in France, in the
Good Aftrn Richard^ carrying 40 guns and 420
men. She was an old ship, and not fit for the
hard service we put her to, as it afterwards came
out. On the 22d of September, off Flambor-
ough Head, we fell in with the Baltic fleet, un-
der the convoy of the frigate Serapis^ of 56 guns,
and of the sloop Countess of Scarborough, a very
heavy ship, but I do not recollect hearing how
many guns she carried. Just as the moon rose,
at eight in the evening, the enemy fired his first
broadside, when within pistol shot of us. And
now a most murderous scene began.

The action raged with horrid violence, and
the blood ran ankle deep out of the ship's scup-
pers. Our rigging was cut to atoms, and finally
both .ships took fire, so that both friend and foe
were obliged to rest from fighting that they
might extinguish the flames. The Richard be-
ing old, was soon shot through and through and
began to sink. In this awful condition, Jones's
voice was heard above the din of the battle,
ordering to grapple with the enemy. We ac-
cordingly made our ship fast to the Scrapis, and
it was easily done, as the two ships were so
near each other that when I drew out the ram-
mer to the gun I belonged to, the end of it
touched the side of the Serapis. Thus fastened
together, we fought without resting, until nearly
all our guns were burst or dismantled — the ship
nearly full of water — and Lieutenant Grubb shot
dead by Jones's own pistol, for hauling down
the colors without orders, and which happened
at my elbow, our decks covered with dead and
dying, and our ship cut up into splinters.

While in this awful and desperate situation,
my friend Roberts, seeing how near spent we
were, jumped on to the main yard of our vessel,
which projected directly over the decks of the
Serapis, with a bundle of hand grenades. These
he contrived to throw down upon the Serapis's
deck, and succeeded in blowing up two or three
of their powder chests, the explosion of which
killed and wounded a great many men. The

8

A SKETCH OF GEORGE ROBERTS,

captain of the Serapit perceiving his activity,
ordered some shots fired at Roberts. One of
them struck the rope by which h^ supported
himself, and caused him to fall on the gunwale
of the enemy's ship, which observing, I caught
hold of him and pulled him aboard. He imme-
diately got on the same yard-arm again, with a
fresh supply of hand grenades, and made such
dreadful havoc on the enemy's deck that in a
few minutes they surrendered. For this great
bravery Paul Jones publicly thanked him on the
quarter-deck of the SerapU the next afternoon,
giving him double allowance of grog for the
week afterwards.

It was near midnight when the action termin-
ated. The top of Flamborough Head, which is
a high rock that overlooks the sea, was covered
with people watching the engagement, and dread-
ful the sight must have been. The next day, our
ship sunk, being fairly battered to pieces by the
enemy's shot, as they poured a murderous fire
into us all the while. Commodore Dale, who
died in Philadelphia about two years ago, was
Jones's second lieutenant, and Was badly
wounded about the middle of the action.^ He
was ordered to go below though he still wished
to fight on deck. After he went down he was
very useful in taking care of a large number Of
English prisoners we had on board. We had
135 men killed, and nearly as many wounded
and missing. The Serapis had about the same
number killed as we had, and had 80 wounded.

Captain Pearson, the English commander,

fought nobly, and defended his ship to the last.

He had nailed his flag to the mast, and was

afraid to haul it down when he surrendered, as

none of his men would go up to tear it away,

because they dreaded our sharpshooter in our

round tops. So. when he concluded to give up,
he mounted the gunwale just where I was stand-
ing, and called out in a loud voice, ** We sur-
render, we surrender." Captain Jones not hear-,
ing this, I left my gun and ran and told him of
it. He instantly ordered the firing to cease and
the flag hauled down, but no Englishman would
do it, as musket shots were still exchanged be-
tween the two vessels. On hearing this George
Roberts jumped aboard the enemy's ship,
mounted the tattered shrouds, and hacked down
the British ensign from its proud height. As it
fell, what I consider as very remarkable, a cap
full of wind took it and laid it directly at Jones's
feet, at the same time spreading it nearly all
over the dead body of Lieutenant Grubb, who
in the heat of the fight was lying dead upon the
deck. When the crew of the Richard saw the
flag fall, they gave thirteen tremendous cheers,
at which Captain Pearson shrunk back from his
high stand into the shadow of his mizzen mast.

When we returned from this cruise, being;
affected in my hearing by a splinter, which
struck me under the ear, I left the service, and
heard no more of my friend Roberts, from that
time until I saw his death inserted in your pa-
per. He was a true-hearted and honest man,,
and bold to a degree not to be daunted. He
was younger than me, and yet he has closed his^
eyes in that sleep to which all of us, soldiers or
not, must one day give up. J. h.

A copy of a paper containing the
above communication was in posses-
sion of my grandmother. A few
years after the death of her husband,
she made application for a pension
through Hon. Nehemiah Eastman,
lawyer, of Farmington, and gave him.
the paper. In 1855 it was found in
Mr. Eastman's scrap book by Asa-
McParland of Concord, editor of the
New Hampshire Statesman^ who made
it the basis for a letter to his paper,
which appeared in the issue of Au-
gust II, of that year.

The scrap book is now in the libra-
ry of Mr. Fred R. Oilman of I^aconia,
a relative of the Eastman family.

[In acknowledgment of receipt of
magazines and copy of sketch, I re-
ceived the following :

Schenectady, N. Y., Aug. 27, 1902.

Mr, Charles H, Roberts,

My Dkar Sir: Your magazines and pam-
phlets were duly received for which please
accept my thaAks. I was much interested in
reading the article on your grandfather. There
has always been some controversy among writers
on John Paul Jones's life, as to whether Pear-
son had actually nailed his flag to the masi or
whether it was merely a figure of speech. The
article of the " Old Sailor, which ^ou publish,
seems to me to dispose of this question, for your
grandfather had to climb the mast in order to
cut down the flag. The article is no doubt cor-
rect in all its detail, as it was written at a time
and by a man removed from all motive of em-
bellishment and before any of these nice points
had arisen among historians and critics.

I have cut down one of your pamphlets and
bound it in the back of my favorite history of
the Life of John Paul Jones, that it may throw
a new light on an old subject for those who may
come after me.

Very sincerely yours,

Geo. W. Featherstonhaugh.

^In the bioKraphical notice of Oommodore Dale in Appleton^a Encyclopedia, he is credited with the
rank ot first lieutenant at the time of the battle.