Miner Descent

Edward HARRADEN (1624 – 1683)  was Alex’s 10th Great Grandfather; one of 2,048 in this generation of the Miller line.

Edward Harraden – Coat of Arms

Edward Harraden was born about 1624 in Edburton, Sussex, England. His parents were Jonathan HARRADEN and [__?__]. A few sources state that Edward’s father died in Salem, Mass. in 1630, but I can’t find evidence to support this assertion.  Edward married Sarah [__?__].    He came to America from either Petworth parish, Storrington parish, or Edburton Parish, all in Sussex, England.  He was one of the first residents of Annisquam, a small waterfront neighborhood located in the City of Gloucester located on the North Shore of Massachusetts.  Edward died on 17 May 1683 in Gloucester, Mass.

Edward Harraden house at 12-14 Leonard Street, Gloucester, Mass  The house was built in 1660 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Sarah [__?__] was born in 1630 in England.  Sarah died 4 Mar 1691 in Gloucester, Mass.

Children of  Edward and Sarah:

It is possible that Edward was originally an O’Hara from Ireland, and changed his name in England.

Edward came to Gloucester from Ipswich and in 1657, he bought a house, barn and all of his land, from Robert Dutch. Part of this property was on Planter’s Neck, where Dutch had a fishing-stage. Haraden added to his possessions at this place by subsequent purchases, and appears to have been the first permanent settler in that section of town. The place of his residence and business was undoubtedly Annisquam Point.

Click Here for a Google Satellite View of the Edward Harraden House on 14 Leonard Street on Annisquam Point, Gloucester, Mass.  Check out all the boats

Plaque at Planters Neck, Gloucester, Mass from 1930, acknowledging its tercentennial.

Planters Neck is the peninsula portion of Annisquam, west of Lobster Cove, with convenient access to Mill River (which was impounded in the 17th century to provide the first water power for milling corn), the Annisquam River and Ipswich Bay.  It was divided up into house lots by the early settlers, or planters.  Copeland and Rogers write that:

“One of the generally accepted stories about the early settlement of the Cape is that in 1631 a band of Pilgrims came across Massachusetts Bay and settled at Planters Neck, where they set up a fishing stage.  The leader of that band is said to have been Abraham Robinson, and it also has been generally accepted that he was the son of Reverend John Robinson who had been pastor of the Pilgrims in Holland before they migrated to Plymouth.

Gloucester was founded at Cape Ann by an expedition called the “Dorchester Company” of men from Dorchester(in the county of Dorset, England) chartered by James I in 1623. This date allows Gloucester to boast the first settlement in what would become the Massachusetts Bay Colony, as this town’s first settlement predates bothSalem, Massachusetts in 1626, and Boston in 1630. This first company of pioneers made landing at Half Moon Beach, and settled nearby, setting up fishing stages in a field in what is now Stage Fort Park. This settlement’s existence is proclaimed today by a memorial tablet, affixed to a 50′ boulder in that park.

Gloucester, Essex, Mass

Life in this first settlement was harsh and it was short-lived. Around 1626 the place was abandoned, and the people removed themselves to Naumkeag (what is now called Salem, Massachusetts), where more fertile soil for planting was to be found. The meetinghouse was even disassembled and relocated to the new place of settlement. At some point in the following years – though no record exists – the area was slowly resettled. The town was formally incorporated in 1642. It is at this time that the name “Gloucester” first appears on tax rolls, although in various spellings. The town took its name from the city of Gloucester in South-West England, where it is assumed many of its new occupants originated.

The first European settlement in Annisquam was established in 1631, and the name is said to derive from Ann (as in Cape Ann) and squam, meaning harbor. In the late 19th-century, it was home to both granite quarrying and an artist colony, which attracted painters including George Loftus Noyes and Margaret Fitzhugh Browne.

Annisquam Village

A few miles across Cape Ann from downtown Gloucester, Annisquam is primarily a residential neighborhood. Its only businesses include a restaurant and marina, a small hotel, a real estate company, a library and the Annisquam Yacht Club, founded in 1896. Because of its small size, historic architecture and secluded geography, Annisquam remains a popular summer resort.

At the mouth of the Annisquam River on Ipswich Bay is Annisquam Harbor Light, perhaps the village’s most historic edifice. The lighthouse has been in the same spot since 1801, having undergone significant repairs in 1850.

23 Sep 1666 Ipswich Court – Edward Harraden v. James Steevens and Anthony Day. Verdict for plaintiff.*

‘William Hascall, jr., deposed that the constable’s deputy of Cape Ann came to him when at work and charged him with his black staff to assist him in his Majesty’s name. They went to Goodman Harridine’s dock where there were two loads of hay on canoes. Then James Steevens and Anthony Day, the deputy, carried away the hay, etc. Sworn in court.

William Linkhorne deposed. Sworn in court.

Clemant Couldum deposed that he and Thomas Riggs were coming down Annisquam river and saw the deputy with the hay, etc. Also for need of hay Goodman Harridine’s cattle were so poor that they could hardly go in the spring, etc. Sworn in court.

William Linkhorne deposed that Edward Harridine was fain to give his cattle wheat for want of hay, and that one of his cattle and four calves died, etc. Sworn in court.

Children

1. Mary Harrandaine

Mary’s husband Abraham Robinson was born 1644 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass. His parents were Abraham Robinson and Mary [__?__]. Abraham died 28 Dec 1724 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass.  It was a common saying that Abraham lived to be 102.

The Robinsons and their kin folk (1906) by Robinson Family Genealogical and Historical Association argues that Abraham’s grandfather was the famous Rev. John Robinson.  The main argument is since John had two sons Isaac and Jacob, he must have had an Abraham first because the Robinsons liked to name their children in patriarchal order.

John Robinson (1575 – 1625) was the pastor of the “Pilgrim Fathers” before they left on the Mayflower. He became one of the early leaders of the English Separatists, minister of the Pilgrims, and is regarded (along with Robert Browne) as one of the founders of the Congregational Church.

Known children of John Robinson and Bridget White:

1. Ann, the oldest of the children, born at Norwich, and named in honor of her grandmother in Sturton, married Jan Schetter of Utrecht before 1622, so her name was not listed in the register. She was left a widow by the autumn of 1625.
2. John, born in Scrooby in 1606, matriculated at the University of Leyden, April 5, 1633.
3. Bridget, born at Leyden about 1608, married (1) John Greenwood, who studied theology at the University of Leyden in 1629. After his death, she married (2) William Lee of Amsterdam in 1637.
4. Isaac, born at Leyden in 1610. Arrived in Plymouth Colony on the Lyon in 1631. Married (1) Margaret Handford; (2) Mary Faunce.
5. Mercy, born at Leyden in 1612, was buried in 1623.
6. Fear, born at Leyden in 1614, married John Jennings, Jr. in 1648 and lived her life in Leyden. He died in 1664, leaving three children. She died before May 31, 1670.
7. Jacob, born at Leyden in 1616, married (name unknown). Died in May, 1638, and is buried in St. Peter’s Church.

2. Edward Haraden

Edward’s first wife Sarah Haskell was born 28 Jun 1660 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass. Her parents were William Haskell and Mary Tybott. Sarah died 4 Mar 1691 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass.

Edward’s second wife Hannah York was born  about 1664 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass. Her parents were Samuel York and Hannah [__?__]. Hannah died 4 Sep 1725 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass.

3. Elizabeth HARRADEN (See Thomas PRINCE Jr.‘s page)

5. Ann Harraden

Ann’s husband John Davis was born 10 Mar 1659/60 in Gloucester, Mass. His parents were James Davis and Mehitable [__?__]. John died 16 Mar 1729 in  Gloucester or Amesbury, Mass.

6. Captain John Harraden

John’s wife Sarah Giddlings was born 1672 in Ipswich, Essex, Mass. Her parents were John Giddings and Sarah Alcock. Sarah died 10 Oct 1722 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass.

John was one of the first settlers of Planters Neck, Cape Ann ; engaged, 1709, in service of the Colony ; was master of a sloop fitted out to take a supposed French privateer. In 1711 he was pilot of HMS Montague, (sixty guns, commanded by Sir George Walton) in the disastrous expedition against Canada and received an allowance from the General Court in 1774  [50 years after his death?]

HMS Montague – Launched in 1654 as the Lyme a 52-gun third rate Speaker-class frigate built for the navy of the Commonwealth of England at Portsmouth  After the Restoration in 1660 she was renamed HMS Montague. She was widened in 1675 and underwent her first rebuild in 1698 at Woolwich Dockyard as a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line. Her second rebuild took place at Portsmouth Dockyard, from where she was relaunched on 26 July 1716 as a 60-gun fourth rate to the 1706 Establishment.  Montague was broken up in 1749.

A Fourth Rate, 60 gun Ship of the Line

A third rate was a ship of the line which  mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability (speed, handling), firepower, and cost. So, while first rates and second rates were both larger and more powerful, the third-rate ships were in a real sense the optimal configuration.

By contrast, Jack Aubrey’s Surprise was a 6th Rate with 28 guns.

During the voyage Walton and the Montagu captured two prizes. After the failure of the expedition, Walton returned to England and was appointed to act as commander-in-chief at Portsmouth in December 1712.

He returned to sea again when he was appointed to command HMS Defiance in early January 1718, followed by a return to his old ship, Canterbury. In the Canterbury he joined the fleet under George Byng and sailed for the Mediterranean. He had a large part in the Battle of Cape Passaro on 31 July 1718 and was given command of a detached five-ship squadron and sent to pursue a division of the Spanish fleet. Walton achieved a substantial victory with his small command, capturing six ships and destroying six more in the Strait of Messina. Modest in victory, he wrote to Byng on 5 August to inform him of his success, a letter described by The Gentleman’s Magazine as ‘remarkable for naval Eloquence’. It read

‘Sir, we have taken and destroyed all the Spanish ships which were upon the coast: the number as per margin’

This resulted in Thomas Corbett pronouncing him fitter to achieve a ‘gallant action’ than to describe one.

Sir George Walton (1665 – 1734) by Bartholomew Dandridge

The Quebec Expedition, or the Walker Expedition to Quebec, was a British attempt to attack Quebec in 1711 in Queen Anne’s War, the North American theatre of the War of Spanish Succession. It failed because of a shipping disaster on the Saint Lawrence River on 22 August 1711, when seven transports and one storeship were wrecked and some 850 soldiers drowned; the disaster was at the time one of the worst naval disasters in British history.

The expedition was planned by the administration of Robert Harley, and was based on plans originally proposed in 1708. Harley decided to mount the expedition as part of a major shift in British military policy, emphasizing strength at sea. The expedition’s leaders, Admiral Hovenden Walker and Brigadier-General John Hill, were chosen for their politics and connections to the crown, and its plans were kept secret even from the Admiralty. Despite the secrecy, French agents were able to discover British intentions and warn authorities in Quebec.

The expedition expected to be fully provisioned in Boston, but the city was unprepared when it arrived, and Massachusetts authorities had to scramble to provide even three months’ supplies. Admiral Walker also had difficulty acquiring experienced pilots and accurate charts for navigating the waters of the lower Saint Lawrence. The expedition reached the Gulf of Saint Lawrence without incident, but foggy conditions, tricky currents, and strong winds combined to drive the fleet toward the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence near a place now called Pointe-aux-Anglais, where the ships were wrecked. Following the disaster, Walker abandoned the expedition’s objectives and returned to England. Although the expedition was a failure, Harley continued to implement his “blue water” policy.

Expedition to Quebec 1711 –  The approximate site where the fleet went aground  is marked in red on this 1733 map detail.

The fleet arrived in Boston on 24 June, and the troops were disembarked onto Noddle’s Island (the present-day location of Logan International Airport). The size of the force was, according to historian Samuel Adams Drake, “the most formidable that had ever crossed the Atlantic under the English flag.” Since the fleet had left with insufficient supplies, its organizers expected it to be fully provisioned in Boston. Since the number of soldiers and sailors outnumbered the population of Boston at the time, this proved a daunting task. Laws were passed to prevent merchants from price-gouging, but sufficient provisions were eventually acquired.  Additional laws were passed penalizing residents found harbouring deserters from the fleet; apparently the attraction of colonial life was sufficient that this was a significant problem during the five weeks the expedition was in Boston.

During the expedition’s sojourn in Boston, Walker attempted to enlist pilots experienced in navigating the Saint Lawrence River. To his dismay, none were forthcoming; even Captain Cyprian Southack, reputed to be one of the colony’s best navigators, claimed he had never been beyond the river’s mouth.  Walker intended to rely principally on a Frenchman he had picked up in Plymouth prior to the fleet’s departure. Samuel Vetch, however, deeply distrusted the Frenchman, writing that he was “not only an ignorant, pretending, idle, drunken Fellow”, but that he “is come upon no good Design”.  Following this report, Walker also bribed a Captain Paradis, the captain of a captured French sloop, to serve as navigator.  The charts Walker accumulated were notably short in details on the area around the mouth the Saint Lawrence, as was the journal Sir William Phips kept of his 1690 expedition to Quebec, which Walker also acquired. Walker interviewed some participants in the Phips expedition, whose vague tales did nothing to relieve his concerns about what he could expect on the river. These concerns prompted him to detach his largest and heaviest ships for cruising duty, and he transferred his flag to the 70-gun Edgar.

On 30 July, the fleet set sail from Boston. It consisted of a mix of British and colonial ships, including nine ships of war, two bomb vessels, and 60 transports and tenders. It carried 7,500 troops and about 6,000 sailors.  By 3 August the fleet reached to coast of Nova Scotia, and Samuel Vetch piloted the fleet around Cape Breton and Cape North and into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

On the morning of the 18 August, just as the expedition was about to enter the Saint Lawrence River, the wind began to blow hard from the northwest, and Walker was forced to seek shelter in Gaspé Bay. On the morning of the 20th, the wind veered to the southeast, and he was able to advance slowly past the western extremity of Anticosti Island before it died down and thick fog blanketed both shore and fleet. By the 22nd, the wind had freshened from the southeast, and there were intermittent breaks in the fog, but not sufficient to give sight of land. At this point the fleet was west of Anticosti at a point where the Saint Lawrence was about 70 miles  wide, but it narrowed noticeably at a point where the river’s North Shore made a sharp turn, running nearly north-south.  This area, near what is now called Pointe-aux-Anglais, includes a number of small islands, including Île-aux-Oeufs (Egg Island), and numerous rocky shallows. After consulting his pilots, Walker gave the signal to head the fleet roughly southwest at about 8:00 pm.

Walker had thought he was in mid-stream when he issued the order. In fact, he was about seven leagues (about 20 miles) north of his proper course, and in the grasp of strong currents which steered his ships towards the northwest. Aided by an easterly wind, the fleet was gradually closing on the “North Shore“, which in the vicinity of Île-aux-Oeufs (Egg Island) runs almost north and south.When Captain Paddon reported to Walker that land had been sighted around 10:30 pm, presumably dead ahead, Walker assumed that the fleet was approaching the south shore, and ordered the fleet to wear, and bring-to on the other tack before heading to bed. This maneouvre put the fleet onto a more northerly heading. Some minutes later, an army captain named Goddard roused Walker, claiming to see breakers ahead. Walker dismissed the advice and the man, but Goddard returned, insisting that the admiral “come upon deck myself, or we should certainly be lost”.

Walker came on deck in his dressing gown, and saw that the ship was being driven toward the western lee shore by the east wind. When the French navigator came on deck, he explained to Walker where he was; Walker immediately ordered the anchor cables cut, and beat against the wind to escape the danger. Two of the warships, Montague [John Haraden’s ship] and Windsor, had more difficulty, and ended up anchored for the night in a precarious situation, surrounded by breakers. Throughout the night, Walker heard sounds of distress, and at times when the fog lifted, ships could be seen in the distance being ground against the rocks. One New Englander wrote that he could “hear the shrieks of the sinking, drowning, departing souls.” Around 2:00 am the wind subsided, and then shifted to the northwest, and most of the fleet managed to stand away from the shore.

It took three days to discover the full extent of the disaster, during which the fleet searched for survivors. Seven transports and one supply ship were lost. Walker’s initial report was that 884 soldiers perished; later reports revised this number down to 740, including women attached to some of the units. Historian Gerald Graham estimates that about 150 sailors also perished in the disaster. After rescuing all he could, Walker and Hill held a war council on 25 August. After interviewing a number of the pilots, including Samuel Vetch, the council decided “that by reason of the Ignorance of the Pilots abord the Men of War”, the expedition should be aborted.Vetch openly blamed Walker for the disaster: “The late disaster cannot, in my humble opinion, be anyways imputed to the difficulty of navigation, but to the wrong course we steered, which most unavoidably carried us upon the north shore.”

The fleet sailed down the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and came to anchor at Spanish River (now the harbour of Sydney, Nova Scotia) on 4 September, where a council was held to discuss whether or not to attack the French at Plaisance. Given the lateness of the season, insufficient supplies to overwinter in the area, and rumours of strong defences at Plaisance, the council decided against making the attack, and sailed for England.

Francis Nicholson’s land expedition learned of the naval disaster when it was encamped near Lake George; Nicholson aborted the expedition. He was reported to be so angry that he tore off his wig and threw it to the ground.

The expedition’s fortunes did not improve on the return voyage. Walker had written to New York requesting the HMS Feversham and any available supply ships to join him; unbeknownst to him, the Feversham and three transports (Joseph, Mary, and Neptune) were wrecked on the coast of Cape Breton on 7 October with more than 100 men lost. The fleet returned to Portsmouth on 10 October; Walker’s flagship, the Edgar, blew up several days, possibly due to improper handling of gunpowder.  Walker lost a number of papers as a result, and claimed that the journal of William Phips was lost in the blast.

Despite the magnitude of the expedition’s failure, the political consequences were relatively mild. The failure was an early setback in Robert Harley‘s “blue water” policy, which called for the aggressive use of the navy to keep England’s enemies at bay; however, Harley continued to implement it, withdrawing further resources from European military campaigns.  Since the project had been organized by the current government, it was also not interested in delving deeply into the reasons for its failure. Walker was sympathetically received by the queen, and both he and Hill were given new commands.  Walker eventually wrote a detailed and frank account of the expedition, based on his memory as well as surviving journals and papers; it is reprinted in Graham. Walker was stripped of his rank in 1715 (amid a larger change of power including the accession of King George I), and died in 1728.

Popular sentiment in England tended to fault the colonies for failing to properly support the expedition, citing parsimony and stubbornness as reasons. These sentiments were rejected in the colonies, where Nicholson and Governor Dudley instead blamed Walker.  The relations between the military leadership and the colonial populations was not always cordial during the army’s stay outside Boston, and foreshadowed difficult relations between civilians and military occupiers in the political conflicts that preceded the American Revolutionary War. One of Hill’s officers wrote of the “ill Nature and Sowerness of these People, whose Government, Doctrine, and Manners, whose Hypocracy and canting, are unsupportable”, and further commented that unless they were brought under firmer control, the colonists would “grow more stiff and disobedient every Day.” Colonists noted with some disgust the fact that both Walker and Hill escaped censure for the expedition’s failure.

Children of John and Sarah

i. John Harraden b. 11 Nov 1695 in Gloucester

ii. Sarah Harraden b. 13 May 1698 in Gloucester

iii. Mary Harraden b. 14 Mar 1699 in Gloucester

iv. Andrew Harraden b. 11 Jul 1702 in Gloucester  m.   Mary Davis 17 Sep 1724 in Gloucester, Mass

Mary Davis was born 8 May 1697 in Gloucester, Mass.    Her parents were Jacob Davis and Mary Haskell.

In 1723 and 1724 a gang of pirates and freebooters under command of the notorious John Phillips infested the New England waters. During their first season of marine depredations they had taken 34 vessels, which they looted, killing or maltreating crews. In April, 1724, the sloop Squirrel of Annisquam, commanded by Andrew Haraden, while engaged on a fishing voyage was taken by Phillips. The Squirrel was a fine new craft, therefore Phillips abandoned his own vessel and appropriated the fisherman for his piratical purposes. The vessel had been sent to sea so hastily that the craft had not been finished inside, consequently tools were left aboard to complete the work when the conditions were unfavorable for fishing.

John Phillips forces a captive to drink alcohol. Engraving from The Pirates’ Own Book.

Phillips employed Haraden and the other prisoners in the finishing of the craft. One of the men, Edward Cheeseman planned a recapture. Midnight of the 18th was the time appointed. The vessel was ploughing through the water at a lively rate when Cheeseman seized John Nott, one of the pirate chiefs, who was on deck and threw him overboard. At the same time Haraden despatched Phillips with a blow from an adze, James Sparks the pirates’ gunner suffered the same fate as Nott, while a man named Burrell, the boatswain was killed with a broad axe. Capt. Haraden sailed home to Squam with the heads of Phillips and Burrell fixed at the mast head of the recaptured craft.

A number of prisoners were brought in, but on trial at Boston all but two were acquitted on the charge of piracy, it being held that they were forced men. Four, John Rose Archer, William White, William Phillips and William Taylor were found guilty of piracy and were sentenced to death.

The pirates gave widely reprinted speeches before their executions. Archer blamed drinking but also blamed brutal merchant captains who drove oppressed sailors to seek piracy as a tempting way to escape.

The first two were hung at Charlestown Ferry and White’s body was suspended in irons on Bird Island. The last two were reprieved for a year and a day to be recommended to the King’s mercy. It is said that Hangman’s Island in Annisquam river, now covered by the raiload bed received the name from the fact that two of the bodies of the dead pirates were suspended from gibbets erected in its center.

The General Court granted Haraden, Cheeseman and Philmore £42 each, and £32 each to five others concerned in the recapture and breaking up of this dangerous gang of buccaneers.

More about John Philips

John Phillips (died April 18, 1724) was an English pirate captain. He started his piratical career in 1721 under Thomas Anstis, and stole his own pirate vessel in 1723. He died in a surprise attack by his own prisoners. He is noted for the articles of his ship, the Revenge, one of only four complete sets of pirate articles to survive from the so-called Golden Age of Piracy.

Captain John Phillips’s articles

I. Every Man Shall obey civil Command; the Captain shall have one full Share and a half of all Prizes; the Master, Carpenter, Boatswain and Gunner shall have one Share and quarter.

II. If any Man shall offer to run away, or keep any Secret from the Company, he shall be marooned with one Bottle of Powder, one Bottle of Water, one small Arm, and Shot.  [not followed as you will see below]

III. If any Man shall steal any Thing in the Company, or game, to the Value of a Piece of Eight, he shall be marooned or shot.

IV. If any time we shall meet another Marooner that Man shall sign his Articles without the Consent of our Company, shall suffer such Punishment as the Captain and Company shall think fit.

V. That Man that shall strike another whilst these Articles are in force, shall receive Moses’s Law (that is, 40 Stripes lacking one) on the bare Back.

VI. That Man that shall snap his Arms, or smoke Tobacco in the Hold, without a Cap to his Pipe, or carry a Candle lighted without a Lanthorn, shall suffer the same Punishment as in the former Article.

VII. That Man shall not keep his Arms clean, fit for an Engagement, or neglect his Business, shall be cut off from his Share, and suffer such other Punishment as the Captain and the Company shall think fit.

VIII. If any Man shall lose a Joint in time of an Engagement, shall have 400 Pieces of Eight ; if a Limb, 800.

IX. If at any time you meet with a prudent Woman, that Man that offers to meddle with her, without her Consent, shall suffer present Death.

Phillips was a ship’s carpenter by trade. While voyaging from England to Newfoundland, his ship was captured on April 19, 1721 by Thomas Anstis‘s pirates. Phillips was forced to join the pirates, as skilled artisans often were. Phillips “was soon reconciled to the life of a Pirate,” and served Anstis as carpenter for a year.

In April, 1722, Anstis sent Phillips and some other men ashore on Tobago to careen a captured frigate. A British warship soon arrived, forcing Anstis to flee and abandon Phillips and his comrades. Phillips avoided capture by hiding in the woods, and later returned to Bristol in England with other abandoned shipmates, where they gave up piracy for a time.

Some of Phillips’ pirate comrades were arrested and imprisoned shortly after their arrival in Bristol, prompting Phillips to take ship again for Newfoundland. There, he conspired to steal a ship and return to piracy. On August 29, 1723, with only four companions, Phillips seized a schooner belonging to William Minott from Petty Harbour, renamed her Revenge, and embarked on a new piratical voyage.  Phillips’ crewmen were John Nutt (sailing master), James Sparks (gunner), Thomas Fern (carpenter), and William White (tailor and private crewman). They agreed promptly to a set of articles. Significantly, Phillips’ articles forbade rape under penalty of death; Anstis’s crew had committed a notorious gang rape and murder while Phillips was serving with them.

Phillips set sail for the West Indies, capturing several fishing vessels on the way. Aboard one of these prizes was John Rose Archer, reputed to be a former crewman of Blackbeard; Archer joined Phillips and was elected quartermaster.   On September 5, Phillips captured John Fillmore, great-grandfather of later U.S. president Millard Fillmore, aboard the sloop Dolphin, and forced him into service at White’s suggestion. This increased the Revenge’s total crew to 11.  Proceeding to the Caribbean, Phillips and his men hunted for merchantmen near Barbados. They made no captures for three months, and ran severely short of food and supplies, before finally taking some French and English vessels. They went on to Tobago, where Phillips searched for some of his abandoned comrades from Anstis’s crew, but found only one survivor, a black man named Pedro. Phillips careened the Revenge and took Pedro aboard.

The Revenge captured another vessel after leaving Tobago, and the carpenter Thomas Fern, in charge of the prize crew, attempted to escape with the stolen vessel. The Revenge overtook Fern and captured him, killing one of the prize crew and wounding another. Fern and one of his crewmates tried and failed to escape again later that winter, and Phillips killed them both. Charles Johnson describes this killing as being “pursuant to their Articles,” but as Phillips’ Article II specifies marooning rather than outright execution as the punishment for running away, this may be an error or may reflect the articles being amended at some point.

Somewhere to the north of Tobago, in March 1723, Phillips captured two more ships, killing a ship’s master named Robert Mortimer when the latter attacked the pirates in an attempt to regain his vessel. The pirates continued northward arriving at Cape Sable, Nova Scotia on April 1, 1723. Here Phillips met great success as he raided New England fishing vessels working the fishing banks between Cape Sable and Sable Island.  His men robbed some 13 vessels over the course of a few days.   One vessel they spared was a schooner which belonged to William Minott, the original owner of Revenge as Phillips declared “We have done him enough injury.

The last of these captures near Nova Scotia was a sloop commanded by Andrew Harradine and you know that story already!

Phillips was essentially a small-time criminal as compared to pirates like Roberts; he commanded only a small schooner, and at the time of his death he had just 11 men under his command, as compared to the 276 men captured aboard Roberts’ vessels, or the four-ship flotilla with which Blackbeard blockaded Charleston. Faced with a shortage of manpower, Phillips and his men frequently threatened prisoners to try to induce them to sign their articles, refused to honor promises of release to prisoners like Fillmore, and savagely punished anyone trying to leave the ship.

However Phillips is important to scholars of piracy because his articles have survived, through reprinting in Charles Johnson’s General History of the Pyrates. Only three other complete or near-complete sets of articles appear in the secondary literature (those of Roberts, Gow and a single code shared by Low and Lowther). These few articles underpin much of scholarly insight into life aboard pirate vessels.

The written account by John Fillmore of life aboard Phillips’ schooner Revenge is one of the few surviving primary sources by an eyewitness to piracy during the Golden Age.

Fillmore does not mention Phillips using a Jolly Roger during the capture of the Dolphin.  However, Phillips reportedly used a red flag during his capture of a Martinique vessel toward the end of 1723; at the sight of the flag and Phillips’ threat to show no quarter, the larger and more heavily armed crew of the Martinique vessel surrendered without firing a shot.

Phillips’ flag was turned over to Massachusetts authorities when his victorious prisoners sailed the Revenge into Annisquam. The Boston News-Letter described the flag as follows: “their own dark flag, in the middle of which an anatomy, and at one side of it a dart in the heart, with drops of blood proceeding from it; and on the other side an hour-glass.”

John Phillips Pirate Flag

Phillips is also significant as an example of the short-lived but destructive bands of pirates who branched out from much larger pirate crews led by Anstis and Blackbeard. He ended a line of pirate captains who had successively been captured by other pirates, joined their captors, and ascended to command. Phillips’ captor and mentor, Anstis, had himself been captured by Bartholomew Roberts, who was in turn a former captive of Howell Davis, who had turned to piracy after falling into Edward England‘s hands. This line sprang originally from the pirate den on Nassau, Bahamas, which had served as a base for Davis, England, and many other robber captains. His quartermaster Archer had originally served with Blackbeard, continuing the influence of Blackbeard’s formidable crew long after it was defeated in battle in 1718.

v. Thomas Harraden b. 27 Jun 1704 in Gloucester

vi. Jean Harradan b. 29 Aug 1706 in Gloucester

vii. Job Harraden b. 24 Mar 1708 in Gloucester

viii. Jonathan Harradan b. 28 Sep 1712 in Gloucester

ix. Joseph Harraden b. 3 Nov 1710 in Gloucester d. 1751 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass; m. Joanna Emerson (1710 – 1758). Joseph’s son Jonathan Haraden (11 Nov 1744 – 23 Nov 1803) was a privateer during the American Revolution.

Jonathan joined the Massachusetts State Navy in July 1776 as First Lieutenant of the sloop-of-war Tyrannicide, fourteen guns. On board for two years, he captured many prizes, becoming her commander in 1777.

First Lieutenant Jonathan Haraden was promoted to command Tyrannicide when Captain Fisk assumed command of the brig Massachusetts. The two ships sailed together for the coast of Europe on 24 March 1777. They captured the brig Eagle, the snowSally out of London with a cargo of English goods for Quebec, and then on 2 April Chalkley out of Honduras bound for Bristol with a cargo of mahogany at 41° 30′ N, 45° W. On 8 April Tyrannicide captured the 500-ton barque Lonsdale after a three-hour engagement at 35° W. Massachusetts and Tyrannicide cooperated in the 22 April capture of a brig straggling from a British convoy at 48° N, 16° W.  Tyrannicide captured the 160-ton brig Trepassy on 30 April, but became separated from Massachusetts while being chased by a superior British squadron on 17 May. Tyrannicide escaped to Bilbao, Spain after throwing guns and stores overboard to lighten the ship, and returned to Boston on 30 August 1777.

Tyrannicide sailed with Hazard on 21 November 1777 and captured the 130 ton brig Alexander on 13 December. Alexander was out of Halifax with a cargo of fish, oil, lumber and staves bound for the West Indies. The prize was retaken by HMS Yarmouth on 22 January 1778 off Barbadoes. Tyrannicide captured the schooner Good Intent on 22 December and the brig Polly (both out of Newfoundland with cargoes of fish and hoops) and then the snow Swift with a cargo of flour out of Bristol. Tyrannicide left the West Indies on 30 March 1778 and returned to Boston in May.

In 1778, Haraden began his career as a privateersman, commanding the General Pickering, sloop of fourteen guns. On October 13, 1779, he engaged three British privateers off New Jersey simultaneously and captured a twenty-two gun sloop in the Bay of Biscay. When the larger British privateer, Achilles of forty guns, attempted to recapture the sloop a few days later, Haraden forced it to disengage after three hours’ action at close quarters. In 1781, he was briefly captured by Admiral George Rodney in the West Indies, but escaped. Haraden sailed privateer Julius Caesar in 1782.   After the War of Independence, Haraden’s health deteriorated steadily. He died in Salem, Massachusetts in 1803.

Two destroyers of the United States Navy have been named USS Haraden for him.

8. Joseph Harraden

Joseph’s first wife Jane Giddings was born 1668 in Ipswich, Essex, Mass.  Her parents were John Giddings and Sarah Alcock.  Jane died 6 Sep 1700 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass.

Joseph’s second wife Hannah Stevens was born xx.

10. Benjamin Harraden

Benjamin’s wife Deborah Norwood was born 4 Sep 1677 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass. Her parents were Francis Norwood and Elizabeth Coldham. Deborah died 7 Jan 1762 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass.

Sources:

http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/person.aspx?pid=8729748&st=1

http://www.leavesonatree.org/getperson.php?personID=I12225&tree=Tree1

Topographical Dictionary of 2885 English Emigrants to New England, 1620-1650 – Ancestry.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Edward-Harraden-House/104095892959668

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Harraden_House

The Giddings family: or, The descendants of George Giddings, who came from St. Albans, England, to Ipswich, Mass., in 1635. With a record of others of the name not yet traced. Also a sketch of prominent persons connected with the family (1882) By Giddings, Minot S. (Minot Samuel), b. 1837

History of the town and city of Gloucester, Cape Ann, Massachusetts by James R. (James Robert) Pringle. 1892