History of Swansea, Massachusetts, 1667-1917; - citizen hylbom blog

56 History of Swansea
it was set in brick work. The form of it was square, and it was
divided into two compartments by a partition ; in one of these
the peas, oatmeal and such Hke provisions were to be cooked
this was done in fresh water ; in the other compartment the
meat was boiled in salt water taken from along side of the ship.
The Jersey was not the first hulk anchored in the Wallabout.
The Whitby was the first moored there. She was said to be the
most sickly of all the prison ships ; no medical men attended
the sick. Disease reigned unrelieved. Many of those confined
in her were landsmen, who were transferred to the Jersey in 1780.
The six men taken prisoners in Swansea April 19, 1779, may
have been first imprisoned in the Whitby. In reference to
this we have no positive historical data. Two of these men
were known to be Obadiah Slade and Theophilus Luther. Can
learn nothing in respect to the fate of the remaining four.
Their names are unknown.
Joseph Brown, a young seaman, a native of Swansea, was
probably captured in a privateer in 1780. No doubt he was
imprisoned and died in the Jersey.
It is not my purpose to give a complete history of the
Jersey nor a minute and detailed account of the barbarities
practiced in her. She was intended for seamen only, yet a few
soldiers were confined in her. From the outset there was something
tragical incidentally connected with this old hulk. The
Good Hope was one of the first prison ships anchored in North
River ; her inmates with the hope of gaining liberty or death
burnt her; another vessel was burnt at the same time for the
same object. But they did not succeed in making their escape
were recaptured and many of them imprisoned in the Jersey;
thus was reached a sadder fate.
Obadiah Slade from what can be learned was a bold fearless
man, he did not always stop to count the cost. Had he
been released from the Jersey and permitted to return to
Swansea would he have taken on the quiet pursuits of life?
Might he not rather as he called to mind his burning dwelHng,
his homeless wife and children, the brutal treatment he received
in being taken trom his bed in the night and almost naked
hustled to the shore placed in a boat and borne down the bay
in that cold chilly April night to the enemy's quarters, calHng
to mind the horrors of the Jersey, might he not, I say, have
resolved, that come life or death, he too would prove a most
bitter enemy. Obadiah Slade hved on what is now Brayton's
Point in Somerset, Swansea in Revolutionary days. He was
very active in obtaining supplies for the patriots. He went
through the towns collecting whatever he could for the sustenance
of the army quartered in Rhode Island. His friends
; ;