tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post115756952982085591..comments2024-03-14T13:25:20.613-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: Who Was Caldwell's Capt. Morton?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-47496900034653725052018-02-11T23:03:25.368-05:002018-02-11T23:03:25.368-05:00I hadn’t considered that Attucks and Caldwell migh...I hadn’t considered that Attucks and Caldwell might be shipmates because that seemed like a big coincidence not to be remarked at the time. <br /><br />After the shooting, Caldwell was presented in the press as a local young man on his way up. He was said to have been at his girlfriend’s house earlier in the evening and to have been studying navigation, presumably to become a captain himself one day. He was closely linked to Capt. Thomas Morton; though the <i>Boston Gazette</i> initially reported he was buried out of Faneuil Hall as a stranger, the 19 March issue corrected that and said, “James Caldwell was borne from the House of Capt. Morton in Cold-Lane, instead of Faneuil Hall.” <br /><br />No source at the time suggested that Caldwell had any connection to Attucks, or indeed that any of the people shot at the Massacre were connected with each other. For the defense attorneys in the soldiers’ trial, the idea of sailors banding together for violence might have been a powerful argument, but they didn’t make it. <br /><br />That doesn’t rule out the possibility that Attucks had signed up to sail on Capt. Thomas Morton’s ship with Caldwell as the second mate. But for Attucks and Caldwell then both to be shot with two balls in the chest seems like a big coincidence to go unnoted.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-24389164410127194292018-02-11T13:26:37.106-05:002018-02-11T13:26:37.106-05:00Have you ever researched or considered the possibi...Have you ever researched or considered the possibility that Crispus Attucks and James Caldwell were shipmates? I looked into whether Captain Morton next traveled to North Carolina, which was where Attucks was heading according to the newspapers. I found evidence that a Captain Morton did travel to North Carolina in March, if it's the same Morton.<br /><br />“A mulatto man, named Crispus Attucks, who was born in Framingham, but lately belong to New Providence, and was here in order to go for North Carolina, also killed instantly; two balls entering his breast, one of them in special goring the right lobe of the lungs, and a great part of the liver, most horribly.<br /><br />“Mr. Caldwell, mate of Captain Morton's vessel in the like manner killed, by two balls entering his back.” Source, Boston Evening Post March 12, 1770<br /><br />The Brig Young Hawk, Captain Morton came into port in Boston and was processed through customs as reported on Feb. 8, 1770. He came ship from Hispaniola, which is modern day Dominican Republic and Haiti (and 500 air miles from the Bahamas where Attucks was from at the time of the Massacre). Source: Feb 8, 1770, Boston Chronicle<br /><br />Dateline March 29 and April 2, after arriving in Philadelphia, Morton reported of the distress of other ships, which was information he had recently learned while in New Bern, North Carolina Source: April 12, 1770 in Boston Newsletter, April 2, 1770 in Pennsylvania Gazette and April 19, 1770 in Virginia Gazette<br /><br />April 26, 1770 T. Morton is recorded as leaving Philadelphia on the Brig Young Hawk bound from Philadelphia for Newfoundland in May 10, 1770, Pennsylvania Gazette <br /><br />A Captain Morton arrived in Savannah Georgia, having been in North Carolina (in March?) Source: May 16, 1770 in Georgia Gazette (not sure about this. Could he have sailed from Philadelphia to Newfoundland to Savannah from April 26 to May 16?)<br /><br /><br />My conclusion, Captain Morton left Boston some time after the massacre and went to New Bern, North Carolina in March 1770, where he learned about the loss of other ships and then he arrived in Philadelphia at the end of March, on or about the 29th. It seems possible that Caldwell and Attucks were on the same crew because they were the only two strangers who died in the massacre and the evidence suggests that Captain Morton’s next destination was North Carolina.<br /><br />I'm writing my 10th book. This one is about the pre-Revolution up until Congress issued the first U.S. flag in June 1777. The book is called Uniting the Colors: Revolutionary Patriots in Black and White<br /><br />Sincerely, Jane Hampton Cook<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11276899918422827931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-81695567594003066802011-01-26T23:49:32.299-05:002011-01-26T23:49:32.299-05:00Glad to know you found your answer at last!Glad to know you found your answer at last!J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-31477339993014915792011-01-25T23:41:34.902-05:002011-01-25T23:41:34.902-05:00For reasons I cannot quite understand or explain, ...For reasons I cannot quite understand or explain, I lost your blog and could not find it again after leaving my blog post about Captain Morton, now years ago. I cannot thank you enough for all your hard and meticulous research on this. Absolutely fascinating. <br /><br />You may be gratified to know I found my way back to your blog by noticing several different historical sites, unlike the time when I made the original post, now all state Boston Massacre victim James Caldwell was a mate on the brig, "Hawk." They obviously are using (although many not crediting, I'm afraid) your research. So you have moved the karmic wheel and your work has filled in another piece of the jigsaw puzzle of history. Thank you so very much, and bravo. Very impressive.BTCHOUTEXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10571333150296629626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-1157840510327093652006-09-09T17:21:00.000-05:002006-09-09T17:21:00.000-05:00But how else to maintain the image of a crusty ant...But how else to maintain the image of a crusty antiquarian? <BR/><BR/>I think it's even in the guild bylaws.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-1157839642983622122006-09-09T17:07:00.000-05:002006-09-09T17:07:00.000-05:00Don't give your faithful readers grief, you know y...Don't give your faithful readers grief, you know you love doing this stuff. Carry on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-1157821729198002712006-09-09T12:08:00.000-05:002006-09-09T12:08:00.000-05:00Well, clearly I do. Annie Haven Thwing's database ...Well, clearly I do. <BR/><BR/>Annie Haven Thwing's database on colonial Boston says that mariner Thomas Morton bought a house on Cold Lane in Sept 1766. Since two sources from 1770 say that Caldwell's master Capt. Morton lived on Cold Lane, I think it's safe to say those two men were the same.<BR/><BR/>The Thwing database also says that Morton's wife was named Mary, and the couple had two daughters: Margarett (born 1758) and Mary (born 1761). The Thwing database is not free of errors and doesn't always state sources, but is an excellent source of leads to follow up.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.com