My lineage has its share of sea captains including my 3rd great grandfather, David Bill Dickinson. Born in New London, Connecticut in 1787, David was the son of Nathaniel Dickinson, another seaman and mariner, though David’s father died when he was only 10 years old.
By 1801, David Bill Dickinson was only 13 and already listed in the Seamen’s Protection Certificate Register for the port of New London. He was working aboard sloops and ships that sailed out of the New London port from a young age, likely to help support his widowed mother and sisters.
Not long after the Revolution, the War of 1812 found the United States once again in conflict with the English. Congress authorized letters of marque which commissioned private vessels, known as privateers, to attack and seize enemy vessels including British merchant ships. The privateers were required to keep journals of their encounters, and to keep logs of any cargo that was seized. Captured seamen were either put ashore in port or put aboard a vessel that was released. When possible, the privateers were to deliver the captured cargo, including the actual ships seized, to naval authorities in various ports. The privateer ship’s owners and crew would subsequently receive a percentage of the seized goods when sold.
David’s father, Nathaniel, had sailed with privateers during the Revolution, and David himself was aboard several United States commissioned privateer vessels from the early years of the War of 1812 including the Sloop Juno of New London. In July 1812, the privateer letter of marque for the Sloop Juno records David as a Lieutenant under Captain John Howard. And later in 1814, he was aboard the Row Galley that was part of the Torpedo Expedition off the harbor of New London.
The Midas of Baltimore was a schooner built in Baltimore in 1813. The ship began sailing as an American merchant vessel and also a privateer during the War years often on a route between the Chesapeake, the West Indies and France. The Midas was armed with four six-pound cannons, four six-pound carronades and 35 crewmembers. The captain was Commander Alexander Thompson who was also a partial owner of the ship. David joined the Midas in 1814 as the 2nd Officer; and by June that year, David was noted in the ship’s journal as the 1st Officer.
After a successful trading and privateering voyage
from Chesapeake to Havana, France and Spain, the Midas returned and sailed the Atlantic seaboard where they added
four more six-pound carronades and additional crew. At that time, the British were blockading
American ports to hamper American merchant business. In 1814, the Midas had many successful encounters with British vessels in the
waters of the eastern coast and the West Indies. The Midas
captured over a dozen British ships that year.
By August of 1814, the British had attacked and burned Washington, and turned north towards Baltimore. The Midas of Baltimore was in The Bahamas where on September 13th Captain Thompson authorized a raid – led by David – on Harbour Island in retaliation for the British burning of Washington.
With the raid on Harbour Island in The Bahamas, the Midas had violated the rules of conduct for privateers issued by the State Department. President James Madison ordered a commission to look into the incident. Captain Thompson took full responsibility for the action, even noting in his journal that David was involved under his direct orders. As a result, the privateer ship’s letter of marque was revoked.
In December of 1814, the owners of the Midas proceeded to remove Captain Thompson from command, loaded the ship with a cargo of flour for the West Indies, and placed the ship under the command of David whom it was noted was a “prudent man”. The owners applied for a new privateer commission, though the War of 1812 was soon over. And with the end of the conflict, the Midas of Baltimore was once again a merchant vessel.
Captain David Bill Dickinson sailed as the commander of the Midas of Baltimore for the next several decades until the late 1830’s. The ship’s voyages were typically routes through the Atlantic or the Caribbean to ports in the West Indies, St Bart and Havana, Havre and Marseilles in France, Gibraltar south of Spain, and often to Smyrna, now known as Turkey.
David was married to Mary Rogers of New London, Connecticut in 1812, and they had one daughter, Mary Ann Brown Dickinson born in 1816. Baltimore was always the home port for the Midas, however I believe that David’s family remained in New London, Connecticut until around 1819 and the death of David’s mother. After that time, the Dickinson family made their home in Baltimore, Maryland. David died in 1846 in Baltimore at 58 years of age. His widow, Mary, lived many more years after his death.
"New
London County, Mystic, CT. Mrs. Mary
Dickinson, whose death we chronicle at the ripe age of 84 years, at her
daughter's Mrs. Hale, was one of our most aged citizens. Her husband, Capt David B Dickinson, was a
native of New London, and a shipmaster.
He was a bold privateersman during the war of 1812, having been one of
those daring young men that was constantly organizing and successfully
executing plans to annoy, elude, and drive the British fleet from our waters. Later in life he removed to Baltimore and was
a well known master of that port. He
died about eighteen years ago [sic]. His
widow, whose decease we notice, was also a native of New London where her
remains have just been interred, and by whose side her husband's remains are to
repose, as they are soon to be removed from Baltimore to rest with his
relatives and early companions of the sec. in Cedar Grove Cemetery. Mrs. Dickinson's maiden name was Rogers, an
elder sister of Mrs. Charles Mallory, and Capt Henry Rogers of Mystic
Bridge." – June 1875
* * * * *
Key individuals:
Nathaniel Dickinson (1749 – 1797)
David Bill Dickinson (1787 – 1846)
Mary B Rogers (1790 – 1875)
Mary Ann Brown Rogers Dickinson (1816 – 1880)
Notes:
David Bill Dickinson appears in the London, England Grand Lodge Freemason membership registers in 1811. He was a member of the London Naval Tavern Mason’s Lodge and is noted as a “Captain” in the log. It appears that in 1816, David transferred his Freemason membership to Baltimore where he became a member of the Washington Lodge of Freemasons until 1828. This Mason lodge was mostly made up of individuals involved in building and sailing ships and was located near the Baltimore dockyards.
– Jane Scribner McCrary
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