Commodore Abraham Whipple of the Continental Navy

Cover

Download PDF (60.1 KB)
 

Title Page, Copyright

Download PDF (63.5 KB)
 

Contents

Download PDF (30.3 KB)
 

List of Illustrations

Download PDF (42.8 KB)
pp. xi-

Foreword

Download PDF (48.0 KB)
pp. xiii-xiv

Water is unquestionably the most important natural feature on earth. By volume the world’s oceans compose 99 percent of the planet’s living space; in fact, the surface of the Pacific Ocean alone is larger than that of the total land bodies. Water is as vital to life as air. Indeed, to test whether the moon...

Preface

Download PDF (49.5 KB)
pp. xv-xvii

On May 27, 1819, death claimed the life of an aged man at his farmstead near the growing community of Marietta, Ohio. His name was Abraham Whipple, and he was then in his eighty-sixth year—a rather remarkable life span for that particular time in America. His wife of almost fifty-seven...

Acknowledgments

Download PDF (51.1 KB)
pp. xix-xxi

This study of the long life and far-ranging career of Abraham Whipple took over three years to complete and involved research at many locales within the United States and abroad. My visits there were pleasant and rewarding, and I remain especially grateful to the individuals working at several...

1. Rhode Island Beginnings

Download PDF (174.4 KB)
pp. 1-18

The Whipple family in New England could trace its origins back to England. The name Whipple, which some family genealogists claim meant “clear” or “fresh” stream, apparently had origins in Norman times, although the surname then appeared with several variant spellings, including Wipple...

2. The Passage from Peacetime to Rebellion, 1763–1775

Download PDF (312.5 KB)
pp. 19-50

Sarah and Abraham Whipple, along with their two daughters, settled into their Providence community after the French and Indian War had ended. A manuscript map of 1770 details residences for part of the growing town. It shows the Whipple home situated on a lot alongside the town “highway” running south...

3. Whipple’s War, at Home and Abroad, 1775–1778

Download PDF (262.3 KB)
pp. 51-93

The two-ship Rhode Island Navy that Abraham Whipple commanded surely must have appeared an unlikely fighting force to their adversaries as they began their mid-August 1775 cruise. Both Katy and Washington seemed to be no match for the larger and more heavily armed British warships then...

4. War’s Fortunes and Misfortunes, 1779–1783

Download PDF (229.6 KB)
pp. 94-129

Captain Abraham Whipple found himself spending many of the bleak, sunlight- limited days of January 1779 at his Providence home with Sarah and their two maturing daughters. In some ways, this may have seemed a repeat of his previous year’s stay: then, as now, the British occupied Newport, and...

5. Postwar Discontentments, 1783–1789

Download PDF (182.3 KB)
pp. 130-154

The years of nonbelligerency following the Paris Peace Treaty of September 1783 were replete with disappointments for Abraham Whipple. The former commodore had already endured delays and frustrations with Rhode Island’s legislature. Despite his devoted wartime service and his family’s lengthy ties...

6. Final Years in Ohio, 1789–1819

Download PDF (332.1 KB)
pp. 155-178

When Sarah and Abraham Whipple reached Marietta in November 1789, they may well have regarded this settlement in the Ohio Territory as the locale where they might thereafter achieve security, prosperity, and respect. And simultaneously, the existing states were endeavoring to provide similar...

Notes

Download PDF (171.8 KB)
pp. 179-212

Bibliography

Download PDF (79.8 KB)
pp. 213-224

Index

Download PDF (73.4 KB)
pp. 225-232