Capt. Ebenezer Dayton, Privateer
Ebenezer Dayton: Patriot or pirate?
Many people are familiar with the story of Chauncey Judd, the sixteen-year-old boy from Waterbury (that part of Waterbury is Naugatuck today) who was kidnaped by Tories after they robbed the house of Captain Ebenezer Dayton of Bethany, the notorious privateer. Chauncey’s story is laid out with great detail in Rev. Israel Perkins’ book, The Stolen Boy. But what was Ebenezer Dayton’s story?
During the American Revolution, the British took control of Long Island after the Battle of Long Island in 1776. Many patriots fled the island and came to Connecticut; among them was Captain Ebenezer Dayton (1744-1802) of Brookhaven, who, in Fall of 1776, came first to Milford, and then removed to Bethany. He and his family, along with a few other refugees, occupied a large house on the corner of what is now Amity and Dayton Roads, not far from the original Congregational meetinghouse. The house was later moved north up Amity Road, where it sits today, just south of Valley Road.
As a young man, Dayton had been a schoolteacher in Newport, Rhode Island, and published two works in 1769: one of poems for the purpose of religious education called “A Concise Poetical Body of Divinity,” written “to promote Christian knowledge, Godly devotion, and real piety”; and the other for the instruction of children, called “A Serious Poem,” on various subjects, “calculated to excite exalted ideas of virtue, raise their detestation of vice, and so help regulate their conduct in life.” Sometime between 1769 and 1772, Dayton gave up teaching and, back in Long Island, became a peddler of high-end merchandise from England and the West Indies.
Dayton made the rounds of various towns in eastern Long Island, often selling his wares on credit, and collecting the debts on subsequent visits. In June of 1772, Dayton was in East Hampton. Dayton showed the symptoms of measles, which was epidemic in 1772 1nd 1773, killing many people. Dayton was warned not to attend church on Sunday, for fear of contagion, but he went anyway. Subsequently, there was an outbreak of measles, with over one hundred infected, and some of them dying, and Dayton was blamed. He tried to leave town, but was overtaken by three men who forced him to return to town to acknowledge that he had caused the outbreak.
There was a mob waiting when the men returned, and they pelted Dayton with rotten eggs, stones, and dung, and beat him. He fled to a nearby house, where he was given shelter by a reluctant occupant. Dayton was made to understand that he might not get out of town alive unless he made a written confession. Dayton wrote the confession, but it was rejected by the mob. The owner of the house wanted Dayton out, and when he claimed he was too sick to leave, three men picked him up and carried him to Henry Dayton’s house. They were not very gentle, and he was dropped or thrown to the ground several times. Someone brought a fence rail and forced Dayton to mount it, parading him around town, dropping him several times and injuring him. Finally, Dayton was ducked repeatedly in a frog pond, and then left on the road, half dead. He was later carried to the house of a Dr. Hutcheson, who discovered that Dayton had been ruptured, with an inguinal hernia that protruded into his testicle.
Dayton prosecuted against the men who injured him for assault and battery, and against the homeowner who sheltered him for false imprisonment. He also sued sixteen people for damages to his horse and cart, and to his goods, and also sued for damage to his reputation, and for loss of income, claiming that the hernia prevented him from doing farm work, with which he had supplemented his income. With the help of the Crown prosecutor, he won a £1000 judgment. However, evidence presented at the trial by Henry Dayton, and by two doctors, made it clear that Dayton was indeed infected with measles, and that he knew it.
When the Revolution was brewing, Dayton signed on to the Association of patriots in 1775, and was its clerk. Those who refused to sign were branded as Tories, and were harassed by patriots; some were ridden on rails, or tarred and feathered; others were stripped naked and “dreadfully abused.” Dayton became a Minuteman, joining Col. Josiah Smith’s 1st regiment of Suffolk County, and was commissioned as quartermaster.
A few years later, on April 11, 1778, Dayton was commissioned as a privateer. The only difference between a privateer and a pirate, was that the privateer obtained a “letter of marque” giving him the legal right to attack ships that traded with the enemy, and to confiscate ship and cargo. The privateers were an important factor in winning the war, depriving the British of supplies that were diverted to the Patriot cause. Over 800 British vessels were taken by combined American maritime forces, the majority by privateers. In 1776 there were 31 armed cruisers with 586 guns in the American fleet, compared to 136 armed privateers with 1360 guns. By 1781, there were only 9 cruisers with 164 guns in the American naval fleet, while there were 449 privateers with 6,735 guns.
The privateer fleet was so large because of the booty to be had; why be a poorly paid sailor in the navy when you could get rich in a few months of privateering? On May 20, 1778, it was reported in the Connecticut Journal that Capt. Dayton and Capt. Chester, commanding two whaleboats with a total crew of fourteen, had taken five coastal vessels loaded with goods, including lumber, oysters, furniture, dry goods, provisions, and etc., near Fire Island. They then filed a “libel” with the maritime court in New London, where they laid claim to the ships and cargoes, and where the owners of the ships had the opportunity to challenge the taking of their property. Dayton won the libel, and the ships, along with their cargoes, were auctioned off.
After that success, Dayton moved up to a larger schooner, the “Ranger,” with a crew of 45 men, six carriage guns, twelve swivel guns, blunderbusses, muskets, and hand “grenadoes.” Dayton had captured a brig loaded with tobacco in November 1778, when he was attacked by a Tory privateer. Several of Dayton’s men were wounded and brought ashore, and the captain of the Tory ship claimed Dayton’s ship as a prize. Dayton continued as a privateer until the end of the war in 1783, having taken dozens of ships, and piling up treasure. Some of the goods he kept and sold himself, at his stores, one of which was at his house in Bethany.
In 1779, Dayton himself was the victim of a robbery of his house in Bethany, conducted, he said, by a number of armed men from the New Haven garrison, who took £200 worth of goods, and filed a libel against Dayton, claiming that the goods were illegally imported from Long Island—in other words, Dayton was accused of smuggling. Dayton claimed that the goods were not contraband, but received in payment for debts, and he produced a permit issued by Governor Trumbull. The judge ruled against Dayton, who then appealed the verdict.
On April 5, 1780, came the famous robbery of Dayton’s Bethany home committed by local Tories led by an American turncoat who had joined the British. Dayton wasn’t at home, and the robbers tied up Dayton’s wife Phebe, and her children and servants. This was a big caper, with Dayton estimating his loss at over £5,000. That robbery is locally famous due to the kidnaping of Chauncey Judd, a sixteen year old boy who happened to be out on the road late at night when he met the robbers, who took him, fearing he would give them away. The whole tale is recounted by a Bethany native, the Rev. Israel Warren, in his 1874 book “Chauncey Judd, or The Stolen Boy” (available from Amazon or read for free at http://www.our-oxford.info/military/Revolution/c_judd-book-text/index.html). The robbers were caught, and Chauncey was saved. Dayton sued the robbers and those who aided them, winning thousands of dollars from Jobamah Gunn, a Tory and the richest man in Waterbury, and David Wooster Sr., father of one of the robbers.
In the course of the trials of the robbers, Dayton’s character was called into question. The robbers attempted to justify the robbery on the grounds that Dayton’s goods were plundered from the people of Long Island, that that Dayton was a Tory who supplied British troops with food and other supplies. Privateers, in addition to capturing ships, also made land raids on the homesteads of Tories, robbing them of provisions, cattle, money, and other valuable items, and also taking British soldiers prisoner. There were many complaints that patriot privateers sometimes preyed upon Long Island Patriots as well as Tories.
Dayton defended his reputation vigorously. He bought a full page in the April 20, 1780 issue of the Connecticut Journal, where he claimed that the robbers were trying to make him seem as “odious and contemptible” as possible in an effort to portray him as dishonorable. Dayton claimed that he had a sterling reputation in places where he is known, and as a refugee, he was a stranger in Connecticut without friends to defend him. He produced affidavits from prominent patriots from Brookhaven which stated that Dayton was a trader who gave his customers credit. During the war, he made numerous trips back to Long Island to collect debts, which is where the goods came from. Despite his protestations, Dayton’s reputation remained under a cloud.
The fact was that privateers often became smugglers, abusing their commissions to make themselves rich. There was high demand among patriots for contraband British luxury goods, such as tea, coffee, silks, and so forth. The privateers could legally bring the spoils of their activities back to Connecticut and sell them, but demand exceeded supply. It was easy enough to obtain these goods on Long Island, which was under the control of the British, and then bring them back to Connecticut, ostensibly as booty. And the privateers did in fact prey upon patriots as well as Tories; there were many stories of refugees going back to Long Island to retrieve goods, to collect rents, or to sell their property. They were often in dire straits, having given up their farms to move to Connecticut, and the governor would issue permits allowing them to return to Long Island for the purposes listed above. But many of them were robbed on their way back by privateers or coast guard captains. The privateers were also guilty of trading with the British to obtain those goods, even of supplying provisions for British troops.
Connecticut farmers were also involved in providing cattle, sheep, and other commodities to smugglers. In just one issue of the Connecticut Journal, there were numerous notices of maritime courts to be held concerning the claims upon confiscated property alleged to be destined for Long Island. Any man or men could confiscate such suspected property, and then file a lawsuit called a “libel” in order to gain ownership of the property, just as the privateers did. For example, the following notice appeared in the Connecticut Journal dated July 11, 1782:
Notice is hereby given to all concerned, that a libel is filed before James Beard, Esq; Justice of the Peace and Quorum, and Charles French, Esq; Justice of the Peace for New Haven County, in Favour of Capt. Timothy Baldwin, Mr. Joseph Chatfield, and Capt. Nathaniel Johnson, all of Derby, against thirty Sheep found in Milford, secreted for the purpose of exportation to Long Island, a place under the controul, and in the possession of the enemies of this the United States of America, to try the justice of said seizure a Maritime Court will be held in Derby, in said County on 25th day of July next, at two of the clock afternoon at the dwelling house of John Howd, in said Derby, Dated at Derby 29th June 1782.
JAMES BEARD Just. Peace & Quorum.
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Captain Dayton’s illegal activities were apparently well known to the men of New Haven; disappointed that Dayton seemed to be above the law, they took vigilante action to punish him. An article in the Connecticut Journal dated January 19, 1782 gives all the details:
New – Haven, December 19 [1782]
At an occasional meeting of a number of the respectable inhabitants of this town last week, the subject of the illicit trade was introduced, and largely discussed, in which it appeared to be their unanimous opinion,---That by this trade, our enemies are supplied with large quantities of provisions, and other necessaries, for carrying on the war against us, contrary to rule and sound policy.---That it has drained us of our money to such a degree, that the prosecution of the present just and necessary war, is rendered extremely difficult.---That it has a peculiar tendency to create a criminal negligence and indifference, with regards to the effectual prosecution , and final determination of the present contest.---That it has been, and still is, a most powerful means of corrupting the minds and morals of many useful citizens among us.---That it greatly injures the fair trader, honest farmer, and industrious mechanic.---That the artifices by those smugglers are so many, intricate, and complicated, that a proper execution of law against them, is, in most cases, impracticable. Wherefore the interposition of the people in general (under such circumstances) is necessary, to put a stop to the practices so pernicious and publicly injurious.---Upon these principles and motives, the following resolution was entered into, viz.
“We the subscribers, upon a full conviction that every kind of intercourse and trade with the enemy, is prejudicial to the interest and safety of the United States, and particularly so to the fair trade of this town; have determined (as one means to prevent the same) to destroy, or otherwise effectually secure, all those boats we have good reason to believe are employed therein, belonging to this town, And as we have very great reason to believe, that Captain Ebenezer Dayton has frequently prostituted his commission, with which he was intrusted (sic), to the vile purpose of carrying on an illicit trade with the enemy, evading, by that means, the force of the laws of this state—We do hereby agree to take Captain Dayton’s boat into the public marketplace of this town, in open light, and there destroy her by fire; and if any prosecution should arise thereupon, we agree to be at an equal expence (sic). In doing this act, we hope it will be not considered (by the public in general) merely as a wanton destruction of property without reason, nor an insult on law and authority, but, according to our conception, a necessary measure, to check a scandalous and destructive trade with the enemy.”
Which was signed by the greatest part of the merchants, and a great number of other respectable inhabitants of this town ; a list of whose names is left with the Printers of the Connecticut Journal.
In consequence of the foregoing resolution, Mr. Dayton’s boat was taken into the public market-place of this town, and there burnt, together with everything belonging to her, amidst a large concourse of people, who manifested their entire satisfaction, by closing the bonfire with three cheers.
New-Haven, Dec. 12, 1782
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After the war, Dayton moved his family to the village of Chusetown in Derby (now Seymour) where he and his wife Phebe operated a wayside inn near the intersection of today’s South Main Street and Pearl Street, close to the intersection of two turnpike roads, and across from the Whittemore Tavern. Dayton also operated a store there, with a large stock of goods that he had acquired through his privateering activities, or else purchased with cash.. According to an ad placed in the Connecticut Journal on Jan 19, 1785:
Ebenezer Dayton Hath for Sale, at his Store in DERBY, the under mentioned GOODS, as cheap by Retail as can be bought in this State, for Cash, Country Produce and Certificates for interest of Money loaned, viz.
Of Woolens.
Dark and light blue, black and white mixed, and blue and white mixed broad cloths of various qualities ; blankets, mix’d coloured and green serge, red flannel, beaver and felt hats, Bath coating, black, green and blue callimancoes, green, pink and blue taboret, taboreen, tobine and tammy, shalloons of divers colours, black sattinet and lasting, striped, figured and bird’s-eye camblets and stuffs ; pink, purple and blue moreen ; worsted flockings and caps ; mill’d gloves, basket buttons, twist, women’s mitts, quality and shoe-binding.
Of Silks.
Black taffy, mode and sattin ; Barcelona handkerchiefs ; red, black, white, colour’d and figur’d ribbons ; silk serrets, black lace, tastes, mitts, sewing silk of all colours.
Of Linens.
A good assortment of Irish linens, cotton and linen checks, cambric, lawn, figured lawn aprons and handkerchiefs ; blue and white stamped and checked handkerchiefs ; black and white chain gauze, suffle gauze, black and white plain gauze, millinet, buckram, threads and tapes.
Of Cottons.
Olive, black and flowered velvets, corduroys, callicoes, chintzes, jeans, and handkerchiefs.
Of Groceries.
Sugar, pepper, allspice, ginger, Tenerife and Lisbon wine, cinnamon, indigo, allum, copperas, salt, lampblack, ink-powder, Geneva, bohea tea, English putty, bladder and bottle snuff, chocolate, brimstone, 7 by 9 and six by eight window glass, white lead, red lead, Spanish brown, chalk, gun-powder, shot and bar-lead.
Of Ironmongery.
4d 6d 8d and 10d nails, iron, steel, hinges, candlesticks, carpenters hammers, compasses, shoe-makers hammers, tacks, pincers and nippers, sad irons, marking irons, swiveled stirrup-irons, sewing and knitting needles, frying-pans, rasps, trowels, and fish-hooks.
Of Hard Ware.
Shoe-makers size-sticks and aul-hafts, carpenters rules, brass kittles, locks of various kinds, bellows, slates and pencils, scales, pewter platters, plates, basons, cups, large and small spoons, tea-pots ; temple spectacles, sleeve-buttons, shoe-buckles,, pins, stock-locks, ivory and horn combs, tobacco and snuff-boxes, mouse-traps, large and small files, ink stands, plated coat and vest buttons, writing-paper, skeleton wire, curry-combs, fans, looking-glasses and thimbles,------bibles.
Of Cutlery
Knives and forks, sheep-shears, plane irons, cutteaus, pen-knives, coopers adze, drawing knives, razors, tap-borers, gimblets, scissors, steel-plate handsaws, shoe-knives, carpenters and joiners chizzels.
Of Crockery
A general assortment of earthen, glass, and stone ware.
Said Dayton has Oak Boards to exchange for Rum or Molasses.
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It is very interesting to see the variety of goods available at that time, mostly, if not all, British imports. Under the British mercantile system, colonies such as America provided raw materials, and the British in turn provided finished goods. They did not want competition from American manufacturers. Fine cloth, hardware, tools, tea, and so forth, were all British imports. During and after the war, the British tried to sabotage American attempts to establish their own manufacturing enterprises by “dumping” goods at below cost. General David Humphreys, the first man to import Merino sheep to the United States, stayed at Dayton’s inn while he was building his woolen mill nearby. Thomas Jefferson bought some of Humphreys’ woolen cloth for his inaugural suit, after he was elected president of the United States, choosing to buy American rather than use imported British cloth. Jefferson also is supposed to have popularized shoe laces so as to avoid using British shoe buckles.
Dayton was in the habit of swimming each morning in the nearby Naugatuck River. On April 3, 1786, Dayton failed to return home after going for a swim. His clothes were found on shore, but no sign of Dayton, and he was presumed dead. In October of 1788, his property went up for auction for back taxes. However, that’s not the end of the story. Years later, it was revealed that Dayton’s death was a fake-out, according to his son, the Rev. Smith Dayton. Ebenezer Dayton went to New Orleans and established himself there, with his family joining him later on. Why did he fake his death? It is not known, but possibly to elude creditors. Why did Dayton choose to go to Louisiana? New Orleans was part of New France at that time, a foreign country until the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Perhaps Dayton wasn’t very successful as a storekeeper because the patriotic locals refused to buy Dayton’s British goods. Hated by both the Patriots and the Tories, Dayton was probably looking for a new start. According to the Rev. Smith Dayton, his father died of yellow fever in New Orleans on April 14, 1802, at the age of 58. His mother, Ebenezer Dayton’s wife Phebe Smith Dayton, also died of yellow fever in New Orleans, on March 18, 1827.