"Selections from a Biographical Sketch"

By an Anonymous Friend of Amasa Delano

AMASA DELANO was born in Duxbury, Massachusetts, one of the oldest towns in the late colony of New Plymouth, on February 21st, 1763. His parents were respectable, and connected with the ancient families of that place. His mother was a Drew, and his maternal grandmother a Soule, both of which are among the oldest and most influential families of that ancient town. His father, Samuel Delano, was, with his brother Amasa, in the military service under George II in the war with the French and Indians in 1757-1759. This Amasa was an officer in Rogers' Rangers, a corps well known in those days. Though very young, he was much esteemed for his bravery and good conduct, and at the age of twenty was honoured with a lieutenancy. He was with a party of rangers on an expedition near the Canada lines, which being led astray by their guides, were lost in the wilderness. They were obliged to separate and to hunt for food.

The party commanded by Amasa consisted of eighteen privates and one officer besides himself. They were reduced to the greatest extremity, and were compelled to eat an Indian child, which they met in the woods. They soon came to an Indian settlement, and their conduct with regard to the child being known, they were massacred in a most horrid manner. The writer of this journal was named for this unfortunate uncle.

His father, Samuel, was the youngest of the two brothers, and was a sergeant in Captain Gamaliel Bradford's company in Nova Scotia, Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Fort William Henry, etc. After the peace of 1763 he worked at the ship carpenter's business, and was a master builder for many years. He was with our army at Roxbury in 1776 when the British troops had possession of Boston.

In early life, Amasa, whose adventures are here related, was much accustomed to the salt water, and by the frequent practice of swimming, became almost amphibious. At the age of five or six years he could swim and dive under water in a most surprising manner. Even in the coldest season, he has been known to dive into the water like a sea fowl sporting in its natural element, and it was said he was more expert and daring in the water than the natives of the West Indies, islands he often visited between the ages of 15 and 35.

We are obliged to state that Captain Delano, when very young, was averse to school and study. His fondness for active scenes will account in part for this aversion, but the idle gossiping stories of domestics of the severity of schoolmasters had a share in giving him a dislike to these nurseries of useful knowledge and good morals. When he came to years of reflection, he regretted his early prejudices, and is entitled to much credit for applying himself afterwards to those branches of ordinary learning which are necessary to render a man qualified for the common and active pursuits of the world.

At an early age Delano was particularly fond of fishing and gunning, and was considered very expert, both as matter of sport and business. Sea fowl are numerous about the beach and bay and salt-water creeks in Duxbury, and young Delano was generally successful as well as enterprising in attacking the game.

In 1772 the family removed to Braintree where his father attended to ship building, supposing that the vicinity of the place to Boston would render the business more certain and lucrative. There they remained only about two years, as the interruption of navigation, occasioned by the disputes between Great Britain and the colonies, operated unfavourably to his employment. They returned to Duxbury.

The citizens of Duxbury were unanimously opposed to the measures of the British ministry, and discovered a great ardour in the cause of liberty. Delano would not rest easy at home. Though only about 12 years of age, he visited the camp at Roxbury, and spent much time there, witnessing the military movements of our infant army.

In the summer of 1777, at a time when his father was a prisoner on board the "Rainbow", a British man-of-war, information was received that Burgoyne had advanced from Montreal to Lake Champlain with a large army, had taken Ticonderoga, and was marching towards Albany, probably with a plan to join the British army from New York, somewhere on the Hudson River. The people in the northern states were greatly and justly alarmed. New recruits were called for by the provincial congress, and great numbers marched to join the army under General Gates to oppose Burgoyne. Young Delano, then only fourteen years, came forward to enlist.

At this time he marched to Boston with many others of his fellow townsmen, under the command of Captain Joseph Wadsworth of Duxbury, then of the Continental Army, a brave and meritorious officer. But on his arrival in Boston, he met his father returning from captivity at Halifax, who, to the boy's great mortification, insisted on his leaving this military corps and accompanying him home to Duxbury. Being under age, he was obliged to submit. He was very much disappointed and mortified in being thus deprived of an opportunity of performing the daring feats of a true-blooded Yankee.

It is believed he passed the winter in attending a private school, for at this age he had become ambitious of acquiring information from books as well as from the world. The following summer, at age fifteen, he served several months in the militia, under General Heath, and belonged to the troops who guarded some captured British soldiers at Prospect Hill in Cambridge.

In the summer of 1779, in company with several other young men, Delano went to Boston, and entered on board the privateer "Mars", and sailed one cruise in her which continued till the following spring. The inclemency of the season was the cause of much exposure and suffering, and great complaint was made, we know not how justly, of the severity and cruelty of the officers of the privateer. His spirits and constitution seemed to be broken down, and his health was so much injured that it was many months after his return before he recovered his former strength and activity. For a considerable period he remained at home, more contentedly than formerly. Afterwards, his wishes led him again to the ocean. He was very averse, however, from privateering, and always spoke with decision against the practice.

He now, in 1781, entered on board a merchant ship, the "Russell", belonging to Messrs. R. & J. Leach of Salem, and made a voyage to Cape Francois in the West Indies. The French fleet, under command of Count D'Grasse was then in that port, and he assisted in towing the fleet out of that place, when it sailed to the Chesapeake. An embargo had been laid on all merchant vessels then at Cape Francois, which lasted for six weeks. The season proved very sickly, and great numbers died of the prevailing fever. It was supposed that all tropical fruit was injurious, and, if used at all, on this account, was eaten with great caution and very sparingly. But Delano is said to have subsisted almost entirely on it, and to have eaten it in great quantities at all times without any bad effects. He was alike careless in guarding against wet and cold, exposing himself to the severest weather without additional garments. And this manner of living seemed rather to strengthen than to impair his constitution.

Upon his return from another voyage to the West Indies that year, Delano laboured with his father in shipbuilding. They built the brig "Peacock" in 1782, for E. Parsons Esq. of Boston, and in this vessel he afterwards sailed to Martinique and Puerto Rico in the West Indies, to Virginia, and to Bilboa in Spain. While on board the "Peacock" in the harbour of Boston, he narrowly escaped drowning, having fallen overboard in the night, as he was on deck endeavouring to keep the vessel secure during a very violent storm. The "Peacock" was loaded and nearly ready for sea. The wind, high in the latter part of the day, increased to a gale, so that a third anchor was taken on board from the wharf, and the topmasts and yards were taken down; and as there was no apparatus or materials for cooking, the captain and all the crew, except Delano, and one other hand, went on shore for the night. It was supposed the brig was securely anchored and that it would not be necessary for any more crew to remain on board.

After Delano and the other man had been asleep a short time, they were awakened by a violent shock against their vessel, which they found, on going up deck, was occasioned by a cartel sloop then lately from Halifax running against them. The gale had increased and the sloop had been driven from her moorings. The anchor of the sloop caught hold of the "Peacock's", and she rode alongside. Every attempt was made to disengage the cartel from the brig, but without effect. The people belonging to the sloop, however, did not offer to assist.

When it was found that the brig could not be parted from the sloop, Delano placed fenders between the vessels to prevent all damage possible. He determined they should keep a watch on deck through the night, and he offered to take his turn first. The force of the wind was so great that the ropes, which fastened the fenders, were broken repeatedly. Delano stepped on the gunwale of the sloop and replaced them.

By the violence of the gale, the sloop several times sheered off and then came alongside the brig again with a great shock. Delano was standing on the gunwale of the "Peacock" and had hold of a rope, which was fast behind him, waiting for the cartel to approach, and intending to jump onto her bow. As he was about to do this, on her being driven near again, the rope he had in his hand gave way and he was precipitated head foremost into the water under the bows of the sloop; and in this fall he lost his hold of the rope. He had on at the time a great coat and thick heavy boots. His great exertion was to keep above water; and he says he was particularly careful not to open his mouth so as to take in salt water. He could think of no assistance to be had from any quarter. His companion was in bed, and probably asleep. The people belonging to the cartel were also probably asleep, as they had not been on deck for some time. The wind was so violent that he knew it would be in vain to arouse them by his voice. And he also feared to shout lest the water should fill his mouth and throat.

Whilst thus tossed about by wind and waves, his hand struck a rope which was the stopper for the anchor, and was fastened to the sloop's cat-head, so he could keep himself above water long enough to cry out. He remained in this precarious situation some time, but he found himself unable to make anyone hear. Nor could he get on board either vessel, though he attempted to haul himself up by the rope in his hand: his clothes were too heavy, and his boots filled with water. After some time, however, with his feet against the bow of the sloop, he swung himself so as to catch hold of the brig's main chains, and thus reached the deck of his own vessel again. This was, indeed, a wonderful escape.

After this he sailed in the "Peacock" again to the West Indies and back. During the winter, the "Peacock" was frozen up and lay at Fredericksburg. As soon as possible she came down the Rappahannock River and the bay of Chesapeake in company with the brig "Thomas" of Boston, and the private armed ship "Iris" of Salem. They were chased into Yorktown by the "Eagle", an English sixty-four-gun ship, and a frigate. There they beheld the awful devastations of war. This was the place occupied by the British troops under Lord Cornwallis when they were captured in October 1781. Though Delano was fond of adventure, yet he did not delight in the misery of his fellow men, nor was he indifferent to the evils and calamities of war.

In March, the "Peacock", "Thomas", and "Iris" left the harbour and passed Cape Henry. The British ships of war could not fetch by the cape on account of a high northerly wind, and the Americans returned and anchored in Hampton Roads. Two days after they left the cape, they experienced a very heavy gale, and the "Iris" was probably foundered, as she was never heard of afterwards. Off Cape Finistiere, the "Peacock" spoke a Swedish ship from which they first received the news of peace.

(From 1783-1786, Delano worked as a ship builder.)

Sometimes he wrought with his father, and sometimes was alone the master builder. In this time he built several vessels at Duxbury, and at Brunswick in the District of Maine. (Delano made several successful voyages in 1786 to the West Indies, and the following year he took command of the ship "Jane" bound for Cork, Ireland, and thence to St. Ubes, Portugal. The ship's owner-merchant and supercargo were, apparently, less than honest, and young Delano encountered many difficulties in carrying out his mission.) On his return from St. Ubes to Boston, he was cast away on Cape Cod on December 28, 1788. He lost everything he had; his people were destitute and penniless, and it was not in his power to afford them any pecuniary assistance. He was greatly distressed and mortified at his situation, for he was generous, humane and honest. He was soon after engaged in another undertaking, which was also attended by disappointment and mortification. He undertook to raise and repair a vessel lying in Taunton River for some merchants in Boston. It was found that the vessel had lain a long time under water and was more damaged than he had supposed. His employers were not very well satisfied with the proceedings. But their dissatisfaction was not greater than his regret that they were disappointed. It was a most fatiguing job to him, and it was believed he omitted nothing on his part to make the affair profitable. Though conscious of no immorality of conduct, he was so affected by the disapprobation of those by whom he had been employed, that he appeared greatly discouraged, and was almost ready, he has said, to give up all enterprize of the sort.

Fortunately for him, however, the ship "Massachusetts" was soon to be launched and sail for Canton in China. It was a large ship of 900 tons, built at Quincy. Here begins the journal of his voyages and adventures as given in this volume…