| Notes |
At the outbreak of war, the Connecticut Assembly voted to construct its own navy. The backbone was two ships: one which they purchased and outfitted — the 16-gun brig Defence — and a second built to order — the 20-gun Oliver Cromwell.
Governor Trumbull, aided in his prosecution of the war by a handpicked Council of Safety, appointed Seth Harding and Ebenezer Bartram as Defence‘s captain and first lieutenant. Both were respected and experienced merchant captains. They also appointed Samuel Smedley as lieutenant of marines. Smedley was the cousin of Bartram’s wife and the son of James Smedley, a French and Indian War vet who, along with Bartram, owned shares in the Upper Wharf along Black Rock Harbor, a well-developed port in Fairfield, Connecticut. Like his father, Samuel was also an investor in maritime commerce — he and a friend co-owned a large storehouse along the wharf — but unlike him, Samuel seems to have had some sailing experience as well.
Almost immediately after the initial appointments, the second lieutenant dropped out and Smedley was promoted to his spot. By the end of the year, both Bartram and Harding also quit due to illness. Each time, Smedley climbed a rung of the ladder until he was finally commissioned as Defence‘s captain in the spring of 1777. He was 23 years old. Defence went on to take a total of seven prizes under his command.
http://allthingsliberty.com/2013/08/samuel-smedley-and-prize-division/
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http://books.google.com/books?id=aGNmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA305&lpg=PA305&dq=james+smedley+hartford+connecticut&source=bl&ots=rdfusglcbD&sig=g5Ed7RhQ-3LZhjEg44EXieK9MQw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=o8LyU83rEor5yQSnyIJw&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=james%20smedley%20hartford%20connecticut&f=false
The Goodwins of Hartford, Connecticut, Descendants of William and Ozias Goodwin
By James Junius Goodwin, Frank Farnsworth Starr
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- 1771