Beaver	Commander Stewart Deane
Armed Sloop	29 June 1776-[September] 1776
New York Privateer Sloop

Commissioned/First Date:	29 June 1776
Out of Service/Cause:

Owners:

John B. Livingston and John A. Stewart of New York

Tonnage:

Battery:

Date Reported: 29 June 1776 Number/Caliber  Weight        Broadside 6/4-pounder       24 pounds   12 pounds Total: 6 cannon/24 pounds Broadside: 3 cannon/12 pounds Swivels:

Crew:

29 June 1776: 21 [total]

Description:

Officers:

(1) First Mate John Hester, 29 June 1776-; (2) Second Mate John Smedren, 29 June 1776-

Cruises:

Prizes:

(1) Ship Earl of Errol (John Bartlett), at 33°30'N, 24 July 1776, with New York Privateer Brigantine Enterprise

Actions:

Comments:

New York Privateer Sloop Beaver was commissioned on 29 June 1776,¹ under Commander Stewart Deane. Her First Mate was John Hester and her Second Mate John Smedren. Beaver was listed as being armed with six 4-pounders and having a crew of twenty men. Beaver's owners were James A. Stewart and John B. Livingston of New York. Deane, after obtaining her commission, planned to sail to New London to recruit her sailors.² Beaver sailed from New York for St. Eustatius in company with the New York Privateer Brigantine Enterprise (Commander Joseph Dwight).³ On 24 July 1776, at 33°30'N,⁴ the two privateers intercepted the 270 ton ship Earl Of Errol (John Bartlett), bound from Jamaica to London,⁵ but most recently from the Grenadines, from which she had sailed on 9 July.⁶ Earl of Errol was richly laden with several hundred bags of cotton,⁷ sugar,⁸ rum,⁹ and fourteen passengers.¹⁰ She was ordered into Boston, where she arrived on 9¹¹ or 10 August 1776.¹² The Earl of Errol was advertised and libeled on 15 August 1776 and tried on 5 September 1776.¹³ The Beaver was back in port by 11 October 1776, when the owners were offered £3000 to sell her.¹⁴ The Beaver was at sea again in 1779, when she captured a sloop, and again in 1781.¹⁵

__________

¹ NDAR,"Continental Journal, Thursday, August 15, 1776," VI, 193 and note

² NDAR, "Journal of the New York Provincial Congress," V, 815-816 and 816 note

³ NDAR,"Continental Journal, Thursday, August 15, 1776," VI, 193 and note

⁴ NDAR, "Petition of Passengers On Board the Prize Ship Earl of Errol to the Massachusetts Council," VI, 212-213 and 213 note

⁵ NDAR, "James Warren to John Adams," VI, 143 and note

⁶ NDAR, "Petition of Passengers On Board the Prize Ship Earl of Errol to the Massachusetts Council," VI, 212-213 and 213 note

⁷ NDAR, "James Warren to John Adams," VI, 143 and note; "Continental Journal, Thursday, August 15, 1776," VI, 193 and note; "Dr. David Cobb to Robert Treat Paine," VI, 232-233

⁸ NDAR, "John Bradford to John Hancock," VI, 151-152 and 152 note; "Continental Journal, Thursday, August 15, 1776," VI, 193 and note

⁹ NDAR, "Continental Journal, Thursday, August 15, 1776," VI, 193 and note

¹⁰ NDAR, "Petition of Passengers On Board the Prize Ship Earl of Errol to the Massachusetts Council," VI, 212-213 and 213 note

¹¹ NDAR, "Dr. David Cobb to Robert Treat Paine," VI, 232-233

¹² NDAR, "James Warren to John Adams," VI, 143 and note

¹³ NDAR, "Advertisement of Libels Against Six British Prizes," VI, 192 and note

¹⁴ NDAR, "John B. Livingston to Robert R. Livingston," VI, 1213-1215 and 1215 note

¹⁵ Maclay, History of American Privateers, 73