Northampton	Commander James Powell [Power]
Schooner	[December] 1776-
Virginia Privateer Schooner

Commissioned/First Date:	[December] 1776
Out of Service/Cause:	29 September 1777/sold out of service

Owners:

Tonnage:

[60]

Battery:

Date Reported: 26 September 1777 Number/Caliber  Weight        Broadside 7/ Total: 7 cannon/ Broadside: 3 cannon/ Swivels: five

Crew:

Description:

Officers:

Cruises:

Prizes:

(1) Ship Friendship, [15] January 1777 (2) Sloop [unknown], [15] January 1777

Actions:

Comments:

The 60-ton Virginia Privateer Schooner Northampton was active in late 1776. She was under the command of Commander James Powell [Power] and mounted seven carriage guns and five swivel guns.¹

On 31 January 1777, Purdie’s Virginia Gazette reported that the Northampton, based on the Eastern Shore, had captured two prizes. One was a ship from the Bay of Honduras, with a cargo of mahogany and logwood. The other was a sloop from the Mississippi River with staves and shingles.²

The ship was the 300-ton Friendship, laden with mahogany, logwood, sarsparilla, and deerskins. She was advertised for sale at Portsmouth, Virginia on 12 February 1777, with the sale to take place on 27 February. A Negro carpenter, probably a slave, was to be sold at the same time.³ The sale did not take place, however, and the advertisement was re-listed on 4 April 1777, with the sale set for 23 April.⁴

On 26 September 1777 the schooner Northampton was advertised for sale, with the auction to take place on 29 September at the Northampton County courthouse.⁵

¹ NDAR, “Purdie’s Virginia Gazette, Friday, January 31, 1777,” VII, 1073; Purdie’s Virginia Gazette, Friday, April 4, 1777; Dixon and Hunter’s Virginia Gazette, Friday, September 26, 1777

² NDAR, “Purdie’s Virginia Gazette, Friday, January 31, 1777,” VII, 1073

³ Dixon and Hunter’s Virginia Gazette, Friday, February 14, 1777

⁴ Purdie’s Virginia Gazette, Friday, April 4, 1777

⁵ Dixon and Hunter’s Virginia Gazette, Friday, September 26, 1777

Posted 3 February 2011

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