Name of Vessel:

Sally

Master of Vessel:

Simon Gross

Rig of Vessel:

Sloop

Date of Capture:

30 August 1775

Place of Capture:

Off Mount Desert Island, Massachusetts [Maine]

Captor:

Massachusetts militia

Home Port:

From What Port:

Mt. Desert Island, Massachusetts [Maine]

To What Port:

Cork, Ireland

Cargo:

Staves

Tonnage:

55

Battery:

Crew:

4

Owners:

Nathan Jones

Prizemaster:

Prizecrew:

Ordered Into:

Goldsborough, Massachusetts [Maine]

Into What Port:

Goldsborough, Massachusetts [Maine]

Date Arrived:

1 September 1775

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: Sloop Sally was en route from Goldsborough to Mount Desert Island to load staves for Ireland, when she was seized by Captain William Reed and thirty men of the militia from Deer Island, for suspected violation of the Continental Association, and for suspected trading with the British at Boston. She was taken to Frenchman's Bay then to Deer Island. The Goldsborough militia petitioned the Massachusetts government for further instructions about 20 September 1775. The House of Representatives referred the petition to a committee for consideration the same day. The master, Simon Gross, petitioned the Massachusetts General Court for his freedom on 28 September, as well as damages and restoration of his property. The General Court dismissed his petition. By 4 October the House had been petitioned to allow the Sally to be used as a privateer, which the House approved, but suspended execution pending a general privateering law being enacted.

[NDAR, II, 160, 209-210, 227, 228, 304, 322-323, 323]

Revised 2 December 2008