August 4, 1776

One Eight Dollar Bill Lost

Many different kinds of paper money were used during the Revolution. Perhaps it was a bill like this one that Captain Jabez Whipple mentioned in his ship’s log.

The first line in the ship’s log of the Rhode Island privateer sloop Independence on August 4th, 1776, was this:

At 8 AM One Eight Dollar Bill Lost

Odd as it may seem that Captain Jabez Whipple would bother recording such a thing, it makes sense if you consider that eight dollars was more than a month’s pay for many sailors.

Pardon my speculations on trivial historical matters, but I have to wonder how the bill got lost. Maybe someone in the crew had stolen it; but if Captain Whipple had suspected that, I’m sure he would have made a search for it, and the log doesn’t mention anything of the sort. More likely, it seems to me, a breeze took it overboard. The log says that they had “plesent wether” and a “smuth See” that morning, but surely there was enough wind to carry off a piece of paper. I’m afraid I’ll just have to keep on wondering.

In the meanwhile, I’d also really like to know what it means when the log says that at 6:00 AM on August 14th, all hands were busy “a Dancing”. Was that a nautical term that I haven’t yet found the meaning of? Or were Wednesday mornings always set aside for recreation aboard the Independence? We may never know.

See what else happened in August 1776

Sources

  • “Journal of the Rhode Island Sloop Independence, Captain Jabez Whipple.” Naval Documents of the American Revolution, 6:48, 181.