JEHU STOKELY AND JOHN PAUL JONES

By Robert Evan Lee

Just about every Stokely in east Tennessee or with roots in east Tennessee has heard the family story about Jehu Stokely, the patriarch of the Stokely clan, having served with John Paul Jones at the time of the Bon Homme Richard’s historic clash with the British vessel Serapis. From reading the family’s accounts of what Jehu allegedly claimed, one might infer that Stokely was actually on board the Bon Homme Richard on the night of September 23, 1779. We have all noticed, of course, that family stories often try to connect ancestors to certain famous figures in history, with little or no factual information to support the connection. We should also be mindful that family stories that are passed down through the generations often bear only passing resemblance to the original version, as family members sometimes provide their own interpretations and embellishments and otherwise take liberties with the facts. All of this is done, mind you, with the best of intentions. But an examination of the Stokely family accounts, a close look at the historic record, and a little amateur handwriting analysis leads us to conclude that Jehu Stokely was probably at the scene of the battle all right, just as he said he was. But it appears that Stokely was aboard the American-built frigate Alliance and not Jones’ flagship the Bon Homme Richard.

Variations on the story of Old Jehu’s exploits (the family often referred to him as “Old Jehu” and they pronounced his name GEE-hugh) are everywhere in Stokely lore, but we’ll concern ourselves with the two accounts passed down to today’s generations by two of Jehu Stokely’s direct descendants: Americus Jehu Stokely of Del Rio, Tennessee, and Mrs. Charles L. Grigsby of Asheville, North Carolina. Americus Jehu was the great grandson of Jehu Stokely. His account can be found in Lady Ruth Webb Odell’s ambitious Over The Misty Blue Hills and begins on page 140 of that book. Mrs. Grigsby was Jehu’s great great granddaughter, and her account was published in the Cocke County Banner some years ago and is now filed in the Stokely Memorial Library in Newport. The two versions are essentially the same when it comes to the basic story, but Mrs. Grigsby adds that Jehu was captured in battle, imprisoned, and then exchanged.

Old Jehu, who, according to information recorded in his son Royal’s bible, was born in Wales in 1747, told his family that he was arrested by British authorities for the simple act of either trespassing on royal property or for breaking a branch from a tree limb. Jehu claims that as punishment for this act he was sentenced to serve seven years aboard a British sailing vessel. This is entirely plausible, as the British Royal Navy was using methods such as this—in addition to conscription—to satisfy the growing need for sailors to man its expanding fleet and to provide crews for its warships during times of war. The seven-year figure cited by Jehu is within the normal range of time levied by British authorities, and if we assume for the moment that young Jehu was in his late teens or early twenties at the time of his arrest, we can fix the time of this incident as probably in the late 1760’s.

According to the story handed down to us, Jehu said that he eventually landed in Charleston, South Carolina. We hope that we aren’t taking too many liberties if we estimate the time of his arrival in America as probably in the mid-1770’s. British vessels were everywhere in American waters in the late 18th century just before the Revolutionary War broke out, and it is something of an understatement to say that life on board one of these ships was harsh. Most of the sailors detested serving aboard His Majesty’s vessels, and it has been recorded that British seamen deserted their ships in large numbers while those ships were in American ports.1 Charleston, of course, was a major port, and it’s plausible that young Jehu either completed his seven-year sentence while in American waters or that he simply jumped ship, as some have suggested. It is reported, after all, that Jehu nursed a serious grudge against the British for what he considered to have been unjust punishment and that he retained this animosity toward the Crown for his entire life. (Jehu’s love for his new country is perhaps reflected in the name given to his great grandson: Americus Jehu Stokely.)

Prior to his date with history and his service with John Paul Jones and in apparent testament to his feelings toward the British, Jehu took up arms against the Crown sometime after his arrival in America. Indeed, there is ample evidence that he was a member of the North Carolina Militia at the time of the Battle of Brier (Briar or Bryer) Creek in eastern Georgia on March 3, 1779, just a little more than six months before John Paul Jones was to sail into history aboard the Bon Homme Richard. One Jehu Stockley (sic) appears on a list of sundries and cash awarded to members of the militias of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina as compensation for losses claimed and allowed during the Revolutionary War. Jehu, according to this list, was to be paid for clothing lost at the battle of Brier Creek. 6 The question then arises of exactly what happened to Jehu (and his clothing) at the Battle of Brier Creek and how did he manage in the aftermath of that battle to find his way to western Europe and keep his date with history?

The Battle of Brier Creek was a one-sided victory for the British that resulted in the capture of scores of Americans. 7 So, did Stokely simply discard his extra clothing and equipment in order to escape the British by swimming across a river in the vicinity—as many American fighting men did 8 —or was he captured by the British and was his extra clothing and equipment taken from him, as was commonly done? 9 Fortunately, we are enlightened by information contained in the pension applications of two other veterans of the Brier Creek engagement.

These two men, one Augustine Balthrop and a gentleman named John Hancock, had both enlisted in the North Carolina militia in Bute County, where Jehu Stokely made his home before he came to the French Broad River region in east Tennessee, probably in the late 1790’s. (Bute County was divided into Warren and Franklin Counties in 1779, and Stokely lived in the portion that became Warren County). Both Balthrop and Hancock swore in their separate pension applications that they were captured at the Battle of Brier Creek and were subsequently taken to the town of Savannah and placed aboard a British prison ship anchored in the river some miles south of the town. Both men identified John Stokely by name as having been captured along with them and then being put aboard the prison ship south of Savannah. 10

Both Balthrop and Hancock, justifiably fearing for their lives if they had to remain aboard that prison ship, ultimately signed on with the British forces and agreed to fight on the side of the Crown. Balthrop held out until late June 1779 (his estimation), while Hancock waited until September before enlisting in the British ranks. 11 A third veteran of Brier Creek, a certain William Poplin, swore that he was also captured at Brier Creek and was confined aboard a British prison ship south of Savannah for about six months before he too—rather than risk starving to death—enlisted in the service of the British. 12 Poplin did not give the names of any of the men who were captured with him. This switching of allegiances, especially if it meant escaping the death traps that the prison ships had become, was a common practice for captured Americans during the Revolutionary War. 13 The British prison ships were regarded by some as merely a way to kill American soldiers, and many thousands of Americans did in fact perish aboard these hulks. Indeed, the number of deaths that resulted from incarceration in the rancid holds of these rotting vessels far exceeded the number of American deaths from wounds suffered in battle. 14 Balthrop, Hancock, and Poplin eventually deserted from the British ranks and made their way back to the American lines and returned to their homes. 15 Other Americans captured at Brier Creek served time aboard at least three British prison vessels in succession, beginning at Savannah, before eventually being exchanged at Charleston in October 1779. We have found no evidence that Stokely was among this group of exchanged Americans, but if our Jehu (John) Stokely had been imprisoned in the Savannah area throughout the summer of 1779, then he obviously could not have been with Jones in September of that year.

Neither Balthrop nor Hancock mentioned what eventually happened to Stokely after the British imprisoned him. We know of course that Stokely survived his time aboard the prison ship south of Savannah and that he eventually filed for repayment for the clothing that he lost at the Battle of Brier Creek. We are fairly confident too (as we shall see) that he was at the scene of the battle between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis in September 1779, just as he claimed to his family some 200 years ago. So if the John Stokely named by Balthrop and Hancock is our man, and if John Stokely was in fact at the scene of the battle between the Bon Homme Richard and Serapis on September 23, 1779, then my g-g-g-g-grandfather had to have gotten off of that prison ship fairly quickly and to have set sail for the waters around the British Isles. But what were the circumstances surrounding his leaving that scow in the river south of Savannah and how did he get from there to France?

There are several possibilities. Stokely could have been paroled or involved in an exchange for British prisoners or he could simply have escaped. Parolees, in accordance with the terms of their release, were obliged not to return to the battlefield until they were actually exchanged, but a considerable number of these former prisoners failed to live up to their requirements of their parole. Mable Stokely Grigsby, of course, tells us that Stokely was captured in battle, imprisoned, and then exchanged, but she provides no details that would help fix the date of these events or the parties involved. We can’t be sure, therefore, if the action at Brier Creek and afterwards are the events to which she refers. If Stokely—an experienced seaman—avoided imprisonment on that British prison ship near Savannah by being either paroled or exchanged or by escaping, then he might have decided that signing on with one of the hundreds of American privateers then operating out of American ports—or even a privateer sailing under some other nation’s flag—would serve two purposes: it could conceivably put money into his pockets in reasonably short order (privateering could be an uncommonly profitable venture in those days) and it would allow him to continue his personal vendetta against the British for the seven years he served as punishment for the trespassing/property destruction incident back in Wales. 16

Some estimates place the number of Americans who served aboard these American privateers at something more than 200,000, and it was not unusual for an American to sign on with a privateer flying the flag of another country, i.e., France. Indeed, American vessels were enjoying the sanctuary of French ports by the spring of 1779, and two French privateers, Monsieur and Granville, in fact were waiting near Lorient, France, when Jones arrived there in early August of 1779. 17 The captains of these two vessels had decided to join Jones, and the two privateers were part of Jones’ task force when the seven vessels under his command set sail on August 14, 1779, from Groix Roadstead on the southern tip of France. Both Monsieur and Granville, however, separated themselves from Jones’ flotilla within a few days and were not with Jones at the time of the engagement between Bon Homme Richard and Serapis. 18 Americans were serving aboard French privateers during this era, and crewmen switched vessels easily and not necessarily with the permission of their captains in those days. The two French privateers were in fact in port at Groix Roadstead at the same time that Jones, the Bon Homme Richard, and the Alliance were there. And even though it may be something of a stretch, who can say with certainty that Stokely was not on either the Monsieur or Granville and that he did not join the crew of the Alliance while the vessels were all at Groix Roadstead?

We can also consider the possibility that Stokely, when captured by the British at Brier Creek, immediately decided to save his neck and, drawing upon his years of experience at sea, got off of that prison ship near Savannah in short order by switching sides and signing on with the British as a crewman aboard a British sailing vessel. American fighting men knew all too well what to expect if they were to be confined aboard one of the British prison ships: either death or the ruination of one’s health for a lifetime. There are eyewitness accounts of American prisoners gnawing at their own flesh or trying to eat bricks as they sought simply to survive their confinement aboard these festering hulks.19 One unidentified prisoner lamented, “death or enlistment with the enemy are the only two choices we have.” 20 It is well known that the British were experiencing a shortage of sailors during this period and were employing all manner of incentives and tactics, especially including impressments, to provide crews for their vessels. British recruiters were among the first to approach newly confined American prisoners with offers of amnesty if the prisoners would sign on aboard a British vessel. 21 Indeed, Americans constituted a significant percentage of the crews manning British vessels during the revolutionary era. One British source claimed that thousands of seamen were recruited from the prison population for His Majesty’s service. 22 Just as Balthrop, Hancock, and Poplin had done after temporarily switching allegiances, Stokely would probably have looked for an opportunity to escape from the British if he in fact joined them in the spring of 1779 and put to sea. 23

If Stokely signed on with a privateer or with a British ship, then it’s entirely possible—indeed probable if we accept that the Brier Creek Stokely and the Bon Homme Richard-Serapis Stokely are one and the same—that his new vessel sailed back across the Atlantic into waters near the British Isles and that Stokely may have jumped ship at that point. Stokely would then have had little trouble finding his way to a French port where he would have been available for recruitment by John Paul Jones in the spring/summer of 1779. American prisoners who escaped from British captivity in the United Kingdom did in fact make their way across the English Channel fairly easily and, with the aid of facilitators put in place by Benjamin Franklin, quickly found their way onto privateers or warships. 24

It is a matter of historical record that many American sailors aboard privateer vessels were captured by the British during this period and that these sailors were taken to England and locked away in British prisons. Two of the most notorious of these lockups were Forton (near Portsmouth) and Mill (at Plymouth) in the United Kingdom. In fact, most of the Americans imprisoned at these two British facilities were naval personnel. 25 We also know from the history books that Benjamin Franklin, who was one of the American Commissioners in Paris and America’s Ambassador to France during the Revolutionary War, succeeded in gaining the release of hundreds of the American sailors from Forton and Mill in exchange for British prisoners. It is also a matter of record that many of the American sailors who were eventually released in the exchange agreement negotiated by Franklin were transported from England to French ports, where they immediately signed on with John Paul Jones during the spring and summer of 1779 and became part of the crews of the Bon Homme Richard and the Alliance. 26 Indeed, one of Jones’ primary missions while in the waters around the British Isles was to capture as many British sailors as he could so that they might be exchanged for the Americans languishing in British jails.

Stokely’s name does not appear on any of the available lists of Americans that were involved in the prisoner exchanges arranged by Franklin. Nor does his name or any variation of Stokely appear on the roster of the men aboard the Bon Homme Richard at the time of that vessel’s encounter with the Serapis. 27 But there were other vessels in the little flotilla commanded by John Paul Jones at the time of that fateful encounter in September of 1779. The two French privateers Monsieur and Granville left the flotilla before the Bon Homme Richard-Serapis encounter, leaving—in addition to Bon Homme Richard—the frigate La Pallas, the Corvette La Vengeance, the cutter Le Cerf, and the Continental Frigate Alliance, the American-built fighting ship that would go on to greater glory on the side of the colonies in the Revolutionary War. 28 In September of 1779, however, the half-mad Frenchman Pierre Landais, who disgraced himself by reportedly firing on both the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis while those two vessels were locked in mortal combat, was at the helm of the Alliance. 29 Happily, Landais was eventually removed (twice) from his post as captain of the Alliance. 30

Enter JOHN HOLEKY! A copy of the roster of the Alliance dated October 3, 1779, just ten days after the Bon Homme Richard-Serapis engagement, contains the name of one JOHN HOLEKY and identifies him as a surgeon’s mate on board the Alliance.31 The roster that I have seen is typewritten and, one assumes, was probably copied from the handwritten roster kept either by the ship’s clerk (scribe) or by the first mate. Because STOKELY and HOLEKY are so similar, I initially suspected that HOLEKY just might be Old Jehu and that my g-g-g-g-grandfather had deliberately altered the spelling of his last name to conceal his true identity. The British were of course quite conscious of the possibility that an exchanged prisoner might well take up arms against them again, and they had made it clear that things would not go well for anyone who might be recaptured. But after some additional research, I became convinced that the appearance of JOHN HOLEKY on the typed roster of the Alliance is instead very likely the result of a mis-reading of the handwritten name JEHU (he sometimes used JOHN) STOKELY.

I came to this conclusion after I turned my attention to copies of the original census roles of 1790 for Warren County, North Carolina; an official list of militia members from the Carolinas and Virginia that shows that one Jehu Stockley (sic) was authorized to be compensated for clothing lost at the Battle of Brier Creek; Tennessee Land Grant number 2143; and the State of North Carolina Warrant number 1919. Each of these documents contains Jehu Stokely’s name, written in old-style script by clerks who presumably were considered to have at least adequate penmanship skills. It takes only a cursory examination of these documents to see that the inscribed name Jehu (or John) Stokely could easily have been mistakenly read as JOHN HOLEKY. This is because, in the hands of these scribes, the old-style capital “S” followed by a lower-case “t” would often appear to the unwary to be a capital “H.” This phenomenon, in which the crossing of the “t” is exaggerated, is especially noticeable in the State of North Carolina Warrant number 1919 and on the census roles of 1790 for Warren County, North Carolina. 32 In fact, several examples of this exaggerated crossing of the “t” after the capital “S” can be found on the census roles for 1790. One need only look at such names as Stephen, Stoke, and Story, which are to be found on the same page with Stokely.

I have personally confirmed that this peculiar handwriting convention was also practiced by the clerk who made out the payroll for the Alliance in 1781 33, but I have not seen the original handwritten crew list prepared in October 1779. I cannot say with certainty therefore whether the ship’s clerk at that time used the same style as his fellow scribes in North Carolina and in Tennessee territory and on board the Alliance in 1781, although I strongly suspect that he did. I believe that the person responsible for typing the Alliance roster from the clerk’s handwritten list of October 3, 1779 simply mis-read Jehu (or John) Stokely as JOHN HOLEKY. This mistake would have been even easier to make if the names were not arranged alphabetically (the rosters I have seen were not arranged alphabetically) and if the typist was not familiar with the first name “Jehu.” I’m convinced that the similarity between Jehu Stokely and JOHN HOLEKY is too striking to dismiss and that the HOLEKY who appears on the typewritten copy of the roster of the Alliance is in fact Jehu Stokely.

The name JOHN HOLEKY appears again some 70 years later, in May of 1848, on the typewritten official list of prize money awarded to crewmen aboard the Alliance. 34 It is clear, however, that this prize list is for the crew who were aboard the Alliance in September 1779. I consider it very likely that this list dated in 1848 was merely copied from the typed version of the October 3, 1779 list that was prepared while the vessel was under Jones’ command but captained by Landais. Since I’m convinced that a JOHN HOLEKY never existed, I suspect that this prize money was never awarded to the descendants of Jehu Stokely. HOLEKY’s name also appears on page 72 of the book The Revolutionary Worthies of the Medical Staff where he is identified again as a surgeon’s mate aboard the Alliance, although the book explains that it cannot vouch for the medical credentials of the people listed. It is interesting that of the some 90 “medical worthies” listed in this book whose last names begin with “H,” only two names—one of them being HOLEKY—do not include the state of residence. 35 Again, I believe that the appearance of HOLEKY’s name in this book, which is dated July 1890, can be traced to the appearance of HOLEKY on the typed version of the Alliance roster dated October 3, 1779.

So, I am suggesting that Jehu Stokely arrived in America after either completing his seven years with the British Navy, or after cutting short his time of service by jumping ship, and that he ultimately made his way to France and signed on with John Paul Jones there in the spring/summer of 1779. Stokely, of course, would have had to have been aboard a sailing vessel to get from the colonies to France in the spring of 1779 after the Battle of Brier Creek and his incarceration by the British. If he somehow avoided a lengthy imprisonment in Savannah, then his experience at sea in the service of the Crown would have enabled him to land a position aboard a privateer—either an American vessel or a privateer flying the flag of another nation. This new vessel would have sailed across the Atlantic to a point on or near the coast of France, where Stokely could have left the ship and made his way to the spot where John Paul Jones recruited him. But American privateers were at sea primarily to attack British shipping, 36 so if Jehu were on a privateer and that vessel were to have been captured in battle with a British sailing ship, then Stokely would logically have been confined to either Forton or Mill prisons in England. He could then have been among those Americans exchanged for British prisoners and would have been available to sign on with John Paul Jones and then serve aboard the Continental Frigate Alliance. (This chain of events would also satisfy Mable Stokely Grigsby’s account that Stokely had been captured in battle, imprisoned, and then exchanged.) Several American seamen who signed on with Jones in 1779 followed precisely this route: they served aboard privateers, they were captured and then imprisoned at either Forton or Mill, and they were eventually exchanged for British prisoners.37 And then there’s the possibility that Stokley was on one of the two French privateers that greeted Jones when he arrived at Groix Roadstead in August of 1779, although there is no way we can say for certain that this was the case.

Alternatively, Stokely could have switched sides temporarily in Savannah just to escape from that prison ship, after which he may have sailed aboard a British vessel to a British port where he jumped ship and made his way across the English Channel to France. Once in France—probably near Lorient—Stokely could have signed on with John Paul Jones and would have served as one of the three surgeon’s mates aboard the Alliance. There are of course other scenarios within which Stokely could have found himself under Jones’ command, but I believe, given the circumstances at the time, that these are two of the most likely.

Either of the two scenarios that I have proposed would account for Stokely/Holeky appearing on the Alliance crew list in October of 1779, but Jehu was not on any of the other rosters that I have been able to locate for that vessel. Obviously, the name Stokely/Holeky would not have appeared on the Alliance roster (and it didn’t) 38 when that frigate set sail from Boston for France early in 1779 if my g-g-g-g-grandfather didn’t come aboard the Alliance until the spring or summer of that year, which I believe is the case. As for crew lists for the Alliance dated other than October 3, 1779, I have learned that at least six other rosters are known to exist for that vessel. Those rosters are dated March 1779 (two), April 1779 (a partial roster), March 1781, April 1783, and May 1783 near the end of the Revolutionary War. I have been told by other researchers that the name Stokely, or any variation of it, does not appear on any of these rosters, and I have personally confirmed that no such name appears on the two rosters dated March 1779, 39 on the partial roster dated April 1779, 40 or on the Alliance payroll for 1781.41

It is interesting as well that a sizeable group of men deserted from the Bon Homme Richard at Lorient in July 1779. All of these men had signed on with Jones at French ports in March and April of 1779, but they had apparently decided by July, for whatever reason, that duty aboard the Bon Homme Richard was not for them.42 It is known that sailors of that era often left one ship for another, sometimes with permission and sometimes without, 43 and men certainly were not competing to serve under John Paul Jones. One need only look at the carnage that took place during the battle between the Bon Homme Richard and Serapis for an example of just why Jones was not that popular with his men: one could get killed serving under Jones.

In any event, 24 of the men who deserted the Bon Homme Richard in July 1779 were identified by name and their position aboard their former ship was listed. Jehu Stokely’s name does not appear on this list, but two unnamed men among the deserters were identified as surgeon’s mates and it was noted that they had both come aboard the Bon Homme Richard at Lorient. 44 When the Alliance left Boston in January 1779, two of her crew, both of them with the rank of Petty Officer, were identified as surgeon’s mates and were listed by name.45 The roster of the Alliance dated October 3, 1779 contained the names of these same two men and that of a third surgeon’s mate: our John Holeky. The Alliance and the Bon Homme Richard were in and out of some of the same ports in the summer of 1779 and were often anchored near one another, 46 so one might suspect that one of the surgeon’s mates who deserted from the Bon Homme Richard that month could have been Jehu Stokely and that Stokely simply found his way aboard the Alliance. In fairness, however, it should be noted that none of the men who were identified as having deserted the Bon Homme Richard in July 1779 appeared on the crew list of the Alliance that was dated October 3, 1779. So if Stokely did in fact simply leave the Bon Homme Richard and step aboard the Alliance that July, then he may have been the only former Bon Homme Richard crewman to have done so.

Stokely, who it appears did not come aboard the Alliance until that vessel had arrived in French waters, was back in America in time to wed Nancy Neal (or Neil or O’Neal) sometime in 1780 (according to Royal Stokely’s bible), but we can’t be certain at this point exactly when or how Jehu returned to the colonies. Exploring the likely possibilities, we suggest that perhaps Jehu left the Alliance sometime after October 3, 1779—but while that ship was still in Europe—and that he then found his way back to America aboard another vessel. He certainly had ample opportunity to do so between the time of the battle off Flamborough Head on 23 September 1779 and the eventual departure of the Alliance from France in June 1780. Passage to America was available out of either French or Dutch ports, and some of the American prisoners who escaped from British detention are known to have signed on at these ports for the voyage back across the Atlantic to their homes. 47 The Alliance in fact arrived in Texel—Amsterdam’s access to the North Sea—on October 3, 1779, just days after the Bon Homme Richard-Serapis encounter, and the ship remained there until late December. Jones, who by this time had taken over from Pierre Landais as Captain of the Alliance, took her back out to sea on December 27th and, after an 11-day stop in Corunna, Spain, eventually brought the Alliance into Lorient, France, on February 19, 1780, where she remained until mid-June. The log of the Alliance confirms that a number of crewmen left the ship—some in March, others in May—without authorization while she was in port in Lorient, and other members of the Alliance crew were put aboard prizes (other ships) captured by the frigate while she was under Jones’ command between late December and mid-February. 48 The prize crews would have sailed these captured ships into nearby ports. 49

Pierre Landais, who had earlier been stripped of his command of the Alliance, took advantage of Jones’s absence from that vessel in June 1780 to board the frigate and reclaim the captaincy. 50 Landais eventually sailed the Alliance back across the Atlantic—although he was in charge for only a portion of the trip—and the ship arrived in Boston in August 1780, but there apparently is no roster available that would tell us if Stokely was aboard during that voyage home. Perhaps Stokely became lost in the confusion over which vessel—the Alliance or the Ariel—the Bon Homme Richard veterans would board for their return to America. When Landais took back the helm of the Alliance in June of 1780 a number of Bon Homme Richard veterans were already aboard that ship and were preparing for their return to America.51 Landais, who was at odds with John Paul Jones from the time he was placed under Jones’ command, 52 immediately demanded oaths of allegiance from all of the Alliance crew—which may still have included Stokely—but he then slapped in irons all of those who wanted to leave the ship and join Jones aboard the Ariel 53 (the Ariel was yet another frigate that the French had loaned to Jones). 54 We may never know if Jehu was among those who wanted to leave the Alliance and go with Jones, but the Jones loyalists who were aboard the Alliance eventually returned to America with that vessel and arrived in Boston in August 1780. Some of them were in chains, as ordered by Landais. 55

As an aside, Captain Pierre Landais became even more unstable as the Alliance made its way across the Atlantic. The crew and passengers eventually mutinied against the totally unhinged Frenchman and turned command of the vessel over to the First Officer, who guided the ship into Boston. Landais was eventually found guilty on several counts at a court martial and was ignominiously drummed out of the service. The Alliance, which was named in recognition of the American-French alliance during the Revolutionary War, went on under the command of John Barry to become a mainstay of the American Navy during the War for Independence. 56

Another 45 or so Bon Homme Richard veterans formed part of the crew of the Ariel as Jones sailed this smaller frigate back across the Atlantic to Philadelphia. The Ariel arrived in the City of Brotherly Love in February 1781, but a roster of the men aboard the vessel for this voyage is available and does not include Stokely’s name or any variation of it. 57 Some Men loyal to Jones, therefore, were aboard the Alliance and others were on the Ariel, but it appears more likely that if Stokely were in fact aboard either of these ships, then the Alliance would seem to be the more logical choice. This would be cutting it pretty close, but Jehu would have had time to make it to Charleston in time for his marriage that year—even though the British were still occupying that port city—if he were aboard the Alliance when it arrived in Boston on August 19,1780. We also know that some Bon Homme Richard veterans were aboard the frigate South Carolina when that vessel left Texel in August 1781, but the dates associated with this ship’s voyages conflict with other information about Stokely of which we are fairly confident. For instance, Jehu’s first child Susan was probably conceived in September 1781 at a time when the South Carolina was at sea on its way from Texel to Corunna, Spain. 58 Absent information that Jehu was not the biological father of Susan, then we must assume that he and Nancy had to have been together sometime in the autumn of 1781.

Ordinarily, we might consider a tale such as this to be just a little far-fetched. Here we have a young Welsh lad being slapped aboard a British sailing vessel for seven years as punishment for a minor offense. He then arrives in America in time to enlist on the side of the colonies against the British, he’s captured in battle, he’s thrown aboard a death-trap of a British prison ship, he somehow gets off of that vessel, he soon finds himself probably back on the coast of France, he signs on with John Paul Jones and is present at one of the most famous battles in the American Navy’s history, he probably returns to America aboard an American vessel with an insane Frenchman at the helm, and he then finally settles in east Tennessee with a Revolutionary soldier’s grant of land and becomes my g-g-g-g-grandfather and the patriarch of hundreds of descendants.

But what Old Jehu may have experienced was not that much out of the ordinary during this period in our country’s history. Indeed, there are many such stories that strain credulity. Sailors of that era typically served aboard many different vessels; they changed ships for a variety of reasons—better pay, a more lenient captain, or a destination more to their liking; they often left one vessel for another without the captain’s permission, simply jumping ship; attempted mutinies were not that uncommon as crews frequently rebelled against their captains; men were lost at sea; capricious winds blew ships to the four corners of the globe; sailors were captured in battle, imprisoned, exchanged, and recaptured; sailors switched allegiances and often fought on both sides at separate times; American sailors escaped from certain British prisons for a night on the town and then re-entered the prison the next day on their own; captured British officers were paroled and allowed to live in American towns among the colonialists; prize crews put aboard captured vessels to sail them into a nearby port were sometimes captured themselves; press gangs prowled the waterfront pubs and grabbed unwary seamen for service at sea; and thousands of American sailors died in captivity during the Revolutionary War. There are dozens of true stories from the Revolution that make our version of what may have happened to Stokely seem run-of-the-mill. 59

There are several accounts of Jehu Stokely’s service during the Revolutionary War that identify him as both a sailor and as a member of the Continental Army in the service of America. It is unclear from these accounts, because they sometimes conflict, as to exactly when Jehu served in what capacity. Family legend has it that Jehu admired the courage displayed by the “Over-Mountain Men” at the battle of King’s Mountain on October 7, 1780 and that he made the decision at that time to migrate to east Tennessee. 60 The implication in the family story is that Stokely was in fact at King’s Mountain when the Over-Mountain Men decimated the Tories under British Col. Patrick Ferguson. Members of the North Carolina Militia did indeed participate in the battle, 61 but the engagement occurred less than two months after the Alliance arrived in Boston and I have been unable to locate any historical record that places Stokely at Kings Mountain in October of 1780.

One account, provided by Jehu’s great grandson Jesse W. D. Stokely in 1922, has Jehu enlisting as a private soldier with the colonies and then later re-enlisting in the Navy, where, according to Jesse W. D., he remained “until terminated.” 62 Within this scenario, Jehu could have fought at the battle of Brier Creek in March 1779 and then could have gone to sea in time to surface aboard the Alliance in September of that same year. But my great grandfather Americus Jehu Stokely told Lady Ruth Webb Odell in March 1938 that Old Jehu became a soldier in the “Department of Heavy Artillery” and fought on the side of America in the Revolutionary War after serving under John Paul Jones. 63 Whatever the case, I think that one would agree that Jehu would have had to have been one busy revolutionary indeed during this period.

So, after a lot of sometimes frustrating detective work, here we are in August of 2009. And unless grandpa told a real whopper, I am confident that I have found sufficient evidence to place Jehu Stokely at the scene of the September 23, 1779 encounter between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis. We may never know exactly how Old Jehu came to be off Flamborough Head or how he returned to America in time to wed Ms. Neal, but I think I have provided Jehu’s descendants with some food for thought. My g-g-g-g-grandfather told family members that he signed on with John Paul Jones, and we should no longer have to add so many qualifying comments when we tell the story of how Old Jehu was present at what was arguably one of the most significant sea battles in our country’s history.

(Author’s Note: The conclusions and suggestions put forward in this article are mine alone and are based on my analysis of the historical information I have been able to uncover. Perhaps other researchers will be able to pick up the thread and tell more of Old Jehu’s story. Perhaps additional reviews of the information I have cited will lead others to different conclusions. To all I say, Good hunting and God speed your efforts. In any event, don’t be too hard on me because one’s vision becomes somewhat clouded when one tries to peer back through over 200 years of history.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Of the printed books cited in the following notes, each of those listed here will be referred to by the author’s last name:

Gardner W. Allen, A Naval History of the American Revolution, Boston and New York Houghton and Mifflin Company The Riverside Press, Cambridge 1913.

John S. Barnes, The Logs of the Serapis-Alliance-Ariel, Under the Command of John Paul Jones 1779-1780. Printed for the Naval History Society by The De Vinne Press, New York, 1910.

Larry G. Bowman, Captive Americans, Prisoners During the American Revolution, Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio, 1876.

Edwin G. Burrows, Forgotten Patriots, The Untold Story of American Prisoners During the Revolutionary War, Basic Books, New York, NY, 2008.

Sheldon S. Cohen, Yankee Sailors in British Gaols, Prisoners of War at Forton and Mill 1777-1783, Associated University Presses, Inc., 1995.

Danske Dandridge, American Prisoners of the Revolution, 1910, Reprinted by Kessinger Publishing.

Paul A. Gilje, Liberty on the Waterfront, American Maritime Culture in the Age of Revolution, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2004.

William Gilkerson, The Ships of John Paul Jones, The United States Naval Academy Museum, 1987. The highly respected Mr. Gilkerson visually reconstructs all of the vessels that played a significant role in Jones’ career, and he discusses in the accompanying text the actions and movements of those vessels and their crews, especially during the Bon Homme Richard-Serapis engagement.

Mrs. Mable Stokely Grigsby, The Stokely Story, Manuscript available in the Stokely Memorial Library, Newport, Tennessee.

Charles Herbert, A Relic of the Revolution: Containing a Full and Particular Account of the Suffering and Privations of All the American Prisoners Captured on the High Seas and Carried Into Plymouth, England, During the Revolution of 1776, Published for the Proprietor by Charles H. Peirce (sic), 1847. Reproduced by Bibliobazaar, Charleston, SC.

William Nathan Jones, By the River and Beyond: History and Humor from the Mountains of East Tennessee, Newport Printing Company, Newport, Tennessee, 1996. In this loving, first-hand account of life in Del Rio, Tennessee, Mr. Jones draws upon the recollections of local historians as he delves into the history of the Stokely family.

James A. Lewis, Neptune’s Militia, The Frigate South Carolina During the American Revolution, The Kent State University Press, 1999.

Samuel Eliot Morison, John Paul Jones: A Sailor’s Biography, Little, Brown and Company, Inc. Boston, 1959. Mr. Morison’s fine Pulitzer Prize-winning work includes passages on the exchanged American prisoners who signed on with John Paul Jones and on the actions of the unstable Frenchman Pierre Landais during and after the battle between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis.

Ruth Webb Odell, Over the Misty Blue Hills: The Story of Cocke County, Tennessee, Southern Historical Press, Inc., Greenville, SC, Reprinted 2001. Ms. Odell tells in this book of sitting down with Americus Jehu Stokely in Del Rio, Tennessee, in March of 1938 and of listening as my great grandfather told her of the exploits of Jehu Stokely, especially his service with John Paul Jones.

Joseph G. Sawtelle, John Paul Jones and the Ranger, Portsmouth Marine Society, July 2002.

John Henry Sherburne, The Life and Character of John Paul Jones, a Captain in the United States Navy, During the Revolutionary War, Adriance, Sherman and Co., Publishers, New York, 1851. In Mr. Sherburne’s book can be found the rosters for the Bon Homme Richard and the Alliance, as well as copies of the correspondence between John Paul Jones and Benjamin Franklin related to the exchanged American sailors and their eventual assignment aboard vessels under Jones’ command.

Evan Thomas, John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2003. Mr. Thomas’ biography provides further insights into the character of John Paul Jones, the battle between Bon Homme Richard and Serapis, and the presence of exchanged American sailors among Jones’ crew.

David K. Wilson, The Southern Strategy, Britain’s Conquest of South Carolina and Georgia 1775-1789, The University of South Carolina Press Columbia, South Carolina.

NOTES

1.Gilje, pp. 100, 120-121.
2.Gilkerson, p. 31
3.History of the USS Alliance, Naval Historical Center, Washington. D.C.; Morison, p. 233
4.Sawtelle, p. 55
5.Thomas, pp. 161-167; Cohen, p. 150; Morison, p. 249; Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Pierre Landais dtd. April 24, 1779.
6.List of benefits to be paid to members of the militias of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina. Stokely was to receive compensation for clothing lost at Brier Creek.
7.& 8. Benjamin J. Lossing, The Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution,
pp. 712-714, Harper & Brothers, N.Y., 1852.
9.Burrows, p. 45; Herbert, p. 18
10. & 11. Revolutionary War Pension Applications for Augustine Balthrop, John Hancock, and William Poplin.
12. Revolutionary War Pension Application for Poplin.
13. Burrows, pp. 111-112, 168.
14. Burrows, pp. 195-204.
15. Pension Applications for Balthrop, Hancock, and Poplin.
16. Gilje, pp. 22-25.
17. Gilje, pp. 106, 114-116; Cohen, p. 93; Morison, pp. 240-242.
18. Cohen, p. 84; Burrows, p. 157; Morison, pp. 240-242.
19. Burrows, pp. 119, 168.
20. Burrows, p. 177.
21. Burrows, pp. 153-154, 168.
22. Burrows, p. 154
23. Pension Applications for Balthrop, Hancock, and Poplin.
24. Gilje, pp. 122-123; Cohen, pp. 110-111; Burrows, pp. 157-158.
25. Cohen, pp. 7, 84, 206.
26. Cohen, p. 128, 150; Morison, p. 249.
27. Sherburne, pp. 134-140.
28. Gilkerson, pp. 55-58.
29. Barnes, p. 124; Thomas, p. 190; Gilkerson, pp. 48-50; Morison, pp. 283-284; History of USS Alliance.
30. History of USS Alliance.
31. Sherburne, pp. 140-144.
32. Warren County, North Carolina, Census Roles-1790; North Carolina Militia Accounts; Tennessee Land Grant #2143; North Carolina Warrant #1919.
33. Payroll for Continental Frigate Alliance 1781, Villanova University Digital Library.
34. Letter of the Secretary of the Treasury, 37th Congress, 2nd Session, Ex. Doc. No. 11, May 1848, Statement of the Distribution of Prize Money to men of the Frigate Alliance, p. 11.
35. Luther Foster Halsey, M.D., The Revolutionary Worthies of the Medical Staff, 1890.
36. Cohen, pp. 24-25, 93; Cindy Vallar, American Privateers, An Introduction, Feb. 2003.
37. Herbert, pp. 243-258.
38. & 39. Benjamin Franklin Papers-Yale University, Crew of the Alliance, spring 1779.
40. Collection of Denis DeVona.
41. Payroll for Continental Frigate Alliance 1781.
42. Barnes, pp. 18-19.
43. Gilje, p. 111.
44. Barnes, pp. 18-19.
45. Benjamin Franklin Papers-Yale.
46. Morison, pp. 236-242; Gilkerson, p. 39.
47. Cohen, p.111; Gilje, pp. 123; 144.
48. Barnes, pp. 42-89.
49. The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, pp. 723-724.
50. Barnes, p. 89; Morison, p. 355
51. History of USS Alliance.
52. Morison, p. 231; History of USS Alliance.
53. Morison, p. 359; History of USS Alliance; Barnes, p. 91
54. Gilkerson, p. 59.
55. History of USS Alliance.
56. History of USS Alliance.
57. Gilkerson, pp. 59-61; Barnes, pp. 20-21.
58. Lewis, pp. 25, 38.
59. Gilje, pp. 97-191, wherein Professor Gilje tells of the strange and sometimes convoluted adventures and misadventures of revolutionary era sailors.
60. Odell, p 141.
61. Randell Jones, Revolutionary North Carolina, Chapter 5, The War in the South (5.4), The Overmountain Men and the Battle of King’s Mountain, North Carolina Digital History.
62. William Nathan Jones, p. 281.
63. Odell, p. 141.

I am also grateful to my cousin Gordon Stokely Jr. for his contributions as we worked to track down the elusive Jehu Stokely, to document Jehu’s service in the Revolutionary War, and to trace our ancestor’s path from Wales in the United Kingdom into east Tennessee.

Robert Evan Lee
August 2009

The contributor of this article, Robert Evan Lee, is the g-g-g-g- grandson of Jehu Stokely and the g-g-g-grandson of Revolutionary War soldier John Huff, both of whom it is generally acknowledged were among the first pioneers to settle the Del Rio area of Cocke County in east Tennessee. Mr. Lee, having retired after a career of public service in the American intelligence community, currently resides with his wife near Annapolis, Maryland, where John Paul Jones is entombed at the United States Naval Academy. This is a photo of Mr. Lee on the beach at Flamborough Head in June 2010. Just behind him is Filey Bay, which was the scene of the encounter between John Paul Jones' Bon Homme Richard and Richard Pearson's Serapis in September of 1779.