Affidavit by Bethiah Dyer in Charles Dyer's Revolutionary War Pension File:
State of Mafsachusetts
Plymouth County J
Be it known that on this tenth day of August one thousand eight hundred & thirty six personally appeared before the Honorable Willey Wood Judge of the Court of Probate for said County. Bethiah Dyer a resident of Plymouth in said County & Commonwealth aged Eighty six years who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on her Oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provision of an Act of Congrefs pafsed July 4, 1846. That she is the widow of Charles Dyer late of said Plymouth, deceased, who served in the capacities herein after set in the Navy of the Revolution War.
The said Charles Dyer served in the capacity of [blank space] on board the Schooner Harrison, a fullie armed vefsel in the service of the United Colonies of North America under the Command of Capt William Coit, said service commencing early in the autumn of the Year 1775 she cannot tell the precise time but she thinks in September & that he served on board said vefsel until he was appointed Captain of her which commifsion is dated Jan 10.1776 That the said Charles Dyer immediately on termination of this cruise aforesaid was commifsioned as Captain of said Armed Schooner Harrison then & thereafter in the service of the United Colonies of North America & that he served in said capacity of Captain from the twentieth day of January 1776 to the warm weather of the same season being May or June as near as she can remember.
Said Charles soon after was commifsioned as First Lieutenant on board the Brigantine Independence fitted out by Mafsachusetts Bay in the summer of 1776 commanded by Simeon Sampson, that said Dyer served on said vefsel in that capacity until she was taken by the British & carried into Halifax & said Dyer was a prisoner there about seven months.
The the said Charles Dyer also served nine months as First Lieutenant on board the Brigantine Hazard fitted out by the State of Mafsachusetts during her first cruise under the command of Simeon Sampson from Aug 10.1777 to May 20.1778.
She cannot fix the precise length of the several services with any more precision than she has done. She further declares that she was married to the said Charles Dyer on the nineteenth day of January 1773, that her husband the said Charles Dyer perished at sea on his pafsage from the West Indies bound to Plymouth about fifty years ago and that she has remained a widow ever since that period as will more fully appear by reference to the proof hereto annexed.
her
Bethiah X Dyer
Mark
------------------------
Plymouth Journal, Plymouth, Massachusetts. 18 Apr 1786. (Edited, substituting the letter "s" for "f" in several circumstances.)
"On the 25th of January, sailed from this port, the schooner William, bound to St. Eustatia, commanded by Capt. Charles Dyer, of this town, who unfortunately in the evening of the 22nd of February last, on his outward bound passage, stuck on the Burbuda reef, where she immediately beat to pieces, and the Captain with the rest of the company, confifting of Messrs. William Sturdivant, mate, Rueben Totman, both of Plimpton; Nathaniel Brown, Waterman Thomas and a Negro belonging to this town, endeavoured to save themselves by fastening to different parts of the wreck; that the next day they all got on a piece of the deck, except the negro who was drowned. They continued in this miserable situation, exposed to a rough sea and destitute of any subsistence, several days; that on the third day Brown died; the Captain, Totman, and Thomas died on the fourth day, the mate must have famished himself, had he not, when it rained, adopted the following expedient to obtain drink, he untied his hair which was very long, and taking the end of it in his mouth, as the rain fell on his head, he sucked it in thereby - Providentially on the sixth day he was taken up by a fishing boat from St. Martin's, where he was carried, and kindly treated; that from St. Martin's he took passage to Falmouth, and from thence to Boston, and last week came to this town."
State of Mafsachusetts
Plymouth County J
Be it known that on this tenth day of August one thousand eight hundred & thirty six personally appeared before the Honorable Willey Wood Judge of the Court of Probate for said County. Bethiah Dyer a resident of Plymouth in said County & Commonwealth aged Eighty six years who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on her Oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provision of an Act of Congrefs pafsed July 4, 1846. That she is the widow of Charles Dyer late of said Plymouth, deceased, who served in the capacities herein after set in the Navy of the Revolution War.
The said Charles Dyer served in the capacity of [blank space] on board the Schooner Harrison, a fullie armed vefsel in the service of the United Colonies of North America under the Command of Capt William Coit, said service commencing early in the autumn of the Year 1775 she cannot tell the precise time but she thinks in September & that he served on board said vefsel until he was appointed Captain of her which commifsion is dated Jan 10.1776 That the said Charles Dyer immediately on termination of this cruise aforesaid was commifsioned as Captain of said Armed Schooner Harrison then & thereafter in the service of the United Colonies of North America & that he served in said capacity of Captain from the twentieth day of January 1776 to the warm weather of the same season being May or June as near as she can remember.
Said Charles soon after was commifsioned as First Lieutenant on board the Brigantine Independence fitted out by Mafsachusetts Bay in the summer of 1776 commanded by Simeon Sampson, that said Dyer served on said vefsel in that capacity until she was taken by the British & carried into Halifax & said Dyer was a prisoner there about seven months.
The the said Charles Dyer also served nine months as First Lieutenant on board the Brigantine Hazard fitted out by the State of Mafsachusetts during her first cruise under the command of Simeon Sampson from Aug 10.1777 to May 20.1778.
She cannot fix the precise length of the several services with any more precision than she has done. She further declares that she was married to the said Charles Dyer on the nineteenth day of January 1773, that her husband the said Charles Dyer perished at sea on his pafsage from the West Indies bound to Plymouth about fifty years ago and that she has remained a widow ever since that period as will more fully appear by reference to the proof hereto annexed.
her
Bethiah X Dyer
Mark
------------------------
Plymouth Journal, Plymouth, Massachusetts. 18 Apr 1786. (Edited, substituting the letter "s" for "f" in several circumstances.)
"On the 25th of January, sailed from this port, the schooner William, bound to St. Eustatia, commanded by Capt. Charles Dyer, of this town, who unfortunately in the evening of the 22nd of February last, on his outward bound passage, stuck on the Burbuda reef, where she immediately beat to pieces, and the Captain with the rest of the company, confifting of Messrs. William Sturdivant, mate, Rueben Totman, both of Plimpton; Nathaniel Brown, Waterman Thomas and a Negro belonging to this town, endeavoured to save themselves by fastening to different parts of the wreck; that the next day they all got on a piece of the deck, except the negro who was drowned. They continued in this miserable situation, exposed to a rough sea and destitute of any subsistence, several days; that on the third day Brown died; the Captain, Totman, and Thomas died on the fourth day, the mate must have famished himself, had he not, when it rained, adopted the following expedient to obtain drink, he untied his hair which was very long, and taking the end of it in his mouth, as the rain fell on his head, he sucked it in thereby - Providentially on the sixth day he was taken up by a fishing boat from St. Martin's, where he was carried, and kindly treated; that from St. Martin's he took passage to Falmouth, and from thence to Boston, and last week came to this town."
Affidavit by Bethiah Dyer in Charles Dyer's Revolutionary War Pension File:
State of Mafsachusetts
Plymouth County J
Be it known that on this tenth day of August one thousand eight hundred & thirty six personally appeared before the Honorable Willey Wood Judge of the Court of Probate for said County. Bethiah Dyer a resident of Plymouth in said County & Commonwealth aged Eighty six years who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on her Oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provision of an Act of Congrefs pafsed July 4, 1846. That she is the widow of Charles Dyer late of said Plymouth, deceased, who served in the capacities herein after set in the Navy of the Revolution War.
The said Charles Dyer served in the capacity of [blank space] on board the Schooner Harrison, a fullie armed vefsel in the service of the United Colonies of North America under the Command of Capt William Coit, said service commencing early in the autumn of the Year 1775 she cannot tell the precise time but she thinks in September & that he served on board said vefsel until he was appointed Captain of her which commifsion is dated Jan 10.1776 That the said Charles Dyer immediately on termination of this cruise aforesaid was commifsioned as Captain of said Armed Schooner Harrison then & thereafter in the service of the United Colonies of North America & that he served in said capacity of Captain from the twentieth day of January 1776 to the warm weather of the same season being May or June as near as she can remember.
Said Charles soon after was commifsioned as First Lieutenant on board the Brigantine Independence fitted out by Mafsachusetts Bay in the summer of 1776 commanded by Simeon Sampson, that said Dyer served on said vefsel in that capacity until she was taken by the British & carried into Halifax & said Dyer was a prisoner there about seven months.
The the said Charles Dyer also served nine months as First Lieutenant on board the Brigantine Hazard fitted out by the State of Mafsachusetts during her first cruise under the command of Simeon Sampson from Aug 10.1777 to May 20.1778.
She cannot fix the precise length of the several services with any more precision than she has done. She further declares that she was married to the said Charles Dyer on the nineteenth day of January 1773, that her husband the said Charles Dyer perished at sea on his pafsage from the West Indies bound to Plymouth about fifty years ago and that she has remained a widow ever since that period as will more fully appear by reference to the proof hereto annexed.
her
Bethiah X Dyer
Mark
------------------------
Plymouth Journal, Plymouth, Massachusetts. 18 Apr 1786. (Edited, substituting the letter "s" for "f" in several circumstances.)
"On the 25th of January, sailed from this port, the schooner William, bound to St. Eustatia, commanded by Capt. Charles Dyer, of this town, who unfortunately in the evening of the 22nd of February last, on his outward bound passage, stuck on the Burbuda reef, where she immediately beat to pieces, and the Captain with the rest of the company, confifting of Messrs. William Sturdivant, mate, Rueben Totman, both of Plimpton; Nathaniel Brown, Waterman Thomas and a Negro belonging to this town, endeavoured to save themselves by fastening to different parts of the wreck; that the next day they all got on a piece of the deck, except the negro who was drowned. They continued in this miserable situation, exposed to a rough sea and destitute of any subsistence, several days; that on the third day Brown died; the Captain, Totman, and Thomas died on the fourth day, the mate must have famished himself, had he not, when it rained, adopted the following expedient to obtain drink, he untied his hair which was very long, and taking the end of it in his mouth, as the rain fell on his head, he sucked it in thereby - Providentially on the sixth day he was taken up by a fishing boat from St. Martin's, where he was carried, and kindly treated; that from St. Martin's he took passage to Falmouth, and from thence to Boston, and last week came to this town."
State of Mafsachusetts
Plymouth County J
Be it known that on this tenth day of August one thousand eight hundred & thirty six personally appeared before the Honorable Willey Wood Judge of the Court of Probate for said County. Bethiah Dyer a resident of Plymouth in said County & Commonwealth aged Eighty six years who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on her Oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provision of an Act of Congrefs pafsed July 4, 1846. That she is the widow of Charles Dyer late of said Plymouth, deceased, who served in the capacities herein after set in the Navy of the Revolution War.
The said Charles Dyer served in the capacity of [blank space] on board the Schooner Harrison, a fullie armed vefsel in the service of the United Colonies of North America under the Command of Capt William Coit, said service commencing early in the autumn of the Year 1775 she cannot tell the precise time but she thinks in September & that he served on board said vefsel until he was appointed Captain of her which commifsion is dated Jan 10.1776 That the said Charles Dyer immediately on termination of this cruise aforesaid was commifsioned as Captain of said Armed Schooner Harrison then & thereafter in the service of the United Colonies of North America & that he served in said capacity of Captain from the twentieth day of January 1776 to the warm weather of the same season being May or June as near as she can remember.
Said Charles soon after was commifsioned as First Lieutenant on board the Brigantine Independence fitted out by Mafsachusetts Bay in the summer of 1776 commanded by Simeon Sampson, that said Dyer served on said vefsel in that capacity until she was taken by the British & carried into Halifax & said Dyer was a prisoner there about seven months.
The the said Charles Dyer also served nine months as First Lieutenant on board the Brigantine Hazard fitted out by the State of Mafsachusetts during her first cruise under the command of Simeon Sampson from Aug 10.1777 to May 20.1778.
She cannot fix the precise length of the several services with any more precision than she has done. She further declares that she was married to the said Charles Dyer on the nineteenth day of January 1773, that her husband the said Charles Dyer perished at sea on his pafsage from the West Indies bound to Plymouth about fifty years ago and that she has remained a widow ever since that period as will more fully appear by reference to the proof hereto annexed.
her
Bethiah X Dyer
Mark
------------------------
Plymouth Journal, Plymouth, Massachusetts. 18 Apr 1786. (Edited, substituting the letter "s" for "f" in several circumstances.)
"On the 25th of January, sailed from this port, the schooner William, bound to St. Eustatia, commanded by Capt. Charles Dyer, of this town, who unfortunately in the evening of the 22nd of February last, on his outward bound passage, stuck on the Burbuda reef, where she immediately beat to pieces, and the Captain with the rest of the company, confifting of Messrs. William Sturdivant, mate, Rueben Totman, both of Plimpton; Nathaniel Brown, Waterman Thomas and a Negro belonging to this town, endeavoured to save themselves by fastening to different parts of the wreck; that the next day they all got on a piece of the deck, except the negro who was drowned. They continued in this miserable situation, exposed to a rough sea and destitute of any subsistence, several days; that on the third day Brown died; the Captain, Totman, and Thomas died on the fourth day, the mate must have famished himself, had he not, when it rained, adopted the following expedient to obtain drink, he untied his hair which was very long, and taking the end of it in his mouth, as the rain fell on his head, he sucked it in thereby - Providentially on the sixth day he was taken up by a fishing boat from St. Martin's, where he was carried, and kindly treated; that from St. Martin's he took passage to Falmouth, and from thence to Boston, and last week came to this town."
Inscription
Cap. Charles Dyer
died at Sea, March
1786; aged 46 yr.s.
Bethiah, his wife
died June 8, 1837;
aged 87 yr.s.
Their son Charles,
died May 7, 1822:
aged 46 yr.s.
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