Samuel Drinkwater - Pilot of the Brig Enterprise - North Yarmouth, Maine

It seems the Town of Yarmouth is in my genes, whether it is Yarmouth England, Yarmouth Massachusetts, or Yarmouth Maine.  My four times great grandfather is Captain Samuel Drinkwater of North Yarmouth, Maine.  If I can get this branch of the family tree sufficiently documented, Samuel Drinkwater will open up several more Mayflower connections.  While he is a pivotal ancestor in that respect, he is otherwise noteworthy in his service to the United States, both as a revolutionary war soldier, and as a pilot onboard the United States Brig Enterprise during the War of 1812.


Samuel Drinkwater was born 24 February 1743 to Joseph and Janet (Lathum) Drinkwater at North Yarmouth, part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony which later became Maine.  Samuel was one of many children born to this couple - sons all being seafaring men.  Samuel is a Mayflower descendant through his mother to Soule and Chilton.  


Samuel married 22 January 1770 at North Yarmouth, Maine, Ahroda/Rhoda Bradford, daughter of Ichabod and Mary (Johnson) Bradford; Rhoda being a descendant of Mayflower passenger William Bradford.  Samuel and Janet Drinkwater had 11 (or 12) children: Susannah born 1770 (please note the date of marriage and date of first child born), Sebah born 1772, Betsey born 1774, Rufus born 1776, Asubah born 1778, Samuel born 1779, Hebsabah born 1781, Rhodna born 1783, Bradford born 1785, Cynthia born 1789, Mary born 1792, and Sewall born 1795.  Rhoda died in 1825.  Samuel's brother Micajah married Elizabeth Bradford sister of his Samuel's wife Rhoda; shared names in many of the Drinkwater families create research issues.





          
The Historical Society of Yarmouth (Maine) (https://www.yarmouthmehistory.org/tour3/) provides information on Samuel Drinkwater as well as information on the home he built there in 1803 which still stands at 3 West Main Street.  Apparently in 1810, the house passed to his brother, Captain Joseph Drinkwater, when Samuel removed to Portland, Maine. 
 

Samuel Drinkwater and family are enumerated in the U.S. Federal Census at North Yarmouth, Maine in 1790 (one male over 16, two under 16, seven females) and in 1800 (eight household members total).  In 1810, 1820, and 1830 he is enumerated at Portland, Maine.

As noted in Massachusetts, Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War, p.977, Samuel Drinkwater served four days working on a Fort at Falmouth, Maine.  He was also on the list of militia men at North Yarmouth led by Samuel Thompson in a very brief nonviolent standoff  ("Thompson's War") at Falmouth (later Portland) involving a cargo ship containing illegal goods anchored off the coast.  A Royal Navy warship arrived to protect the cargo ship; four dozen militia men in small boats surrounded the cargo ship.  Apparently the militia men had no uniforms but wore a spruce sprig in their hats which inspired the Massachusetts Navy flag.  Ultimately the cargo and Royal Navy ship left the harbor.  Drinkwater also served as Captain on provision sloop Sparrow as well.



In March 1798, Ebenezer Storer, Treasurer of Harvard College, sold to Samuel Drinkwater and and Abel Sawyer, both of North Yarmouth Maine, the sloop Cyrus and all related sails, rigging, boats, furniture and apparel. The price paid by Drinkwater and Sawyer was two hundred and twelve cords of wood to be delivered to Cambridge. 





Samuel Drinkwater applied for and was granted a pension in 1825 for his service during the War of 1812 although he was enlisted for the position of pilot at monthly wages and was not an officer or seaman.  According to his petition, Drinkwater was onboard the Enteprise in it's action and capture of the Brittanic Majesty's Brig Boxer on 5 September 1813. He had been serving as pilot for four months before the incident, and two months after the battle, cruising the Eastern Coast United States. When the Enterprise was ordered to the West Indian Seas, Drinkwater was discharged by Commodore Hull.  Drinkwater experienced dramatic hearing loss caused by the "cannoning" which left him incapable of continuing to earn a living at sea as a pilot as he had done so for many years prior to service.  Several shipmasters testified to Drinkwater's great, and sought after, piloting ability prior to service, and that since losing his hearing, had become "unemployable."    

During the Enterprise battle with the Boxer, two officers under which Samuel Drinkwater served as pilot were killed.  They were nearly half his age.  Samuel was a witness in a court martial hearing for another Enterprise officer accused of cowardice during the encounter.  Samuel testified on behalf of the accused officer. 
      

                                             


While in Drinkwater's pension application, I find no mention of his wife Rhoda, according to her gravestone she died 3 February 1829.  Samuel died in July 1835 at the age of 92.  In 2023 Portland honored the War of 1812 veteran at the Eastern Cemetery with a memorial.  His gravestone had apparently been "unmarked and forgotten."  


I believe I descend from Samuel and Rhoda's daughter Betsey Drinkwater born 24 July 1774.  A Betsey Drinkwater married Jonathan Fessenden at Portland, Maine in 1803 - their daughter Olive Fessenden married William Nelson who ultimately made it to Cape Cod.  There is conflicting genealogical information out there as to which Betsey was the wife of Jonathan Fessenden.  I have found a record of marriage, and matched birth dates etc., but am still searching for primary sources definitively identifying Betsey Drinkwater, wife of Jonathan Fessenden, as the daughter of Samuel and Rhoda born in 1774.  It could be as easy as an existing Mayflower application, but I will report back!

Sources and Other Related Informative Sites
US, War of 1812, Pension Files, 1812-1815, Samuel Drinkwater, Cumberland County, Maine, Fold3.com.
US, Federal Census Records, accessed on Ancestry.com.
Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vols. 1 and 2, Rhoda Bradford, accessed on Ancestry.com. Note this volume does not identify a daughter Betsey Drinkwater.

Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, 1700-1880. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2017). From Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Descendants of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 1620. Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1975-2015.

https://www.americanancestors.org/DB2728/rd/53433/499/1423635471
Records relating to Harvard's of the sloop Cyrus, Harvard University Archives, Hollis for Archival Discovery, https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/4/resources/4354
Yarmouth Maine History, Yarmouth Historical Society, Yarmouthville Tour, Events, https://www.yarmouthmehistory.org/tour3/
Newspapers.com.
Wikipedia.org.
https://www.founderoftheday.com/founder-of-the-day/samuel-thompson
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/09/28/portland/maine-hero-samuel-drinkwater-headstone-joam40zk0w/
https://archive.org/details/drinkwaterfamily00fern
https://fox23maine.com/news/local/portland-honors-war-of-1812-veteran-samuel-drinkwater-with-memorial-dedication-at-eastern-cemetery
https://www.islesborohistorical.org/year/fam5962.html





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