Silas Deane (1737 - 1789)

Born 24 Dec 1737 in Groton, New London, Connecticut

Ancestors

Husband of Mehetabel (Nott) Deane — married 8 Oct 1763 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, New England

Died 23 Sep 1789 at age 51 in On board ship anchored near Deal, England

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Biography

Life

Silas Deane was a Founding Father in the American Revolution.

Silas, the son of Silas and Hannah (Barker) Deane was born the day before Christmas, Dec 24, 1737, in Groton, New London, Connecticut, New England.^[1]

Silas married Mehetable Webb on Oct. 8, 1763, in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Mehetable Nott was the widow of Joseph Webb. She died Oct 24, 1767.^[2]

Their only child, Jesse was born in Wethersfield, June 24, 1764.^[2]

Silas remarried, to Elizabeth Saltonstall Evards.^[3]

Silas died Sept 23, 1789, on board a ship bound for Boston, from London. He is buried in St. Leonard’s Churchyard in Deal, on the Kentish coast of England.^[4]

Rise

Silas attended Yale, graduating in 1758.^[3] After graduation he taught school, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1761.^[5][3]

Silas Deane House, Wethersfield, Connecticut

Webb House, Wethersfield, Connecticut

Silas left the practice of the law and became the manager of his wife's mercantile business. She died in 1767^[2], leaving him to care for her six children by Joseph Webb and their three year old son, Jesse.

Silas remarried within a few years to another widow. Elizabeth Saltonstall Evards was the granddaughter of an early governor of Connecticut. Her father was a wealthy ship owner, and her first husband, Mr. Evards, had died at sea.^[3] With each of his marriages Silas' social standing was raised.

Shortly after his first wife died, Silas entered the political arena. In 1768 he served as a Deputy to the Connecticut General Assembly from the town of Wethersfield. He served a total of nine terms.^{[6] [7]}

In 1774, he was appointed to attend the First Continental Congress,^[6] and signed the Continental Association.^[8] He was sent again as a delegate in May 1775, to the Second Continental Congress.^[9][10]

Not everyone believed that it was necessary for the colonies to go to war with England, but Silas Deane, early on, believed that it would be the the correct and necessary thing to do. He didn't march into war with Benedict Arnold and his Massachusett's troops. Nor did he join with Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys. However, Silas was instrumental in raising funds in Connecticut to equip Allen for a successful assault against Fort Ticonderoga, which Allen and Arnold accomplished together. Again, Silas Deane helped with the victory at Saratoga in October of 1777. Deane, through negotiations with the French provided arms, ammunition, and clothing that came from France, for the use of colonial soldiers. ^[11][12]

Deane had been sent to France, in March 1776, by the Committee of Congress for Secret Correspondence. His commission was twofold: to secure arms and needed supplies for the new army and to secure recognition of the sovereignty of the colonies. The former he succeeded at, the latter was not so easy.^[3]

Fall

In Dec 1776, Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee were sent to join Deane in France, with the express purpose of enlisting the French Government as an ally of the United States. Eventually treaties were signed and France joined our war for independence.^[3][13]

Alas, Silas, "the hero," did not fare so well. He was called home, for no specified reason. He found when he returned that he had been accused of fiscal imprudence, by his fellow diplomat Arthur Lee. He had difficulty defending himself and the case ruined his reputation. He was eventually discharged by Congress with no charges brought, and he was not reimbursed by Congress for the money (his own) he spent procuring supplies. He spent the last ten years of his life in exile (France, Belgium and England), and penniless.^[3][13]

Death

Silas died on board ship anchored in the Downes, near Deal England on the 23rd of September, 1789, waiting to sail back to America. An article in the Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut) newspaper of 30 November, 1789 states that Silas Deane did not die at sea but rather was on board ship that was anchored in the Downes. The article reads as follows: "October 3 Wednesday night the corpse of the famous Silas Deane, was brought on shore at Deal from a ship lying in the Downes, on board which this gentleman died." ^[14] The Downes is described as follows: About the Downes as a place where ships anchored: "The Downs served in the age of sail as a permanent base for warships patrolling the North Sea and a gathering point for refitted or new ships coming out of Chatham Dockyard, such as HMS Bellerophon and formed a safe anchorage during heavy weather, protected on the east by the Goodwin Sands and on the north and west by the coast. The Downs lie between the Strait of Dover and the Thames Estuary, so both merchant ships awaiting an easterly wind to take them into the English Channel and those going up to London gathered there, often for quite long periods. According to the Deal Maritime Museum and other sources, there are records of as many as 800 sailing ships at anchor at one time."^[15]

The cause of Silas' death was the subject of much speculation as to whether it was suicide, murder, or natural causes? ^[3][13] The mysterious circumstances of his death continue to engage historians to this day.

A 1984 article "The Death of Silas Deane: Another Opinion" by Dennis Kent Anderson [MD] and Godfrey Tryggve Anderson, researched the personal correspondence of Silas Deane regarding his health over the last ten years of his life. The article states that Deane's symptoms as described by Deane in his correspondence in the years prior to his death are the same symptoms as someone suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, and that the tuberculosis may have spread to other organs. The article stated that longstanding tuberculosis has been found to cause weakened areas in the blood vessels of the central nervous system. These weakened blood vessels can rupture and cause intracranial hemorrhage, which would explain some of the symptoms Deane had such as the inability to speak prior to his death, and that such a hemorrhage could lead to sudden death. The article also states that Deane's symptoms are totally inconsistent with symptoms produced by any poison available in 1789.^[16]

There is much more detail to be told about the life, rise and fall, and death of Silas Deane. See the sources listed below and search online and in libraries for others.

Estate

Silas' estate was insolvent at the time of his death. Silas' son, Jesse Deane was the administrator of the estate. The following article appeared the 5th of March, 1792 in the issue of the Hartford Courant: "The subscribers being appointed by the Hon. Court of Probate for the district of Hartford, Commissioners to receive and examine the claims of the creditors to the estate of Silas Deane, Esq. late of Wethersfield, deceas'd; represented insolvent, - give notice that six months from the date hereof is allowed by said Court to the creditors of said estate, to exhibit their claims, and that said commissioners will attend on the business of their appointment at the office immediately under the Comptroller's office in Hartford, on the first and second Mondays of April, May, June and July next, from one to six o'clock P.M. - Those who neglect to exhibit their claims within the time limited will be bar'd a recovery. Decius Wadsworth, John H. Lathrop, }Com'rs. ALL persons indebted to said estate are requested to make immediate payment; as the business must be speedily closed. Jesse Deane, Administrator."^[17]

In 1835, Silas' grand daughter, and only daughter of Jesse Deane, Philura Deane Alden and her husband requested as the only heirs of Silas Deane compensation from Congress for Silas' expenses. The 41 pages of the memorial document filed with congress outlines Silas' life and expenses incurred during the Revolutionary War.^[18] Congress awarded Silas' heirs $37,000 in 1841 in compensation for the failure to complete the audit of Silas' accounts while he was alive.

Sources

1. ↑ Connecticut Vital Records to 1870 - Barbour Collection, Groton, Conn. (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Connecticut Vital Records to 1870 - Barbour Collection, Wethersfield, Conn. (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7} Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, vol II p 509, 521-7. by Franklin Bowditch Dexter, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1896.
4. ↑ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-Present
5. ↑ Hartford, Connecticut, County Records April 1761 at Connecticut State Library
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Hoadly, Charles J. The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut Oct 1772 to April 1775. (pp 2, 71, 159, 213, 325, 389, 414, p 324 appt to Cont. Cong.) Hartford: Case, Lockwood and Brainard,1885.
7. ↑ Hoadly, Charles J. The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut May 1768 to May 1772. (pp 92, 124.) Hartford: Case, Lockwood and Brainard,1885.
8. ↑ Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, ed. Worthington C. Ford et al. (Washington, D.C., 1904-37), Vol 1 p 80.
9. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_delegates_to_the_Continental_Congress
10. ↑ The Hartford Courant
11. ↑ Silas' part in the taking of Fort Ticonderoga and the Battle of Saratoga
12. ↑ Hotchkiss, Herbert. "Two Hundred Years Ago in Connecticut." The Connecticut Nutmeggar. Vol 7, no. 4 (Mar. 1975): 482.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2} Silas Deane Online. 2004-2005 Webb Deane Stevens Museum
14. ↑ Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut) 30 Nov 1789, Mon Page 2; Newspapers.com; https://www.newspapers.com/image/233657165/?terms=Deane&match=1
15. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Downs_(ship_anchorage)
16. ↑ The Death of Silas Deane: Another Opinion Dennis Kent Anderson, Godfrey Tryggve Anderson; The New England Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 1 (Mar., 1984), pp. 98-105 (8 pages); https://doi.org/10.2307/365449; https://www.jstor.org/stable/365449 Contribution from The New England Quarterly, Inc.
17. ↑ Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut) 5 Mar 1792, Mon Page 3; Newspapers.com: https://www.newspapers.com/image/233653262/?terms=Deane&match=1
18. ↑ Alden, H. & Alden, P. D. (1835) Memorial of the heirs of Silas Deane, formerly political and commercial agent in Europe; and one of the ambassadors of the United States in France in the Revolutionary War. [S.L.: S.N] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/18012831/

See Also

• Diplomatic Correspondence of The American Revolution, which includes correspondence of Silas Deane: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27371/27371-h/27371-h.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silas_Deane
• "The Strange Death of Silas Dean" From After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection, by Jams Wst Davidson. This is a fascinating look at how we see and create history using Silas Deane as an example.
• Silas Deane Online. Be sure to look at the other pages of information on this sourced website.
• Clark, George L. Silas Deane, a Connecticut leader in the American revolution Published 1913 by G. P. Putnam's Sons in New York, London . https://archive.org/stream/silasdeaneaconn01clargoog#page/n0/mode/2up
• Encyclopedia of Connecticut Biography (The American Historical Society, Boston, MA. 1917) Vol. 1, Page 8-10
• Correspondence of Silas Deane, 1774-76, Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society (The Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford 1860) Vol. 2, Page 129
• The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1877) Vol. 1, No. 1, Page 96-100
• Ullmann, Helen Schatvet. "Hartford District Probate Records, from 1750, as Abstracted by Lucius Barnes Barbour, from Volume 24 (1788-1793)", Connecticut Nutmegger (Connecticut Society of Genealogists, Glastonbury, Conn., 2011) Vol. 44, Page 127
• Smith, James M. "The Lonely Vigil of America's First Diplomat," Journal of the American Revolution. https://allthingsliberty.com/2023/02/the-lonely-vigil-of-americas-first-diplomat/