Robert Glanfield (abt. 1643 - 1702)

Born about 1643 in Maine

Ancestors

Husband of Lydia Ward — married 12 Jul 1665 in Salem, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 1702 at about age 59 in Salem, Massachusetts

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NOTE: The surname is spelled in contemporary records variously as Glanvill, Glanville, Glanfield, Glandfieild &c. It is a variant of Glanville.

Biography

Robert was born around 1643. He grew up on the Isles of Shoals where his father worked in the fishery. This small group of islands are approximately six miles off the southernmost coast of Maine. From his birth, Robert was beside the sea. It was natural that he would be a mariner.

His rise to a sea captaincy at an early age means he went to sea when he was quite young. He probably served as a cabin boy on some vessel, most assuredly a young crew member on some fishing vessels. Being bright, he learned the trade quickly. He may have spent ten or twelve years at sea by the time he made his way down to Salem, Massachusetts.

He was a shipwright and mariner. He moved to Salem, Massachusetts as early as 1664. It was in Salem on 12 July 1665, that he married Lydia Ward. ^[1][2]

She was from a respected, established family. Her father had died some fifteen years earlier, and had been a successful sea captain and merchant.

On April 16, 1667, Robert purchased for eleven pounds a lot from Elizabeth Jeggles, it being a part of the homestead of her late husband William Jeggles.^[3] Mr. Jeggles laid out a lane that is described in detail below, and provides a few items of note:

It was called a particular cart waye belonging to Elizabeth Jeggles in 1665 ; highway or lane I [Elizabeth Jeggles and son Thomas Jeggles] have left out of my ground for our particular uses, 1667 ; ye lane or highway, 1676 ; a lane y' runs between land of John Cromwell and Mrs. Hannah Brown, widow of James Brown, deceased, 1679; land formerly of Goodman Jeggles and now a lane, 1685 ; a lane or highway from ye maine street down by Robert Glanfield's house to the premises of Thomas Jeggles, which lane is the sole proper right and reserved only for the use and privilege of said Jeggles and Glanfield, 1686 ; ye lane that runs up to Robert Glanfield, his house, 1689 ; lane that leads out of ye Great street down to ye sea, 1706 ; ye lane that goeth to ye house that was Robert Glan field's, now in possession of William Car- kette, 1 706 ;^[4]

Robert then built a house at what in 1802 is described as 16 Union Street. He purchased adjacent portions in May 10, 1675 and August 16, 1677. As Robert's fortunes increased, he expanded his house. A detailed description of it has been preserved in a journal by Rev. William Bentley. Upon his death in 1702, his house was valued at 45 pounds.^[5]

The house was sold by Robert's heirs to Mr. Samuel Carlton on December 30, 1732. Daughter Sarah was represented by her husband John Lander, a joiner; and two sons of daughter Lydia,Benjamin Carkeet who had removed to North Carolina; and Robert Carkeet, of Salem. It was demolished in 1802.^[6]

Miscellaneous court records offer a window into his life, and his worldview.

He is listed in the 1669 estate inventory of one William Powell along with others as owing some small sum. Also mentioned are kinsmen Joshua Ward and Thomas Rix.^[7]

In one instance, Robert went to a Mr. Daniel Rumboll and asked to borrow his horse. Robert's wife was in Pescataway, and he wanted to ride to see her. Rumboll asked him how far it was, and Robert said it was thirty miles. This was a Saturday, and Robert promised to return the horse on Monday. Rumboll was reluctant to let his horse go so far in bad weather, but agreed to do so. The horse got sick on the return journey. It would not eat and died that night. ^[8]

A Mr. Daniell Rumboll entered a plea against Robert on November 8, 1671, for borrowing a horse and never returning it. Verdict found in favor of the plaintiff for 3 pounds 9 shillings & 4p. This judgement was satisfied on April 8, 1672 by the town marshall by attachment of Indian Corn.^[9][10]

A letter of attorney dated November 18, 1671 from Robert Glanfield, mariner, to a Mr. Edward Grove of Salem was entered into the record. This document contains his legal signature.

Some details of his life on the sea are known. He was a ship's captain by the 1670's or earlier. He was prosperous. By 1675 he had taken as first mate a William Carkeet, his future son-in-law.

He inventoried the estate of his neighbor William Pickman or Pickering in 1676. ^[11] This may be the same as William Petmand the same year.^[12]

An Adventure into Piracy

Sailing was a dangerous occupation in the best of times. It was even more dangerous during the late 17th century in the Americas. Any ship's passage to Europe and the return trip to America was subject to attack. Barbary pirates and Moorish corsairs lay in wait all along the coasts. They attacked everyone; they had been at it for centuries. French, Dutch, and Spanish pirates lurked all along the American coasts.

There was a thriving business in hostage taking and slavery in Algiers. Many thousands of sailors found themselves held in slavery, or as hostages; hoping and praying that word would get back home, and efforts to raise ransom would be fruitful.

All the great or emergent powers in Europe~ Spain, Portugal, France and England, and the others to lessor degrees; issued Letters of Marque from time to time, granting license and free rein to certain vessels to attack, seize, and sink ships sailing under the flags of their enemies.

These were fluid times, with shifting geopolitical alliances. There were some years of peace, followed by some years of war between various states. You can be sure it was hard to keep up with whom it was permissible to attack, if you were one such 'privateer'. After a while it did not matter. The lure of riches, and the promise of freedom in the New World gave enough impetus to usher in the Golden Age of Piracy.

War between England and France only made matters worse. Privateers operated all along the American coastline, and in the West Indies, and of course, the pirates were themselves based there.

Salem, Massachusetts was home of sixty vessels around 1680. This number was reduced to six within a few years. The rest were stolen, or worse, sunk; the cargoes and crews lost.

So being a mariner was not a simple choice of fishing or cargo carriers facing the forces of nature on the open ocean. No. This salt life was not for the faint of heart. This was sailing on the cutting edge of the civilized world.

The following passage from the History of Salem relates the events and sympathies of Captain Glanfield and his first mate, William Carkeet, during the year 1688, and their adventure with piracy both as predator and prey.

It took some sort of special skill to survive the decimation of the Salem merchant fleet. Lacking a contemporary first person account by either of these men; it is logically obvious that much of their story remains obscure. More was left out of the short official narrative, than ever made it in; much less survived down to the present.

Only through the power of inference and deduction; by factual analysis of what is known; then by reading between the lines, if you will, can you shed light on what is unknown. From this a complete picture emerges. What does that tell us?

During a time when ninety percent of the Salem fleet was captured and destroyed, at great loss to the ships' sailors and owners; Glanfield and Carkeet took their 'Friendship' and sailed unmolested all over the West Indies and along the American coasts.

They must have become very well off as a result. How were they able to achieve this? Was their ship so special that it could outrun all others? Were their seamanship skills so great that even with a regular vessel they could not be matched? No to both of these questions. They seized the opportunities in front of them. Because if you can't beat them, join them. Because at a bare minimum, they aided and abetted pirates. Because they would never document their own participation in taking any prize, and be hanged for the telling.

Colonial officers and local authorities were expected to keep the king's peace. They had a lot of leeway to act in most circumstances as they saw fit. Constant calls for assistance for minor problems would reflect poorly upon them. The intelligence gathering resources of the time were not that great. Information could move no faster than the sail.

For these reasons, you can be certain that by the time they put pen & ink to paper, to make an official report, it was for matters of some significance. Now think about a report that brings stories of the unsavory exertions of one particular ship's captain, that makes it's way through various hands until it reaches the desk of the colonial governor.

This same Captain and First Mate sailed in a ship that belonged to the town of Salem itself. This meant they were competent, fearless, and must have had the ear support, and if need be, protection, of the town authorities. These were tough times, and the town officials had to expect a healthy return for the great risks to their ship. They must have been watching closely. Some evidence of Robert's usefulness to the authorities may be found here:

A old French-built ship, the Mary, was left stranded on the ground in Salem Harbor, having been used to import goods contrary to law, was seized by Benjamin Gallup of Boston, for the king, in 1689. It was appraised at 38 pounds by Robert Glanville,Daniel Bacon,and Wiliam Beckett.^[13]

Now that the stage is set, we come now to the short skit in three acts; in which our heroes play no small part...

Act One

'Friendship' belonged to Salem. and commanded by Captain Robert Glanvill, who was forty five years of age in April, 1688 when he was in the Bay of Honduras. While there he saw Captains Jacob and Cox, in two 'barkalougues' with a Spanish bark they had in company with them. Captain Jacob's barkalougue had about ten guns and eighty men, and Captain Cox's four guns and sixty men. They went into sea for a week or ten days afterward for Retan and Banaco, having some designs upon the Main; and Jacob's vessel returned into the Bay about ten or fourteen days later. Jacob, being dead, was succeeded in command by George Peterson.^[14]

Captain Glanfield describes in detail the goings on of these vessels, but we must ask, why he would say as much, and wait around in port for their return? Because he could not tell the story in the first person. They would not have sat at anchor, they were with the ships on the hunt.

Act Two Afterward, Governor Andros became possessed of information that several persons had been lately put ashore in Salem out of, and belonging to a certain pirate, or privateer commanded by Adam Baldridge, which was on this coast, and that these men had been succoured, countenanced, counseled, and transported from one place to another by Robert Glanville, master of the ketch 'Friendship' out of Salem, particularly one John Read, who pretended to be quartermaster of the pirate or privateer. The Governor issued orders to Charles Redford, Esq., High Sheriff of Essex County,to find and arrest Glanvill and Read, and other similarly suspected persons. This order was dated at Boston, July 14, 1688. ^[15]

This Adam Beldridge mentioned is not a well known figure;but he was the audacious sea captain that took his crew of pirates and sailed to far away Madagascar, and founded the ultimate pirate haven. Our Captain Glanfield and Mate Carkeet were his confidants? Let's just name it as it really was. They were his partners in crime at least for a time. Whether they escaped arrest or not is not known. They did escape the hangman's noose. What interests in Salem that protected them took whatever steps necessary to see them free of any legal difficulties. It took almost a year and a half, but we return now to the final scene of this adventure, and join our fellows once again at the ship's helm..

Act Three Captain Robert Glanvill, master, and William Curkeet, mate, of this vessel cleared for Virginia December 31, 1689. There they took in tobacco, and sailed therefrom for Berwick-Upon-Tweed, and thence to Holland. The vessel was taken by two French privateers of Dunkirk, of about ten guns a piece, in about sixty degrees of latitude, near the Isles of Orkney, early in the morning of June 11, 1690, and carried into Dunkirk. ^[16]

So here in some strange turn of events, the very next time they set sail, they become the prize. They made the dangerous winter crossing of the north Atlantic, keeping far to the north, past Iceland, and then on around the northernmost prominence of Scotland in order to reach their destination. This was unusual. Their cargo must have been of high value to risk that passage.

There is no record found regarding how long they stayed in Dunkirk. They lost the ship, and were probably themselves held for ransom. Such is the way it was. Or was it? Given their past experiences, what is the possibility that they took the entire ship and its goods and sold it? There would be no way to discover the truth! Interestingly, they made their way to England rather quickly. It had to be no more than two or three months of captivity or laying low. We know this because they found passage or else took sail themselves, and made the eight to twelve week return journey to Massachusetts. They were back within six months.

That ends the story that is known. This represents only a couple of years of their adventures at sea, in what was for both of them work that spanned at least three decades. The story only whets the appetite.

It is not the end of the captaincy of Robert Glanfield either. We find him right away commander of the 'Pink Dove' in the winter of 1691-92.^[17]

For William Carkeet, he had not yet even reached his captaincy.

Nothing is yet known about the last ten years of his life. He is gone from the record by 1702. We assume he died. Probably. The family mourned him and carried on.The End. But let's choose to end our ruminations with a final twist. Maybe Robert was even lost at sea. Many a ship left home and never returned. It seems to make a fitting end to the yarn. Let the mind wander and one begins to wonder; you can see him literally sail into the sunset with another of Salem's ships, and make his way across the seas to see old friends in Madagascar...

Sources

1. ↑ A Genealogical Dictionary of ... New England Vol II J. Savage
2. ↑ Extracts from the First Book of Births, Marriages, and Deaths of the City of Salem Historical Collections of the Essex Institute: Volume 2 page 149
3. ↑ Essex Registry of Deeds Book 61 leaf 194, 195, 213
4. ↑ Essex Antiquarian Vol 10pg 16
5. ↑ Essex Antiquarian Vol 10pg 16
6. ↑ Diary of Rev. William Bentley, Salem, Massachusetts, June 17, 1802
7. ↑ and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County Vol IV p246
8. ↑ Salem Quarterly Court Vol 4 pg 433-435
9. ↑ Salem Quarterly Court Vol 4 pg 433
10. ↑ Salem Quarterly Court Vol 5 pg 122
11. ↑ Historical Collections of the Essex Institute, Volume 2
12. ↑ http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Essex/vol6/images/essex176.html
13. ↑ Perley Vol III page 313 http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Perley/vol3/images/p3-313.html
14. ↑ A History of Salem Massachusetts Sidney Perley Vol III http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Perley/vol3/images/p3-308.html
15. ↑ A History of Salem Massachusetts Sidney Perley Vol III http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Perley/vol3/images/p3-309.html
16. ↑ http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Perley/vol3/images/p3-308.html
17. ↑ A History of Salem Massachusetts Sidney Perley Vol III p3-29

• Salem Quarterly Court Vol 9 pp 365,367,369 http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Essex/vol9/index/essvol9G.html