Dalton

Posted by George Graham Trask on Monday 21st of March 2022 16:33

All of this info appears to have come from the 22-page essay written many years ago by Mabel S. Lovin, based on what appear for the most part to be hard facts about various members of the immigrant Graham family (Alexander Graham and his wife, Mary McCormick), of whom I am a descendant. If you would like a copy, please contact me.

Posted by Patrick Graham on Wednesday 24th of February 2021 16:39

I wish I knew where you got that information about the Graham family, it is cross between two other sources I have found.
According to "Family history : with special emphasis on the ancestors of the brothers: Philip Christopher Davis, George Graham Davis, Joseph Gamble Davis, James Conrad Davis, John Edward Davis" George Jacob Davis Jr. Writes the following:
"The family came from Knapsdale, Opposite Jura and Sky on ship "Dalton", intending to enter Cape Fear River at Wilmington, hit a sand bar, were delayed six weeks, encountered a storm and finally landed in
Norfolk, Va., some h00 souls, and made their way from Norfolk, Va. to Cumberland County, N.C. They
probably arrived in Norfolk Dec. 1775. They arrived after the War —Revo­ lutionary.
Alexander Graham, immigrant, was a son of Daniel Graham who married Christian Munn in Scotland. It seems that he came to the United States also. Alexander Graham had other Graham relatives here. They came after the Battle of Culloden. When they settled in Cumberland County Edward Graham and Neill Graham, second cousins of Alexander Graham, were neighbors. The family lived near old Long Street Church where Archibald Graham and his wife Ann McLean Graham are buried. The territory in the sand hills is now within the Military Reservation of Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, N.C."

According to the biography of Thomas Fritzherbert by Richard Hiscocks on the website morethannelson: "In the early spring of 1776 Fitzherbert paid off the Dublin and recommissioned the Raisonnable 64, which vessel had recently come out of dock, being employed initially as a guardship at Plymouth. He captured the American privateer Dalton 20 from Newberry, Massachusetts, some sixty miles to the west of Cape Finisterre on Christmas Eve, and he took her into Plymouth on 8 January 1777 where her prisoners were initially discharged into the guardship Ocean, and where valuable papers taken from two gentlemen travelling to France were rushed up to the Admiralty. The American privateer, which had plundered nine thousand dollars out of a Newfoundland prize, had initially thought the Raisonnable to be a West Indiaman, and upon realising her mistake had tried to outrun her pursuer over eight hours but struck her colours before an action could commence."

According to "Hometown Heritage: Fayetteville, North Carolina" by Lucile Miller Johnson:
"The history of Dr. Alexander Graham's ancestor is found recorded in the files of Anna Sherman. [...] After the disastrous battle of Colloden [Alexander Graham] escaped to his native hills. Since he was one of those for whom a reward was offered he was compelled to remain in concealment until his escape to America in 1780. The British government never relented toward him. Alexander Graham married Mary MacCormac, also from the Highlands of Scotland. She accompanied him to America. In the winter of 1779, Graham found means of communication with Capt. John Paul Jones of the American Navy, who gave him and his family passage. The family was taken on board the vessel on the western coast of Scotland and after nearly 100 days at sea, landed near Charleston, S.C., on night preceding the surrender of the city to Cornwallis. After much hardship, they finally reached the home of a relative who had invited them to their home east of the Cape Fear River. The relative's name was Archibald Holmes. (Descendants of Holmes in Eastover still live on land owned by their ancestor). After a short time, Graham bought land several miles west of Cross Creek in the Longstreet area. On the retreat of Cornwallis from Guildford Court House, his lordship paid visit to Alexander Graham and had the cattle belonging to Graham killed and plundered his house as well as doing other damage."

This story is interesting but I have so many questions because certain things aren't holding up to scrutiny. If the Dalton was captured in 1776 then it wasn't the ship that traveled in 1780. What ship could it have been and was it really sent by John Paul Jones? Jones had "not yet begun to fight" when his ship Bonhomme Richard ran into the British warship Serapis' stern on September 23rd 1779. After that John Paul Jones traveled to Texel, Netherlands and then Lorient, France and stayed in France for a while. For a ship to arrive on the last day of the siege of Charleston after 100 days it must have left around February 1st, while John Paul Jones was in France. Did he have one of his other ships pick them up?

Posted by Lauchlin MacDonald on Monday 15th of October 2018 21:08

My family history states that "Dalton" was sent by John Paul Jones to pick up Graham family from west coast of Scotland.Took them to Charleston, SC arriving on day after Cornwallis captured the city. Any way to authenicate?