My Family Tree

Author: David Crandall Schafer

Jonathan Bodfish, youngest son of Benjamin and Lydia (Crocker) Bodfish, was born August 10, 1727, at Barnstable, Massachusetts. Siblings of Jonathan were Sylvanus, Hannah, Thankful, Solomon, Joseph, and Benjamin. (1)

At the age of 25, Jonathan married Desire Howland, daughter of John and Alice (Hamlin) Howland, on January 13, 1753, at Barnstable. Together they had eight children from 1754 to 1773 Silvanus, Benjamin, John, Isaac, Josiah, Deborah, Simeon, and Alice. (2)

As the war with its American Colonies continued British garrisons based at New York and Newport, Rhode Island relied on supplies delivered on British vessels sailing the coastal waters from Chatham to (New) Bedford. Frequently supplies were forcibly plundered from the small coastal communities. Defense of the seacoast communities from British attack was an ever-present responsibility of local militia companies. Additionally, armed Privateers were authorized by local and state governments to harass, intercept, attack, and capture British vessels in an attempt to interrupt the delivery of supplies to the British garrisons of Newport and New York.

March 8, 1778, British Lord George Germain wrote to Lt. General Henry Clinton with orders “to attack the ports on the coast, from New York to Nova Scotia, and to seize or destroy every ship or vessel in the different creeks and harbors wherever it is found practicable to penetrate; as also to destroy all Wharves and Stores, Materials for shipbuilding, so as to incapacitate them from raising a Marine, or continuing their depredations upon the trade of this Kingdom, which has been already so much annoyed by their ships of war and privateers”.(3)

On September 5, 1778, a British squadron of 32 vessels arrived at Clark’s Cove of (New) Bedford, Massachusetts with 4,000 troops commanded by Major General Charles Grey to carry out the directive of Lord Germain. Marching northerly through the coastal communities of Bedford, Dartmouth, Acushnet, and Oxford the British burned and destroyed vessels, warehouses, and wharves. In response, General Joseph Otis called an alarm of the militia companies on September 6th to the defense of Dartmouth and Falmouth. Having achieved its objective the British squadron began its departure on the 7th. Sailing easterly through the Elizabeth Islands at Quick’s Hole the British skirted the coastal communities of Woods Hole and Falmouth before arriving at Martha’s Vineyard, where they demanded livestock & feed, arms & armaments. With the departure of the British on September 15th from Martha’s Vineyard, General Otis released the militia companies to return to their home communities. The payroll of Captain Ebenezer Jenkins’s co, of Colonel Nathaniel Freeman’s regt. on the alarm at Dartmouth and Falmouth in September 1778 lists private Jonathan Bodfish with service of eight days. (4)

Jonathan Bodfish and his sons were farmers with acres of tilled land, meadows, and woodland. His 1798 property assessment lists 227 acres, valued at $4664. Mrs. Desire (Howland) Bodfish died, aged 80 years, on April 10, 1813, and was buried at the West Barnstable cemetery. Jonathan Bodfish died, aged 90 years, on January 21, 1818, at Barnstable and was buried beside his wife.

References:
(1) Barnstable Town Records, 1643-1714, Volume 1, page 397.
(2) Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, by Amos Otis, pp. 73-74.
(3) A Journal of Occurrences along the Rebel Coast, by Frederick V. Lawrence, Jr., pp. 75-76.
(4) Muster/Payrolls of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 36, page 129 (image 181)