Captain Jonathan Oakes

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military Service: 1776; American Revolution (US) Navy

Notes:

Before he was twenty years old he was master of a vessel in the merchant service. and his skill as a navigator and sailor and his courage in time of danger made him a very valuable officer in the naval service during the revolution. Late in 1776 he was captain of the private armed brigantine “Hawke,” mounting ten guns. and having a crew of eighty men. Her owners were ['riah Oakes, cousin of Captain Oakes. and William Shattuck. of Boston. Her officers were Captain Jonathan Oakes, First Lieutenant John Smith, Second Lieutenant John Dexter, Smith Kent, master. In May, 1777, the “Hawke” was received into the service of Massachusetts and formed a part of the fleet which sailed under Commodore Manley and met with such disastrous results; but Captain Oakes’s ship escaped the capture which befell the more powerful vessels of the fleet. and soon afterward made several valuable prizes. Between the time she sailed out on the cruise of the year, in May, and the early part of August following, the little “Hawke” took and sent into port the “Fanny.” “Charming Sally,” “Jenny” and the “Devonshire.” During the following winter the “Hawke” was overhauled and her armament increased to twelve carriage and eight swivel guns. Captain Oakes again took command of her and during the year 1778 he made prizes of the ship “Jenny” and the brigantine “Thomas,” and in the same year, sailing with the brig “General Gates” as consort took in the brigantine “Nancy” and possibly others of the British naval vessels and privateers. In February 1779 he bought an interest in the “Elizabeth" which then was lying in Salem harbor, changed her name to the “Thomas,” manned her with six guns and a crew of eighteen men. In 1780 he was placed in command of the ”Favorite,” an armed ship of ten guns, intended for both the merchant service and naval warfare, and made a cruise with her to the West Indies. In the same year he was commander of the brig ”Patty,” six guns owning a share in her. his partners being John and William Sha'tuck, of Boston. The “Patty” was the last privateer ship of which Captain Oakes was in command. and during a voyage in her in April 1781, from Martinique bound homeward he made a prize of the British armed brig “Betsey.” After the close of the war he continued in the merchant marine service. and in 1796 was the Paris agent for the wealthy loston house of John and Richard Codman. Having returned home he soon abandoned the sea and retired from active pursuits. although he took considerable interest in politics and was twelve times elected representative from Malden in the general court of Massachusetts.
Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Eastern Mass, Volume 1, edited by William Richard Cutter

Jonathan married Sarah Nichols on 6 Nov 1774 in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts . Sarah (daughter of John Nichols and Elizabeth Burditt) was born on 24 Oct 1754 in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts ; died on 16 Jun 1830 in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts . [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]