Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 3
A Petition from J. Rowe and others, owners of goods on board the ship Elizabeth, which was taken by captains John Manly, Daniel Waters and 300John Ayres, commanders of the three armed vessles Hancock, Lee and Lynch, and libelled in the court maritime for the state of New Hampshire, and, by the sentence of the said court, acquitted; against which sentence, an appeal has been entered, was presented to Congress and read, praying that the said appeal may be heard and determined; Whereupon,
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed, with full powers to hear and determine on the appeal brought against the sentence passed on the libel against the ship Elizabeth.1
The members chosen, Mr. Paine, Mr. Huntington, Mr. Stone, Mr. Wyth and Mr. Smith.2
Journals of the Continental Congress, 5:835
Gen. Thomas Gage, then in command of the British army in Boston, on Oct. 1, 1775, directed Crean Brush to remove any supplies that might assist the Americans in carrying on the war effort. Brush seized such materials as he considered potential war supplies and loaded them aboard the brigantine Elizabeth, probably without the knowledge or permission of the owners, who included the prominent Boston merchant John Rowe (1715–1787). The Elizabeth sailed for Halifax but privateers captured her in April 1776. RTP’s brother-in-law Joseph Greenleaf unsuccessfully attempted to depose Brush in Boston concerning this case during the summer. On Oct. 14, the committee recommended overturning the court’s decision and restoring the cargo or its value to the claimants. The committee members based their decision on the earlier resolution of Congress (Nov. 25, 1775) defining the types of ships and supplies that privateers might properly seize. Congress agreed to the report on the same day (Naval Documents of the American Revolution, 6: 202–203, 1263–1265).
James Smith (c. 1719–1806), a native of Ireland, came to America c. 1729. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania in 1745. He later moved to York, Penna., where he engaged in iron manufacture and in 1776 organized the Pennsylvania Militia and the two regiments of the Flying Camp in Perth Amboy. Smith was a delegate to the Continental Congress (1776–1778) and signed the Declaration. After he war he mainly devoted himself to his private law practice (
DAB
).