Samuel Drinkwater (February 24, 1742 – July 30, 1834) was an American

sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficient operation of the ship, inc ...

. A native of

North Yarmouth North Yarmouth, officially the Town of North Yarmouth, is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. North Yarmouth is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 4,072 at the 20 ...

Province of Massachusetts The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Engla ...

, he became captain of the USS ''Enterprise'' during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

Early life

Drinkwater was born in 1742 in

, to Joseph Drinkwater and Janet Latham, one of their eight sons.

Career

During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, Drinkwater served in the

Massachusetts militia This is a list of militia units of the Colony and later Commonwealth of Massachusetts. * Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts (1638) * Cogswell's Regiment of Militia (April 19, 1775) * Woodbridge's Regiment of Militia (April ...

. He transported military cargo and troops on his ship, the ''Sparrow'', during the

Penobscot Expedition The Penobscot Expedition was a 44-ship American naval armada during the Revolutionary War assembled by the Provincial Congress of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The flotilla of 19 warships and 25 support vessels sailed from Boston on July ...

of 1779. Along with William Burrows, who was forty years his junior, a 69-year-old Drinkwater captained the USS ''Enterprise'' during the

. After Burrows died in action, Drinkwater guided the vessel back to Portland's harbor while towing the defeated HMS ''Boxer'', which had been captained by

Samuel Blyth Commander Samuel Blyth (1783 – 5 September 1813) was a Royal Navy officer. He was captain of HMS ''Boxer'' during the War of 1812. Death On 5 September 1813, the USS ''Enterprise'', under the command of Lieutenant William Ward Burrows II, ...

, who also died in the combat. It is believed Drinkwater had lost some, if not all, of his hearing due to cannonfire.

Personal life

Drinkwater married Arhoda Barbour Bradford in 1770, with whom he had twelve children. Their youngest son, Sewall, also fought in the War of 1812 with the Massachusetts militia. In 1798, Drinkwater and Abel Sawyer purchased the sloop ''Cyrus'' from the

Harvard Corporation The President and Fellows of Harvard College, also called the Harvard Corporation or just the Corporation, is the smaller and more powerful of Harvard University's two governing boards. It refers to itself as the oldest corporation in the Western ...

. He became the first owner of today's number 5 West Main Street in North Yarmouth,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, in 1803. The house passed to his brother, Joseph,Architectural Survey Yarmouth, ME (Phase One, September, 2018
- Yarmouth's town website) after Samuel moved to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, Maine's largest city, in 1810. He lived there until his death. Joseph Drinkwater gifted the house to his granddaughter Martha (daughter of Sewall) prior to his 1822 death. In 1825, Drinkwater applied for a military pension, but was initially denied because deafness was not considered to be a war wound. He was instead seen as a contractor. He was awarded the pension after an

act of Congress An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...

, largely the work of

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * John Anderson (jazz trumpeter) (1921–1974), American musician * Jon Anderson (John Roy Anderson, born 1944), lead singer of the British band Yes * John Anderson (producer) (1948–2024 ...

, Maine Republican.

Death

Drinkwater died in 1834, aged 92. He had survived his wife by five years, and was interred beside her in

Eastern Cemetery Eastern Cemetery is a historic cemetery at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Congress Street in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood of Portland, Maine. Established in 1668, it is the city's oldest historic site. It has more than 4,000 marked g ...

in Portland. His

headstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The u ...

went missing for several years, but was replaced with a new marble stone in 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drinkwater, Samuel 1742 births 1834 deaths People from Yarmouth, Maine People from Portland, Maine Sea captains United States Navy personnel of the War of 1812