Hewson, John (1744-1821) to Rufus Lincoln
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03849.02 Author/Creator: Hewson, John (1744-1821) Place Written: Kensington, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 4 July 1815 Pagination: 6 p. ; 25.2 x 20.4 cm. Order a Copy
Asks forgiveness for not replying to his last letter as he was ill. But says his health is as good and his morals as upright when they were on "the Island" (New York ) together (from a reference in another letter, it appears he escaped in October 1778). Relates what happened to him after they escaped. At 10 p.m. he went to the mouth of a creek which led to the sea. They had prepared a large boat, but not everyone in his party had arrived yet and they took a small canoe instead. There were five in the canoe and they stopped and ballasted it with sand before heading to the ocean. Says they made Ogburn their captain and it was his efforts with a paddle in the stern that kept them from capsizing. Hewson and two others had paddles and the fifth person bailed water. Went out 20 miles to avoid the tides. They passed several ships that night without being noticed. A ship later discovered them and they were forced to land at Shrewsbury Inlet in New Jersey, but after a quarter of a mile found they were separated from the mainland by a river. Only three could swim, and the other two remained behind. After a harrowing swim they arrived on the mainland and they came to a house where people helped them and they arranged for a boat to get their fellow escapees. Mentions common acquaintances, several of whom fought in the Southern Department.
Written by Hewson, a famous textile printer who was a prisoner of war during the Revolution to Lincoln as a former fellow prisoner. Lincoln was from Massachusetts.
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