Jonathan Dickinson - Voyage and Shipwreck

Voyage and Shipwreck

In 1696 Jonathan Dickinson left Jamaica with the intention of settling with his family in Philadelphia. Dickinson and his family, which included his wife, Mary, their six-month old son, Jonathan, and his ten slaves, took passage on the barkentine Reformation. The Journal opens with a list of everybody on the Reformation which looks like the dramatis personae of a play. This list included the Commander (or Master) and the Mate of the Reformation, five sailors, "the Master's boy", "the Master's Negro", the Dickinsons and their slaves, Robert Barrow, a prominent Quaker preacher, Benjamin Allen, a "kinsman" of Dickinson, and Venus, "an Indian Girl".

The Reformation sailed from Port Royal on August 23, 1696 (Old Style) as part of a convoy under the protection of the Royal Navy frigate HMS Hampshire. While drifting in calm weather, the Reformation became separated from the convoy. On September 18 a sudden wind blew a boom across the quarterdeck, breaking the leg of the Master, Joseph Kirle. On the same date Venus, the Indian girl, died after being ill for several days. By September 20, the Reformation was still in the straits between Cuba and Florida trying to avoid ships of the French fleet that they believed to be in the area. On September 24 a storm, which may have been a hurricane, drove the ship onto a reef and then onto shore on Jupiter Island, Florida, a little ways north of Jupiter Inlet near present-day Hobe Sound.

All of the ship's party survived the shipwreck, and they soon began retrieving provisions and supplies from the wreck. Several of the party were sick, including the Dickinson infant, Robert Barrow, Benjamin Allen, and Joseph Kirle, whose leg had been broken a few days earlier. Within a few hours they were discovered by the local Jaega Indians from the town of Jobe (Dickinson spelled the name "Hoe-Bay"). The Jobes appropriated everything the shipwrecked party had brought out of the ship, and much that was still on the ship. The Jobes made threatening gestures and called the castaways "Nickaleer", by which they meant "English." Dickinson and Robert Barrow, being staunch Quakers, persuaded the others to not resist the Jobes, but to put their trust in God to protect them. One of the crewmen, Solomon Cresson, could speak Spanish well, and they resolved to say that they were Spanish. The Jobes acted like they did not believe them, but may have been afraid of mistakenly treating Spanish nationals too harshly. The castaways indicated their desire to travel to Saint Augustine, but the Jobe Cacique (which Dickinson spelled "Caseekey") wanted them to go to Havana, Cuba instead.