Dunmore’s New World: The Extraordinary Life of a Royal Governor in Revolutionary America

281 Pages·2013·22.116 MB·English

by  James Corbett David

Dunmore’s New World
early american histories
Douglas Bradburn, John C. Coombs, and S. Max Edelson, Editors
university of virginia press Charlottesville and London
DUNMORE’S NEW WORLD

The Extraordinary Life of a
Royal Governor in Revolutionary
America—with Jacobites,
Counterfeiters, Land Schemes,
Shipwrecks, Scalping, Indian
Politics, Runaway Slaves, and
Two Illegal Royal Weddings
james corbett david
For my parents
University of Virginia Press
© 2013 James Corbett David
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper
First published 2013
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data
David, James Corbett, 1977–
Dunmore’s new world : the extraordinary life of a royal governor in Revolutionary
America—with Jacobites, counterfeiters, land schemes, shipwrecks, scalping, Indian
politics, runaway slaves, and two illegal royal weddings / James Corbett David.
pages cm. — (Early American histories)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8139-3424-2 (cloth : acid- free paper) — isbn 978-0-8139-3425-9
(e- book)
1. Dunmore, John Murray, Earl of, 1732– 1809. 2. Governors—Virginia—
Biography. 3. Colonial administrators—Virginia—Biography. 4. Scots—
Virginia—Biography. 5. Virginia—History—Colonial period, ca. 1600– 1775.
6. Virginia—History—1775– 1865. 7. Virginia—Politics and government—To 1775.
8. Virginia—Politics and government—1775– 1865. I. Title.
f229.d89d38 2013
975.5'02092—dc23
[b]
2012048292
Contents
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
one Family Politics, 1745– 1770 9
two Th e Absence of Empire, 1770– 1773 25
three Promised Land, 1773– 1774 56
four A Refugee’s Revolution, 1775– 1781 94
five Abiding Ambitions, 1781– 1796 131
Conclusion, 1796– 1809 179
A Note on Method: Biography and Empire 185
Notes 189
Bibliography 237
Index 261
Illustrations
figures
1. Th e Dunmore Pineapple 18
2. Joshua Reynolds, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, 1765 23
3. Th e Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia 46
4. Th e palace entry hall 47
5. Counterfeit fi ve-p ound note 49
6. John Rocque, “A Plan of the New Fort at Pittsburgh,” 1765 66
7. John Connolly 68
8. Dunmore Proclamation, 1775 105
9. Francis Edward Rawdon- Hastings, Lord Rawdon, “A View of
the Great Bridge,” 1775 111
10. Th omas Jeff erson, sketch of Gwynn’s Island, 1776 123
11. Th omas Hardy, William Augustus Bowles as an Indian Chief,
1791 163
12. Miniature portrait of Lord Dunmore, 1809 182
maps
1. Th e Royal Proclamation Line and Indian population groups,
c. 1763 58
2. Th e Ohio Valley, 1774 64
3. Th e Chesapeake Bay, 1776 98
4. Th e Bahamas and Caribbean, c. 1787 141
5. Th e Gulf Coast, c. 1790 142
Acknowledgments
After eight years of sporadic research and writing, the existence of even one
(unrelated) reader seems to me a minor miracle, so my fi rst thanks are to you.
Th is project began as a doctoral dissertation at the College of William and
Mary. Over the years, it has received vital support from a number of institu-
tions, including the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History; the John D.
Rockefeller Jr. Library of Colonial Williamsburg; the William L. Clements
Library at the University of Michigan; the David Library of the American
Revolution in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania; the Robert H. Smith In-
ternational Center for Jeff erson Studies at Monticello; and the Lyon G. Tyler
Department of History, the Wendy and Emery Reves Center for Interna-
tional Studies, and the Offi ce of the Provost at William and Mary. From 2008
to 2010, the McNeil Center for Early American Studies provided offi ce space
and access to the libraries of the University of Pennsylvania.
For research assistance, I am grateful to staff at the National Records of
Scotland and the National Register of Archives in Edinburgh, especially Tessa
Spencer; the New York Public Library; the New-Y ork Historical Society; the
Bahamas National Archives; Caroline Stanford at the Landmark Trust in
Shottesbrooke, England; the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections
Library at the University of Virginia; the Colonial Williamsburg Founda-
tion, especially Patricia Gibbs, George Yetter, and Barbara Luck; and the Earl
Gregg Swem Library at William and Mary. For permission to quote from the
Dunmore Family Papers, and her encouraging correspondence, I am indebted
to Anne, Countess of Dunmore.
I received valuable feedback on work in progress at Bernard Bailyn’s Inter-
national Seminar on the History of the Atlantic World at Harvard Univer-
sity (2008), the Fourteenth Annual Conference of the Omohundro Institute
of Early American History and Culture (2008), and the Graduate Student
vii
Forum at the Colonial Society of Massachusetts (2006). Several individuals
read and responded to drafts at various stages, including Robert Calhoon, An-
drew O’Shaughnessy, Rhys Isaac, Bob Gross, Ron Schechter, Chris Grasso,
Kris Lane, Rob Parkinson, Mendy Gladden, Sean Harvey, Dan Amsterdam,
Jeff rey Edwards, Sarah Grunder, Liam Paskvan, and Rachael Nichols. Th e
project also benefi ted from the assistance of Brett Ruthforth, Allan Gallay,
C. S. Everett, David Hancock, and Roddy Jones. For incisive commentary,
and many hours wasted and well spent in Williamsburg, M. J. Bumb deserves
special recognition and thanks.
Th e University of Virginia Press has been wonderful to work with. I want
to thank Dick Holway for his faith in the manuscript, and Mark Mones and
Raennah Mitchell for their enthusiastic support. Margaret Hogan copyedited
the manuscript meticulously, and Bill Nelson drew the maps with patience
and skill.
A few scholars have been especially generous to me over the years. Jim
Axtell, who began his graduate research seminar with Garrett Mattingly’s as-
tonishing “Curtain Raiser” from Th e Armada, has been an invaluable source
of advice and encouragement. Maya Jasanoff went above and beyond the call
of professional courtesy in her engagement with this project, reading an early
version in full and kindly helping in any way she could. Cassandra Pybus has
been a marvelous mentor and friend; her work is an inspiration. Finally, Ron
Hoff man advised the thesis on which this book is based. It was his seminar
that sparked my interest in the American Revolution and his recommendation
that led me to write about Lord Dunmore. For this and so much more, I will
always be grateful.
It is a rare pleasure to fi nally be able to thank the people closest to me. Sarah,
you have changed my life in so many wonderful ways. I love you with all my
heart. To my parents, Margaret Grace David and George A. David, Sr., whose
support never once wavered, these pages could only be dedicated to you.
viii Acknowledgments
Dunmore’s New World