0192 Captain Henry TREFETHEN ("Bad Henry")

Biography

This Henry is the same as Henry TREFETHEN¹³⁰⁹
Born in Rye, New Hampshire; Resided in Bath, Maine;
Died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Possibly married Fanny in January, 1796 by Samuel Heaven in Portsmouth.
Married to Margaret (20 April 1789 - 05 June 1812) on 3 November 1805 in Bath, Maine. She was born in Georgetown, Maine, April 20, 1789 and died in Wiscassett, aged 22 years.^{[Source 147: LDS Genealogical Library Film 2813 (red file) Bath, Maine, Vital Records, Marriages by Drummer P. SEWALL, J.P. pg. 135 and entry under Nov. 3, 1805.+]}
Married Abigail in Portsmouth,New Hampshire on 18 July 1813, the widow of his cousin, Abraham TREFETHEN⁰⁸²⁷, who died in 1811.^{[Source 147]}
Henry TREFETHEN & Abigail (?) (TREFETHEN) Yeaton had son John E. TREFETHEN 1815 in Portsmouth. John. E. married Sarah Ann Shaw who died in 1840. John remarried in 1850. He died 30 Sep 1853 in Massachusetts of consumption, was a painter. Henry’s widow Abigail died 13 Jan 1867 in Portsmouth ae 79 (born about 1788 lt) Source: Dover New Hampshire newspaper VR extracts by Robert Canney, issue 24 January 1867.
From the New Hampshire Gazzette, 16 July 1811:

"Extract of a letter from Bath dated June 19, 1811"

"An unhappy affair took place in this town on Friday last. It seems, agreeably to the reports in circulation, that a mob, composed principally of sailors, had several times collected before the house of captain Trefethen and insulted him by throwing stones, & c. at windows, for, as they say, abusing his wife - one report goes further and says, they once mounted him on a rail. Be that as it may, on Tuesday night, after submitting to the abuse for some considerable length of time, he fired a gun from his window and killed one man on the spot! The mob, ignorant of that fact, continued their depredations. He fired a second time and wounded another.
The name of the man killed was McLane. Our informant does not give the name of the man wounded but observes he belonged to Providence, [----], and that the Phuysicians have pronounced the wound mortal. - Boston Patriot"^{[Source 147]}

From Lincoln County Court Records

Henry TREFETHEN of Bath, mariner, "... not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil, shot and killed Daniel McLane... in the middle of the abdomen, a little above the naval, at Bath, Maine, 18 June 1811." (That bit about the Devil was standard legal boilerplate; it said more or less the same thing about all the defendants.)" He also shot and killed Parry Spearse."
Henry was committed to the Lincoln County Jail, 20 June 1811. He was a "thick set" fifty year old man, 5 feet 7 inches tall, with a dark complexion and "shot" hair.
On the third Tuesday of September 1811, he was found "not guilty" on a charge of manslaughter, in the death of Daniel McLane, and "not guilty" on a charge of murder, in the death of Parry Spearse.^{[Source 147]}

The following was PROBABLY him (he’s the best candidate, but it COULD be Captain Henry⁰⁹³⁰ on the Deads page.) In 1814 the coast between Boston & Portsmouth was blockaded by British Battleships. The U.S. recruited Henry to smuggle timbers in his fishing smack, ’YANKEE’ from Gloucester, Massachusetts to Portsmouth for the construction of their own ship, THE WASHINGTON. He made several successful trips, but his luck ran out on his last run when he encountered an enemy ship in a thick fog. As he turned his craft towards a fog bank the ships’ guns opened fire. The mist cleared to find him safely off the coast of Rye; with mast and sails shredded to near uselessness.
One Henry Trefethen wrote a letter describing the horrors of British prisons from such a place shortly after 06 April 1815 (after the War of 1812). He was in Dartmoor Prison, Devon, England. Again, we’re not sure which Henry this was.
This could be the same as Henry TREFETHEN¹³⁰⁹

SOURCES:

7. Maine Historical Society, Portland, Maine. E-Mail: info@mainehistory.org. Phone: (207) 774–1822.

32. Rye, New Hampshire town records (1726 - 1845), Vol. 1; Leigh Johnston, Town Clerk, Aug. 1975

36. TREFREN, Leitha S.¹³²¹- Correspondence, 135 Clover Lane; Medford, Oregon 97501. Leitha passed away during February, 2001

57. New Hampshire Genealogical Record; Vols. I & II, Dover, New Hampshire; Charles W. Tibbetts; July, 1904

Archive.org

58. STERLING, John- Correspondence, 10 Signal Ridge Way; E. Greenwich, Rhode Island 02818

87. History of the United States Navy-Yard, Portsmouth, N. H. by George Henry Preble; U.S. Government Printing Office Jan 1892

127. Taunton, Massachusetts: Old Directories (1887, 1906, 1931).

147. The “TREFETHEN Roundtable“., a group of learned correspondents who have been dilegently hashing over tons of material to piece together these puzzles. Corresponding via e-mail, their debates, questions and solutions are being recorded as a unique new reference. To find out more, e-mail Andrew by clicking here. Sadly, the Trefethen Roundtable is no more. If you are interested in participating, let Andrew know at andrewtrefethen@gmail.com

LDS Genealogical Library Film 2813 (red file)

Dover New Hampshire newspaper Vital Records extracts by Robert Canney, issue 24 January 1867.

New Hampshire Gazzette, 16 July 1811

Bath, Maine, Vital Records, Marriages by Drummer P. SEWALL, J.P. pg. 135 and entry under Nov. 3, 1805.

Captain Henry TREFETHEN (“Bad Henry”)0192 (16 August 1769 - 10 December 1831) Married to (possibly) Fanny PARTRIDGE, Margaret TUBS, & Abigail YEATON

Captain Henry TREFETHEN (“Bad Henry”)⁰¹⁹²
(16 August 1769 - 10 December 1831)
Married to (possibly) Fanny PARTRIDGE, Margaret TUBS, & Abigail YEATON