Jonathan Greeley (or Greely) (December 9, 1741 – 1781) was an American sea captain. He was captain and co-owner of the schooner Speedwell, which was scuttled by a British frigate off the coast of Marblehead, Massachusetts, in 1781, during the American Revolutionary War.
Life and career Greeley was born in 1741, in North Yarmouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay (now in Maine), to Philip and Hannah.Genealogy of the Greely-Greeley Family, George Hiram Greeley (1905), p. 103 His father was killed by Native Americans in North Yarmouth in 1746, when Jonathan was five years old.
Greeley married Mary Hitchborn (1742–1819) on December 15, 1768. They had six children, each of whom were born in Boston: Anna (born 1769), Mary (1771), Hannah (1773), Isannah (1775–1800), Frances (1777) and Elizabeth (1778).
Death Greeley was killed in 1781, when his privateer, Speedwell,History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 1, p. 472History of the Town of Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, from Its First Settlement, Benjamin Hobart (1866), p. 136 was scuttled by a British frigate off the coast of Marblehead, Massachusetts, during the Revolutionary War. The ship was carrying eight guns (another source says ten),Naval Documents of the American Revolution: American theatre: Mar. 1, 1777-Apr. 30, 1777. European theatre: Jan. 1, 1977-May 31, 1777. American theatre: May 1, 1777-May 31, 1777, United States Naval History Division (1964), p. 1007 twelve swivels and 70 men. His commander sent his body and his sword to his family. Greeley was formerly a commander of the vessel, a petition for his installment being signed by major Thomas Melvill in 1776.Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revoluntionary War: A Compilation from the Archives, Volume 6, Massachusetts Office of the Secretary of State (1899), p. 791
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