A harrowing tale of wartime survival, nearly lost from the historical record, is shedding light on a prominent Dartmouth family’s struggles during the American Revolution.

It is the tale of twice-captured seafaring Capt. Cornelius Howland, who at the young age of 19 found himself in the clutches of the British Royal Navy twice during the American Revolution.

The story was recently uncovered by Dartmouth Historical and Arts Society member Robert Barboza while he was researching another Howland family member. On January 5, Barboza shared Howland’s story with a large audience at the Society’s annual historical lecture.

According to Barboza’s research, Howland was born in 1758 into a family of Quakers in the Dartmouth Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends. His parents, Gideon and Sarah Hicks Howland were both prominent members of the Meeting.

Before he was even an adult, he had quickly established his reputation as a seaman and nautical leader. He worked aboard whaling ships and coastal trading vessels in his teens, and by adulthood was known as a trusted leader who gradually worked his way up to the captain's rank of several whaling ships.

It was one fateful journey in 1777, at the age of 19, that changed Howland’s life. With the American Revolutionary War in full swing, those who make a living at sea had two choices: Mercantile trade along the West Indies, or state-sanctioned privateering of British Royal Navy vessels.

Although privateering was a popular and profitable venture during the war, Howland’s Quaker beliefs forbade him from serving in any capacity in the war. He served as a crew member aboard a mercantile ship setting sail for the West Indies.

It was there that Howland’s ship was captured by the Royal Navy. According to an account of Howland’s survival given third-hand by Matthew Morris Howland, the captain of the mercantile ship gave each crew member a bag of money and gold before the vessel was boarded.

Howland concealed the gold in his clothing, and it was not discovered by his captors. Howland and his fellow crew members were transferred to the Bermudas, but they soon devised a plan to steal the Bermuda governor's schooner and sail back to America.

Their plan was foiled when someone — it’s not clear who — betrayed them and ratted them out. They were given two choices for their treason: Join the Royal Navy, or rot in prison.

“Any American was considered a traitor to the British crown and supporting the rebellion,” Barboza noted.

Because Quakers are pacifists and cannot serve in war, Howland chose prison. He was transported to Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, where he stayed for three months awaiting trial. According to Matthew Howland’s account of the tale, Cornelius, still carrying the gold hidden during his initial capture, managed to bribe a laundress at the castle to help him escape.

After traveling across Scotland, Howland took a job aboard a French ship in the hopes of escaping the British. However, just one day after leaving port, the ship was captured by none other than Royal Navy forces.

“He knew what 15 months in a Royal Navy jail was going to be like, so he joined the Navy,” Barboza said.

No records or testimony about Howland’s service in the Royal Navy have been uncovered so far, as Matthew Morris Howland’s account only says he served for two years before finding a way to escape.

While docked in the West Indies, Howland jumped overboard and swam to a nearby Nantucket whaler. He convinced the ship’s captain to hide him in an empty cask with a breathing hole carved into it.

He was undetected, and the ship docked near Narragansett Bay. After more than two years at sea, in prison, and serving in war, Howland finally made it back to his family’s Round Points home.

"He was hailed as one risen from the dead, for nothing whatever had been heard from him for three years," read Matthew Morrison Howland's account of the story.

At the conclusion of the lecture, Barboza noted there are some issues with the story. Because it was relayed third-hand — Matthew Morrison Howland heard it from his great uncle Edward W. Howland — Barboza said some details could be embellished. The story itself was documented in print in William Emery’s 1919 book titled “The Howland Heirs.”

One thing missing from the account is how Howland returned to his Quaker roots after serving in war. An in-progress transcription of historical Quaker records by the Dartmouth Historical and Arts Society may shed some light on this question.