Some history of John Jolliffe Yarnall

JOHN JOLLIFFE YARNALL - At present belonging to the United
States Navy . . .

Dated November 6, 1813 - Recorded May 23, 1816

Source: A Goodly Heritage, Earliest Wills on an American Frontier, Ella Chalfant, University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 1955; pp 55-58.


There is a very significant relationship between the date on which John Jolliffe Yarnall signed his will and the phrase which appears in its preface - "at present belonging to the United States Navy." The War of 1812 was at its height. It was a dangerous year for sailors. The date on which the will is recorded leads to a conclusion borne out be a search of the Naval records of the U.S. Congress - John Jolliffe Yarnall died in the service of this country.

Lieutenant Yarnall was one of the heroes of the war of 1812; he brought honor to his country and to his family. The circumstance of his death was one of the ironies of the war. But we shall begin with his will. The main provision follows:

I desire that my Executors shall, after the payment of my just debts, invest the whole of my surplus Estate in Bank Stock or other Publick Securities for the express purpose of becoming a fund for the more comfortable maintenance of my aged Mother, the Interest or lawful increase whereof I hereby give & bequeath unto my said Mother, same to be applied exclusively to her use and benefit during her natural life.

The will was written on a heavy sheet of foolscap paper, signed by Lt. Yarnall, and witnessed by Townsend Speakman, Samuel Pettigrew, and Everard Bolton, Jr. Named as executors were John's brother, Amos, and his brother-in-law, Aquila M. Bolton.

Two months before he signed his will, Lt. Yarnall had distinguished himself in the Battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813. Capt. Oliver H. Perry, commanding the flagship Lawrence, takes personal note of Lt. Yarnall's valor in his official report to the Secretary of the Navy a few days after the battle (U.S. Congress, American State Papers, Naval Affairs, v.1, p.295):

The Lawrence. . . sustained the action upwards of two hours, within canister distance, until every gun was rendered useless, and the greater part of her crew either killed or wounded. Finding she could no longer annoy the enemy, I left her in charge of Lieutenant Yarnall, who, I was convinced, from the bravery already displayed by him, would do what would comport with the honor of the flag.
Lieutenant Yarnall, first of the Lawrence, although several times wounded, refused to quit the deck.
Capt. Perry made a perilous passage by rowboat to the Niagara, from whose decks he maneuvered the defeat of the enemy.

Lt. Yarnall was awarded a Gold Medal for his part in the action, but it was not until the summer of 1819, four years after his death, that his family received the medal. This fact comes to light in the examination of two letters recorded in the Pennsylvania Archives: sixth series, v.9. The first of these was from the Navy Department to "Thomas Sergeant, Esqr., Secretary of State of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg":

Navy Department
March 2nd, 1819


Sir:
I have had the honour to receive your letter of the 23rd. ultimo, written at the request of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of ascertaining the address of certain officers of the Navy of the United States, to whom the Legislature of Pennsylvania had awarded gold medals in honour of the brilliant action of the 10th September 1813 on Lake Erie.
Capt. Oliver H. Perry is the commanding Navy Officer at Newport, R.I. - Capt. Jesse D. Elliott is at present in this city; and Lieutenant John J. Yarnall was lost in the U.S. Brig Epervier; his Mother and relatives reside, it is believed, in Pittsburgh, Pa., particular information respecting them may be obtained from the Hon'ble Abner Lacock, one of the Senators in Congress from Pennsylvania.

With the highest respect
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most ob: servant,
Smith Thompson.






The second letter is addressed to "His Excellency William Findlay, Esq., Governor of Penn'a, Harrisburg." and is signed "Phebe Yarnall," John Yarnall's mother:

Pittsburgh, 5th of 11th mo., 1819


Honoured Friend,
I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of thy letter of the 7th ulto. accompanying, by the hands of Ephraim Pentland, Esq. a copy of Resolutions of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, expressive of their sense of the brave and gallant conduct of my son, the late Lieutenant John J. Yarnall in the brilliant victory of the 10th of September 1813 over the British Squadron on Lake Erie. Amidst the sorrow of heart to which I have been inevitably exposed by a dispensation depriving me of my son, the sympathy expressed in thy communication and my confidence in believing that his memory will be preserved and cherished in the annals of our nation and in the affectionate recollection of its patriotick citizens afford a consolation which, be assured, I though not altogether a Spartan, know how to appreciate.
The Style of execution both the penmanship and the frame in which it is set is as striking to every other eye as the memorial itself is affecting to a mother's. For the manner in which this framed copy of the Resolutions, as well as the Medal, has been presented, accept the thanks of

Thy friend
Phebe Yarnall

Lt. Yarnall had perished aboard the U.S. brig Epervier in the Navy's last mission of the war. The Treaty of Ghent had already been signed when the Epervier, with several other vessels, was sent to the Mediterranean to deal with the pirates of the Barbary Coast states. After a successful encounter with the enemy, the Epervier was returning to the United States in July, 1815, with a copy of the treaty signed by the Dey of Algiers. It was last sighted off Gibralter July 12, but apparently foundered in an Atlantic storm, for it never reached the states.

John Jolliffe Yarnall, in his will, had provided for "the more comfortable maintenance of my aged Mother." In his service to his country, he provided her with something she probably cherished more - a lasting memory of a gallant and honored son.


Complete will of John Joliffe Yarnall
Return to Home Page Back to History Page
1