Offin Boardman 

During the American Revolution, Offin Boardman (1747-1811) of Newburyport, Massachusetts, amassed a fortune as a privateer. Captured and held by the British in 1777, Boardman escaped “that dismal hole, Mill Prison” in 1779 and made his way from England to France, where his connections secured him passage to America. 

In his diary, Boardman recalled meetings with “His Excellencies Franklin and Adams” while Paris. Other entries describe daily life aboard commercial ship and notes to his wife. Boardman eventually returned to Newburyport and lived at Historic New England’s Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm until his death in 1811.

Diary of Offin Boardman. England, France, Virginia, 1779-80. Paper, leather, ink. Gift of Margaret Bradbury Gigon.