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Robert Haswell
Haswell was originally the third mate of Columbia but later became second mate on Lady Washington. His father was in the Royal Navy and his family was forced to flee to Yorkshire during the war because of the increasing terrorist acts towards Loyalists. Later they returned home to Massachusetts (Scofield 57) and Haswell apparently already had experience at sea.
Haswell had the 'know-it-all' attitude of a young man who had a better education than most of the captains under whom he served. Not much is known about what people thought of Haswell as second mate. He seemed to have been good friends with Coolidge -- the first mate as the two of them were always going off on adventures whenever they had a chance to go ashore, often getting into trouble. The crew appeared to resent having a 'kid' giving them orders, although they learned not to challenge him. The captains had mixed reactions to Haswell's constant criticism and demands for doing it his own way, but he was never dismissed, which is a credit to his fine seamanship.
Later he was given his own ship, Louisa, which mysteriously disappeared around 1801. No serious investigation has gone into finding out what happened, so it remains an enigma where Haswell's final resting place was.
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 Pastel by James Sharples from the Massachusetts Historical Society
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