A Forgotten Investment of John Paul Jones
JOHN PAUL JONES, Revolutionary naval hero and patron saint of the United States Navy, died of dropsy of the chest on the evening of July 18, 1792, in his chamber at No. 42 Rue de Tournon, Paris. That afternoon he had dictated chokingly to Gouverneur Morris, American Minister to France, a schedule of his property. Item six of the ten listed read: "Shares in the Indiana Company/' One of the late captain's two sisters, Mrs. Janet Taylor, came from Dumfries in October of that year to receive his effects, and returned with them to Scotland. Five years later, she and her husband gave power of attorney to Robert Hyslop, a New York merchant, to recover as much as possible of the estate from Robert Morris, the sole executor of Jones's will. Morris was by then in financial difficulties. Hyslop's receipt of August 10, 1797, promised to be accountable to the captain's heirs for any of the property recovered or payments made thereon. It listed the vouchers, certificates, and other documents received from the Taylors, including "Major William Trent's deed for three hundred shares in the Indiana Company." All Jones's important biographers, from Sherburne to Lorenz, have recorded the fact that the captain had owned three hundred shares in the Indiana Company. But when he acquired them, where they were located, how much they had cost, and what the specifications of purchase were, are matters upon which they have been silent. When