Isaac Martin

Isaac Martin (1757 – 20 Sep 1793) was the only American aboard the HMS Bounty. He was born in Philadelphia During the American Revolutionary War. He served in the Continental Navy aboard the SS Jason. In 1781, he was captured and taken prisoner aboard the HMS Monsieur, a British ship. He had to choose between being hanged as a pirate (as American sailors were then considered) and joining the Royal Navy.^[1] Martin and his Tahitian wife eventually settled with Fletcher Christian's group on Pitcairn Island. On September 20, 1793, known on Pitcairn as "Massacre Day," Martin, Christian, and three others were murdered by rebellious natives.^[2] Originally hailing from Philadelphia, Isaac was about eighteen when American independence was declared in his native city. Philadelphia was an important inland port, and as Isaac later moved to Nantucket, it isn't too surprising that when war came he joined the fledgling Continental Navy rather than the army.^[3]