Editing Isaac Hull (section)

==Early life==
[[File:PostcardSheltonCTBirthplaceOfCommodoreHull1908.jpg|thumb|left|Claimed birthplace, [[Shelton, Connecticut]]]]
Hull was born in [[Derby, Connecticut]] (some sources say Huntington, now [[Shelton, Connecticut]]), on March 9, 1773.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.congressionalgoldmedal.com/IsaacHullStephenDecaturJacobJones.htm |title=Congressional Gold Medal Recipients Isaac Hull, Stephen Decatur and Jacob Jones |publisher=Congressional Gold Medal.com |access-date=2007-09-19 |archive-date=2011-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927004753/http://www.congressionalgoldmedal.com/IsaacHullStephenDecaturJacobJones.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[[#Grant|Grant, 1947]] p. 7.</ref>
Early in life he joined his mariner father, Joseph, on local voyages and longer trips to the [[West Indies]].<ref>Toll, Ian W. ''Six Frigates The Epic History of the Founding of The U.S. Navy'' Norton: New York 2006 p. 337.</ref> After his father died while still young, Isaac was adopted by his uncle [[William Hull]], a veteran of the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref>[[#Molloy|Molloy, 1964]] p. 104.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/historic/research/collections/papers/hull.asp |title=Hull Family Papers, 1825–1998 |publisher=The Jackson Homestead Manuscript and Photograph Collection |author=prepared by Katherine Benson |year=1998 |access-date=2014-05-01 |archive-date=2014-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502002048/http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/historic/research/collections/papers/hull.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the mid-1790s, the young Hull commanded several merchant vessels, losing some to [[First French Republic|French Republic]] [[privateer]]s.