Josiah Fox, Naval Architect, 1763–1847

By John G. M. Sharp

At USGenWeb Archives
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Josiah Fox became a noted American naval architect due to his extensive involvement in the design and management of the construction of the first significant naval warships at Gosport and Washington Navy Yards.¹ Fox worked with his senior colleague Joshua Humphreys on the design of these ships. The ships Humphreys and Fox built helped lay the foundation for our Navy and ensured the new service had the nautical assets to fight successfully in the Quasi-War with France, the Barbary Pirates, and the War of 1812.

1 Westlake, Merle, Josiah Fox 1763 -1847, Philadelphia: Xlibris 2003. Westlake's recent biography is the only work in print devoted to Josiah Fox's career as a naval architect and is particularly helpful for understanding Fox's early career in England, his extensive and important family relationships and his association with the Society of Friends or Quakers. See also Merle Westlake, Josiah Fox, Gentleman, Quaker, Shipbuilder, "Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography," Vol. 88, No.3 (July 1964) pp. 316 -327.

Josiah Fox was born in Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom on 9 October 1763, into a large and relatively prosperous Quaker or Society of Friends family. Historically, the Friends have been known for their use of thee as an ordinary pronoun, refusal to participate in war, plain dress, refusal to swear oaths, and opposition to alcohol. While Josiah Fox wore plain dress, attended monthly meetings, and in general adhered to the Friends principles, he came into conflict with the group on a number of important matters of belief and practice. The conflict was such that Fox was formally disowned by the Friends Philadelphia Meeting for marrying a non-Quaker woman, and for "assisting in the building vessels of war."² In later years, Fox's ownership of slaves and purchase of alcohol for his workers would also be questioned. Josiah Humphreys was similarly disowned by the Society of Friends for building ships of war.³

2 Westlake, 43.

3 Westlake, 1964, 317.

Josiah Fox was born into a large family of thirteen children, nine of whom lived to maturity. His surviving siblings consisted of four older brothers and four sisters. His parents John and Rebecca Fox and brothers John and Henry all had maritime business connections. His brother John Fox was a successful merchant and importer and his brother Henry was a merchant ship captain for G.C. Fox & Company. Josiah may have attended the Friends School at Tiverton where he was instructed in religion, geography, French language, philosophy, and mathematics. In 1786 at the age of 23 (typically 12-16), Fox decided, despite some family objections, to pursue a career in shipbuilding. In a certificate dated 1787, Josiah Fox was described as being "of fair complexion, about five feet eleven inches, wearing brown hair and having a 'molde' on his left arm." Josiah began his apprenticeship at a private dockyard in Plymouth owned by master constructor Edward Sibrell. At Sibrell’s shipyard he served for four years, learning his trade as a shipwright, and in 1790 moved to the East India Dockyard in Deptford, where he gained wider experience working on a variety of merchant ships. In 1791 through his family connections Fox was able secure a billet on the merchant ship Crown for a voyage to the Russian city of Archangel. (Arkhangelsk) which was the chief seaport of Russia. In Fox’s day Archangel was still an important Baltic trading center for northern Europe. In November of 1791, he voyaged south, this time with his brother Captain Henry Fox on a year-long Mediterranean trading voyage to Venice and Cadiz, Spain. In both his northern and southern voyages, Fox had time to experience and study a ship under sail and the opportunity to visit and learn from Russian, Italian and Spanish shipyards and naval arsenals.

On Fox's return to England, he became frustrated with the limited opportunities to make a name and career. In 1793 he traveled to the United States, at least nominally, to survey timber resources. In the States he was engaged to teach drafting to the sons of Jonathan Penrose, an American shipwright. In 1794 Josiah Fox married Elizabeth Miller 1768 -1841 at the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The couple was very much in love and went on to have ten children with six surviving into maturity. While Fox's marriage was outside the Friends Meeting House and caused some tension within the Quaker community, it was generally well received.⁴

4 Westlake, 30.

Through the influence of his wealthy and politically well-connected uncle, Andrew Ellicott, Fox was employed on 16 July 1794 by the U.S. Navy as a draftsman working under naval constructor, Joshua Humphreys, designer of frigates. Fox was ambitious and aware that he was the only formally trained shipwright in the country and he thought himself fully qualified as a designer. In fact Fox's official position was that of War Department clerk, although his duties and responsibilities were primarily to complete designs and models for naval constructor Humphreys. Fox's career got off to rocky start with Humphreys by criticizing his designs, while Humphreys initially held Fox's skills as draftsman in high regard, he later accused Fox of drafting the models according "to his own opinion so foreign to my own." The older Humphreys became increasingly upset after Fox identified himself as a "Naval Constructor" and would only respond to Fox as "Mr. William Fox, Clerk of the Marine Department, War Office."⁵ Fox and Humphreys would continue to have a tumultuous relationship with significant disagreements over frigate design, the former believing that the vessels were too long and had too sharp a bow, among other problems.⁶ Their disagreement caused considerable animosity between the two men, with arguments over credit for the design continuing in the press as late as 1827.

5 Toll, Ian W, Six Frigates
The Epic History of Founding of the U.S. Navy W.W, Norton & Co: New York, 2008, p.54.

6 Toll, 52, 53.

Fox's initial annual compensation at the War Department was fixed at $500 per annum substantially above that of a shipwright:

Mr. Josiah Fox
Sir,
You are hereby appointed a Clerk in the department of war, at the rate of Five hundred dollars per annum, to be appropriated at the present to the assistance of Joshua Humphreys who is constructing the models and draughts for the frigates to be built in the United States, and when that business shall be finished you will be directed to perform - your compensation to commission the 1st instant -⁷

7 War Department to Josiah Fox,
16 July 1794, NARA, Secretary of the Navy, Requisitions on the Treasurer, RG 45.

Not long after his disagreement with Humphrey, Fox was transferred to Gosport Navy Yard. The old yard was in a state of disarray and largely quiescent. Gosport was a working Navy Yard during the American Revolution. The ragtag Navy created during the American Revolution was promptly dismantled after the war, and it wasn't until 1794 — in the face of threats to U.S. shipping from England, France, and the Barbary states of North Africa—that Congress authorized the construction of six frigates. Fox's assignment to Gosport Navy Yard was to design and oversee the building of the frigate Chesapeake and other vessels then under construction at the new yard. Fox proudly stated "during the whole of the period [at Gosport], he was employed in building and equipping that frigate, he had the sole charge of conducting the business, as no naval officer was assigned to that yard, which has been the only instance of the kind in the Navy Department."⁸ Much of this time Fox acted as the shipyard superintendent. When Fox arrived, the Navy Yard was suffering from years of neglect. During the Revolution the Gosport shipyard was under the auspices of the State of Virginia, but with the end of that war had fallen into disuse. Fox's was always an organizer and he quickly moved to draft regulations and to bring about greater economic efficiency and utilization of shipyard manpower.⁹ Like his predecessors, he employed slave labor extensively at Gosport and would later purchase slaves. The slaves Fox purchased were trained and employed at the shipyard with the profit from their labor going directly to him.¹⁰ As a consequence of his performance at Gosport, Fox's annual salary was raised to $750 per annum.¹¹

8 Westlake, 1964, 219.

9 Dickow, Chis. The Enduring
Journey of the USS Chesapeake Navigating the Common History of Three Nations, The History Press, 2008,p. 26, 27.

10 Joshua Humphreys to Josiah Fox
14 Oct 1794 National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), RG45, “I trust you will see to it…with the Negros they

11 Pickering to Josiah Fox,
12 May 1795, Peabody Essex Museum, Josiah Fox papers.

Writing to the Secretary of War Timothy Pickering, Fox stated: "The public Service Requiring the utmost Harmony should take place in the Naval Yard at Gosport (Virginia)" and went on to propose the first regulations for the governance of the Navy Yard. [See Insert *] Fox's regulations were written to correct what he perceived as serious deficiencies. Fox wrote he was particularly concerned with the negligent manner the shipyard clerk Samuel Shore displayed while conducting public business, especially Shore's insufficient attention to supervising the workmen and meddling in Fox's affairs. Fox went on complain about the liberties management allowed Gosport workmen. Fox wrote that workers slept in the yard each evening and frequently quarreled. He later learned the reason laborers and mechanics slept at their workplace each night was that there were no rooming houses near enough to the ship yard, and what hotels or rooming houses that were available were so far away that the workers would have to have spent most of their day commuting.¹² In the same letter, Fox went on to recommend that Gosport workmen be allowed their traditional rum ration.¹³ In 1798 Fox was appointed Master Constructor of the frigate Chesapeake, which was to be built in Norfolk. Fox apparently altered Humphreys design to his own liking, though this may have been partially the result of a timber shortage. That same year in February Josiah Fox became a naturalized citizen of the United States and later in the year his salary was raised by the War Department to $900.00.¹⁴ In 1798 the Department of the Navy was also created and, reacting to fears of French privateers seizing American merchant vessels, Congress authorized additional naval vessels and revenue cutters. In 1801, in response to budget reductions, Fox was laid off from his government position, but he continued to design vessels for the private sector.

[Insert *]

Hon. Timothy Pickering Naval Yard Portsmouth June 9th 1795

My instructions requesting me to represent to you the State of the yard at my arrival have taken the first measurable hour of complying therewith, should have been direct last week but the unarranged state of the yard made me anxious to set everything in order as soon as possible.

I expected to have been here at last week or sooner, but was so unfortunate to be detained somedays at Baltimore by contrary winds & weather – I heartily hope my exertions for the public service will be such to merit your approbation.

Immediately on my arrival I encountered Mr. Pennock to whom I delivered my letter of introduction, he appeared ready to afford every assistance for conducting the Business with energy.

The yard is well situated for the purpose of Building Vessels of War. The extensiveness of the enclosure renders it convenient for laying Timber to advantage for work & all the necessary buildings are Complete.

The only deficiencies that appear at present is the Clerk’s office being some distance from the yard which we find is frequently attended with great inconvenience of which might be remedied by appropriating a small place for his office at the end of the storehouse. 

I should recommend to have a Steward under the Clerk to take care of the provisions for the men. At present it occupies a great part of the Clerks time & when more men are employed the Clerk’s attention will be entirely taken up in serving out the provisions

We find great inconvenience for want of a Bell to call the men to & from their work, which might be furnished by Mr. Pennock

I found the vessel laid on the Blocks, the scarps Bolted & raised partly trimmed out - but in my Opinion it will require some alteration as the Declivity by no means agree with Mr. Humphrey’s directions. It’s present Declivity being only 3/8 of an Inch to a foot & at that Declivity ( the lower part of the of the Keel at the Fore end rises, 6 feet and a half above the ground & misses the line from ark) so that the direction of the Keel as it Is now stands reaches nearly ½ way across the river before it strikes the surface of the water which is something more than the Ships strength from the after Block, which distance which distance she would have to run over soft mud – I also submit the impropriety of so much of the Blocking as will be required if the keel should be lifted to the Declivity Directed- therefore am of the opinion lowering the after part of the Keel will be more eligible, but which require a greater part of the blocks to be new laid & some on the ground removed.

The timber that has arrived is of the first quality but no account of it has been taken by the Clerk of the contents of the pieces when they were landed we are under the necessity of being guided by the invoices of those timbers already sided.

Since I have arrived have entered several additional hands & expected more, most of those already employed are Negros  a very few of whom can work the Timber to the molds & bends. Therefore I am under the necessity of them hewing the Timber for masts however shall endeavor to instruct them so that they may trim the timber with certainty enclosed is a list of what work has been done before my arrival which will shew what little progress has been made, and you may depend on my exertions to keep pace with the other yards. I am with Esteem & Respect &c

Josiah Fox

[Enclosure List]
No of Men Employed
9 White men greater part of whom are Shipwrights
1 Do Joiner
13 Blacks Axe men
Total 25

Portsmouth 9th June 1795 Josiah Fox

Source: Josiah Fox to Timothy Pickering, 9 June 1795, Papers of the War Department, 1784-1800, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, BBRO1, accessed21 May 2021, Original Source: Post-Revolutionary War Papers, RG94, National Archives and Records Administration.
[End of Insert *]

12 Pennock to Fox
16 Nov 1795 Peabody Essex Museum, Josiah Fox papers.

13 Fox to Pickering
24 Sept 1795, Peabody Essex Museum, Josiah Fox papers.

14 Westlake, p. 46.

In 1804, Secretary of the Navy Robert Smith sent for Fox to come to Washington, D.C., and convinced him to become the naval constructor at the Washington Navy Yard. At that Navy Yard Fox was to superintend the construction and repair of naval vessels. Commodore Thomas Tingey had overall charge of the yard and its employees. As naval constructor, however, Fox reported to the Secretary of the Navy and directed the largest and most skilled group of mechanics and laborers.¹⁵

15 Hibben, Henry B.
Navy-Yard, Washington, History from Organization, 1799 to Present Day. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1890,.37

Thomas Tingey, like Fox, was born in England but in the city of London in 1750. His family moved to the town of Lowestoft, a small North Sea fishing town, and he later served in the Royal Navy. In the early 1770's, Tingey moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and took service with merchant vessels in the Caribbean. Through successful trading ventures, he quickly became prosperous and decided to stake his future in new republic. In 1798, based on his Royal Navy and merchant experience, Tingey was appointed as a captain in the newly established federal navy.¹⁶

16 Brown, Gordon S.,
The Captain Who Burned His Ships Captain Thomas Tingey, USN, 1750-1829 Naval Institute Press: Annapolis,
2011. This superb biography of Thomas Tingey provides valuable new information regarding, the Washington
Navy Yard work environment, Tingey’s background and his dealings with Josiah Fox and other senior managers
at the Washington Navy Yard. For Tingey ‘s often troubled relationship with Fox, see 76 -

Fox's salary as constructor for the Washington Navy Yard was a generous $2000.00 per annum with $500.00 additional allowance for housing, and the liberty of taking as many apprentices as he chose, placing his total compensation on line with Commodore Tingey.¹⁷ Fox by 1807 had seven apprentices; five white, whose families paid him a commission to teach their sons the difficult and lucrative trade of shipbuilding, and two of his own slaves. In the early federal shipyards, all apprenticeships were signed indentures or private contracts between master mechanics and apprentice, but paid from public funds. All shipyard apprentices were paid a daily wage based on a percentage of the journeymen trade rate. The master mechanic typically signed and collected the apprentice's wages, passing this on to the apprentice or his parents after deducting an agreed tutorial fee. Slaveholders signed for a slave wage and made whatever provisions for the slaves support they deemed adequate.

17 Westlake, 64.

At first the two men worked together. Fox's assignment to Washington coincided with the beginning of serious construction at the Navy Yard. Among his first assignments was the repair of badly deteriorating frigates in ordinary; many of these ships that had seen years of hard service. Fox also supervised the construction of numerous gun boats, designed for the naval actions in the Mediterranean. Fox designed seven of these first gun boats. The boats were actually built at various cities on the East Coast. But in April 1806 Congress authorized yet more gun boats and ten were built at Washington Navy Yard. These vessels were shallow draft boats, fifty to seventy feet in length, sloop or schooner rigged and armed with one or two guns. Fox compared them to Oyster boats, and questioned their utility. Most significantly during Fox's tenure, the yard built its first proper ship, the sloop of war Wasp and major repairs to the frigates United States, President and Essex.¹⁸

18 Brown, 76 & 77 and 108.

Despite the Navy Yard progress in building and repairing vessels, Fox's relationship with Commodore Tingey deteriorated over time. As a military man, Tingey believed in discipline and deference to authority, and he was a firm believer in the chain of command. Fox on the other hand considered his appointment by the Secretary of the Navy sufficient to ignore yard policy when it suited. By 1806 each man was complaining to the Secretary about the other. Part of the problem was their differing personalities and a substantial part of their dilemma their confusing reporting relationships. Tingey had overall charge of the shipyard but Fox was hired by and reported directly to the Secretary of the Navy. One proof of the structural nature of the problem is that William Doughty, Fox's successor, experienced similar difficulties in his dealing with both Tingey and the next Commandant Isaac Hull caused by the overlap of their duties and responsibilities.¹⁹

19 Brown, 141 for
Doughty’s relationship with Tingey and Maloney, Linda M. The Captain from Connecticut: The Life and Naval Times
of Isaac Hull, Northeastern University Press: Boston, 1986, 437-438 for Doughty’s relationship with Commodore Hull.

Tingey had always run the navy yard with a sense of noblesse oblige, allowing the master mechanics a great deal of authority and discretion and his workforce certain privileges that Fox found unwise. Fox wanted to organize his workers in companies so that there was a clear chain of command. From his writing it is clear Fox hoped to promote economy, control costs and discourage, the "too free use of Spirituous Liquors during the Hours of Work or the use of abusive language to any person whatever." Fox's caution regarding the use of "spirituous liquors" on the yard, was not simply that of a teetotaler, but reflects his genuine concern that alcohol was endangering workplace safety.²⁰ In 1807 Commodore Tingey had also attempted to restrict alcohol usage which resulted in some of the workers complaining to the secretary of the navy.²¹

20 Rorabaugh, W. J.
The Alcoholic Republic: an American Tradition. Alcohol consumption peaked at over five gallons per person
in the early 1800s as contrasted with approximately two gallons in 1970. A sharp drop occurred in the 1840s and
the rate stayed around two gallons going forward. Data from the National Institutes of Health reflects current
consumption rates peaked at only 2.7 gallons in the early 1980s and leveled off at 2.3 gallons in 2002. Even in
our new millennium this early nineteenth century rate of 5 gallons per person still has the power to startle modern
readers.

21 Blacksmiths Petition to the
Secretary of the Navy, 11 March 1807, NARA RG45 M125a.

Fox wanted to control waste and pilferage and urged
his master mechanics to be "careful to prevent the Timber Materials and other of the Public property in the Timber Materials and other of the Public property in the Carpenters Department from being improperly expended, Wantonly destroyed, Wasted, Injured or pillaged - He will not permit any alteration whatever to be made in any part of the Ships whilst under repair without express orders being given for that purpose." Fox also cautioned his workers regarding the danger of fire. "He will take care that no Fires be made by the Carpenters and others attached to them to Bend their planks &c &c but at such places as may be deemed to be most proper for that careful purpose, and he is charged to see them all extinguished by Sunset."

Fox even went as far as to caution his employees to remember and have care for their environment and to avoid throwing debris in the Potomac and Anacostia River. Fox urged his men: "When working afloat he is not on any authority whatever to throw over board into the River any Stage Plank & Spalls, or other useful materials, neither is he to throw any rotten stuff that will sink to the injury of the river."²² Fox's proposed changes were never implemented, and it is unclear if Tingey ever saw them, but it is most unlikely that he would have approved them. Fox's management concerns with safety and the environment were in many ways profoundly modern. Tingey was more of a pragmatist, ever sensitive to issues of morale, and was reluctant to make too many changes as they might only increase the mechanics distrust. Commodore Tingey, like many of his workers, found Fox eccentric and difficult to understand.

22 Fox wrote a series of
proto position descriptions in which he listed the duties and responsibilities of his construction department
employees. He organized his thoughts very similarly to that used in job descriptions by the modern federal government. T
hese documents are unsigned and undated but are in Fox’s handwriting and archivist date them to circa 1804. NARA RG 45

One issue that caused considerable friction was Fox's training of two enslaved men, Edwin Jones and William Oakley, as shipwright apprentices. About 1804 Fox had purchased the two men and also purchased young Betty Doynes as a house servant.²³ Many officers and senior civilians such as Commodore Thomas Tingey, Captain John Cassin, and senior clerks and master mechanics found that having the Navy hire their slaves a profitable and easy arrangement. During the first decade of the Navy Yard's existence, about one-third of the workforces were slaves. While some slaves worked as ship caulkers, a difficult and dirty job, most worked as laborers. Fox, however, had trained Edwin Jones and William Oakley as shipwrights, in the shipyard, an elite occupation. White mechanics apparently found Fox's training of blacks as shipwrights to be threatening to their sense of superiority and employment security.

23 Liber X, no 23 Folio 279 &
280 filed in the District of Columbia Deed Books, District of Columbia Archives.

Adding to the atmosphere of unease in 1807, Fox came to the defense of Peter Gardner, a master mast maker. Gardner, like Fox, had purchased a young slave, Davy Gardner, and trained him with his white mast maker apprentices. Gardner was later accused of taking small items without proper authorization which eventually led to his dismissal. Fox perceived the charges and dismissal of Gardner as a subterfuge and pretext for Tingey removing a supporter.

In June of 1807 the final break between the two men culminated with Tingey's appointment of William Smith, Assistant Foreman of Ship Carpenters and John Petheridge, Foreman Afloat, ostensibly to aide Josiah Fox. Fox vehemently objected and stating Tingey's appointments were made with no consultation or notice. Fox particularly objected to Pethreridge's appointment as he was "frequently intoxicated."

Fox asked for a board of inquiry and stated he would not work until some action was taken. "Finding that John Petherbridge is upheld in his Conduct, which I conceive is contrary to every principle of Justice, and the regulations of the Yard and that Richard Sommers, Shipwright, is ordered to be discharged for candidly as plain fact in my Inquiries; I have thought proper to withdraw myself from the Navy Yard until due inquiry should be made into the circumstances of the case and ample justice done me." In response Tingey wrote to the Secretary of the Navy stating that he would convene an inquiry into Fox's charges and take statements from all witnesses including Fox, under oath and Fox refused the inquiry.²⁴

24 Tingey to Smith 12 June 1807.

Economic clouds were also on the horizon. Beginning in the Winter of 1807, the Embargo Act led to a tightening of the naval appropriations. In response, on 21 April 1808, Secretary of the Navy Robert Smith gave Commodore Thomas Tingey direction to reduce his workforce at the Washington Navy Yard.²⁵ John Cassin, acting for Tingey, queried Fox as to the number of his employees and his proposed reductions. Fox replied on 25 April 1808, "If many of the frigates are to be equipped in the course of the present Summer that cannot be effected without a large force. . . . Where repairs are protracted to any length of time that decay already taken place will not only diffuse itself more intensively but by causing destruction to the furrowing timber, render repairs more difficult and expensive. It must be well known to you that some of our finest Frigates at this time are almost perishing for want of repairs and daily getting worse." Fox's response reflects his continuing concern for timely maintenance and the welfare of his employees. "I am compelled to say that I should think any reduction in the number of workmen at this time to retrench expenses impolitic (unless the appropriations are found insufficient for that purpose) and would therefore recommend that the work be pursued by the present number of workmen."²⁶ Despite the merits of Fox's ideas, his perceived intransience and reluctance to be deferential to Tingey or understand his concerns proved his undoing.

25 Smith to Tingey 21 April 1808.

26 Fox to John Cassin 25 April 1808.

At the beginning of the new administration of President James Madison, the new secretary of Navy Paul Hamilton, probably on Tingey's recommendation, "unceremoniously and perhaps unjustly" dismissed Fox.²⁷ Hamilton again, probably at Tingey's bidding, directed that all of Fox's white apprentices be kept on the yard rolls if possible and the blacks dismissed.²⁸

27 Brown, 78.

28 Hamilton to Tingey 10 August 1809.

After leaving government service, Fox manumitted his two enslaved apprentices Jones and Oakley and prospectively manumitted his house servant Betsey Doynes with an effective date of 1815. After examining his alternatives, Fox moved with his entire family west into Ohio territory where they settled. In Ohio Fox quickly became a highly successful landowner, businessman and leader in the Quaker community. The newly manumitted Jones and Oakley chose to accompany the Foxes west and remained in his employ as freemen for the next twenty five years. Sadly, Betsey Doynes died prior to her manumission.²⁹ [Insert **]

29 Westlake, 89.

[Insert **] The three manumissions below dated December 1809 by Naval Constructor Josiah Fox of three of the enslaved individuals he purchased in 1804 are examples of early District of Columbia manumissions recorded in the District Deed Books^a The first two Edwin Jones AKA “Negro Edwin” and Betsey Doynes AKA “Negro Betty” are both conditional manumissions, also known as “term slavery” which specify a certain period of time for the two enslaved individuals to labor, and the third is an immediate manumission which granted William Oakely AKA “Negro William “ his freedom immediately. As stipulated by the District Code, freedom was attained either by reason of birth to a free mother or through manumission. Manumission was the formal legal term to free or liberate a slave. In the District manumission had to be recorded before a Justice of the Peace. The District of Columbia Slave Code emphasized that the newly manumitted, like Jones, Doynes and Oakley, be able to support themselves, be in good health and not be over forty years of age lest they become a public charge.

a. District of Columbia Deed Books, District of Columbia Archives,
Liber X, no 23 Folio 279 & 280.

All freed slaves still faced numerous hardships. They could not vote in city elections and they were forbidden from meeting or being on the streets after ten o’clock. In 1812 the District City Council required every free black person to carry a "certificate of freedom" or "freedom papers," lest they be arrested as a runaway slave, imprisoned and sold.^b Note that each uses formulaic language, the newly freed slave could feed and provide” raiment” (clothes) for themselves was required in the early slave codes to avoid having masters manumit their aged s laves who could no longer work and they become public charges.^c

b. Melder, Keith E., City of Magnificent Intentions, A History of Washington,
District of Columbia. (Intac  Publishers, 1997), 59 -61.

c. The District of Columbia Free Negro Registers 1821 -1861 Volumes 1 & 2,
editor, Dorothy S. Provine, (Heritage Books, Bowie, Maryland 1996), see the introduction  to volume 1 for a discussion on the various
types of manumission documents.

Josiah Fox Manumission to Negro Edwin Recorded the 12th day of December 1809, to wit:

Know all men by these presents that I Josiah Fox of Washington County in the Territory of Columbia being the proprietor of a negro boy slave named Edwin born the second day of January in the year eighteen hundred and being desirous to grant freedom to the said negro boy slave, to take effect after he shall attain the age of twenty five years have therefore given and granted and do by these presents give and grant to the said negro boy slave named Edwin his freedom and liberty to take effect from and after the second day of January which will be in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and twenty five at which time he will have attain the age of twenty five years reserving nevertheless to myself and to my executors administrators and assigns a right and power over the person and services of the said negro boy slave until the period aforesaid but from and after the said period the said negro boy shall and may enjoy perfect liberty and freedom to all indents and purposes and in like manner as if said negro boy had been originally free. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this eleventh day of December one thousand eight hundred and nine.
Signed sealed & delivered Josiah Fox (SEAL)
in the presence of

Thomas Herty - John Gardiner

District of Columbia, Washington County On the 11th day of December 1809 before me the subscriber a Justice of the peace for Washington County aforesaid personally appeared Josiah Fox party to the foregoing instrument and acknowledged the same to be his act and deed according to the true intent & meaning thereof.
Richd. S. Briscoe

Josiah Fox Manumission to Negro Betty Recorded the 12th day of December 1809 to wit:

Know all men by these presents that I Josiah Fox of Washington in the Territory of Columbia being proprietor
of a negro women slave named Betty about twenty six years of age who is a healthy constitution in sound mind and body capable by labour to procure herself sufficient food and raiment and being desirous to set her free, to take effect at the expiration of seven years from this period have therefore granted and do by these presents grant freedom to the said negro women slave named Betty her freedom, to take effect at the termination of seven years from this period reserving nevertheless to myself and to my executors administrators and assigns a right and power over the person and services of the said negro women until the period aforesaid but from and after the said period the said negro women shall and may enjoy perfect liberty and freedom to all indents and purposes whatever. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this eleventh day of December one thousand eight hundred and nine
Signed sealed & delivered Josiah Fox (SEAL)
in the presence of
Thomas Herty – John Gardiner

District of Columbia, Washington County On the 11th day of December 1809 before me the subscriber a Justice of the peace for Washington County aforesaid personally appeared Josiah Fox party to the foregoing instrument and acknowledged the same to be his act and deed according to the true intent & meaning thereof.
Richd. S. Briscoe

Josiah Fox Manumission to Negro William Recorded the 12th day of December 1809, to wit:

Know all men by these presents that I Josiah Fox of Washington County in the Territory of Columbia being the proprietor of a negro man slave named William Fletcher otherwise William Fox otherwise William Oakley about twenty two years of age who is of healthy constitution and sound in mind and body capable by labour to procure himself sufficient food and raiment and being desirous to grant freedom to the said negro man slave, named William his freedom and liberty to be henceforth discharged from all claims of service and right of property whatsoever by me the said Josiah Fox For my heirs, executors and administrators. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this eleventh day of December A.D. one thousand eight hundred and nine.
Signed sealed & delivered Josiah Fox (SEAL)
in the presence of
Thomas Herty - John Gardiner

District of Columbia, Washington County On the 11th day of December 1809 before me the subscriber a Justice of the peace for Washington County aforesaid personally appeared Josiah Fox party to the foregoing instrument and acknowledged the same to be his act and deed according to the true intent & meaning thereof.
Richd. S. Briscoe [End of Insert **]

In 1811 Fox and his family experienced the great New Madrid earthquake. This quake, the greatest ever in the United States shook the ground for months. The remainder of Fox's long life was less eventful. During the war of 1812, the frigates and other vessels Fox designed contributed to American naval victories. Ironically, Fox himself strongly disapproved of the war and thought it wholly unnecessary. Fox's beloved wife Anna died in 1841 at the age of 71. As he came to the end of his days, Fox's legacy as naval architect of such vessels as the Crescent, Congress, Philadelphia, Chesapeake, John Adams, Hornet and Wasp was secure. Modern historians may still debate the extent of Fox and or Humphrey's contribution to the overall design of American frigate but all recognize their achievement.³⁰ Fox, in spite of those who "resented his independent Quaker ways, remained dedicated to serving the United States government to the best of his abilities."³¹ Fox died on 17 November 1847 at the age of 85 and was buried in the cemetery near the Concord Friends Meeting House, near Colerain, Ohio.

30 Toll 473, makes the case for Humphreys while Westlake views Fox’s
contribution to frigate design as coequal.

31 Westlake 147

USS Constellation drawing by J Fox 1795

Fox's correspondence, April 25, 1808

Tingey to R. Smith, 5 May 1808, p.19, enclosure Fox to Cassin, 25 April 1808, re apprentices Letters Received by the Secretary of the Navy from Captains "Captains  Letters", Volume 11, Letter 54, 1 April 1808-28 June 1808, RG 260 National Archives & Records Administration, Washington D.C.

Josiah Fox, a late image

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John G. “Jack” Sharp resides in Concord, California. He worked for the United States Navy for thirty years as a civilian personnel officer. Among his many assignments were positions in Berlin, Germany, where in 1989 he was in East Berlin, the day the infamous wall was opened. He later served as Human Resources Officer, South West Asia (Bahrain). He returned to the United States in 2001 and was on duty at the Naval District of Washington on 9/11. He has a lifelong interest in history and has written extensively on the Washington, Norfolk, and Pensacola Navy Yards, labor history and the history of African Americans. His previous books include African Americans in Slavery and Freedom on the Washington Navy Yard 1799 -1865, Morgan Hannah Press 2011. History of the Washington Navy Yard Civilian Workforce 1799-1962, 2004. 
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/browse-by-topic/heritage/washington-navy-yard/pdfs/WNY_History.pdf
and the first complete transcription of the Diary of Michael Shiner Relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard 1813-1869, 2007/2015 online:
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/d/diary-of-michael-shiner.html
His most recent work  includes Register of Patients at Naval Hospital Washington DC 1814 With The Names of American Wounded From The Battle of Bladensburg 2018,
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/r/register-patients-naval-hospital-washington-dc-1814.html
The last three works were all published by the Naval History and Heritage Command. John served on active duty in the United States Navy, including Viet Nam service. He received his BA and MA in History from San Francisco State University. He can be reached at sharpjg@yahoo.com