Letters from and to the Gosport Navy Yard 1826-1828
Part II
Editor's Note: James Maull (1794-1857) was a noted Philadelphia master sailmaker and inventor. Maull sent this letter to the Secretary of the Navy and also to Commodore James Barron. As proof of their contractual relationship, Maull enclosed John Wells apprentice indenture. In the nineteenth century apprentice indentures were legally binding contracts which made both Wells and Garland obligated to work for Maull for the time period specified. As a consequence (fortunately for the boys), their enlistments in the eyes of the law were void without Maull’s consent.
Commandants Office
United States Navy Yard
Gosport September 28th 1827Sir,
Your letter of the 22nd instant with the Enclosures, has been received, And I have the Honor to Report, that John Wells one of the Boys alluded to, is now onboard the United States Receiving Ship Alert, and is very anxious to be discharged – Miran Garland the other boy named, sailed from this place in the United States Ship Natchez. The Papers are herewith returned as directed –
I have the honor to be
Sir Most Respectfully
Your Obedient Servant
James Barron
[Enclosure]* * * * * * * * * *
Twenty Dollars Reward
Ranaway from the Subscribers, on Monday last, two indented apprentices to the Sail Making business, named JOHN WELLS and MIRAN GEOLARD. John is between 20 and 21 years of age, and about 5 feet 7 inches high. Miran is about 19 years of age, 5 feet 4 ½ inches high, fair complexion of genteel address, and has a scar upon his right thumb. They may be known as Sailmakers by the tar upon their hands. The above reward will be paid on recovering them. All persons are caution against harboring or trusting the said runaways.
R.J. Maull
No.9 South WharvesN. B. It is supposes the above boys have gone to the City of New York
Source: Paulson’s American Advertiser 31 May 1827, p.4
This document is a signed apprentice indenture for John E. Wells, signed by master sail-maker James Maull, Maria Wells, the boys mother and John E. Wells. This document was proof of a contract and allowed two boys to be discharged from the navy much to the relief of their mothers. James Maull (1794-1857) was a noted Philadelphia master sail-maker and inventor. Maull sent this letter to the Secretary of the Navy Southard and also to Commodore James Barron. In the nineteenth century apprentice indentures were legally binding contracts as such this made both Wells and Garland obligated to work for Maull for the time period specified. As a consequence (fortunately for the boys), their enlistments in the eyes of the law were void without James Maull’s consent.
Editor's Note: Sailmakers used pine tar to waterproof sails and ropes.53
53 Robert Kipping The Elements of Sailmaking, Being a Complete Treatise on Cutting Out Sails (F.W. Norrie and Wilson: London 1847), 56 and 162.
Sailmaker's tools and loftPhilada Septr 12th 1827
Dear Sir,
I have on Board the Receiving Vessel the Alert an Indentured Apprentice John Wells as has informed me that he wishes to return to me & serve out his time, His mother is much Distressed & wishes as well as myself his discharge. His Indenture accompanies this. He left me on the 22 June last. He is very anxious to return home I have written to Commodore Barron on the Subject requesting his discharge& have received information on the subject another Boy names Miren Gaylard left me in Company with Jno Wells my apprentice. We suppose Miren has sailed in the United States Ship Natchez tho he may be in the Alert.
I feel Very Distressed on account of the mother of the young men they are valuable to me they can make for me $1.50 P[er]. Day
Yours with Respt.
James Maull
Sailmaker No. 9 South Warf
PhiladaEditor's Note: The stabbing of Charles Morris a black seaman and cook aboard the Alert seaman by John Brooks resulted in Morris death and was later found as “willful murder by a coroner’s jury.54
54 Norfolk Herald 8 Oct. 1827, p. 2 c1
Commandant Office
United States Navy Yard
Gosport October 6th 1827Sir,
I have the Honor, herewith to enclose you documents relative to the procedures in the case of John Brooks Ordinary Seaman charged with the murder of Charles Morris an Ordinary Seaman in the United States Naval Service.
The act of Brooks having become notorious in the County town (Portsmouth) and the Coroner residing there, he had on hearing of the Morris Summoned a jury and proceed on board the Alert, before I was appraised of his having done so, and on receiving his communication demanding the body of Brooks, I gave order to deliver him over to the Sheriff of this County. I beg leave to assure you Sir, that in thus yielding to the Civil Authority I have not been actuated by any sort of disposition to anticipate the instruction that you might be disposed to give on this occasion –
I have the Honor to be
Sir
Most respectfully
Your Obedient Servant
James BarronThe Honorable
Samuel L. Southard
Secretary of the Navy
Washington D.C.
Commodore James Barron
David Glasgow Farragut
portrait 1840sGosport Navy Yard
Octr 7, 1827Sir, I regret to inform you that, Charles Morris (the man stabbed by John Brooks) departed this life about 3 0’clock this morning. I have the Honor to be
Very respectfully your
Obedient Servant
D. G. FarragutTo Commodore James Barron
Commanding U.S. Navy Yard[Enclosure]
Sir
A jury of Inquest having decided that John Brooks now in the Service of the United States onboard the Receiving Ship Alert is chargeable with the murder of Charles Morris later Ordinary Seaman onboard said ship. I have therefore to request that you will give the necessary orders for his delivery to the Sheriff of Norfolk County in order to further investigation of the said Charge by the Civil Authorities of this County as the law directs.Very respectfully Your most Obedt Servt
Arthur Emmerson
Coroner of Norfolk County.Commodore James Barron
Comm. US Navy Yard Gosport* * * * *
U.S. Receiving Ship Alert
Oct. 5th 1827Sir,
I have to inform you this last night about 9 o’clock, I was called on board of this Ship to visit Charles Morris Ordinary Seaman whom I found stabbed in the abdomen by John Brooks about two inches on the left of the navel, with several inches of intestines and omentum protruding from the wound The bowel I found perforated and discharging its contents. The usual stitching, reduction of the protruding parts of the vicinity and dressing were applied &c, the moving him to the Hospital in the present condition might be attended with danger. I wish to keep him as still as possible and use every means to keep down inflammation, his life is in danger.
Respectfully
Sir I am your Obedient Servant
(Signed) Jonathan Crowdery
Surgeon US Navy
To: Commodore James Barron
Gosport Navy YardGosport Navy Yard
[Undated]
Sir
I am sorry to report to you that a man of the name of John Brook, last evening about 8 o’clock had some slight dispute with the Ships Cook (Morris) and went down below and borrowed a knife, returned to Morris, and renewed the dispute, and stabbed him in the abdomen. The wound is supposed to be mortal, and I have confined Brooks to double irons to await your further orders.
I have the Honor to be
Very respectfully your
Obedient Servant
D. G. FarragutTo Commodore James Barron
Commanding U.S. Navy Yard Gosport* * * * *
Commandants Office
Gosport Navy Yard
October 6th 1827Sir,
I have the Honor herewith to enclose the reports of Lieutenant David G. Farragut and Doctor Jonathan Cowdery relative to the cruel outrage on the peace and good order of the United States Ship Alert and request your instructions. There appears no doubt that Morris will die. I have the Honor to be
Very respectfully your
Obedient Servant
James Barron
To: Honorable Samuel L. Southard
Secretary of the Navy
Washington DC
[Obverse Sec. Nav.] “Answer, I state that it was proper to give him up to the Civil Authorities.”* * * * *
NORFOLK, (Va.) MONDAY , OCTOBER 8, 1827 Murder- A colored seaman, by the name of JOHN MORRIS was so severely stabbed on Thursday night by John Brooks another seaman onboard the U.S. Receiving Ship Alert, lying at Gosport Navy Yay Yard, that he died of the wound on Saturday morning. An Inquest was held on the body a few hours after, which brought in a verdict of willful murder, by Brooks, who has been committed to the Norfolk County Jail to await his trial at the next Superior Court. –
Source: Norfolk Herald 8 Oct. 1827, p.2, c 1.
* * * * * * * * * *
Commandants Office
United States Navy Yard
Gosport October 11th 1827Sir,
I have the Honor, herewith to enclose you documents relative to two old Seaman, which I am impelled to do, from similar motives to those have actuated the individuals from whom I have received them. The two Seamen mentioned in your letter of the 22nd Ultimo have not as yet made their appearance here, when they do, your instructions respecting them, shall be attended to.
I have the Honor to be
Sir
Most respectfully your
Obedient Servant
James Barron
To: Honorable Samuel L. Southard
Secretary of the Navy
Washington DC[Enclosure]
U.S. Ship North Carolina55
Octr 11th 1827Sir,
Permit me to respectfully represent the case of Edward Coffee for your consideration & request that will accept such measure for his relief as you may deem necessary. He is one of the men lately discharged from the Alert as unfit for service on account of age & infirmity. I found him onshore in distress& have supported him at my own expense onboard this Ship. Coffee reports to me that he shipped in the Spring of 1812 at New Orleans & has been ever since in some of the Government vessels (with the exception of about six months) was a Boatswain in the Squadron on Lake Erie and present at the battle of the 10th Sept1813 on that lake, he is too informed for an active life but will I think answer for a vessels in Ordinary I have the honor to be with respect yr. very obt. Sevt. 56
Henry O Neal
To Comm J. Barron
[Enclosure 2]
This is to certify that the undersigned are well acquainted with John Mc Carty a seaman and formerly in the Navy of the United States, and recently discharged from the service for inability, being old and infirmed and rendered by age unfit and unable to perform duty as a Seaman in the Service has been discharged from the service in poor and indigent circumstances, he has a [illegible] to provide for, together with or support for himself he is therefore recommended to his Brother Seamen, and such others as will contribute something to his aid and assistance. We the undersigned do therefor agree to pay to the said John McCarty by order of the Purser or otherwise the amount of such sums as may be set opposite our names.
55 USS North Carolina was a 74-gun ship of the line in the United States Navy. One of the "nine ships to rate not less than 74 guns each" authorized by Congress on 29 April 1816, she was laid down in 1818 by the Philadelphia Navy Yard, launched on 7 September 1820 and fitted out in the Norfolk Navy Yard. Master Commandant Charles W. Morgan was assigned to North Carolina as her first commanding officer on 24 June 1824.
56 Battle of Lake Erie on 10 September 1813 American Commodore Perry’s nine warships with 54 guns captured the entire British squadron of six warships with 61 guns led by Commodore Robert Barclay.Portsmouth Oct. 2d 1827 -
Names Amount Joseph Lester 1.00 John Thompson $1.00 Edward Barker .50 [illegible] .50 Kupel L. Smith W. Oram 1.00 George Craig $ 2.00 [illegible] Davis 1.00 Thomas Miles 3.00 [illegible] Scott 1.00 John Hamilton 3.00 John Mason 1.50 Thomas Spinks 3.00 John Berkeley 3.00 John Oakden 1.00 John Owens 3.00 Burastes Laurene .20 John [illegible] .50 Robert Smith 1.00 [illegible] Elliot 3.00 Joshua Abbott 3.00 John Wells 2nd 3.00 John Hart 3.00 [illegible] Wn Bath Daniel W. Harrsett 1.00 John Nilson David Webb .50 John W.Hooper 1.00 James Williamson 1.50 John Uhler 1.00 George Yard 1.00 James Church 1.00 Francis Davis .50 Andrew Williams 1.00 Edward Thomas 1.00 Samuel Haden 1.00 Joseph Lester 1.00 The within amount to be paid to John McCarty late a Seaman in the United States served by the ship crew of the Alert you will pay as stated within charge the amount severally and individually to their accounts.
U.S. Ship Alert 9 Oct 1827Editor's Note: Mental illness was poorly understood in the 1820’s. Dr. Williamson and the staff of the Gosport Naval Hospital, despite pleas for better facilities never had the resources to care for those with long term mental problems. Dr. Thomas Williamson on 17 July 1830 inscribed the following notation in the fly leaf of the
Gosport Naval Hospital Register vol. 8, 1830 to 1861 (#10 in Register), “Every Effort has repeatedly been made to have a Keeper for the insane here - also for a watchman.”57 Lt. Joseph Cutts Jr. was born in 1794 and entered the naval service on 6 December, 1814. He was promoted to Lieutenant, 13 January 1825. “In Kittery Maine Lt. Joseph Cutts of the U.S. Navy Lt. Cutts shot himself in a fit of insanity” and died 26 September 1834.”New Bedford Gazette New Bedford MA 6 Oct 1834, 1.57 Department of the Navy Case Files for Patients at Naval Hospitals and Registers Thereto: Registers of Patients 1812-1929. Series Record Group 52: Records of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, 1812-1975 The National Archives at Washington DC, Register volume 08 1830-1861.
U.S. Naval Hospital
Gosport Virginia
14th Octr. 1827Sir,
I again feel it necessary to call your attention to the situation of Lieut. Joseph Cutts Junr., now a maniac here. His derangement continues without any mitigation and without the smallest hope of his recovery here. There are no accommodations in the Hospital for a person in his situation, and I feel it is my duty to state to you the necessity of his removal to some asylum more appropriate to persons in a state similar to his.
As the cold weather is about setting in, and the impracticality of keeping a fire in a room where he is has induced me to call your attention to his unhappy situation.
Very Respectfully Yours
Thomas Williamson[PS] Mr. Cutts has money sufficient to carry him to any asylum in our country - besides the pay now due him; he has $150 or more at the Hospital.
* * * * *
The following entries from the Gosport Naval Hospital were extracted from Dr. Thomas Williamson daily case notes.58
9 September 1827: “Mr. Cutts –from what I can learn in this particular case - he has heretofore been a maniac - given the recent scars on his arm, I am inclined to believe that [illegible]has been resorted to very lately - the mark of a blister is also visible on the neck – He is at times furious - he is nearly sane for a moment - looking to the gastric origin of the disease I have done the cathartic course where practical with low diet go on today with the purgative plan.”
11 September 1827: “Mr. Cutts – this is a melancholy case of mania – He is now pretty generally furious – We are hardly able to keep any article of furniture in his chamber. I have since his admission resorted to nauseating & cathartic course – the glens appear to be slightly affected – 4 xxxx- continue course as yesterday -low diet”
13 October 1827: “Mr. Cutts - low diet & watch him closely put the straight jacket upon him”
23 November 1827: “Mr. Cutts - went by request of his relations to the Asylum for Lunatics at Hartford Connecticut under the charge of Captain Gardner of the Packet Line yesterday morning”
58 Hospital Tickets and Case Papers compiled 1825-1889 Department of the Navy, Records of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Record Group 52 National Archives at Washington DC, Norfolk Virginia 1825-1827, roll 1.
* * * * * * * * * *
Commandants Office
United States Navy Yard
Gosport October 31st 1827Sir,
It would appear from a recent correspondence with the Board of Naval Commissioners that they do not consider themselves authorized to give permission for the families of officers to reside onboard the Ships in Ordinary, but expressed it as their opinion that you should be consulted.I believe the indulgence has been extended in some case, and was it was not until lately that I reflected on the Consequences that might result to me for granting such a favor without special authority to do so, and therefor wrote to the Navy Commissioners – I have now the honor to solicit your decision on the subject. I have the Honor to be
Sir
Most respectfully your
Obedient Servant
James Barron
To: Honorable Samuel L. Southard
Secretary of the Navy
Washington DCEditor's Note: Obverse side “Give permission [illegible]”
* * * * *
Editor's Note: Between 1800-1830 the annual per capita consumption of alcohol increased until it exceeded five gallons - rates nearly triple that of today’s consumption.
59In this same period the navy officially served grog to sailors twice a day usually in the late morning and afternoon.60 In the early nineteenth century, drinking beer and stronger spirits in the workplace was an accepted practice and common. Grog or rum rations on U.S. Navy ships were only abolished in 1852 and all alcohol aboard naval vessels in 1914. In an age when potable water was often foul and noxious tasting, seaman and shipyard workers often preferred their libations mixed with whiskey or rum. As early as 1805, Naval Constructor Josiah Fox warned his Carpenter Quarterman and Foreman to, “[t]ake care that none of the company get intoxicated and discourage use of spirituous liquors among them during hours of work.” Supervisory personnel were further enjoined “...not to suffer any person to bring such liquor to his company unless necessity may require it.61 In 1812 the blacksmiths of the Washington Navy Yard actually sent in a formal complaint to the Secretary of the Navy stating that: “The petition of the undersigned now of the public at Washington Navy Yard respectfully represent that your petitioners conceiving themselves very much aggrieved in being deprived of the privilege of sending for necessary refreshments during their hours of work as blacksmiths, although this business is of such a nature as frequently to require that some refreshments be allowed, when the constitution is relaxed by the excessive heat or exertion.”62
59 W.J. Rorabaugh The Alcoholic Republic An American Tradition (Oxford University Press: New York, 1979), 8-9.
60 Harold D. Langley Social Reform in the United States Navy, 1798-1862 (University of Illinois Press: Chicago 1967), 211.
61 John G. Sharp History of the Washington Navy Yard Civilian Workforce 1799-1962 (Naval History and Heritage Command: Washington DC 2005), 12-13
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/browse-by-topic/heritage/washington-navy-yard/pdfs/WNY_History.pdf Retrieved 31 March 2019.62 History of the Washington Navy Yard Civilian Workforce 1799-1962, p. 13.
Commandants Office
United States Navy Yard Gosport
November 12th 1827Sir,
I regret extremely, again to find it necessary to trouble you on the subject of the thieves now confined on board the United States Ship Alert for robbing the North Carolina and Constellation.63 On referring the matter to the Magistrates, as directed by your letter, and presenting the witnesses to them, they have decided that they do not consider the testimony sufficient to support the accusation, and therefore express a reluctance to take cognizance of the affair, stating at the same time, that the expense would fall on the state, when it ought to be borne by the United States, whom it belonged to punish their own offender. Herewith I have the Honor to enclose the Statements of the Witnesses –
I have the Honor to be
Very respectfully your
Obedient Servant
James Barron
To: Honorable Samuel L. Southard
Secretary of the Navy
Washington DC[Enclosure]
63 USS Constellation was a nominally rated 38-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate of the United States Navy. She was named by George Washington to reflect a principle of the United States Constitution. She was built under the direction of David Stodder at his naval shipyard on Harris Creek in Baltimore's Fell's Point maritime community, and she was launched on 7 September 1797. She was one of the original six frigates whose construction the Naval Act of 1794 had authorized. Joshua Humphreys designed these frigates to be the young Navy's capital ships, and so Constellation and her sisters were larger and heavily armed and built than standard frigates of the period. Her first duties with the newly formed US Navy were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the Quasi-War with France and to defeat the Barbary pirates in the First Barbary War.
Statement of Galbeth and Dryden witnesses in the case of theft committed onboard the United States Ship North Carolina –
The former states, that he was sweeping the lower deck of the Ship on the day the theft was committed, whilst there he saw the prisoner standing together and heard W say he had a key that would open the spirit room, which he produced and found to be too large. I saw from his pocket a file but his hand being sore J took it and commenced filing the key; witness walked off, but sometime after saw one or more of the prisoner with pots of spirits-
Dryden was the cook of the his mess, and states that when he J came to his dinner he showed his hand blisters, and the key which he said was the cause of it. Witness asked how he replied I have been into the spirit room of the North Carolina. Both witnesses appear to think the sole object of the prisoners was to obtain spirits to drink –Editor's Note: Opium was widely used as painkiller in the early ninetieth century; primarily to treat both acute and severe pain. Commodore James Barron and Dr. Thomas Williamson’s enthusiasm for opium production was widely shared. In their letters both Barron and Williamson focused on the agricultural economics of poppy production rather than its medicinal aspects. In 1825 former President Thomas Jefferson suffering severely in his final years, agreed to the treatment prescribed by Dr. Robley Dunglison and found that laudanum, a tincture of opium, allowed him to resume activities, and so he accepted its regular use. He wrote in November 1825, "The day before yesterday I rode about my garden in a walk half an hour, without any inconvenience at that time or since ... I suppose therefore that with care and laudanum I may consider myself in what is to be my habitual state."64The first observations on its addictive properties came from medical practitioners in Boston in 1833 and were published in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal (BMSJ), forerunner of the New England Journal of Medicine.65 By the mid-1820s morphine had replaced opium and was widely available in Western Europe in standardized doses from several sources, including the Darmstadt chemical company started by Heinrich Emanuel Merck. The primary source of morphine is isolation from poppy straw of the opium poppy. Although difficult to decipher Secretary of the Navy Samuel Southard’s comments on opium production suggest a desire for a cautious approach.
64 Jefferson to Dunglison November 17, 1825, Special Collections University of Virginia Library Transcription available at Founders Online, see also John M. Dorsey, ed., The Jefferson-Dunglison Letters (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1960), 41-42.
65 Martha Bebinger As the Opium Trade Boomed In the 1800s, Boston Doctors Raised Addiction Concerns Common Health August 01, 2017
https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2017/08/01/opium-history-addiction
Retrieved 1 April 2019Commandants Office
United States Navy Yard
Gosport January 26th 1828Sir,
I have the Honor to forward to you a small box, containing a specimen of opium, which Doctor Williamson has handed to me with a request that I would do so, and I also send you a copy of Doctors letter to me on the subject which I hope afford you some interest – I beg leave to add a few remarks founded on my personal observation of the poppy seed in Denmark, where it became so generally cultivated for the purpose of obtaining salad oil as nearly to the exclude the olive from that Kingdom –
Sixty two thousand three hundred and eight plants may be raised on one acre of land, each plant will yield seventeen grains of superior opium, and the seed of those plants about thirty or forty gallons of delicious salad oil, therefore, it is evident, that an acre of land cultivated for this object, would produce a gross amount of eight hundred and ninety two dollars – I have lost the treatise that I had on the production of an acre of land in this oil but on reflection believe it be agreeable to that stated above.
I have the Honor to be
Sir
Most respectfully
Your Obedient Servant
James BarronThe Honorable
Samuel L. Southard
Secretary of the Navy
Washington DC[2 Editor's Notes by SecNav]: Ans[wer] have it examd &c send it with letters to Dr. Cutbush - & request its return with opinion &c66
Ansr - recd -Shall hardly have expectd - made on hospital ground at Norfolk & that he should have done it – Also if he would send [some] with which Dr Cutbush [who] will make expt an see if it is [gerant?] I would send it to Dr. Harris -
66 Dr. Edward Cutbush USN (1772 to July 23, 1843) was born in Philadelphia. Cutbush graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1794, where he was resident physician of the Pennsylvania Hospital from 1790 to 1794. Cutbush was surgeon general of the Pennsylvania militia during the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion. He was an officer and a surgeon in the United States Navy and was commissioned into office in 1799. Cutbush has been called the father of American naval medicine. He resigned from the Navy in 1829, after 30 years of service. During 1826, he was a professor of chemistry at Columbian College in the District of Columbia. In 1834, he relocated to Geneva, New York, where he founded Geneva Medical College. During his tenure there, he served as the first dean and professor of chemistry.
* * * * *
U.S. Naval Hospital
Gosport Virginia
21st Jany 1828Sir,
I have the honor to present (through you) to the Honorable, the Secretary of the Navy, a specimen of opium extracted from the whole poppy, cultivated in the garden of the Hospital. As there is hardly a part of the Country, that will not produce this valuable article, might not a great adventure arise in calling the attention of our horticulturist or agriculturist to the subject. The immense sums of money yearly expanded in the United States for foreign opium - The facility we have in cultivating it, the price we could obtain for it, and the kind of force employed in obtaining are forcible reasons why we ought to turn our attention to an article which is so much used in our country –The last year, I obtained from a single plant seventeen grains - The quality I think is superior to foreign. I therefore hope, that Mr. Southard will stimulate his friends at least to make an experiment –with it -
Very respectfully yours –
(Signed) Thomas Williamson
Commodore James Barron
Commanding United States Navy Yard
Gosport* * * * *
U.S. Naval Hospital
Gosport Virginia
25th Octr 1828Sir,
I send you a specimen of opium extracted from the poppy plants, cultivated this year in the Garden of the Hospital. We planted early in March upon fifteen hundred and twenty square feet of ground, and had three hundred and eighty plants. We commenced making our incisions in the middle of June, and the result has been two ounces and seven fractions of opium – fifteen grains was the greatest quantity obtained from a single plant.
I regret that the very hot weather we had in June nearly destroyed our whole crop – Very many of the plants were very inferior, but this I can hereafter avoid by planting much earlier than I did. The result however is more satisfactory than I would have expected, as this opium is of good quality although the season declared against us.Very respectfully yours
Thomas Williamson* * * * * * * * * *
Commandants Office
United States Navy Yard
Gosport February 1828Sir,
In making the Communication to you respecting the persons, who committed the theft onboard the North Carolina and Constellation, I find that I omitted to state in my letter on the names of the offenders – Mr. Scott [Lt. Henry D. Scott] who was the accuser and directed to furnish me with a statement of all the particulars and I endeavored it to be forwarded to you in my letter but by some unaccountable oversight it was not done – The persons have however suffered severely for their crime-
I have the Honor to be
Very respectfully your
Obedient Servant
James Barron
To: Honorable Samuel L. Southard
Secretary of the Navy
Washington DC* * * * *
Commandants Office
United States Navy Yard
Gosport 21 February 1828Sir
I have the honor herewith to enclose the two letters received in your communication of the 10th inst and also – letter from Mr. De Bree related to the individual alluded to. I have the honor to be Sir, Very Respectfully Yr. Obt Servant
James BarronTo: Honorable Samuel L. Southard
Secretary of the Navy
Washington DC[Enclosure 1]
13 Feb 1828
To the Honble: The Secretary
United States Navy
Washington.The Humble Petition of Th. Steel of the Town of Alexandria in the District of Columbia, Father of Th. H. Steel, now an ordinary Seaman is on board the United States armed Ship called the Alert, lying at Norfolk – begs leave respectfully to recommend to the Honble: Secretary, that his son in a moment of intoxication, enlisted as an ordinary seaman- That now your petitioner is greatly afflicted by this act knowing as he does the entire incapacity of his son to discharge the duties of a Sailor, he never served one day on board ship but was raised a mechanic – Your petitioner as well as the mother of this young man is now old and infirmed & deeply afflicted at the imprudence of their son Th. H. Steel & they humbly implore your honor to order his discharge that his aged parents may once more see & admonish him before they depart this life & in duty bound ever pray &c &c.
Thomas Steel
5 March 1828
To the Honbel: The Secretary of the Navy US StatesSir, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 29 Feb 1828 and begin leave to inform you that my son is on board the Alert now in Norfolk Virginia a receiving Ship I have the honor to be Very obt. & most humble Servant
Thos Steel
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Editor's Note: Surveys were at the behest of commanding officers request to determine the physical and mental health of seamen. Dr. Jonathan Cowdery and Dr. Thomas Williamson conducted the survey and had authority to recommend discharge for those seamen too old or feeble to carry out their assigned duties.
Commandants Office
United States Navy Yard
Gosport March 6th 1828Sir,
I have the honor, herewith to send a copy of the survey held on the recruits now onboard the Receiving Ship Alert.
I have the honor to be Sir, Very Respectfully Yr. Obt Servant
James BarronTo: Honorable Samuel L. Southard
Secretary of the Navy
Washington DC[Enclosure]
U.S. Recg Ship Alert
Navy Yard Gosport 5 Feby 1828* * * * * *
Sir,
According to your order of the 4th inst. we have held a survey of all the recruits now on board this ship, as also on the men composing the crew and those of the John Adams68 and Grampus and also of the Pensioners, their state of health and the time they have to serve and by leave respectfully to report.69
68 The first John Adams was originally built in 1799 as a frigate for the United States Navy, converted to a corvette in 1809, and later converted back to a frigate in 1830. Named for President John Adams, she fought in the Quasi-War, the First and Second Barbary Wars, the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. At the end of her career, she participated in the Union blockade of South Carolina's ports. She then participated in a historic raid that Harriet Tubman, the former slave and Union operative, organized with Union colonel Montgomery. John Adams led three steam-powered gunboats up the Harbor River to Port Royal. The squadron relied on local black mariners to guide it past mines and fortifications. The squadron freed 750+ slaves and unsettled the Confederacy. Tubman was the first woman in U.S. history to plan and execute an armed expedition
69 USS Grampus was a schooner in the United States Navy. She was the first U.S. Navy ship to be named for the Grampus griseus, also known as Risso's Dolphin. Grampus was built at the Washington Navy Yard under the supervision of naval constructor William Doughty, based on a design by Henry Eckford. Her 73 ft. (22 m) keel was laid down in 1820. She was launched in early August 1821. The need to suppress piracy and to maintain ships to catch slavers led to the building of five such schooners, the largest of which was Grampus. This was the first building program undertaken by the Navy since the War of 1812.
Fit or Unfit
for Service
MonRemarks Recruits Fit ~ ~ Unfit
BrandywineFrom loss of hearing, shipd in Norfolk
10 June 1826Fit Unfit Ulcerated leg shipd for Norfolk
10 June 1827Fit Fit Unfit Fit Fit Unfit Unfit Unfit Fit Fit Fit Fit Sent by order of Secy of the Navy Unfit Consumptive shipped in Norfolk
4 May 1827Unfit* * These men were sent from the Brandywine 74 - Unfit* Shipped in Balt. 12 July 1827 Unfit* Unfit* Shipped in Balt[imore] 9 Aug 1827 Unfit* Ord to be discharged by Secy Navy Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Substitute, not shipped Fit Fit Fit Fit Unfit Injury to wrist Unfit Deceased Testicle Fit Fit Unfit Fit Pulmonary habit Fit Fit On Sick List Fit Unfit Debility of shoulder joint Unfit Ulcerated leg Unfit Ulcerated leg Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Crew of the Alert Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Crew of the John Adams Fit Fit Fit Fit Fit Discharged - Unfit From enlargement of the leg Fit Fit Unfit Absent said to be incapacitated by age Unfit Absent said to be incapacitated from secondary Syphilis Crew of the Grampus Fit Infirmed Seamen We are very respectfully
Your Obedt ServtJonn Cowdery70
SurgeonThomas Williamson71
SurgeonJohn DeBree72
PurserJames Barron
Comdg Navy Yard
Gosport71 Dr. Jonathan Cowdery USN was born 22 April 1767. He entered the US Navy as a Surgeon's Mate, 1 January 1800. Surgeon, 27 November 1804. Dr. Cowdery died 21 November 1852. For biographic information see: F. L. Pleadwell and W.M. Walker Jonathan Cowdery Surgeon in the United States Navy 1767-1852 United States Naval Medical Bulletin Vol. 17, No’s 1-6, 1922, 63-89.
72 Dr. Thomas Williamson, USN Surgeon's Mate, 27 May 1818, Dr. Williamson died 12 January 1859. Dr. Daniel Egbert, Assistant Surgeon, 22 August 1829, Passed Assistant Surgeon, 3 March 1835. Surgeon, 20 February 1838, retired.
73 John De Bree, Purser, 29 December, 1817. He was dismissed 19 April 1861.
U.S. Recg Ship Alert
Gosport 4th March 1828Sir,
We have obeyed your order of yesterday by examining such invalids on board this Ship as were represented as being unfit for the service, and now beg leave respectfully to report the following persons who ought to be discharged.
Ships No Names Remarks 1559 Thomas Lewis Old age & chronic rheumatism 1561 Saml Jones Do Do Do 1603 Charles Lewis Chronic Venereal Affliction 1610 Robert Wood Disunited facture of the collar bone of long standing The men heretofore reported to you as being unfit for the service we did not examine -
We remain Your Obedient Servants
(Signed) Jonathan Cowdery
Surgeon
Thomas Williamson
Surgeon
John deBree
Purser
Commodore James Barron
Comdg Navy Yard Gosport* * * * * * * * * *
List of the Numbers of Persons Employed in the Civil Department of this Yard
June 7, 1827This list below records the number of persons by occupation employed at Gosport Navy Yard in June 1827. This enumerated list was part of a much longer letter of 7 June 1827 written by Commodore James Barron commandant of Gosport Navy Yard to the Secretary of the Navy Samuel L. Southard. Barron replying to a Circular dated 10 March 1827 from the Department directs the shipyards to control their budgets and to properly account for any excess to their allotted annual appropriation. An a aggrieved Commodore James Barron, wrote to Southard “I cannot see how I am to control the expenses of this establishment so far as it relates to a disposition on my part to violate and order or neglect my duty innocently. “ Southard apparently decided to overlook Barron’s touchy nature and took no further action. However Barron’s response to the circular, provides a better understanding the distribution and occupations of Gosport employees and enslaved laborers and provides a baseline for measuring the dramatic surge in the employment of enslaved labor
On 12 October 1831 Commodore Lewis Warrington in reply to an inquiry from the Secretary regarding the creation of Dry Dock number 1 and the increase in the number of enslaved blacks noted, “There are about two hundred and forty six blacks employed in the Yard and Dock altogether; of whom one hundred and thirty six are in the former and one hundred ten in the latter”
Carpenters Caulkers Gun Carriage Makers Boat Builders Mast Makers Black Smiths Plumbers Blockmakers Turners Wheel Wright Painters Armorers Tinner Carvers Joiners Sawyers Stone Masons * Coopers Sail Makers Riggers Carpenter Laborers White Laborers Black Laborers Total: 550
* will be discharged this month
Source: NARA RG 260 “Captains Letters” Volume 112, 14 May 1827 to 31 July 1827, letter number 14.
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Commandants Office
United States Navy Yard Gosport
December 14th 1827
Sir,
Lieutenant Henry D. Scott has requested me to inform you that, there is no suitable accommodation for an officer of his rank at this Yard: which I herewith comply with.74 The danger attending the United States Ship Delaware, and the Yard at this Season of the year from fire induced me to request Commodore Sinclair to permit junior officers and men to live onboard, the Alert, where they now are. I shall in future assume the responsibility to use any of the Ships here for the accommodation of the Ordinary, without your permission for this purpose. 75
I have the Honor to be
Sir
Most respectfully
Your Obedient Servant
James BarronThe Honorable
Samuel L Southard
Secretary of the Navy Washington DC74 Henry D. Scott Midshipman, 30 May 1816. Lieutenant, 28 April 1826. Scott died 16 February 1830.
75 The “Ordinary” was designated for ships held in reserve, or for later need. Normally these were vessels like the USS Alert and USS Java that had seen hard service abroad and were awaiting restoration, or used for other purposes, but due to the small naval appropriations of the era, repairs were not possible. To maintain these ships required a substantial number of men to keep the vessels preserved and secure. The seamen assigned to the Gosport Ordinary were stationed on the shipyard either temporarily or for indefinite duration. Both groups were responsible for the maintenance of these laid up ships and the shipyard. The men of the Ordinary were under the under the command of the ship yard commandant James Barron. The Gosport Ordinary included a small group of specialized officers, such as the Purser and Storekeeper In keeping with naval regulations those assigned to the Gosport Ordinary were required to muster periodically for record keeping and pay purposes. The number of men assigned varied but regularly consisted of a half dozen officers and 20 to 40 enlisted seamen. Enslaved workers were also assigned as “Landsmen” and “Ordinary Seamen' on the payrolls of "the Ordinary". At Gosport African Americans such as George Teamoh were among many enslaved navy yard workers enumerated on the navy yard muster as "Ordinary Seamen". This subterfuge was widespread, Teamoh wrote, "I was again hired by the U.S. Government to work in its ordinary service. - was there some two years [1843-1844] on board Ship USS Constitution lying in ordinary off Norfolk Navy Yard ..." See George Teamoh God Made Man Man Made the Slave: The Autobiography of George Teamoh, edited by F.N. Boney, Richard L. Hume and Rafia Zafar (Macon: Mercer University Press, 1990) 82-83. Similar practices existed at Washington Navy Yard see John G. Sharp, editor The Diary of Michael Shiner Relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard 1813-1869, (Naval History and Heritage Command, 2015), retrieved 28 March 2019
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/d/diary-of-michael-shiner.html* * * * *
Editor's Note: Midshipmen William Pendelton resigned in 1835
Commandants Office
United States Navy Yard
Gosport May 10th 1828
Sir,It is with regret that I make to you this communication, but the honor and prosperity of the Navy require it –
Yesterday afternoon, I visited Norfolk, and there saw Midshipman Pendleton ranging, about the street in a very indecent manner, he was certainly very drunk, and this is not the first offense of the kin. I am informed, that he has frequently, been seen in this disgraceful condition – A very young Midshipman, who has lately come to this statin was with him, and appeared to be in the same situation – but – I have forborne to mention his name, as this probably is not a practice with him, and may merely be the effect of bad company – I have suspended Mr. Pendleton and shall continue him in that situation until I receive your comments –
I have the honor to be
Sir
Your Obedient Servant
James Barron
The Honorable
Samuel L. Southard
Secretary of the navy
Washington DC* * * * *
Washington 14th July 1828
The Honble Samuel L. Southard
Secretary of the NavySir,
Permit me to solicit your attention to a case which I presume it is in your favor to afford relief to a worthy family in affliction. Thomas H. Steel about forty one years of age, the son of Thomas Steele of Alexandria about two months since got into a state of intoxication while in Baltimore and under the metrication which it produces enlisted in the Navy as an ordinary seaman, and is now said to be on board the Alert at Norfolk. He is totally unacquainted with the seas, having been all his life and entire landsman, and entering as this age, he would probably never be of any service on this new element. His father is a worthy man far advanced in years and overwhelmed with the affliction which the news of his son’s career brings. He has received letters from his son expressing deep contrition and shew in a strong desire to be released. If consistent with duty which you owe to the public you can direct his discharge, I do earnestly solicit you to do so for the sake of his distressed father.
I have the honor to be very respectfully your obt Servt J. De Bree
[Editor's Note Sec Nav] Obverse “Make the usual enquires of the enlisting off.[icer] & Comm. Barron”
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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
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Norfolk Navy Yard Table of Contents
Birth of the Gosport Yard & into the 19th Century
Battle of the Hampton Roads Ironclads
