List of Philadelphia Navy Yard Employees Military and Civilian, 1846
By John G. M. Sharp
At USGenWeb Archives
Copyright All right reservedIntroduction: The following transcribed list was originally composed of pages of employee's names, occupations, annual and per diem pay rates, and duties assigned. The list was compiled and forwarded by the commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard Commodore Charles Stewart at the direction of Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft on 6 January 1846. The list was part of Stewart’s answer to Bancroft’s queries about recently approved “writer” jobs. These writer positions were approved by the newly created (1842) Bureau of Yards and Docks. The 1846 Employee List allows modern historians and genealogists to closely study the economic and social relationship of a fascinating and bygone era.
Discussion: Stewart’s reply to Bancroft included four enclosures all transcribed below. These are, the 1846 Employee List, titled; “A Statement of Persons employed in the U. States Navy Yard at Philadelphia,- on the Navy & Civil Lists December 31st 1845”, a list of “Officers and Crew attached to the U.S. Receiving Vessel Experiment at Philada with amount of their pay” dated 3 January 1846, “A list of A List of Officers attached to the U.S. Naval Rendezvous at Philadelphia with the respective salaries of each” and lastly a list dated 3 January 1846 of “Watchmen employed at the U.S. Navy Yard Philadelphia with pay of each.”
For modern scholars the most important is the 1846 Employee List. The exceptional preservation and survival of this list is a direct consequence of the document being filed with the papers of the Secretary of the Navy.
Commanding Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1846 was the Commandant, Commodore Charles Stewart USN (1778-1869. In 1846 Stewart was already a legend, a native of Philadelphia, a naval hero of the War of 1812 and would become the longest serving Commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Stewart had served as Commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard from 1838-1841, again in 1846 and later from 1851-1861. As Commandant, Stewart’s word was law. However, while the position of commanding officer gave him near absolute authority, the directives of the Department of the Navy, and recently created bureau system, placed significant restrains on his discretion to create and fill jobs.
Working closely with Stewart was Commander Charles Gauntt, USN, his able executive officer. From the beginning, civilians outnumbered military personnel and performed the greatest share of the actual labor. Naval officers assigned to Philadelphia typically served two and three-year tours, while the majority of the civilian workplace remained at Yard throughout their adult lives.
For continuity, civilian workers looked to their Foremen and the Chief Clerks for work direction. These individuals provided the essential leadership stability amidst an ever changing military management cadre. Military and civilian relations reflect the hierarchal nature of both the shipyard and the larger society. Civilian workers had only limited, if any social, interaction with officers. Naval officers who had spent large parts of their careers at sea often found civilian concerns puzzling. Naval officers who were used to instant obedience often chafed at having to explain actions to their civilian subordinates; so for many, relations remained cordial but distant. At times politics and economics created friction between the two groups, especially the imposition of political patronage and worker demands for higher pay and job security.
At the apex of shipyard civilian employment were the appointed clerks. These individuals owed their appointments either to relationships or at the behest of powerful politicians. Many of the 1846 clerks were similar to modern administrative officers and exercised considerable authority within their domain. They enjoyed relative job security with fixed annual salaries, unlike the mechanics and tradesman who were paid wages on daily or per diem basis. Some of these new clerk jobs, though, had neither security nor annual salary. These new jobs labeled “writer” were solely clerical. Their requisite qualifications were accurate, neat and rapid penmanship. Such per diem writer jobs quickly proliferated within the new Bureau system.
While the United States Navy was moving toward steam vessels, the 1846 Employee List reflects that the Navy Yard still retained a small contingent of traditional nautical trades, such as ship carpenters and master sail-maker Nicholas Buck and master carpenter Nicholas Foy. Transportation in 1846 on the shipyard remained the province of horses and oxen.
The day-to-day management and supervision of the shipyard civilian workforce, however, relied on master mechanics. Each trade had a master mechanic, e.g., like master ship-joiner Abraham Powell. These individuals were recognized experts in their specialty and each usually had many years of trade experience. The master mechanics often supervised large numbers of employees. Within each shop, it was a master mechanic who gave overall work direction. Master mechanics were formidable figures for they had the power to not only direct work but to hire and dismiss mechanics and laborers. Given the sheer size of the navy yard and number of carpenters, Nicholas Buck exercised authority through Quarterman who directed several work crews. At Philadelphia the quartermen were Matthias Creamer amd John Singleton. These two assistant foremen relayed Buck’s orders and made sure they were carried out. Next in the shipyard hierarchy were the lead man or small crew leader, then trade mechanics.
The term “mechanic” in the early nineteenth century referred to a skilled tradesman who had successfully completed a five or six-year trade apprenticeship in a particular field. Respectively, each trade had such fully qualified or “journeyman” workers. Typically, these men were proficient with all the tools of their trade and had shown their tradecraft in a multitude of demanding work assignments. Journeymen wages depended on market conditions and scarcity. At the high-end 1st class, carpenters, ship caulkers and masons earned $2.00 per day, while apprentices were usually allowed to begin their training at about age 16 and would continue to work and learn under the tutelage of master mechanic until they had successfully completed their indenture. During this era, records of certain jobs became family affairs; nepotism, especially in the trades, was prevalent and it is common for the same surname to appear, again and again. The records of the Philadelphia Navy Yard reflect the preponderance of mechanics were able to read, write and use basic shop mathematics. Each master mechanic took on so many trainees. These apprentices were young workers in training. Each apprentice or parent/guardian signed a binding legal agreement, typically with a master mechanic, to return designated service in exchange for being taught his trade.
Laborers were below the mechanics; they were unskilled men who performed heavy but necessary work, such as digging, pile driving and pulling or hauling of ships and ship parts. In January 1846, there were about eighteen laborers on the shipyard work rolls. The laborers carried material or supplies to tradesman, such as, wood to the carpenters or mortar to the masons. The shipyard could rapidly engage workmen during the peak spring and summer months.
The life of most manual workers at Philadelphia Navy Yard was governed by a few basic facts. First, all workers, white and the few free blacks, were by law, day laborers; that is, they were paid a per diem wage only for days actually worked. The Civil Service or Pendleton Act of 1883 was still decades away and retirement for federal workers would only become law in 1920.
Like other American workers, Philadelphia shipyard employees worked a six-day week and ten-hour day with no retirement or health care plans, but still many were able to improve their lot. Workers lives were often filled with hard and unpleasant uncertainties. In 1846 an injury or death at the shipyard meant no wages. Even for those who died on the job, their families received no compensation. For the Yard mechanics and laborers, a steady number of naval ships to build or overhaul was key to employment. Typically, the supply of work followed the seasons with the Yard taking on more mechanics and laborers in the spring and summer months, and the workers being laid off, especially laborers, in the fall and winter as the cold weather, rain and snow made work in the open air impractical. Most Yard workers had little savings on which to fall back and imprisonment for debt within the Philadelphia community continued as a daily reality, experienced by many workers each year.
In summary, we are fortunate that the 1846 Employee List survived, for it now gives us our most extensive overview of the Navy Yard and its officers and employees at midcentury. As historian Gordon Wood has noted, such finds allow us the opportunity to “see the participants of the past in a comprehensive way in the context of their own time."Transcription: This transcription was made from digital images of letters and documents, dated 6 January 1846, sent by Commodore Charles Stewart and received by the Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft, NARA, M125 “Captains Letters” Letter Received from Captains, 1 Jan 1846 to 31 Jan 1846, l volume 326, letter number 27, Record Group 260, Roll, 0326, National Archives and Records, Washington, D.C.. In copying all passages from the letters and memorandum, I have striven to adhere as closely as possible to the original in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and abbreviation, superscripts, etc., including the retention of dashes, ditto marks e.g. and underlining found in the original. Words and passages that were crossed out in the letters are transcribed either as overstrikes or in notes. Words which are unreadable or illegible are so noted in square brackets. When a spelling is so unusual as to be misleading or confusing, the correct spelling immediately follows in square brackets and italicized type or is discussed in a foot note. The names of naval ships, vessels and signatures are italicized.
Definitions of Naval Enlisted Ratings:
Boy: In the early navy, young boys was just that they were young males, typically between thirteen and seventeen years of age. These young sailors in training were to be instructed in steering, heaving the lead, knotting and splicing, in rowing, in the use of the palm and needle, etc., that they might become qualified for higher rating as seamen and petty officers. During combat they ran powder to the guns, a critical but dangerous task. Most boys were usually rated as ordinary seaman at age 17 or 18. Boys were subdivided into three ratings: first, second and third with corresponding and increasing wages of $8, $9 and $10 per month.Landsman: abbreviated “Lds.” Landsmen was the lowest rank of the United States Navy in the 19th and early 20th centuries; it was given to new recruits with little or no experience at sea and typically men were over seventeen years of age. Landsmen performed menial, unskilled work aboard ship like loading and offloading ships and did most of the cleaning. A Landsman who gained three years of experience or re-enlisted could be promoted to Ordinary Seaman. The rank existed from 1838 to 1921. Promotion from landsman to ordinary seaman required three years of experience or re-enlistment. The rate of pay for landsman during the Civil War was $12 per month.
Ordinary Seaman: “O.S.” Ordinary seaman was the second-lowest rank in the nineteenth century United States Navy, ranking above landsman and below seaman. An ordinary seaman’s duties aboard ship included “handling and splicing lines, and working aloft on the lower mast stages and yards.
Seaman: ‘Sea’ in the Navy, was an experienced mariner with usually four or more years work at sea. A seaman was expected to “know the ropes”, that is, the name and use of every line in the ship’s rigging could be promoted to seaman. The seaman was expected to have expert knowledge of the various battle stations, armament and small boat handling. The rate of pay for seamen during the Civil War was $18 per month
John G. Sharp 17 March 2022
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Transcriptions:
Commandants Officer U.S. N Yard
Phila -6th January 1846Sir,
In conformity with your letter of the 3rd instant, I forward herewith a list of the Officers &c Naval & Civil, attached to the Yard – Receiving Vessel, Rendezvous and Marines; a list of the Watchmen and a muster roll of the Mechanics & Laborers, which I believe comprise every person in the Yard & doing duty on stations under my control .
A description of the duties of the Naval Rendezvous, Civil Lists of the Yard, was transmitted on the 30 ultimo - With regards to the descriptions of the duty performed by the officers etc. of the Receiving Vessel, Rendezvous & Marine Corps and the Watchmen, I presume their respective titles will be sufficiently explanatory –
As to the Mechanics & Laborers – the different descriptions, and grades of people, the kind of duties, they are performing, are explained by the line placed over each particular grade – and last as to the writers employed – keeper of the books of the inspector and measurer of timber, makes out his report and writes up the yard diary –
No. 2 & 3 are employed with the Storekeepers office – No 2 Keeping the books of making out the returns for the Bureau of Construction Repairs and Ordnance and No 3 Assisting in the general duties of the office - attending to the receipts & delivery of stores upon requisitions from the Several Storehouses in the Yard, and to all the outdoor employment belonging to the Storekeeper’s department.-
I have the honor to be very Respectfully Sir, Yr Obed Servt
[Signed] Chs Stewart1Hon Geo Bancroft
Secy of the Navy
Washington
D.C.1. Stewart, Charles, Lieutenant, 9 March 1798. Commander, 19 May 1804. Captain, 22 April 1806. Reserved List, 14 September 1855. Senior Flag Officer on Active List, 20 April 1859. Retired List, 21 December 1861. Rear Admiral on Retired List, 16 July 1862. Died, 6 November 1869.
A Statement of Persons employed in the U. States Navy Yard at Philadelphia -
on the Navy & Civil Lists - December 31st 1845
1 Chas Gauntt2 Commander in Command Per annum Salary 2100 2 Henry Hoff 3 Lieut. 1500 3 George W. Chapman4 Lieut. 1500 4 Jno B. Marchand5 Lieut. of Ordinary 1500 5 John A. Kearney 6 Surgeon of the Yard 2250 6 Elisha R. Kain7 Assistant Surgeon 950 7 Jno. W Grier 8 Chaplain 1200 8 Wm Miller [Sailing] Master9 1000 (Sick) 9 Nicholas Buck Sailmaker to the Yard 700 10 Wm.H Burns Masters Mate 450 11 Abraham Levy Assistant to Purser 150 Per diem 12 Jno Curry Purser’s Steward 18 Per month 13 James Mc Laughlin Hospital Steward 18 14 Robert Pettit10 Purser 2000 Annual CIVIL LIST
1 Jno. Leuthall 11 Naval Constructor 2000 Per Annum 2 Robert Kennedy Naval Storekeeper 1350 3 Wm. Vinyard Inspector & Measurer of Timber 900 4 Henry S. Crabbe 12 Clerk of the Yard 900 5 Bernard Fitzsimmons Clerk to the Storekeeper 750 6 Jno J Gottringer Clerk to the Constuctor 400 7 Eli Holcomb Porter of the Yard 300 Writers by Authority of the Bureau of Yds & Docks & Mechanics Roll
1 Wm Galen Inspectors Office 150 Per annum 2 Aron Vanarsdall Storekeepers Office 150 Per annum 3 Wm Parsons Storekeepers Office 100 er annum Approved
Charles Stewart, Commandant2. Gauntt, Charles, Midshipman, 1 September 1811. Lieutenant, 5 March,1817. Master Commandant, 9 February 1837. Captain, 24 February 1847. Died at New Brunswick, New Jersey, 21 August 1855.
3. Hoff, Henry K., Midshipman, 28 October 1823. Passed Midshipman, 23 March1829. Lieutenant, 3 March 1831. Commander, 6 February 1854. Captain, 30 June 1861. Commodore, 16 July 1862. Rear Admiral, 13 April 1867. Retired List, 19 September 1868, Died 25 December 1878.
4. Chapman, George W, Midshipman, 20 September 1832. Passed Midshipman, 23 June 1838. Lieutenant, 8 September 1841. Died at Philadelphia, 20 February 1853.
5. Marchand, John B., Midshipman, 1 May 1828. Passed Midshipman, 14 June 1834. Lieutenant, 29 January 1840, Commander, 14 September 1855. Captain, 16 July 1862. Commodore, 25 July 1866. Retired List, 27 August 1870. Died, 13 April 1875.
6. Kearney, John A., Surgeon's Mate, 3 March 1809. Surgeon, 24 July 1813. Died 27 August 1847.
7. Kane, Elisha K., Assistant Surgeon, 21 July,1843. Died, 16 February 1857.
8. Grier, John W.Chaplain, 3 March 1825. Resigned, 15 October 1859.
9. Sailing Master, 23 January 1815. Died, 19 May 1847,
10. Pettit, Robert, Purser, 6 April 1837. Retired List, 19 February 1866. Pay Director, Retired List, 3 March 1871. Died, 19 May 1878.
11. Lenthall, John, Naval Constructor, 8 February 1838. Chief, Bureau of Construction and Repair, 28 April 1863. Reappointed Chief, 28 July 1866. Retired List, 16 September 1869. Died 11 April 1882.
12. Henry Selden Crabbe, 1803-1866, was prominent in the Democratic partyof Philadelphia, and a supporter of President Andrew Jackson, see United States Gazette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 5 June 1833, p. 2.
Muster Roll of Mechanics & Laborers employed in the U.S. Navy Yard at Philadelphia
– 3rd January 1846Carpenters on the sloop of War Germantown
Name Occupation Wages 1 Nicholas Foy Foreman $2.50 2 James Singleton Quarterman 2.00 3 Matthias Creamer Quarterman 2.00 4 Adam Much Carpenter 1.75 5 Wm Maule Carpenter 1.75 6 Wm Fisher Carpenter 1.75 7 Stephen gates Carpenter 1.75 8 Thomas Frizell Carpenter 1.75 9 George Kreider Carpenter 1.75 10 Hugh Grover Carpenter 1.75 11 Ephriam Wilson Carpenter 1.75 12 Nicholas Meyer Carpenter 1.75 13 Joseph Dallas Carpenter 1.75 14 Jno Grover Carpenter 1.75 15 Theodore Maule Carpenter 1.75 16 Mortimore Wiltmore Carpenter 1.75 17 George Much Carpenter 1.75 18 Lemule Shibe Carpenter 1.75 19 Wm Knowles Carpenter 1.75 20 James Shibe Carpenter [apprentice] .88 Borers & Carpenter Laborers on “Germantown “
Name Wages 1 Peter Murray 1.24 2 Jno Murray 1.24 3 Elisha Goldsmith 1.24 4 Isaac Smith 1.24 5 Anthony Mager 1.24 6 Jacob Reincheimer 1.24 7 Wm Grimes 1.12 8 Saul Butler 1.12 9 Bernard McConhill 1.12 10 Michael Alber 1.12 Sawyers on the Germantown
1 Henry McNamrard Sawyer 1.12 2 William Gray Sawyer 1.12 Joiners on the Germantown
Name Occupation Wages 1 Abraham Powell Master Joiner 3.00 2 Benjamin Maise Joiner 3 David Garton Joiner 4 Christopher Grover Joiner Black Smiths on the Germantown
1 Wm. Myers Master Smith 3.00 2 Wm Wilson Smith 3 Jno McBride Smith 4 James Berrinan Smith 5 Jno Sherman Smith Joiners on Improvements of the Yard – Repairs of all Kinds
1 John Rinsall Joiner 2 Patrick Carroll Joiner Joiner on Specific Contingent - Incidental Labor
1 Jno Lambert Joiner Blacksmith on Contingent - Incidental Labor
1 Jno Wilson Smith Sailmakers on General Service making Hammocks & Bags
1 Peter Dole Sailmaker 1.00 2 Jno Grover Sailmaker Draughtsman On General Service
1 Richard Powell Draughtsman 2.00 (The draughtsman was employed with general duties anywhere there was a need).
Laborers on Internal Repair General Services Piling Timber &c
1 George Smith Foreman 2.00 2 Jno Nugent Laborer 1.00 3 Jno Carney Laborer 1.00 4 James Moit Laborer 1.00 5 Thomas Daby Laborer 1.00 6 Richard Ellicot Laborer 1.00 7 Wm House Laborer 1.00 8 Paul Ridden Laborer 1.00 9 Stacy Shirm Laborer 1.00 10 Saul Orr Laborer 1.00 11 George Norris Laborer 1.00 12 Owen Loftis Laborer 1.00 Laborers in Contingent - Incidental Laborers
1 Peter Doyle Laborer 1.00 2 Peter Steenburg Laborer 1.00 3 Henry Shockley Laborer 1.00 4 Jacob Watoon Laborer 1.00 5 Patrick Murray Laborer 1.00 6 Jno Miller Laborer 1.00 Teamsters on “General Service” Increase Repair general Laborers
1 Ebon Hurlburt Laborer 1.25 2 Jacob Funk Laborer 1.25 Writers on Contingent - By permission of the Bureau of Yards & Docks
Wm Galen 2 1.50 3 1.50 Henry S. Crabbe
[Signed] Clerk to Commdt & Clerk of the YardApproved
[Signed] Chs Stewart
Officers and Crew attached to the U.S. Receiving Vessel Experiment
at Philada with amount of their pay - 13 [3 Jan 1846]
James L. Lardner 2 Edward M. Yard Lieut. 1.500 3 Edward L. Handy Lieut. 1.500 4 Robert Jones Master 1.000 5 Charles E. Kennedy P[urser] Steward 24 Per month 6 John Devitt Boats[wain] Mate 10 7 Alex Loller Ship’s Clerk 18 8 Richard Gibbs Officers Steward 18 9 Charles Catherill Seaman 12 10 John Murray Seaman 12 11 Hugh Kelly O Seaman 10 12 Conor Dunbar Offs Cook 15 13 Fredr Holst Carprs Mate 19 14 James Truit Surgeon’s Stewd 18 15 Thomas Boyle O Seam 10 16 Fredr O Seam 10 U.S. Navy Yard
Philada Jany 3rd 1846
[Signed] Robert Pettit
PurserApproved
[Signed] Chars Stewart
Commdt13. USS Experiment was a schooner in the United States Navy during the 1830s and 1840s.
Experiment was built in 1831 by the Washington Navy Yard, and sailed for tests in Chesapeake Bay in April 1832; Lieutenant William Mervine in command. Until the middle of 1833, Experiment cruised the Atlantic coast between Boston, Massachusetts, and Charleston, South Carolina. After repairs at Norfolk, she sailed for the West Indies, returning to New York in June 1835. During the remaining three years of her cruising service, she was often used for surveying. From 1839 to 1848, when she was sold, she was in commission as a receiving ship at Philadelphia. The USS Experiment was sold in 1848.
A List of Officers attached to the U.S. Naval Rendezvous at Philadelphia with the respective salaries of each – [3 Jan 1846]
1 Thomas A. Conore Commdr $ 2100 2 Thompson D. Shaw Lieut. 1500 3 Thomas Turner14 Lieut. 1500 4 G. R. B. Horner Surgeon 1750 U.S. Navy Yard
Philada, January 6, 1846[Signed] Robert Pettit
PurserApproved
[Signed] Chars Stewart
Commdt14. Turner, Thomas, Midshipman, 21 April 1825, Passed Midshipman, 4 June 1831, Lieutenant,22 December 1835, Commander, 14 September 1855, Captain, 16 July 1862. Commodore, 13 December 1862. Rear Admiral, 27 May 1868, retired List, 21 April 1870, Died 24 March 1883.
Watchmen employed at the U.S. Navy Yard Philadelphia with pay of each.
[3 Jan 1846]
1 Robert Jones Pay per month $ 25. 2 Richard Savage Pay per month $ 25. 3 John Neall Pay per month $ 25. 4 John Robinson Pay per month $ 25. 5 William B. Smith Pay per month $ 25. 6 Ezra Chase Pay per month $ 25. 7 Alvah Johnson Pay per month $ 25. 8 John Story Pay per month $ 25. 9 William Bruce Pay per month $ 25. 10 Evan Gamester Pay per month $ 25. 11 Joseph Hannah Pay per month $ 25. U.S. Navy Yard
Philada January 3rd 1846[Signed] Robert Pettit
PurserApproved
[Signed] Chars Stewart
Commdt* * * * * *
John "Jack" G. M. 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 in 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 and 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-hiner.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 Vietnam service. He received his BA and MA in History from San Francisco State University. He can be reached at sharpjg@yahoo.com