John F. S. Smith

Source (of bio information)

"...I am the third son of respectable parents and was on the 21st of November AD 1821, in the city of Savannah, Georgia, introduced to this troublous world..."

California Great Registers

Name John Francisco Stone Smith

Event Type Voter Registration

Event Date 15 Jun 1866

Event Place 3d Township, Contra Costa, California, United States

Age 45

Birth Year (Estimated) 1821

Birthplace Georgia

Census 1880

Township 3, Contra Costa, California, United States

John F S Smith Self M 59 Georgia, United States

Adeline Smith Other F 50 Tennessee, United States

William Q Smith Other M 29 California, United States

James B Smith Other M 26 California, United States

Elliott H Smith Other M 24 California, United States

Thomas D Smith Other M 22 California, United States

Mary E Smith Other F 20 California, United States

Carrie M Smith Other F 16 California, United States

Adeline Smith Other F 15 California, United States

Virginia Smith Other F 14 California, United States

Amanda Smith Other F 13 California, United States

Nellie Smith Other F 9 California, United States

"My father was Captain James Smith of the United States navy, a native of Richmond, Virginia, of the old cavalier stock of Smiths and Mumfords of that old dominion. My mother was Mary Boylston, a native of Springfield, Massachusetts, and of the old Puritan stock of Morgans. James Boylston, my grandfather, was a Captain in the English army and married my grandmother when the old revolutionary war was only a little unpleasantness to be settled in a few days...".

"My grandfather finally parted from his bride, fondly hoping that the unhappy war would soon cease and he would be permitted to return and claim her with the consent of all. But his young bride soon became a widow, and soon after a mother of an orphan girl. Her husband became a martyr to duty, and, after giving birth to her child, she followed him to where no ruthless wars could separate them, leaving her little girl in the care of her brother, the late General David B. Morgan, of Louisiana history, he to become her guardian and protector, the old lady having never forgiven her daughter for her secret marriage with the hated Englishman. The dying mother insisted upon depriving her of any care for or interest in her child and insisted on the brother's promise to guard and protect her little babe."

On relating the incident to the family at the close of the war, he begged to be allowed to adopt little Mary, as he was childless, in gratitude to the dead father. The family declined the honorable request. As time rolled on and peace and social intercourse had been established, my mother, then a girl of fifteen, with her uncle, visited the family of the Lord Chief Justice of Canada. While there she was struck with the resemblance of one of the portraits to that of her father in her locket ,and while comparing the two, the old Admiral Holloway [Hallowell?] of the British Navy came hobbling by and inquired why she compared them, and asked her who the locket represented. She replied, "My father." "Who was your father?" "James Boylston, sir." "Why that is James Boylston on the wall, my nephew, and looking at the locket and then at her said excitedly, "That is he and you are surely his daughter." "Explain to me child; I did not know of his marriage in America." She referred him to her Uncle David, who soon explained the matter of the private marriage with his sister and the unhappy circumstances following.

Bombardment Of Island No. 10

Source - Bombardment Of Island No. 10

"Thanks to the brilliant strategy of the campaign...the enemy's centre was pierced at Forts Henry and Donelson...compelling thus the evacuation of his stronghold of Bowling Green first and now Columbus."

"Driven from all these strongholds, it became necessary for the Confederates to select some defensive position further to the south. In obedience to instructions from Richmond, Polk fell back some miles still clinging to the shores of the Mississippi and established himself at Island No 10 and at New Madrid."

Marker At New Madrid, Missouri

'"No single battle field has yet afforded to the North such visible fruits of victory as have been gathered at Island No. 10.'"

"Such was the language used by the high officials at Richmond. The Mississippi was now open as far south as Fort Pillow."

Brilliant Records

Commodore Barney's Flotilla Plan

An excerpt comparing John Paul Jones and Joshua Barney:

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Richard Dale Of The Navy

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Richard Dale

Dale's appointment to the rank of Captain from the List of Officers of the Navy....:

Fear Not The Navy

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The proposition to increase our navy could not be regarded with the sentimental objections that are entertained in many minds towards a standing army.  But experience shows that an established government, whether free or despotic, has little to fear from a navy. Source: Penn Monthly, Volume 12

We Have Met The Enemy....

....and they are ours (a quote from Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, 10 September 1813).

The illustration can be seen in The Naval Monument... .

Midshipman Oliver Hazard Perry

Source

Newport has a glorious and precious heritage in the memory of Oliver Hazard Perry, and although born in South Kingstown, R.I., August 23d, 1785, he seems peculiarly our own, for in Newport he was baptized, educated, and married; with Newport men he sailed to victory upon Lake Erie; and in the Island cemetery at Newport he lies buried.

Barney Dissatisfied With The Government

Source

To the Honorable the Delegates of the United States of America in Congress assembled The Memorial of Joshua Barney most respectfully sheweth

That your Memorialist hath served four years as a Lieutenant in the Navy in the Service of America dur-
ing fifteen months of which Time he hath been a Prisoner with the Enemy That he hath borne that Rank
on Board a Ship having more than twenty guns and is at present directed to take the Rank of first Lieu-
tenant on board the Saratoga a vessel of inferior force. That by a Resolve of your Honours the pay of Officers are reduced in proportion to his Reduction in point of Rank on Board the Vessels of several force. That two Years Pay is due to your Petitioner for his former services which in the present depreciated state of the Currency is not worth his acceptance. That Application hath been made to the Board of Admiralty and no Satisfaction can be obtained from that Quarter without an Order from your Honours. He therefore prays your Honours would fix his Rank and ascertain the pay he shall receive &c. &c.


JOSHUA BARNEY LT.
Philad/a July 26, 1780.

A 1782 Naval Encounter here.

The Honorable Robert Morris

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Source

The "beginning of a beautiful friendship" between Hon. Morris and Commodore Barney:

"...he [Joshua Barney] received an order to wait upon the Honorable Robert Morris, President of the Marine Committee on June 20, 1776, Barney was ushered into the presence of this patriot, he was asked if his name was Barney. Answering in the affirmative, Mr. Morris drew a paper from his pocket and handed it to him with these words. "The Committee has heard of your good behavior, Mr. Barney, during the engagement with the enemy in the Delaware and have authorized me to offer you this letter of appointment as a lieutenant in the Navy of the United States.  I will add for myself that if you continue to act with the same bravery and devotion to the cause of our country on future occasions you shall always find in me a friend ready and happy to serve you." [Source]

Thomas And Jane (McCutcheon) Baker

Mrs. Ann Carson, their daughter, was born in 1785.  Shortly after the War of 1812, Ann's life took a scandalous turn of events.  Her life story was published as Memoirs. Ann's mother, who had her own problems, turned against Ann. 

From the Memoirs:

Ann Baker's paternal grandfather, who lived in Leicestershire, England, married his housekeeper after the death of his wife.  That new marriage sent Ann's Uncle Edward Baker and her father, Thomas, to America, though Edward returned to England.

Thomas Baker was a seaman on a privateer (Navy) between 1797 and 1801; he and his wife's application for financial relief based upon his service included the following letter:

Source

Excerpt from a letter to the Honorable Secretary of the Navy:

The Memorial of Thomas Baker, late Commander of the United States sloop of war, Delaware.  ...during his command of said ship was seized with the yellow fever which threatened his life, and left him so deranged and rendered him unqualified for any kind of business -- That he still continued in the same deranged state and therefore prayed that the case may be taken into consideration, and such provision made for him as his former services may be deemed to merit.

The letter was endorsed by Stephen Decatur, William Bainbridge and others.

Another letter, this one postmarked from Pensacola, Florida, dated 7 August 1857, from Jane Baker, included the fact that her husband, Thomas Baker, had been held as a prisoner of war.

"...my late husband, Capt. Thomas Baker, passed his boyhood, and early manhood, in the service of his country, on board some of the most distinguished private armed vessels, during the Revolutionary War; and suffered worse than death, by being taken prisoner and confined, for more than six months, on board the British prison ship, New Jersey."   "...at the time his mind became deranged [from yellow fever], his family consisted of a wife and seven children, mostly females, the oldest of whom was but sixteen...".

More about Mrs. Baker's petition from the American State Papers:

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Thomas Baker also served aboard the Holker (more information here) and the Rising Sun.

The Death Of Captain Nicholas Biddle

Songs, Odes, and Other Poems..... was dedicated to Captain Biddle's memory.

A poem about Captain Biddle was included in the volume:

Captain Biddle died on the Randolph frigate.

Challenger Astronaut

Captain Smith

Monument to Captain Smith in Beaufort, NC

Barney's Engagement: Hyder-Ally - General Monk

Hyder Ally and General Monk from Joshua Barney book

Source: Songs, Odes,...Page 23
[Follow link for the rest of the song; also can be seen here]

The Barney Family Historical Association has some background about the naval battle celebrated in the song:

"Joshua Barney was captured by the British while serving in the Continental Navy. Upon arrival in England, he was imprisoned, but escaped with the help of a friendly guard. He returned to the Colonies to captain the privateer Hyder Ally, where he gained fame by tricking the British General Monk."

Losing Duelist Buried In Norfolk

The New England Historical And Genealogical Register...had an interesting tidbit about a Massachusetts midshipman who was killed in a duel and buried in a churchyard in Virginia.

In St. Paul's churchyard in that city [Norfolk, Virginia] is the following on a small headstone..." Samuel W. Cushing of Berwick Massachusetts, killed in a Duel 24th April 1800, AE 23 years."

A record in another place, showing who Cushing was, has the following : 

"Cushing, Samuel W. Appointed Midshipman, 28 August, 1799. Last appearance on Records of Navy Department, 12 September 1799. Killed in a duel."

His parents were John Cushing and Olive Wallingford.

Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy, by Ian W. Toll, (see below) told the story of Midshipman John Duboise who "fought a duel with a fellow midshipman, Samuel Cushing, and 'shot his antagonist through the neck, which put an immediate period to his Existence.'  Fearing arrest on a murder charge, Duboise fled."

Naval Heroes' KIA In Tripoli

[An ode was composed] commemorative of the deaths of Lieutenant Somers of the American navy, and his brave companions, before Tripoli, in the summer of 1805 [sic 1804].

Commodore Preble, with a view as much as possible to harass the enemy, ordered the ketch Intrepid to be filled with materials for a destructive explosion, and gave the conduct of her to Lieutenants Somers, Wadsworth, Israel, and a few others. Their orders were, to approach, under cover of the night, as near as they could to the town and batteries, and, after firing a train provided for that purpose, to make their escape to the fleet in boats.

A premature discovery of them by the enemy, rendered it impossible for them either to reach the station which they contemplated, or to make their escape; and these brave men, with an intrepidity almost beyond parallel, preferring death to an ignominious servitude, set fire to the train, and were blown, with their enemies, into the air. This catastrophe is made the subject of the following ode.  From Songs, Odes, and Other Poems On National Subjects: Naval (click to see the ode)

Source

The author of Remember The Intrepid advocated repatriating the remains of these Tripoli heroes.   There's a haunting post of murdered Ambassador Christopher Stevens at the gravesite of Lieutenant Somers and crew.

Admiring Admiral Farragut

From our visit:

King George's Crown -- Turned Upside Down

From Songs, Odes....(Naval):