Washington District of Columbia
The Diary of Michael Shiner
Slave and Freeman at the Washington Navy Yard
1813-1869
Transcribed and edited by : John Sharp ©
| ’Transcriber's Note on Chronology” |
|---|
|
Michael Shiner never wrote for publication nor did he leave any instructions but I think what he was trying to do for his own recollection
was to write a brief summary of the weather in Washington DC for the crucial period 1814- 1840. At the beginning of the Diary after
his description / recollection of the war of 1812, he writes for two pages or so a summary of DC weather, then he decided to move
forward in a straight chronological manner for the rest of the Diary. For him weather was of much greater importance as it was to all
early WNY mechanics and laborers then our modern workforce since most employees worked out doors in the elements and these
employees were not annual salaried workers but instead they paid per diem so as a consequence if the weather was particularly bad
the Yard management ( WNY Commandant and Chief Clerk) would and often did tell their employees to stay home since there was no
work that day ( no annual or sick leave either) and of course for those laid off no pay.
So for example where Michael Shiner wrote ’1838 a hard winter, 1839 a hard winter” etc and then he circles back to write a long account of 1820 we would just place his one line descriptions of weather under the appropriate years. |
| 1829 The 1 day of January 1829 on Thursday the last levee that was given by the honorable ex-president Mr. John Quincy Adams and on that day Lieutenant Ramsey gave us a pass to go to a young colard man's funeral that died near the near the navy yard gate by the name of John Brion. After the burial were over i was standing near the navy yard gate and Captin Stephens had reined up to the president's levee and Basil Brown was driving his carriage he looked out of his carriage and sais Basil ain't that Mike? Basil sais yes sir the Captin called, he sais, come to me sir, walk yourself in the yard sir. i gave you permission to go down in the country to see your friends and you went over on the other hill and kicked up a row with the magistrate and you shall not go out of the yard for a month. Then my liberty was stopped from the first day of January 1829 on Thursday until the 25 of January 1829. On Sunday 29 January 1829 on Thursday Mr. James Smith a rigger by trade, at that time was part of the Washington Navy Yard were sent down to Alexandria on the jolly boat for to get various articles for the officers and 3 or 4 of the ordinary men went down with him. The ice was just a breaking up in the river and among those articles that they got for the officers there was a half pilot bread that belonged to Commodore Tingey. (Note: Commodore Thomas Tingey commanded the Washington Navy Yard from January 22, 1800 to his death February 23, 1829.)Mr. Smith sais Mike take that barrel and carry it forward so as to give yourself room to move, so i taking hold of the barrel and went backward to pass it forward ran into the gunnels of the jolly boat that was very shallow. The hoops slipped off the barrel and over board i went, the barrel of bread still remained in the boat. [There] was ice floating on the river, and i went down the third time and by the providence of god i came up every time right by the boat and the last time i came up, John Thomson, grabbed me by the top of the head and i secured hold of the boat. i was so overjoyed when i got in the boat. Thank God Michael Shiner aint done ground yet. Thomson was sitting aft in the boat told Mr Smith by the power of Moll Kelly, Mike Shiner over board after we got all the things fixed in the boat said Mr. Smith sais now boys as you all ready well Mike come in here and get something to drink and Mr. Smith take me into the steam boat tavern that was kept by a man named Stuart. [Later] in the boat now and warm ourselves after we got in the boat we rowed up from Alexandria in forty-nine minutes and i had just belonged to Mr Howard Sr one year that day. The sentry house of the United States Marine Barracks at Washington burned down on the 20 day of February 1829 on Friday, snow on the ground, all the officers (except Commodore Tingey, and he were laying very ill at the time) and all the masters, workmen and mechanics and laborers of the Washington Navy Yard at the fire. Captin Thomas Holdup Stevens was at the fire, First Lieutenant Wm.Ramsey sr that wher the First Lieutenant of the Washington Navy Yard. At that time Mr Timothy Wind purser of the Washington Navy Yard was there, Sailing Master Edward Barry was there, Boatswain David Eaton was there, Mr George Marshal gunner was there, and Mr Salvadore Catalano which at that time belonged to ordnance was there. (Notes: Captain Thomas Holdup Stevens was in command of WNY Feb. 26 1840 - Jun 21, 1841 Salvadore Catalano, was a native of Palermo Sicily and Sailing-Master at WNY. He had sailed with Decatur into the harbor at Tripoli and help recapture and burn the Frigate Philadelphia. Catalano died at WNY March 4, 1846.) We went out to the fire at that time a little before the bell rang for twelve and stayed at the garrison until between 1 and 2 o'clock in the night and the coldest night i ever felt in my life the hose were led from the garrison to reservoir at the Market House it were so cold that the hose freeze up. They formed lines in different sections passed the water with a bucket to the fire. They worked like men, there were a little disturbance occurred between a firefighter from the city and Samuel Brigs a fireman on the coaster but that was soon settled by Captin William Easley interfering which at that time were master Boat Builder of the Washington Navy Yard. That was a hard winter there was not a cord of wood on the commercial wharf they wasn't no wood in the navy yard and they were not ten ton of coal in the yard condemned from the war which laid near the iron foundry that is now. They had to chip off that to fire the engines. About 1 o'clock that night we came in the yard and it were so cold that our feet were wet and stiff that we didn't know hardly where we were walking on the ground or no and after we came down to the cook house they were not so much as a fire in the cook house as you could hold in your two hands. We looked in our chest and tinder box and the flint and struck a light and we looked around out doors to see if we could make a fire, we couldn't find any wood out doors and the snow was banked up all around the house. We came in and they were a long bench sitting before the fire place. There was man laying on it by the name of James Sims we found that we could not get any wood and we rolled him off and he fell off on the floor like a log drunk and half frozen. Together we takes an axe and we split the bench up and we made a fire out of this bench and warmed and dried our feet. After we warmed and dried our feet the man who was laying on the bench he got up and then he wanted to fight. He put me in mind of a snake, but we cooled him off. The Sentry House at the time when it caught on fire wher occupied by Lieutenant Colonel Charles Broome of the United States Marine Corps and his family. On the 21st of February 1829, on Saturday, we were outside gatherin up the hose and getting things in the yard. It snowed on the 22 of February 1829 on Sunday. Died in Command of the Washington Navy Yard Commander Thomas Tingey on the 23 of February 1829 on Monday a fine officer and snow on the ground and a fine officer he was and a gentleman. Commander Isaac Hull, taking Command of the Washington Navy Yard, the 11th day of April 1829, on Saturday (Commodore Isaac Hull commanded the Washington Navy Yard March 31, 1829 to October 1, 1835).When Commander Hull taking command of the Washington Navy Yard he found it in an awful condition in holes and gullies and piles of lumber laying about the yard. All that square in front of the First Lieutenant's quarters and 2 Lieutenants and the doctor it was nothing but yellow clay and that square in front of the Commanders quarters was in the same condition and all the guns piled up on the left hand side of the road as you go into the gate from the flag staff clear down to the Commanders office that were at that time the Commanders Land all those places aft in the square and had them fence in the square where the paint shop is now where all cultivated and all this square where the ordnance shop is and the brass gun foundry, and the shell house and laboratory and the rocket house and the water ran all along there. When Commander Hull came to the yard he had to timber sheds, built the mould loft built and all is laid as Commander Hull laid it off. The water run jest back of the Commanders office that is now and all the dock at the upper ship house were caving in and wharfs caving in all those wharfs were extended out were done by Commander Hull except that piece done by Captin William S. Sanger Civil Engineer of the Washington Navy Yard of the Washington Navy Yard. When all this work was going on and he went filling up and building some of those days sais he This yard will be full of buildings. (The new Yard Commandant, Isaac Hull, made many changes upon assuming command in 1829. Hull, a former Captain of the USS Constitution and hero of the War of 1812, was known for running a ’tight ship.” In contrast to Commandant Tingey (who was popular with the men), Hull was of a more taciturn disposition. In 1835, he was nearly 60 years old and suffering from acute hearing loss due to his many exposures to cannon and shell noise. After his appointment as Commandant, Hull rapidly found that mechanics at the Yard enjoyed many freedoms he was unfamiliar with in setting work priorities,. Commandant Hull's subsequent actions to restrict the mechanics customary practices combined with the WNY mechanics demand for a ten hour work day led to the strike of 1835)The day that Commander Hull taken command of the Washington Navy Yard they were a seamen of the St. Louis by the name of Wells that had been missing since the 19 of December 1828 on Friday and it was supposed that he run away and they never could learn anything from him until the 4 day of April 1829 and he came up at the northwest corner of the lower ship house. He came up right under the frigate Congress larboard bow. It was supposed that he was to go a shore the night before the Saint Louis went away and got hung up under the chain cable. Wells were a Welshman by birth and there was inquest held over him and he was buried in Potters Field
1830
1831 (This solar eclipse was widely seen in the United States and for many people was a sign of dread and foreboding, an unsuccessful motion was even made in the U.S. House of Representatives to adjourn for the occasion. The black enslaved preacher Nat Turner saw this as a vision from God of a "black angel" overtaking a ’white angel”. The fomenting slave rebellion gained impetus and on August 13 Turner saw another spectacle - a naked eye sunspot. The rebellion began on August 21 but was quickly crushed and Nat Turner hanged. See: Lewis P Masur 1831 The Year of the Eclipse)They were painting them out in the upper ship house Phillip Inch Master Painter, John Gibson journeymen painter William Keith journeymen painter Edward Bevan journeymen painter and William Prince journeymen painter and at that time the United States Frigate Potomac was fitted out expressly for to go on to Peru and Chile to chastise the desperados the ... which committed on the American merchant Ships. General Jackson determined to chastise them and bring them to an honorable term. That duty was assigned to John F. Downes [who had] taken command of the United States Frigate Potomac that were fitted out at Washington Navy Yard in 1831. The United States Frigate Potomac embarked from the under the command of Commodore John Downes and his first Lieutenant Edsum Shubrick and the remainder of the officers and crew on the 30 day of May 1831 on Monday and she came in front of the United States Arsenal at Washington and she remained there from the 30 of May off and on until the 15 day of June 1831 on Wednesday [when] the United States Frigate Potomac left the Marines in front of the United States Arsenal under the command of Commander John Downes. i have never heard of the Merlays robbing or murdering any of the American vessels or crew after that. 3 United States schooners embarked from Washington Navy Yard on where commanded by Lieutenant William P Pearson one were commanded by Carry Seldon Jr the son of the late Major Seldon Sr. formerly naval storekeeper at the Washington Navy Yard. The third Schooner was commanded by Lieutenant Kennedy. i don't know weather Mr. Pearssy was senior officer or Mr. Kennedy they embarked on the 17 of June 1831 on Friday i shall never forget that day Mr. Inch sent me out that day in a boat with some canvass hose to them vessels as the vessels were getting ready to go away and i put the hose on board the vessel and i got so drunk when starting to come ashore instead of coming to the yard the boat drifted down towards the Poplars Point. Poor Lieutenant Seldon made the men lower one of his boats down to bring me back to the yard. They brought me back to the yard and i was around the Ordinary House and there was a ladder laying there. Basil Brown the cook of the Ordinary at that time he suggested to me i bet you can't take this ladder over on your neck and go around the yard and bellow like a bull. i sais to Basil Stop i want to carry some light wood over to the Navy Store first. i taken a piece of the beam of a frigate and i taken it out of that bottom where the Camboose Shop is now at that time it were rotten so i take the beam and carry it over to the navy store and throw it down in the store. At that time Mr. James Adams was Storekeeper and he sais What's a matter with old Mike. He has been where the sun shines. i went over to Ordnance and got my ladder ten feet long and then i went by the Captin's house and every step i made i went like a wild varmint and i made toward the gate, i changed my voice to a Whipper poorwill and at that the painters were painting the Doctors House i went to the Doctors Gate and tried to get in to the Doctors Gate with the ladder around my neck i found that i couldn't get in that away i taking the ladder off of my neck and left outside and i met Mr. Inch at the door sais i Believe me Mike going crazy and they were a colored man in the house of the [name] of Jim Sims he told Jim to catch hold of me and clinch him and i fling him clear in the basement and at that time the porches belong to those quarters were separate and put a hand out the door. (Note: Basil Brown born MD 1803 a fellow slave , manumitted some time before 1850 worked as a laborer and is lasted enumerated on the 1870 DC census where he owned property worth $ 3000.00. Note 2: Camboose is an old nautical term for a metal ships kitchen constructed to prevent a fire aboard wooden war ships, these were constructed at WNY.)By the time the Bell rang for twelve and i had got out of the Doctors and had my ladder around my neck and i started from the Doctors House down the yard and as i came to along by the flag staff i met First Lieutenant Joseph Coors Second Lieutenant Cook and the Master workman and Mechanics they all were going out to dinner and the next men i met were my Master Mr. Howard and at that time were Clerk of the Navy Yard he caught hold of the ladder and sais this fellow got the devil in him for three weeks He hung onto the ladder and i carried him from the flag staff clear around to the ordinary house and when i was going along with the ladder i hardly felt that he had hold of the ladder and we got around to the Ordinary House he stuck me over the face and eyes and in them days it was called a snout and grouter and by this time Captin Aulick came along and he called to me to come him ask me what was the matter with me. (Note: Ordinary house is where the ordinary seamen were lodged.) i told him that i was drunk sire Captin Aulick told me to step to the gate with the Marines until i got sober. i told Captin Aulick he had eagle buttons on and i was down on the ground in the dust on my hands and feet rap my head into the dust made a yell and Captan Aulick sais i believe the fellows crazy anyhow at that time the relief was coming up and Captin Aulick called the Marines and i told him that i didn't want to go with the Marines and i wouldn't go with them and the Corporal of the Guard by the name of Lee a Irish man by birth he taking hold of me. Corporal Lee and me and his gun both fell to the ground and we broke our fall and got up the Marines of the guards had me by the hands and feet and Lee got so mad that he stuck his bayonet in my left shoulder and Commodore Hull was standing at the corner of the offices and told them not to hurt him and take me along carefully and at last Mr. [Maraduke] Dove the Sailing Master had to take me up to the guard house they ironed me hand and foot and put me in the cells. Some of the Mechanics lost their dinner that it was a complete [melée?] and nex moring on the 18 they brought me out before Captin Aulick. There were 2 Sergeants and 2 privates brought me out. Captin Aulick ask me what was the matter with me yesterday. i told him that i was drunk Sire. Well what do you think ought to be done with you. Anything that Captain the officers chose to do with me.
You went a hollerin about the yard yesterday like a crazy fellow don't let me heare anything more of it Shiner. He said Mr. Dove don't let
Shiner have any more grog today. And Captain told me go and report yourselve to Mr. Inch Master Panter for duty. The Officers were kind
too they never stop my liberty when i used to get tight i merely done it to have fun i never done it to have any ill feeling against any man White
or Black and on the 18 of January 1831 on Saturday Commander Hull and Captain Aulick Master Thomas Howard and Mrs. Nancy Howard they were as fine a Mistress and Master that ever were born may the Lord Bless them and i hope they are at rest and may the Lord grant them i may see them may they rest in peace (Thomas Howard WNY Chief Clerk was Michael Shiner's Master from 1828 -1832 the Howard family had at least four other slaves in addition to Michael Shiner) Thomas Howard' s mother was in her 70' in 1831. The Howard residence was on the NE corner of 3rd and E Street ).On the 16 day of December 1831on Friday night the wind blew from the north Wsrt with out intermission it blew so that night that the window blinds got loose from the buckles and they shattered six or seven large lights large light of glass twelve by 18 ½ on the seventeen of December 1831 on Saturday the wind continued to blow and it came with a hurricane and in puffs the bell rang as usual sat sun rise on the 17 after all the fires were Commodore Hull had them all put out and they were no work in the yard that day Commodore Hull had the yard closed that day for fear of fires taken place. Commodore Hull had 3 or 4 large holes cut in the River and the engines putout in case fire should take place. Right below Commodores Office that is how those preparations were made there by Commodore Hull so there were no person worked in the Washington Navy Yard but Mr. Phillip Inch and my self i held the ladder while Mr. Inch put those large light of glass in. It was colder that day to freeze anything that fell particular anything like water.
1832 The time the colery broke out in about June July August and September 1832. It raged in the City of Washington and every day they wher ten or 13 carried out to they graves a day and that were small numbers to what died in different parts of the country a day. The Sun rised and set Red principally all that year out and two black spots could be discovered distant in the sun about the size of a dollar i believe that where a token of the disease. i never shall forget Doctor Lloyd the last part of August 1832 in the Washington Navy Yard had a firm dollar piece of fresh beef he had it run up to the flag staff at night and next morning when it were hauled down it wher Black and Green and that convinced the people that disease was in the air. (Note: In 1832 cholera was a relatively new disease having just arrived in the United States from Asia by way of Europe. While there is no exact mortality figures for Washington DC in 1832 the disease killed over 3000 people in New York and over 4000 in New Orleans that year.)i shal never forget in October 1832 General Scott arrived home from the Idian War to New York he hadn't been long in New York before he was ordered by the Honorable Major General Jackson President of the United States then after he arrived in Washington he received orders from the President to go down to South Carolina without delay the instruction that he received from the President honorably carried out to the satisfaction the government and the people without the lost of life and may the Lord grant that South Carolina and all the other states cling to one another with the assistance of the Almighty God (Note: Michael Shiner is referring to the ’Nullification Crisis” which was initiated by South Carolina's threat to succeed from the Union President Jackson's strong response ended the crisis).
1833 The United States Revenue ..... Sailed from Washington Navy Yard under the Command of Captain Jones the 1 day of April 1833. A disturbance occurred between the Hon Major General Andrew Jackson President of the United States and Mr Randolph on board of a steam boat at Alexandria Virginia the 6 day of May 1833 on Monday. General Jackson didn't mind that he wher his way to Richmond to lay a corner he wher accompanied by some of his cabinet and Lieutenant Colonel Charles Broom of the Marines and Captain William Ramsey of the United States Navy. The General said the scoundrel let me cane him and they wher after Mr Randolph but they couldn't catch him. A great excitement prevailin Alexandria and Washington that morning but nevertheless the General pursuit his way down like man as he wher and statesman and gentleman and soldier. and he was as greater one that ever step his foot in the field and thank God Almighty above all he wouldn't let one article of the federal constitution be trampled under foot if he knew it. He wher as honest upright man as ever lived he paid no respect to persons while ever they done right. The 5 day of June 1833 on Wednesday my wife (Phillis Shiner) and children were sold to couple of gentleman Mr Franklin and Mr John Armfield and were carried down to Alexandria on the 6 day of June 1833, on Thursday the 7 day of June 1833 on Friday i went to Alexandria 3 times in one day over the Long Bridge and i went in great distress but never the less with the assistance of God i got my wife and children clear. i am under ten thousand obligations to the Hon Major General Hamlin for his kindness to me and my wife and children. John Armfield and Isaac Franklin owned were the nations most notorious slave delers. The firm's slave pen was located at 1315 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia, and managed by John Armfeild. while Isaac Franklin established and ran the firm's markets at Natchez and New Orleans. By the 1830s, they were sending more than 1,000 slaves annually from Alexandria to their Natchez and New Orleans markets to help meet the demand for slaves in Mississippi and surrounding states. Franklin and Armfield's procedure was to send an annual overland coffle, or slave caravan, from Virginia to their Forks of the Road market near Natchez, Mississippi. If Phillis Shiner and her children had not gained their freedom they would almost certainly have been forced into a slave coffles leaving Alexandria, VA in mid to late summer and forcibly taken through to Natchez, Mississippi and the Forks of the Road slave market where they would have been sold to the highest bidder. During such overland marches, male slaves were usually manacled and chained together in double files, and were under the close supervision of mounted drivers. Women such as Phillis Shiner would have walked, while their children and injured slaves rode in the wagons that accompanied the coffle. The white males guarding the coffles were normally armed with both guns and whips. In the period between 1825 and 1830, the average price for young adult male slaves in Virginia was $400. In contrast, Isaac Franklin sold four slaves (sex unspecified) at the Forks of the Road in 1826-27 for $700, $600, $500, and $450.On the 7 day of June 1833 on Friday, the General laid a writ of Detachment on my wife and three children at Mr. Armfeild's Jail and takein them from there and put them in the county jail at Alexandria to wait the action of the court. My wife and children remained in the county jail in Alexandria from the 7 day of June until the eleventh day of June 1833 on Tuesday and the same day when Mr. Levy Phumphrey executed papers and manumitted them free the papers were executed at City Hall in Washington. She [Phillis] came up from Alexandria on the 12 of June 1833 on Wednesday. i am also under obligation to Mr and Mrs Steil for their kindness to my wife and children while they were in the jail in and may the all mighty Bless them. Other gave such a race at that time that all the people that were acquainted with the affair in Alexandria were sorry for me and appeared to be willing to relieve me of my distress. ( Note :The following is a transcription of the manumission document. Know all me by these presents that I Levi Phumphrey of the city of Washington in the District of Columbia for divers good and sufficient causes me thereun to moving have manumitted emancipated set free and relieved from Slavery a negro women named Phillis and her three children named Ann Harriet and Mary Ann purchased by me at the sale of my fathers property the said Phillis being at the time age about twenty five years and her three children aged as follows, Ann about four years - Harriet about three years and Mary Ann about four months the said Negro women Phillis is in good health and entirely competent to obtain livelihood for herself and children by her own labor. And that I do by these presents manumit emancipate set free and discharge form Labor & Slavery the said Phillis and her three children. In witness whereof I have hereto subscribe my name and affix my seal the 11th day of June in the year of our Lord one Thousand - Eight Hundred and thirty-three.)i am under great obligation to Commodore Isaac Hull for the time my wife wher sold to George he had Command of the Washington Navy Yard for his kindness to me and also to Captain John Aulick for his kindness to when my wife were sold to George and also to Captain Joseph Hull for his kindness to me at that time he were First Lieutenant of the Washington Navy Yard. And [I am] also under the same obligation to Major Cary Seldon who were Naval Store Keeper and also to Mr. John Etheridge which at that time was Commodores Clerk and also to David Eaton Boatswain. (Note: Captain John H. Aulick Commandant WNY from Mar 7, 1843 - Feb 21, 1846)All those above name Gentleman all of them were willing to help me out in honest upright way when my wife and children were snatched away from me and sold on the 5 day of June 1833 on Wednesday from near West Alley between 7 and Eighth Street east. May the Lord Bless them all I shall never forget them. Mr. John Judge a Irish man by birth received his orders from the Navy Department on the 18 day of October 1833 at Washington Navy Yard on Thursday that his service were no more required Mr. Judge were Master of the Machinery and pattern makein. Mr. William Ellis engineer take in charge of the machinery of the Washington Navy Yard the 17 of October 1833 on Friday and where master of his business. When he came to the Navy Yard they wasn't but one engine and before Mr. Ellis left he constructed some engines in Washington Navy Yard that are hard to beat. There are in the Washington Navy Yard Copper Rolling Mill that wher built by Mr. William Ellis and the engine to the ordnance shop. (Note: William Ellis WNY engineer, born PA 1807 later ran a successful business with brother Jonas Ellis manufacturing steam engines.)The meteors fell from the elements the 12 of November 1833 on Thursday in Washington it frightened the people half to Death. NASA has now added Michael Shiner's description to their list of confirmed sightings. see: http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/history.html
1834
1835 (Note: Joseph M. Padgett Master Laborer 1808 - 1865 fortunately survived his fall to later become overseer of the yard laborers. Joseph Padgett was one of the founders of WNY Beneficial Society an organization which helped members with funeral expenses and provided for their widows and orphans. He is buried at Congressional Cemetery. His son also Joseph M. Padgett worked at WNY for over 50 years retiring in 1920.)They wher a great turn out of the milicia in Washington on the 27 day of June 1835 on Saturday. They wher the Ragedis white people that ever i saw in my life and they uniforms was of old rags adn them that wher office they apelelts wher of cow hoofs and they had Drums and fifes and they had clarinets. Ther drums wher composed of olde tin pans and olde pots and all kinds of olde sheet iron. They flutes clarinets and fifes and bugles wher composed of rams horns and oyster horns. The 28 day of July 1835 Monday they were a great excitement prevailed in the Washington Navy Yard about some compression pins that were forged in the black Smith Shop they were a great many of them missing and they couldn't give no account what became of them and they were orders given for them to keep a look out and to Detect the person that were caught takin them and they caught the man at Dinner hour and he got outside of the gate before the Sergeant could catch him. i never shall forget the Sergeant of the guard that day were Sergeant Denison. But they were a United States warrant issued for the man and brought him over and put him in jail at that time they were rebuilding the Columbia Frigate and the next day after this affair Commodore Hull issued a order that Mechanics or Laborers should not eat there Dinners in any of those shops in Diner hour and that time they were ship carpenters here from different parts of the country at work on the Columbia frigate and they got insulted at the order that Commodore Hull issued and everyone of them struck and said they wouldn't work any more and at the same time they were colored man from Baltimore by the name of Israel Jones a caulker by trade he was the Forman caulker of those colored caulkers and they were fifteen or twenty of them here at that time caulkin on the Columbia and the carpenters made all of them knock off them and I. The height of this excitement they were a rumor flying around about a colard man by the name of Snow about a expression he had made about he Mechanics wifes and whether he said those things or not and at that time Snow kept a Restaurant on the corner of Six[th] Street and Pennsylvania West in the cellar and at the time all the Mechanics of classes gathered into Snows Restaurant and broke him up Root and Branch and they were after Snow but he flew for his life and that night after they had broke Snow's up they threatened to come to the Navy Yard after Commodore Hull. (Note: Michael Shiner is referring to the beginning of a strike for a ten hour workday at all federal shipyards. This movement began at the Philadelphia shipyard and rapidly spread down the eastern seaboard. The WNY strikers failed to win a ten hour day although their names were later restored to the yard rolls President Martin Van Buren in 1840 issued an executive order putting all federal shipyards on a ten hour workday. See 1840 Note 2 The strikers blamed Commodore Hull for bring in black caulkers whom they felt were to be used to brake their strike. exacerbated racial tension and white WNY mechanics and laborers went on a three day rampage threatening blacks and breaking up their property. President Jackson had to send in a company of Marines to finally restore order.)But they didn't come that night and the next day Commodore Hull received orders from the Navy Department from the Honorable Secretary of the Navy Mr. Tucy to hurry to fortify the Yard in such a provision to protect all government property therein and himself at risk of all hazards and the yard were as well fortified as any place i ever saw in less then not time it were in a fighting condition by Commodore Hull. i don't believe they were going to be trouble to the yard they done it to tantalize Commodore Hull. In all this excitement the 7 of August 1835 on Friday it was reported that Mrs. Doctor Thorton young Mulatto man said that he was going to knock his mistress in the head with axe and he were arrested and put in the jail. Still the mob raged with great vigor and as fast as they were arrested they were lodged in Jail. On the 8 day of August 1835 on Saturday the mob surrounded the Jail and swear they would pull the Jail down and the Constable makin threats they said their objects was to get Mrs. Thorton's Mulatto man and to hang him with out judge or juror and every effort was made by the Marshall of the District and the United States District Attorney Frances Scott Key Sr and the Honorable William Bradley that were Mayor of Washington at that time ever effort were made by the officers to preserve peace and harmony among these me but all of it appeared in vain and there not sufficient military force to guard the Jail and orders came down from the Navy Department to Lieutenant Colonel Henderson that were at that time Lieutenant Colonel of the Marine Corps by the order of the Honorable Secretary of the Navy Levi Ward Berry to send a detachment of United States Marines without delay to the Guard the United States Jail in Washington and Lieutenant Colonel Henderson complied speedily the marines went up to the Jail on 8 August 1835 on Saturday and they done their duty without faction or favor. When the great excitement Honorable Major General Andrew Jackson that were President of the United States that time were absent from the City and when it got in it height the General arrived home and after he arrived home he sent a messenger to the Gentleman Mechanics to know what was the matter with them and if they were anything he could do for them in an Honorable way to promote their happiness he would do so. Some replied to the General that the negros had made different threats what they could do the general reply was to them by eternal God in this City there were a Jail and a court and law and if those negros had violated any law what ever they shall be tried by the court and punished severely and gentleman if you have in my disposition to seek to let me know it and i will lend you a hand in it and the General prevailed on all the officers of the Armmy and the Navy to stand watch and watch. All the good Citizens to preserve the law, by the eternal God the law must be preserved and shall be preserved a the risk of hazards. Captain William Ramsay Sr. United States Navy were on the Padrole and various other officers and the good citizens of Washington in a couple of weeks they had the City of Washington as quite as a church and the laws all respected and everything went on quietly. On the 12 day of August 1835 on Wednesday night those gangs had nearly expired but they gathered in the 6 Ward made a great cheering and the sentry that were on the wall at the Navy Yard gave report to Commodore Hull that those men were coming and every man were at his post in the yard from the roll of the drum. But those fellows jest done it for to tantalize Commodore Hull they hadn't no notion to the contrary. The yard and at that time in Washington Navy Yard there were 92 pound Cannonade were placed a the flag staff and the Muzzles right out the gate and charged here only with grape and canister and if discharged loads out to them they would of tore garrison gates all to pieces and all the houses. But thank God every thing was settled peacefully without that and after this flurry they still continued working on the Columbia Frigate. On the 12 day of August 1835 on Tuesday the Cars started for the first time from Washington to Baltimore and hold passel of people went and the councilman and the aldermen went free passage to Baltimore and among those passengers were Sailing Master Maraduke Dove of the United states Navy. After all this mob wher over the wife of the men that wher cought with the copper in the Washington Navy Yard she went to the Hon Major General Andrew Jackson that were President of the United States at that time Crying with tears in her eyes to the general asking him couldn't he Release he Husband from the Jail and he were in the Jail and hadn't had his trail yet and the generals reply was to the woman to go home my good Woman and make your selve easy your husband hadn't had his trail yet i have no demands over him yet for he is to be tried by 12 men and if he convicted and found guilty and then he falls in my hands and i will carry in the one door and bring him out the other. An the man was were found guilty and convicted sentenced by the Judge and that thru the Honorable Major General Andrew Jackson complied with his promise that he made to that poor Woman for the man were turned loose and went to his family on the 6 of September 1835 on Sunday. They were one half of us out of the yard we belonged to the ordinary at that time by 1 Lieutenant William J Bell who were 1 Lieutenant of the Washington Navy Yard at that time and then we hadn't had rain out of the yard before for 3 weeks and better and as i where going i called at the guard house and i Borrowed a Dollar from a Marine and he where a Watch maker by trade now sais he don't get drunk Mike as you have repented in the yard so long you may get tight and i said know sir i want to let you know you may dependii got as tight as i could get pretty near and i got so Wild on Capital Hill they jumped on me and i had to fight my way down until i got to the Catholic Church and when i got there all the people where going in the Church and i made noise and holle like a hound and me and Mr Van Horsix came out after me sais come Shiner go a way from here you are a bad fellow i got down on my hands and knees and poured up the gravel and told Mr. Van Horsix that i wasn't going to hurt him then i made a noise like a Cat before i left and i told Mr. Van Hosix if could lay dead spirit he couldn't lay live one then he told me go off you scamp you drunk and i went off very quietly after he told me But after i came to my senses i were sorry i came by the Church but nevertheless after i left i contacted some fellows and they want to take me anyhow and i fought my way through them clear down on the Navy Yard. Hill and when i got down on the hill they doubled teamed on me down at farthest corner they pelted me with stones and brick bats and some tf them bounced off me as some as i lined with the injin rubber and i fought my way up as far as Mr. Nokes Alley in front of the center house they had to call out the Marines to help to take me they takin shot and they shot at me from their house and the Ball lodged somewhere by the center house but they takein me that night and put me in the lock up house they had put some men in there and i broke out of the lock up house then let the olde Woman out then they surroundered me with their forces that night and put me back again and Mr. Barry were the police officer of the 6 Ward and i were brought out next morning on the 7 of September 1835 on Monday. [I was] brought before Mr. James Marshall Magistrate and Mr. Marshall came out of his door with to try the case in the street and i ask Mr. Marshall where was his office and Mr. Marshall then [said] it was the United States case and he wouldn't try it at that moment Doctor Clark were in the yard attending to his duty and i were put back in the lock up house again until one o'clock and then they kept me in the lock up until sun down then they tried the case and Doctor Clark sais gentleman you all have appeared against this colored man and i don't see a scratch of pin on any of you. (James Marshall was a Ward 6 blacksmith who also acted as a Justice of the Peace)Now gentleman who are going to pay this mans master for beating him up with brick bats and stones. Doctor Clark said i am not going to reHumbug in this way long for i will give this man up to Commander Hull. Mr Bury take Mike in the yard and give him to the Commodore. And this was after Sun down and Mr Bury police office i take in me in the yard and give me to First Lieutenant William J Belt and Bury said Mr Belt here Shiner Sire the squire has sent him to the yard Sire. And Lieutenant Belt said oh Shiner you have been where the sun shines a lot again go along Shiner down to the ordinary house. On the 8 day of September i went to my work in the Paint Shop on Tuesday and Captain Galico came by the Riggin Loft and Called to Mr. Inch Master Painter and told him to send that Shiner out there and when i came out refers the Captain which said the Captain i let you out on Liberty Sunday and you went fighting all over the city then the Captain asked me was i fighting told yes Sire i fought all i know how for they were fighting me i will sais he go along to your work sire if you hadn't of told me the truth i was going to lick you sire and don't let hear any more of it sire When i youngster i drink like fe i never trouble my person what ever without they would get after me and tantalize me and plough me and when i found the Tanny Roddy want to impose on me i all way ready when under all ways submission to a office civil or military. 1835 on Friday. He gave his command to Captain John Galigo Commodore Hull commanded the Washington Navy Yard 6 years and 6 months. And when he first came to the yard it was in a awful condition. Commodore Hull were a industrious officer and a sociable gentleman for his work at Washington Navy Yard proved his skill and industrious and may the Lord Bless Commodore Hull and i hope he is at rest from his labor. (Captain John Gallagher USN relieved Commodore Isaac Hull as Commandant WNY October 1, 1835 - March 1, 1836)
1836 Launching of the United States frigate Columbia at Washington Navy Yard on hte ninth day of March 1836 on Wednesday and wher built and constructed by Colonel William Doughty Sr and Mr James Owner Sr Master Builder. The Hon Major General Andrew Jackson President of the United States at that time wher present and the Hon Martin Van Buren Vice President of the United States wher present and a great manny of the Senators and Representatives that hadn't gone home wher present and Captain John Galigo wher present and 1 Lieutenant William J Belt Lieutenant William P Pearsey wher present and Sailing Master Marmaduke Dove wher present and Boatswain David Eaton wher present and when she was launch they had to roll her and it was some time befor they could get the ship long side of the wharf and she wher got in between 10 and 11 o'clock that night and by half past twelve o'clock she was at her mooring handsomely by. Commodore Daniel Paterson and Captain Joseph Smoot takin command of the Washington Navy Yard on the 26 day of March 1836 on Saturday. Major General Santa Aner the Mexican General in Texas wher takin prisoner by the Hon Major General Sam Houston the 21 of April 1836 on Thursday. Then he wher conveyed secretly from Texas to Washington by the Hon. Major General Sam Houston and conducted by him to the presidents house and introduced to the Ho Major General Andrew Jackson President of the United States at that time and the Declarin Texas independent from Mexico while he wher here in Washington and he may thank his almighty for his life bein preserved and all so he never ought to forget General Houston for his knidness to him and he ought to never forget the Hon Major General Andrew Jackson. Brigadier General Archabald Henderson and his fellow officers and the United States Marines under his command takin ther line of march from the Marine Barracks at Washington on the 1 day of June 1836 on Wednesday and caulded by the different garrisons of the Marines to take al that wher fit for duty to cooperate with the United States Armmy in the idian war all through the Southern States wher the idians wher troublesome and down about Georgia and East Florida Tempo Bay and Major General Winfeild Scott idian war 1836 and Brevet Major general Jessup wher in it aand a great many other officers of the armmy and they had a terrible seige with tthem that year and may the almighty with his kind wisdom make the American people to keep ther armmy and navy together for they are no getting along with out the country and may the United States Flag continue to wave with the assistance of the almighty God The 12 of September 1836 on Monday the Battle of North Point wher celebrated in Washington by the Baltimorines and by different company's and regiments and the volunteer company's of Washington and the troops wher commanded on that day by Major general Alexander McConnell of the United States Armmy and Adjutant General Rodger Jones of the United States Armmy and lieutenant colonel Robert Wainwright of the United States Marine Core and it wher a beautiful day and it wher a great parade. The 10 of October 1836 on Monday a detachment of United States Marines left the Marine garrison at Washington under the command of Captain Mc McCauley of the Marine Core for the United States line of battle ship North Carolina at Gasport Navy Yard wher commanded by Commodore Henry E. Ballard. (Captain Henry E. Ballard Commandant WNY October 1, 1849 - October 15, 1852)On the 4 day of December 1836 on Sunday i never have had a drop of liquor in my mouth since that time of no kind. The United States General Post office burnt down in Washington the 15 of December 1836 on Thursday.
1837 General Henderson returned home from the idian (war) in 1837
1838 There were a great drought in the city of Washington we had a smart of rain in May and in June they were but little rain, And in July it was hot and dry and everything on the earth suffering for vegetation and no rain in August that the heat would extended through the soles of your feet, particularly thin soles. And we hadn't any [rain] until the middle of September of 1838. The drought didn't only stop Washington it existence in different sections of the country. i have so much in my head that i didn't give the dates of
1839 ( Daniel Patterson WNY Commandant March 1, 1836 - August 25, 1839) |
| Preface Contents | |
|---|---|
|
Photogaph of Page 119 |
|
Return to : Genealogy Trails - Washington D. C.
© 2007 Genealogy Trails by Wayne Hinton |
|---|
