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| Old Ironsides at dock in the Charlestown Navy Yard, near Boston |
The USS Constitution
was launched on 21 October 1797 from Hartt’s Shipyard in Boston, Massachusetts.
In researching my 4x great grandmother, Catherine Plummer
Jones (1799-1828), I learned that her sister Agnes (1816 -1890) married William
N. Hart (1812- 1878) on 5 November 1837 in Boston. The Joneses and Harts all lived in Boston’s North
End, and are buried in Copp’s Hill Burial Ground. Edmund Hartt, a distant relative and the owner
of Hartt’s Shipyard, is also buried at Copp’s Hill. He built the USS Boston, the USS Argus
and the USS Independence. Most of the relatives in this branch of my
family were mariners, ships carpenters, sailmakers, ropemakers or from other
sea faring occupations.
The USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) was designed by Joshua
Humphrey and built out of pine and southern live oak. Her name was chosen by President George
Washington. During the War of 1812 she earned her famous
nickname "Old Ironsides" when British soldiers swore they saw cannon balls bounce from her
sides. In this era wooden warships were expected to
last about fifteen years. In 1830 an
article in the Boston newspaper Advertiser
erroneously gossiped that she was about to scrapped, which began a letter
writing campaign to save her. Oliver Wendell
Holmes wrote his famous poem “Old Ironsides” during this time. The Constitution
was saved, and her sister ship Congress
was scrapped.
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| Your tour guide is a US Navy crew member in 1812 uniform |
During the Civil War the USS
Constitution was saved by the Union Navy and towed to New York City from
Annapolis, where it was feared she would fall into the hands of the South. See this link for that story: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/04/old-ironsides-during-civil-war.html. Again, by 1900 her fate was up in the air
as it was suggested she be used for target practice and sunk. Protests led to another restoration in 1906,
and then she began to serve as a museum ship in the Charlestown Navy Yard. She was restored in 1925, and reconstructed in
1995 and 2010. The USS Constitution
is still a commissioned warship of the US Navy, and will participate in a
re-enactment of the famous battle versus the HMS Guerriere for the 200th anniversary of the War of
1812.
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| The USS Constitution is still a commissioned warship of the US Navy |
For the truly curious:
Genealogical History of Samuel Hartt from London, England to Lynn,
Massachusetts, to 1903, by James Morrison Hart, Printed and bound by
the Rumford Printing Company, Concord, NH, 1903
available at the New England Genealogical Society CS71.H326.1903.
For more information on the USS Constitution see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution
The story of Old Ironside's rescue during the Civil War http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/04/old-ironsides-during-civil-war.html
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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
What great history! Thanks for this post.
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