James Ferguson

James Ferguson was in the U. S. Navy all of his professional career which began in the early 1800s and lasted through the 1860s. He was a sailmaker by craft and was elevated to the rank of Sailmaster on the Frigate Constellation on May 28, 1812. He was an observer of and participant in a number of historic military and diplomatic events in the 19^th century.

Sailmaster

A sailmaker learned his trade by working in a three year apprentice program in a sail loft on shore. This usually started at age fourteen. During that time the apprentice would get free room and board, but no salary. Upon graduation he could work for either a civilian sail maker (and there were many in the Philadelphia area), a commercial ship, or the Navy. It was a tough, physical job.

A ship leaving for sea typically carried two or three sets of sails (a set could be as large as 3/4ths of an acre). There were no machines, and all the cutting and sewing of the heavy cotton or linen cloth had to be done by hand. The sails had to capture as much wind as possible when the sails were unfurled.

He also repaired the sails, making sure they were hoisted in port for drying to prevent mildew or rot. Storing the sails meant watching out for damage from insects and rats. The sailmaster on Navy ships was ranked as an officer, and he reported to the carpenter.

Frigate Constellation

James’ first ship, the USS Constellation, was launched in 1797 at a Baltimore shipyard. It was a three-masted vessel with 48 guns, four decks, and was manned by 340 officers and enlisted men. Her job was to guard the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

In January, 1813 a large British armada of 100 ships formed a blockade at the bay. Each of the dozen gun ships had more firepower than all of the American ships. Constellation was anchored in the Elizabeth River along with 20 small boats, protecting Fort Norfolk, Fort Nelson, Portsmouth, and the Gosport Navy Yard. Like David against a giant, she managed to prevent the British from entering the Bay. The blockade lasted for the duration of the war and ended in a stalemate.

Second Barbary War

The War of 1812 ended on February 18, 1815  but, just one month later, President James Monroe declared war on Algiers, one of the countries engaged in hijacking commercial ships for ransom. If money was not paid they would kill the crew and/or sell them into slavery.

Two squadrons of ships, including Constellation, engaged the Middle Eastern countries of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli (now Algeria, Tunis and Libya) and soon treaties of peace were signed. The squadrons returned to Hampton Roads in December, 1817. 

From 1819 through 1834 James performed his duties on that same ship as it guarded American shipping in Brazil, Peru, in the Caribbean, and then throughout the Mediterranean Sea.

Sloop Peacock

In March, 1835 James was assigned to the USS Peacock in New York Harbor. as it was about to embark on an around-the-world mission. On board was President Andrew Jackson’s “Special Confidential Agent,” Edmund Roberts.  This would be the second attempt, using the same ship, to secure trade treaties in the Middle and Far East. They sailed south around South America into the Pacific, then on to Zanzibar on the East African Coast of the Indian Ocean.

In September the ship was grounded on a coral reef in the Middle East. They freed themselves by sending seven men in a small row boat with a line that was tethered to the ship. Excess weight was  then thrown overboard, including 11 of their 22 guns. After that the crew in the row boat was able to tow the ship off the reef.

They proceeded to Cochin-China (modern day Vietnam). Edmund Roberts attempted to negotiate a treaty, but was unsuccessful. He fell ill with dysentery and the ship withdrew for treatment to Macao, near Hong Kong where he died in 1836. Peacock then departed for home, and arrived in Norfolk in October, 1837.  The entire trip lasted more than two years.

In 1838 the ship joined the U.S. Exploring Expedition. While navigating the Columbia River in Oregon she got stuck on a sand bar and sank. Fortunately, all of the crew and most of the scientific data were saved.

Final Missions

In the early 1840s, James served on the USS Columbia and patrolled around Brazil and the Mediterranean. His last ship was the USS Potomac when it patrolled in the West Indies.

Presumably, he was still in the Navy, but from 1845 through the Civil War he remained at his craft. at was stationed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. There he worked on the sails until the war was over.

Home for James was in Philadelphia where his wife had their first child in 1815. He was a Freemason and was admitted in Harmony Lodge 52 in Philadelphia as a Master Mason in 1816. Following his death in 1869 he was joined by his wife and five other family members. His grave marker, shown above, was carefully recovered in pieces nearly 150 years later, after it was found buried two feet underground.

At the time of his death his family’s home address was 1518 South 5th Street, but he actually died at his son’s residence at Fort Mifflin, the historic Revolutionary fort on the Delaware River.