Starting Sept. 30, 2014, Genealogy.com will be making a big change. GenForum message boards, Family Tree Maker homepages, and the most popular articles will be preserved in a read-only format, while several other features will no longer be available, including member subscriptions and the Shop.
 
Learn more


Home Page |Surname List |Index of Individuals |InterneTree |Sources


View Tree for Commodore Isaac MayoCommodore Isaac Mayo (b. September 19, 1791, d. May 18, 1861)

Commodore Isaac Mayo (son of Isaac Mayo and Sarah Anne Thornton) was born September 19, 1791 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and died May 18, 1861 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He married Sarah Battaile Fitzhugh Bland on September 23, 1833.

 Includes NotesNotes for Commodore Isaac Mayo:
The birth date of Isaac Mayo is in question. The monument in the Naval Academy cemetery indicates he was born in 1795; however his obituary states he was born Sept. 19, 1791. The 1860 census also would place Isaac's birth in 1791 The evidence in the wills of his nephew, Samuel Mayo, and his father, Isaac Mayo, Sr., would indicate that the earlier date of 1791 is more accurate. Samuel states that Isaac was the oldest son of Isaac, Sr. in his will written in 1801. Isaac, Sr. said that he had four children: Isaac, Jr., Joseph, Sarah and George in his will written in 1797. The 1790 census indicated that Isaac, Sr. was married with one female child (possibly Sarah). Thus it is known that Joseph and George were younger than Isaac, Jr. and that George was a baby. On June 16, 1798, Isaac, Jr. was adopted by Jonathan Waters. He was receiving income from his father's estate and later from his Uncle Samuel's estate. This money was paid to Jonathan Waters for room and board until he entered the Navy in 1809.

Ref: Naval Warrior -- The Life of Commodore Isaac Mayo By Byron A. Lee, Ann Arrundell County Historical Society Linthicum, Maryland, 2002, page 183.
_______________________________________________________

Old Ironsides' Battle Record: Documents of USS Constitution's Illustrious Deeds

In 1853, as the flagship of the African Squadron under the command of Commodore Isaac Mayo, Constitution cruised the coast of Africa looking for slave traders headed to the Americas. On 3 November, sails were sighted and the Constitution gave chase, eventually bringing to the American schooner H. N. Gambrill. Although no one knew it at the time, this was to be Constitution's last prize.

The following accounts of the seizure of H. N. Gambrill are by Commodore Mayo himself, who also gives his opinion of the state of the African slave trade, and by the flag lieutenant of Constitution, C.R.P. Rodgers, who led the boarding party and was charged with investigating the activities of the schooner.

Excerpt of a letter from Isaac Mayo, commander U.S. African Squadron, reporting the capture of the suspected slave trader H. N. Gambrill on 3 November 1853.

Flagship Constitution
St. Paul de Loando,
Nov. 10, 1853

I have the honor to report that on the morning of the 3rd of Novr., while near the African Shore, about Sixty Miles South of the river Congo, I fell in with the American Schooner H. N. Gambrill, of New York, and found on board of her the most unquestionable evidence of her being on the eve of receiving a cargo of slaves. I have therefore felt obliged to seize and send her home for trial.

Lieutenant DeCamp of this ship, will take her to New York, and deliver her to the proper authorities. I send for the information of the Navy Department a memorandum, made by my Flag Lieutenant, on the day of the capture, who was charged with the duty of examining the suspicious circumstances connected with the vessel, and with the persons found on board of her.

In this connection I beg leave to state my belief that, the Slave trade is reviving on this Southern Coast, and that the American flag is extensively used in its prosecution. Several cargoes of Slaves have been recently carried off in American Vessels, which having regular papers, defy the English cruisers, and hope to elude the vigilance of our Squadron, knowing it consists of only Three Vessels, serving on a coast of great extent, and dependent for provisions upon our depot at Porto Praya, in going to and from which much time is unavoidably consumed.

Information concerning the movements of all vessels of War, is carried along the Coast, by the Slave dealers, with wonderful celerity, and the Masters of the Slave vessels, are provided with every expedient to avoid capture, by means of double sets of papers and flags, and every other device that experience and interest can suggest. I have become convinced that the large force concentrated in the Constitution might be much more advantageously distributed, at the same expense, in several smaller vessels....

I have the honor to be Very Respectfully Your Obt. Svt.

I. Mayo
Commander in Chief
U.S. Naval Forces
West Coast Africa

Source: National Archives, Record Group 45, African Squadron Letters Received by the Secretary of the Navy from the Commanding Officers of Squadrons, 1853, no. 36.

_____________________________________________________

Early in the spring of 1861 Maryland was occupied by Federal troops, and martial law was established in some localities. On May 1st, 1861, Isaac Mayo tendered his resignation from the U.S. Navy. The following is his entire letter:

Gresham
South River, A.A. Co., Md.
May 1st, 1861

To His Excellency Abraham Lincoln,
President of the United States

Sir:

I hereby most respectfully tender to you my resignation of the office of Captain in the United States Navy.

For more than half a century it has been the pride of my life to hold office under the Government of the United States. For twenty-five years I have been engaged in active service and have never seen my flag dishonored or the American arms disgraced by defeat. It was the hope of my old age that I might die, as I had lived, an officer in the Navy of a free Government. This hope has been taken from me.

In adopting the policy of coercion, you have denied to millions of freemen the rights of the Constitution. In its stead you have placed the will of a sectional party, and now demand submission in the name of an armed force. As one of the oldest soldiers of America, I protest--in the name of humanity--against this "war against brethren." I cannot fight against the Constitution while pretending to fight for it.

You will, therefore, oblige me by accepting my resignation.

Most Respectfully, Isaac Mayo

Captain U. S. Navy Late Commander in Chief of U.S. Naval Forces, Coast of Africa, Constitution, flagship

The reverse notation on the Mayo letter is "Dismiss by order the President," then, "Done May 18, 1861." Abraham Lincoln's dismissal of Isaac Mayo was to be effective on May 18, 1861; however he may have been dead before the notice of dismissal could have been delivered. His monument in the Naval Academy Cemetery, erected by his wife, says he died on May 10th, 1861, while the church records say he died May 18th, 1861.

Ref: Naval Warrior -- The Life of Commodore Isaac Mayo By Byron A. Lee, Ann Arrundell County Historical Society Linthicum, Maryland, 2002, page 183.


More About Commodore Isaac Mayo and Sarah Battaile Fitzhugh Bland:
Marriage: September 23, 1833
Created with Family Tree Maker


Search for Family - Learn About Genealogy - Helpful Web Sites - Message Boards - Guest Book - Home
© Copyright 1996-99, The Learning Company, Inc., and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved.
© Copyright 1995-97 by Matthew L. Helm. All Rights Reserved.