Mary Walker

Mary married James Maury on 11 Nov 1743 in Louisa County, VA. James (son of Matthew Maury and Mary Anne Fontaine) was born on 8 Apr 1718 in Dublin, Ireland; was christened on 19 Apr 1718 in Dublin, Ireland; died on 9 Jun 1769 in Glebe Farm, Albemarle County, VA; was buried in Walker's Church, Albemarle County, VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Emigrated to Tennessee with the children of his Uncle Abraham Maury.

Richard married Diana Minor on 18 Jan 1792 in Louisa, Virginia, USA. Diana was born on 18 Aug 1768 in Topping Castle, Spotsylvania County, VA; died on 27 Jul 1843 in Franklin, Williamson, Tennessee, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Eggleston. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Matthew and Elizabeth had ten children. Matthew succeeded his father as Rector of Walker's Church and in teaching school.

Matthew married Elizabeth Simms WalkerAlbemarle County, Virginia, USA. Elizabeth was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, USA; died in Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

George Washington appointed him Consul to the Port of Liverpool in the Kingdom of Great Britain. He was also an owner of the Commission Merchants "Maury & Latham (see an account of his life in INTIMATE VIRGINIANA, ed. Anne Fontaine Maury.)

James married Catherine Armistead on 15 Jun 1782 in Virginia, USA. Catherine (daughter of Robert Armistead and Ann Smith) was born on 31 Dec 1755 in Louisa County, VA; died on 24 May 1794 in Liverpool, England; was buried in St. Geroge's Churchyard, Fredericksburg, VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

James married Margaret Ruston on 16 Aug 1796 in Liverpool, England. Margaret was born on 15 Jun 1764. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Anne remained unmarried and lived in Liverpool, England with her father who was consul for forty-five years. Anne conducted genealogical research on the Fontaine family and, with G. P. Putnam, published the English translation of the Rev. Jacques Fontaine's memoirs. She also compiled a genealogical chart of the Fontaine and Maury families.

Family/Spouse: Thomas Strachen. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
yellow fever

Family/Spouse: Mary Grymes. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Catherin married James BarrettAlbemarle County, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: T. Lewis. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Edward Herndon on 13 Jul 1809 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, USA. Edward (son of John Joseph Herndon and Philadelphia Foster) was born on 15 Jan 1761 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, USA; died on 17 Oct 1837 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married James LewisAlbemarle County, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Mildred Thornton. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Fontaine married Elizabeth Brooke in 1785. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: E. Grant. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Departure: 1 Dec 1836, Liverpool, England
• Arrival: 6 Dec 1836, New York, New York; Age: 30
• Residence: 1850, Washington Ward 1, Washington, District of Columbia; Age: 44
• Residence: 1860, Washington Ward 1, Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Age: 54
• Residence: 1861, Tennessee
• _MILT: 10 Jun 1861

Notes:

LLD, USN, CSN, Commodore, "Pathfinder of the Seas." Matthew's Physical Geography of the Seas (1855) was the first textbook on modern oceanography.

His wife, Ann Hull Herndon, was the daughter of the President of the Virginia Bank at Fredericksburg, Va. They had eight children.

Maury, Matthew Fontaine
(1806--73)
Oceanographer; born near Fredericksburg, Va. He entered the U.S. Navy (1825) and spent the next nine years on worldwide sea voyages. In 1839 a stagecoach accident left him permanently lamed. Considered unfit for active duty, in 1842 he was appointed superintendent of the Naval Observatory's Depot of Charts and Instruments. There he compiled information from numerous ships' logs, and gained an international reputation for his research in navigation, oceanography, and meteorology. By interpreting the crossing of the trade winds at the equator, he designed shipping routes which shortened an Atlantic-Pacific crossing by 40 days. In his most famous work, The Physical Geography of the Sea (1855), he proposed a transatlantic telegraph cable to be constructed on a level sea-floor plateau he had discovered between Newfoundland and Ireland. In 1861 Maury became a commodore in the Confederate Navy; while working to perfect underwater mines, he went to Europe where he also purchased and outfitted cruisers for the Confederate navy. After a brief self-exile in Mexico and Europe (1865-68), he returned to the U.S.A. to teach at the Virginia Military Institute (1868-73). He is known as the "Pathfinder of the Seas."

THE CAMBRIDGE BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
edited by David Crystal
Copyright (c) 1994, Cambridge University Press
Reproduced with permission.

Maury, Matthew (Fontaine)
Pronunciation: [mawree]
(1806--73)
Naval officer and hydrographer, born in Spotsylvania, VA. He entered the US navy in 1825, and voyaged round the world (1826-30). After an accident in 1839, he was appointed in 1842 superintendent of the hydrographical office at Washington, and in 1844 of the observatory. There he wrote his Physical Geography of the Sea (1856), and his works on the Gulf Stream, ocean currents, and Great Circle sailing. He became an officer of the Confederate navy, and later professor of physics at Lexington.

THE CAMBRIDGE BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
edited by David Crystal
Copyright (c) 1994, Cambridge University Press
Reproduced with permission.

Saunders, James Edmonds. Early Settlers of Alabama. L. Grahm & Son. New Orleans. 1899, p 301-304:

Commodore Matthew Fontaine Maury
was born in Spotsylvania county, Virginia, January 16th, 1806. His father was Richard Maury, who was the son of the James Maury (above mentioned).Mr. Richard Maury moved from Virginia to Williamson county, Tennessee, when his son Matthew was but a child. The country was then mostly a canebrake, but the soil wonderfully fertile. His farm was not large, and he had only a few slaves, but he was a solid, sensible and industrious man, and managed to rear and educate a family of ten children; commanding, however, whenever the crop required it, the labor of his sons. He made his home on Harpeth river, four miles below Franklin. His only amusement was a grist mill, which he erected on a small tributary of that stream, and which was a great convenience to the Perkinses, the Childress' and the Maurys. He rode this hobby very hard, little dreaming that his son "Matt" would mount one which he would ride around the admiring world, in the presence of Kings, Princes and peoples, and "take the purse" from all competitors--the renowned Humboldt being the judge.

I never knew young Matthew Fontaine Maury until he entered Harpeth Academy-- then under the presidency of Rev. Gideon Blackburn, D. D. He was fortunate in having such a teacher and guide. Dr. Blackburn was an eminent minister of the Presbyterian church. He was of commanding person, graceful manners, and a scholar of extensive learning--for an age in which science did not constitute so large an element as now. As an orator, I think he was the equal of Dr. Samuel Davies of Nassan Hall. He never wrote his sermons, but spoke extemporaneously, sometimes for more than two hours. Judge Guild (who was an orator himself) says of him, in his "Old Times in Tennessee:" "Dr. Blackburn's eloquence as General Jackson's chaplain, inflamed the hearts and nerved the arms of the Tennessee volunteers, who carried the victorious flag of our country through the great campaigns of Jackson. He was the most eloquent and powerful minister I ever heard. I have heard many of the pulpit orators that have arisen since then, and my first impression has not been diminished, but deepened by the accumulation of years. Few American orators have shown themselves his equal, and none his superior." About this pupil, young Maury, there was a striking feature, and that was an undivided concentration of mind upon whatever he was doing. He was no dreamer. On the play-ground he was active, strong and cheery, and a favorite with his fellows; and when "books were called" he devoted his attention, as singly and earnestly, to his lesson; and so gained the approbation of his teachers. He was a fine example of "a sound mind in a sound body." We were school-fellows for some years. At length my father moved to Alabama, and I went to a college in another State, and he went into the Navy.

About 1826 we happened to meet at Franklin, our old home. He wore the glazed cap, and the uniform, of a midshipman. There was quite a crowd of schoolmates around him, and a happy reunion took place. At length the young men began to look at their watches, for a quarter race was to come off. In a short time we were left alone, and had a most interesting conversation. He had been on a cruise in the Pacific Ocean--and talked, mostly, of the currents of the sea. I remember to this day, that he told me of a broad current of cold water which ran from South to North, up the Western coast of South America, and with so strong a current that a sail vessel to double Cape Horn would have to make an offing of one or two hundred miles from the coast to escape the resistance of the current. I mention this fact to show, that young as he was, he was a close observer of what he saw, and the tenacity with which his mind held on to a subject, and revolved it over and over again. It is this quality which distinguishes a great man from an ordinary one.

Mr. Maury became Lieutenant in the Navy in 1837. "He had a leg broken and many other injuries (I think from the overturning of a stage) and during his convalescence he spent several years in Fredericksburg in study, and preparing a series of articles ("The Lucky Bag," by Harry Bluff), for the Southern Literary Messenger which wrought a revolution in the Navy Department, and led to the establishment of the Naval Academy. (Mr. R. A. Brock, in Vol. 5, New Series of Virginia Historical Collections).

In 1842 he was made Superintendent of the Depot of the Charts and Instruments in Washington, which under his inspiration became the National Observatory. Here he made his renowned Current Charts and Sailing Directions, and wrote his "Geography of the Sea," which was pronounced by Humboldt "a new science." Conscious that his new system of navigation would not be perfected without accurate observations everywhere, he suggested a Congress of Maritime Nations at Brussels, where sailors on every sea were instructed to report to their governments--and in their turn these reports were sent to the National Observatory at Washington. What a triumph this was for the scientist at the head of it, who had barely attained to middle age! In recognition of his services in the cause of science, the leading powers of Europe showered honors and decorations upon him. The University of Cambridge, England, conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. President Tyler wanted him (though only a lieutenant) at the head of the Navy Department, and the position of the Hydrographer of the Southern Exploring Exposition was offered him. The Academies of Science of Paris, Berlin, Brussels and St. Petersburg conferred membership upon him.

But he was not only honored by the great and learned, but as well by the common sailors of every nation. At first they were incredulous. They had never heard of "sailing by great circles." They thought the proper course from port to port was "plumb straight." These old tars had often crossed the ocean and had never seen any current in it, and did not believe there was any. But when the sailing master would spread out the new chart on the binnacle, lay his course as if sailing to a different port than the desired one--when after a while they would fall into a current which would waft them along without an adverse wind, and the voyage would be a short and easy one, they would begin to see the riddle. But then again when on the return voyage the sailing master, instead of laying his course on the same track on which they had come, so smoothly from home, would take a route entirely different, they would be again mystified. After a while, however, they would feel a steady wind at the backs-the sails when once set would not need trimming for days--and when they would reach the home port, in shorter time, and with less labor, than ever before, they would frankly acknowledge their mistake. In this way, the name of Columbus, when he discovered a New World, was not more universally known than that of "Maury," and had these mariners lived in ancient Rome, a new God would have been added to the Mythology, and his image would have been the figure-head for good luck on every vessel which floated on the ocean.

When, in the war between the States, Virginia seceded from the Union, he resigned his commission in the Navy, and the charge of the National Observatory. When this became known, France and Russia invited him to become their guest, with every provision for his comfort and studies. He replied that his first duty was to Virginia, his birth place, and his home, since his marriage. His vindication of the South (to be found in Southern Historical Papers 1, Vol. 49) is a dispassionate and very able paper. In that contest we lost everything "but honor"--let us always keep that untarnished, by keeping in mind the grounds which justified our action. He was promoted to a Captaincy and a member of the Advisory Committee; the first act of which body was to recommend R. E. Lee as commander of the Virginia army. He gave much attention to torpedoes, believing in their efficiency as much as his cousin, Gen. Dabney H. Maury.

In 1862 he was sent on a special mission to England, and remained there until 1865. On the downfall of the Confederacy Maximilian persuaded him to make his home in Mexico; and he was appointed Honorary Counselor of State, a member of the Cabinet, and an Imperial Commissioner of Immigration, and was sent on special mission to Europe. Shortly afterward Maximilian fell, and he remained there until 1868. He was elected to the Presidency of the University of Alabama, which he declined; (President Clayton). He was elected Professor of Physics of the Virginia Military Institute, which he accepted, and declining the charge of the Imperial Observatory at Paris, he returned to Virginia. After a most useful life he died at Lexington, Va., February 1, 1873. He was a sincere, humble Christian. Whilst some men, who have had no original ideas, and have never risen above text-books, have become skeptics from an exaggerated idea of their learning, he wrote text-books--books for the advancement of science into unexplored fields, and yet held fast to the faith which sustained his ancestors, the pious Huguenots in their afflictions-and the last words he spoke were "all is well."

Commodore Maury married Anne, daughter of Dabney and Elizabeth Herndon. Her father was for many years President of the Virginia Bank at Fredericksburg, Va. A number of her brothers were men of distinction. William Lewis Herndon, when a Lieutenant in company with a friend of the same grade, explored the Amazon, the largest river in the world, from its head springs, in the Andes, which overlook the Pacific on the west for 4000 miles, to the Atlantic on the East, where through a mouth 100 miles wide, it pours out its immense accumulation of waters.

It was a feat equal to the navigation of the Congo River by Stanley, with this difference: Stanley, in his first expedition to the interior of Africa, projected his plan, and when he did attempt the descent of the Congo, he had provided a vessel made in segments, which were carried across the portage on the backs of Indians to the great river; whereas, Herndon, from a U. S. vessel lying in port on the Pacific, took thirty-five or forty men (I speak from memory), and without any boat, but with a few tools to construct canoes, and depending on his gun and fishing tackle to save his company from starvation, he boldly embarked on an unknown stream, where for 2000 miles he never saw a human face except that of a savage. He became a captain and heroically went down with the ill-fated steamer "Central America," of which he was the commander, September 12, 1857, after having seen every passenger transferred from the decks of the sinking ship, and saved it. It was from such blood, mingled with that of the Fontaines and Maurys, that the children of Commodore Maury sprang. From long observation I feel authorized to say that the children of distinguished men, especially the sons are, in a majority of cases, failures, because the fathers let their light shine outside, instead of inside their families; but this was not the case in the family of Commodore Maury. He made his children his companions. He elevated their minds to the plane of his own great thoughts. Mr. Brook says that his four youngest children assisted him in preparing his charts and geography of the sea for the press. From no other source except free intercourse with their father could they have acquired the knowledge requisite, to give him help in so novel a work. I will now notice each of his children in their order

1. Elizabeth Herndon married, in 1857, her cousin, Wm. A. Maury. He is a man of extensive learning; was a Professor of Law in Columbia College; had the degree of L.L. D. conferred upon him; is now Assistant Attorney General of the United States, and I am informed by one of the ablest lawyers of the bar of the United States Supreme Court, is a man of decided ability. 2. Diana Fontaine, in 1858, married Spotswood W. Corbin. 3. Richard Launcelot married, in 1862, Susan Gatewood Crutchfield. He enlisted as a private in the Confederate army, in April, 1861. He was promoted, grade by grade, for his gallantry to a colonelcy; was badly wounded at the battle of Seven Pines, and again badly wounded through the hips at the battle of Drewry's Bluff, which permanently disabled him; but he rejoined the army on the evacuation of Richmond, and surrendered at Appomattox Court House. He is now a prominent member of the Richmond, Va., bar. 4. John Herndon, born in 1842. "He was a lieutenant in the Confederate States Navy. Going out alone from camp, opposite Vicksburg, January 27, 1863, to reconnoiter the enemy, his horse returned without its rider, who is supposed to have been murdered by an ambushed foe. He lies in an unknown grave." 5. Mary Herndon was married in 1877 to James R. Worth. 6. Eliza Hall, married in 1878 to Thomas Withers. She was the author of a paper on the State Debt. She died in 1881. 7. Matthew Fontaine, born in 1849; married Rose, daughter of Capt. John A. Robinson. He is a civil engineer. 8. Lucy Minor married, in 1877, Meverill Locke van Doren of "Blenheim," Albemarle county, Va.

I am indebted to R. A. Brook, Esq., the indefatigable secretary of the Virginia Historical Society, for most of the statistics on which this article is founded.

Buried:
Hollywood Cemetery

Died:
Age: 67

Matthew married Ann Hull Herndon on 15 Jul 1834 in Spotsylvania, Virginia. Ann (daughter of Dabney Herndon and Elizabeth Hull) was born on 8 Aug 1811 in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Virginia, USA; died on 12 Feb 1875 in Richmond, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
yellow fever

John married Elizabeth "Eliza" Herndon Maury on 3 Apr 1817 in Washington City, Washington, District of Columbia, USA. Elizabeth was born on 26 Aug 1793 in Spotsylvania, Spotsylvania, Virginia, USA; died on 25 Jan 1872. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married William Michie on 23 Dec 1790 in Albemarle County, Virginia, USA. William was born about 1770 in Louisa County, VA; died in 1851 in Louisa County, VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth Clarkson. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mildred married Henry FryVirginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Reuben married Elizabeth LewisVirginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

History of Albemarle County in Virginia
Chapter 7
MAURY, Catharine, father, Rev. Matthew, married LIGHTFOOT, Francis

Catharine married Francis LightfootAlbemarle County, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Ellen Magruder. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Buried:
Garden LN, Section 101, Lot 37, Space 2

Other Events and Attributes:

• _MILT: 1860, Virginia

Notes:

Saunders, James Edmonds. Early Settlers of Alabama. L. Grahm & Son. New Orleans. 1899:

Dabney H. Maury had a remarkable military career. When the battle of Elkhorn was fought, in March, 1862, he was simply a staff officer of General van Dorn, but when the last battles around Mobile were fought, which ended the war between the States, he was Major General, and in command of the Department of the Gulf. During these four eventful years, thousands had started in the race for promotion, and but few succeeded. Some failed for want of physical courage (but the number was small, for this is a very common quality), many more failed, not for want of bravery, but they were so nervous and excitable that they could not think in a moment of danger, and of course were unfit for commanders; and a much larger number failed because they had no military knowledge. This is indispensable for an important command. I knew but one man who was a born soldier. He was endowed with an estimate of the value of time (equal to Napoleon's), and if he committed blunders, his enemy was so dazed by the celerity of his movements, that he failed to perceive them (Forrest).

As my space is small, I will only notice the beginning and close of his military career. At Elkhorn, the plan of battle was for the wing under the command of Generals McCulloch and McDonald to attack the enemy in front, and General Price's wing on the flank. The battle had but fairly begun, "when a staff officer, Colonel Dillon, galloped up, with disaster on his face. Riding close up to van Dorn, he said, in a low tone, 'McCulloch is killed. McIntosh is killed, Herbert is killed, and the attack on the front has ceased.'" These fatalities imposed a heavy burden on van Dorn's staff. How Colonel Maury performed his part in this sudden emergency, can be seen by the report of the commanding General: "Colonel Maury was of invaluable service to me, both in preparing for, and during, the battle. Here, and on other fields, where I have served with him, he proved to be a zealous patriot and true soldier--cool and calm under all circumstances, he was always ready, either with his sword or pen."--Southern Historical Papers.

Preparations to reduce Mobile were commenced soon after the battle of Nashville, and the command of the Department of the Gulf was entrusted to Dabney H. Maury, now Major General. General Canby had 60,000 men, and the fleet of Farragut, (which had recovered from the consternation produced by the audacious attack of the ram--Tennessee). To oppose these, there were, of all arms, only 9,000 Confederates. Of these, there was a brigade of Alabama "boy reserves," under General Thomas. It has been remembered, for two thousand years, that the women of Carthage gave their tresses for bow-strings, in a great emergency; but the women of Alabama did more, for they gave their tender beloved sons, "the dew of their youth," for the rough service and perils of the camp. The base of the enemy was at the mouth of Fish river, twenty miles distant from Spanish Fort. General Maury had erected defensive works here, and at Blakely. The enemy, in marching the twenty miles before them, consumed nine days, and entrenched every night. What a compliment to General Maury and his bold little army! He offered battle to them on the way, with his small force, reduced by a garrison of 300 men left in Mobile, but they declined, and sat down before Spanish Fort for a regular siege by parallel approaches. General Maury had used every resource known to science to meet the impending blow. He had plenty of heavy guns.

Federal historians say that he had Parrott guns. The General, himself, in his account of the siege (Southern Historical Papers) says "the only Parrott gun we had, at that time, was the 'Lady Washington, ' captured by my division at Corinth. But we had cannon better than any Parrott ever made. These guns were cast at Selma, of the iron about Briarfield, in North Alabama. It must be the best gun metal in the world. Some of our Brooke guns were subjected to extraordinarily severe tests, yet not one of them burst, or was in any degree injured during the fourteen days siege, at the same time they outranged the enemy's best and heaviest Parrotts, which not unfrequently burst by overcharging and over elevation." General Maury also used torpedoes. He says "every avenue of approach was guarded by submarine torpedoes. No vessels drawing three feet water could get within effective cannon range of any part of our defenses. Had we understood their power in the beginning of the war, as at the end, we could effectually have defended every harbor, channel, or river, in the Confederate States, against all sorts of naval attacks. During the siege a number of armed vessels and transports were sunk. But the obstinacy of the defense was of no avail. The last gun in the war between the States was fired in this siege, on the Eastern shore. The Federals lost 7000 in killed and wounded here. On the fall of Mobile, General Maury marched its garrison to Meridian, where, hearing of the surrender of General Lee, and the capture of President Davis, he surrendered his forces. He is now U. S. Minister to Columbia, South America (1888).

In his Report of the defense of Mobile he says that the last gun of the war was fired on the eastern shore of the bay on the 12th of April, 1865. But from a number of letters I have received since that statement was published, I am satisfied that the General was mistaken, and that the last conflict of the civil war was a bloody affair, which occurred at West Point, Ga., under the leadership of Gen. R. C. Tyler.

Dabney married Anna "Nannie" Rose Mason on 10 Mar 1852 in Stafford County, Virginia, USA. Anna was born on 4 Sep 1829 in USA; died on 21 Feb 1876 in USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

James married Mary Ann Tinsley on 4 Jun 1818 in Hanover or Louisa County, VA. Mary was born on 9 Aug 1792 in Mechanicsville, Hanover County, VA; died on 23 Jan 1882 in Louisa County, VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]