SHIP:  
Closed Now
MUSEUM:  
Closed Now
SHIP:  
Closed Now
MUSEUM:  
Closed Now

King James Bible removed from USS President

Anchor Icon

In January of 1815, the frigate USS President, commanded by Captain Stephen Decatur, encountered a British blockade while attempting to sail from New York. The British squadron, comprised of HMS Majestic, HMS Endymion, HMS Pomone, and HMS Tenedos, gave chase to the American ship and, after an exchange of fire, defeated her. President surrendered and was taken back to England as a prize.

William Clark, a British Master-at-Arms, was among those who boarded the defeated President. Clark removed this Bible from the carriage of a gun named “Montgomery” in honor of the American General Richard Montgomery, who died in the Battle of Quebec during the American Revolution. The name given to this book corroborates the assertion that guns on American warships were given names by the crew.

The Bible also highlights the importance of religion in the lives of seamen, despite their reputation for adhering loosely, if at all, to the strictures of religious teaching while at sea. The Reverend Edward Mangin, chaplain of HMS Gloucester in 1812, wrote that “nothing can possibly be more unsuitably or more awkwardly situated than a clergyman in a ship of war; every object around him is at variance with the sensibilities of a rational and enlightened mind.” This Bible would seem to be at odds with Mangin’s sentiments.

In May 1813, Chaplain Andrew Hunter of the Washington Navy Yard wrote to Secretary of the Navy William Jones about his attempts at supplying navy ships with Bibles: “I have endeavoured to supply every public ship that went out of the harbour with a number of bibles for the use of the seamen…The effects produced by their spending their spare time in reading those books have been visible to a number of the officers. If some plan could be adopted for supplying the ships at regular periods with the scriptures and some small religious and moral tracts I have no doubt it would produce an amelioration of their morals and increase their civilization.”[1]

In the early 19th century, numerous Bible societies dedicated to disseminating cheap editions of the religious work sprang up around the country. In February 1813, students at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) founded the Nassau Hall Bible Society. According to the society’s constitution, its purpose was to procure and distribute Bibles “among those who are unable to purchase them.” The students’ first act was to distribute “the Bible among those who are engaged either by sea or land in fighting our battles.” It is likely that President’s crew received a supply at this time. A printed card affixed to the pastedown reads: “PRESENTED/ BY the BIBLE SOCIETY/ OF NASSAU HALL,/ PRINCETON.” A separate sheet glued to the endpapers reads: “Be it known that this Bible was taken from the Montgomery gun of the President Frigate where it was slung to the carriage of the said gun. It was taken by William Clark from where it hung after the engagement with the said Frigate, in December 1814 [sic]. He being master at arms and one of those that boarded the said President Frigate and as a further explanation, every gun of the said Frigate was named after some general or patriot of the United States and there was a Bible slung to the carriage of each gun and had the same name marked on the cover. This Bible was kept by me in remembrance of my brother the said William Clark, who departed this life in January 1819. Charles Clark.”

[1] Andrew Hunter to Jones, 31 May 1813, ALS, DNA, RG45, BC, 1813, Vol. 1, No. 160 (M148, Roll No. 11).

 

Creator
Hudson and Goodwin

Date Created
1813

Medium
Paper, Ink, Leatherbound

Dimensions
[H]6 7/8 in. [W]4 7/8 in. [D]2 7/8 in.

Catalog Number
1167.1

Credit Line
USS Constitution Museum Collection. Dr. William M. Fowler Gift.

Terms of Use

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Other Items in Category

A letter to Wm. Wilberforce, Esq. M. P. on the subject of impressment; calling on him and the philanthropists of this country to prove those feelings of sensibility they expressed in the cause of humanity on negro slavery, by acting with the same ardour and zeal in the cause of the British seamen Analectic Magazine and Naval Chronicle Message from the President of the U. States, Recommending an Immediate Declaration of War, Against Great Britain. The Analectic Magazine Volume 2 The Analectic Magazine Volume 6 A Complete List of the American Navy. Showing the Name, Number of Guns, Commander’s Name, and Station of each Vessel, To July 1, 1813—Including those on the Lakes… / Steele’s List of the Royal Navy of Great Britain, for 1813. A List and Description of the American Navy at the Ports of Boston, New York and Norfolk Virginia A Proclamation, For recalling and prohibiting His Majesty’s natural-born Subjects from serving in the Sea or Land Forces of the United States of America. An Inquiry into the Causes and Consequences of the Orders in Council; and an Examination of the Conduct of Great Britain Towards the Neutral Commerce of America At the Court at Carlton House, The Twenty-third Day of June 1812. Present, His Royal Highness The Prince Regent in Council. Frederick Baury’s Book of Common Prayer Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights. Huzza for the Constitution Isaac Mayo’s Private Journal at Sea from 1809 to 1819 King James Bible removed from USS President Letter from John Cushing Aylwin to William Aylwin, June 12, 1812 Letter from William Bainbridge to John Brooks, June 13, 1814 Message from the President of the United States, transmitting the Treaty of Peace and Amity between the United States and His Britannic Majesty Mr. Madison’s War. A Dispassionate Inquiry into the Reasons Alleged by Mr. Madison for Declaring an Offensive and Ruinous War Against Great Britain. Together with some Suggestions as to a Peaceable and Constitutional Mode of Averting Dreadful Calamity. By A New-England Farmer. Naval Order Book for 1814 Seaman’s Protection Certificate for James Reed, Jr., December 21, 1814 Telescope used to observe USS Chesapeake vs HMS Shannon The Naval Chronicle, for 1812: Containing a General and Biographical History of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom; with a Variety of Original Papers on Nautical Subjects. Under the Guidance of Several Literary and Professional Men. Vol. XXVII. The Port Folio, Vol. 2, No. 1 WAR DECLARED!!