"Bearded" 52 Ancestors 52 Weeks, Week 20 (May 14-20)

Taken from the book, "Lifeline of the Confederacy: Blockade running during the Civil War," by Stephen R. wise.

Captain Swasey was born on April 14, 1812 in Newburyport, Essex, Massachusetts.

If he became a sailor as a young man, or at least was involved in the shipping business (a family business probably) he would have been aware of all kinds of ships and boats.  

By 1843, when he was 31, he was Captain of the Schooner Caluo (Callao) out of Charleston SC.

When did he move south from Newburyport MA?  I don't know.  

In the census of 1840, he was living in St. Augustine (in the territory that would become the State of Florida), where his first daughter was born that year.  His next 2 daughters were born in 1841 and 1849. Then in 1853 their only son was born, Alexander John Swasey in Charleston SC.  

So though Captain Swasey was working out of Charleston in 1843, his family life was in St. Augustine.  And that was before Florida became a state in 1845.  For some reason his family was back in Charleston by 1853.

Captain Alexander Swasey sailed at least from Charleston, South Carolina, to New Orleans, LA, and then later to Cuba.

What ships did he sail?

Here's a manifest from April 1843, when he captained the Schooner Caluo from Charleston to New Orleans in April 1843. These trips were probably illegal by US law, but by stopping at one of the islands in the Carribean, the slave traders would say the slaves were from there, rather than Charleston. The manifest shows the truth of the trip. 

I don't have a picture of the Caluo, but here's a 3 masted schooner, the Regina Maris.

Schooners were developed in North America from the early 18th century, and came into extensive use in New England. The most common type of schooners, with two masts, were popular in trades that required speed and windward ability, such as slaving, privateering, and blockade running.

Essex, Massachusetts was the most significant shipbuilding center for schooners. By the 1850s, over 50 vessels a year were being launched from 15 shipyards and Essex became recognized worldwide as North America’s center for fishing schooner construction. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

This slave manifest for the same ship, June 6-29, 1843, is more disturbing for me to read.  These are women, the oldest being 50, and children from 4 years of age.  Incidentally the ship is now spelled Callao.

"Once the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves took effect in 1808 (the earliest date permitted by the United States Constitution), slave states continued to smuggle slaves by claiming that any slave brought from Africa who even set foot in the Caribbean was no longer considered "imported." 

Information received from docent in Charleston Slave Mart Museum, as recorded by my cousin John Rogers, in 2016.

Alexander G. Swasey had a brief stint as a Blockade runner on the Ella Warley.

That ship had actually been commisioned the Isabel, built in 1848 in Baltimore.  It was owned by Charleston businessmen. It was constructed specifically to serve the United States postal service, as well as coastal passenger trade, between the eastern United States and the Spanish colony of Cuba.

Swasey was captain of it when it was turned over to the the Confederacy in 1861 by it's private owners, until its capture by Union forces in April, 1862, 

Here's a painting of the Ella Warley.

Captain Swasey's home, 22 Savage St., Charleston, SC

I just discovered an Official records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861-1865, where there's an A.G. Swasey with some kind of classification "II, 4"  as well as Alexander Swazey with "II, 8" following his name.  I wonder what that means?  This is on  page 495 of the microfilm, and original document page number 935.  So to find the key to meanings I'll have to do more research.


This is 1 Limehouse St, his place of death on March 26, 1866

I have copies of innumerable Prisoner of War documents from the Civil War with Captain A.G. Swasey listed...with amounts of money.  I don't understand them, so will wait till I have someone to walk me though the meanings.

NOTE:  The documents show he was imprisoned in Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor, MA, a Federal prison. First entry I have found is Nov 11, 1863.
 

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