Captain Crockett's Last Breakfast

My beautiful Angel and our family spent our most recent summer vacation in the small town of Harborton, Virginia. The town is nestled about halfway down the eastern Shore of Virginia, along the Puncoteague Creek as that waterway empties into the Chesapeake Bay. I rented a small house right on the creek, with its own dock and a couple of adirondack chairs looking westward toward the Chesapeake Bay. The location was ideal: it was quiet and peaceful, which I think we all needed at that time. 

As it turns out, the house was separated from other homes by farily large stretches of green grass, weeds and other plants. However, in the midst of that green expanse, there was a small "island" of overgrowth. One could see the paths of the lawnmowers, revealing that this island was maintained intentionally. The greenery grew freely within its confines, eclipsing much but not all of what was inside. For instance, I could see a stone marker protuding out of the green bushes and weeds. I decided to check out that marker and whatever else might be hiding on that "island." 

When I reached the edge, I realized that the marker was really a monument memorializing the death of a person. While it commemorated an end of a life, the marker also serves as the beginning of a story. 

The Life and Death of Captain James E. Crockett

The "island" with the marker.

The monument marks the grave of James E. Crockett, the son of Asa and Susan Crockett. Upon closer inspection, the entire "island" is the Crockett family cemetary, with other headstones peering out from the undergrowth. After doing some research, I was able to confirm that James' parents, Asa and Susan Crockett, are buried on the "island," along with several other family members. Pictures of the tombstones taken in 2015 can be seen here and here. 

As for the story, it begins with Sampson Crockett, who was born on Tangier Island, Virginia in 1700. Sampson was the great, great grandfather of Asa Crockett. Asa was born in 1822, in the small town of Prospect Neck. The town is located in Accomack County, on Virginia's eastern shore, not too far from where Asa was buried. Asa grew up on the eastern shore, working as a sailor and eventually becoming a captain of his own vessel. He married Susan Turner (who was born in 1821 or 1822). Asa eventually purchased seven acres of land in 1852 along the Puncoteague Creek, which included the land where our vacation house was located (although that house had not been built until 1958), along with twelve additional acres down the road. Together, that land formed the Crockett farm. 

Ten years later, in 1862, James Crockett was born to Asa and Susan Crockett. James followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a sailor and, by the age of 32, the captain of the schooner Frank Cassidy. A schooner is a sailing ship with at least two or three masts that could be used for various purposes, such as fishing or transporting goods. There is at least one written account of what Captain James Crockett and the Frank Cassidy did. It appeared in a local newspaper, Peninsula Enterprise, where it was reported that the schooner and its captain were planning to take "sweet and Irish potatoes" from Harborton, Virginia to Baltimore, Maryland. It seems likely that Captain Crockett and the crew of the Frank Cassidy were part of a network transporting goods up and down the Chesapeake Bay.

An example of a schooner (Source: Library of Congress)

Four years after that report, Captain Crockett made the news again on October 25, 1898. His vessel was anchored near Swan Point, which is along the shores of the Potomac River across from Colonial Beach, Virginia. The news went beyond the mundane of what was going where, to a much darker place.  

On the morning of October 25th, Captain James Crockett called upon the ship's cook, an African-American man named "Bob." The cook had recently joined the crew of the Frank Cassidy after his  release from a Maryland penitentiary. (Like his last name, Bob's crime and punishment are not known.) Captain Crockett ordered Bob to prepare breakfast. Bob went into the galley and prepared the meal, although it apparently took some time to complete. When Bob returned with breakfast, Captain Crockett took issue with the cook's tardiness.  A verbal altercation erupted between the Captain and the Cook, with the latter cursing at the Captain. Bob walked away and went to the galley. The cook returned with a gun and shot Captain James Crockett dead on the spot. Hearing the gunshot, the first mate, George Sturgis came to Captain Crockett's aid. However, Bob also shot Sturgis, grieviously wounding him. Other crew members ran to the scene; in the chaos that developed, Bob allegedly jumped overboard into the Potomac River. Bob did not know how to swim and he drowned.

Immediately thereafter, the remaining crew of the Frank Cassidy transported gravely-stricken Sturgis to nearby Colonial Beach, Virginia. They took Sturgis to Dr. J.W. Elsam, who began to tend to the first mate's wounds. Dr. Elsam ultimately determined that Sturgis needed to be transported to Washington, D.C. where there were better facilities. The crew and the doctor placed Sturgis on a steamer headed to Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, Sturgis did not survive the trip.  

As for their captain, the Frank Cassidy crew returned his body to the Crockett family, sailing the schooner down the Chesapeake Bay, into the Puncoteague Creek and all the way to Harborton, Virginia. Both Asa and and Susan were still alive (ages 76 and 74 respectively), along with some of James's siblings. Newspapers recounted at the time of ceremonies in connection with laying the body of James Crockett to rest. The grave was dug at the Crockett family farm, and the stone marker was put in place. That marker continues to be a reminder 127 years later of the life and death of Captain Crockett. 

The Puncoteague Creek, looking toward the Chesapeake Bay at sunset.

As for his parents, they lived on. Susan Crockett died suddently at her home just two years later in 1891. Asa Crockett died at age 85 in 1907, leaving behind his remaining children -- three sons (Captain B.F. Crockett of Onancock, VA; John Crockett of Newport News, VA; and Joseph Crockett of Mobile, Alabama) and three daughters.  After his death, the Crockett family farm was sold off to Charles E. Nichols (who owned it until at least 1961, if not later). And, for the most part, the rest is history. 

That Last Breakfast

Yet, there remains the issue of that last breakfast. The meal that led to Captain James Crockett's death. As I researched the Crocketts, I was -- and still am -- intrigued as to that very small aspect of the overall story. The actual contents of the meal were lost in memory and history within minutes of the violence aboard the Frank Cassidy. Any recreation of that meal would be an academic exercise.

Nevertheless, I decided to research the rather esoteric issue of what was served as breakfast on a schooner in 1898. My search led me to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, and, in particular, to a bell made in 1882 or 1883 (pictured to the right). It is a bell used by George W. Scott, a cook aboard a fishing schooner Ocean King that ran out of Glouchester, Massachusetts in the late nineteenth century. The Ocean King went out into the Atlantic Ocean around the same time that the Frank Cassidy was sailing up and down the Chesapeake Bay. 

The National Museum of American History provided the context that would help me in my search. A cook on a schooner was responsible for the provisions. Scott kept a record of the provisions he acquired for a four-month journey: 5 barrels of beef, 1 barrel pork, 1 barrel hams, 10 barrels flour, 50 gallons molasses, 15 bushels of potatoes and 200 pounds of butter. All of that food went toward the production of three meals per day. Breakfast consisted of items such as pancakes, potatoes and/or porridge. The second meal, dinner, consisted of a protein, usually meat or fish, served with a soup, baked beans, and bread or biscuits. The last meal of the day could have been just the leftovers. Each meal was announced by the ringing of a bell. 

I had thoughts of trying to re-create Captain Crockett's last meal ringing in my head for days and weeks after our vacation. The Frank Cassidy most likely carried some of the provisions found on the Ocean King. Yet, posting a recipe about pancakes, potatoes, or porridge did not seem to be a fitting ending to a story that led to the death of three people, Captain Crockett, first mate Sturgis and Bob.

A more fitting ending is the recognition that history can live on, as long as there are people interested in learning it and willing to repeat it (as accurately as possible). 

PEACE.