Naval Observatory and Hydrographic Office. The Mariners' Lake, in Newport News, Virginia, had been named after Maury but had its name changed during the George Floyd protests. As officer-in-charge of the United States Navy office in Washington, DC, called the "Depot of Charts and Instruments," the young lieutenant became a librarian of the many unorganized log books and records in 1842. To gather information on maritime winds and currents, Maury distributed to captains specially prepared logbooks from which he compiled pilot charts, enabling ships to shorten the time of sea voyages. His expertise is evident in his large body of work, and particularly in his maps. Thus Lt. Maury was simultaneously employed with astronomical and nautical work, as well as constantly training new temporary men to assist in these works. Fascinated by the curiously low atmospheric pressures he recorded there, Maury later wrote his first scientific paper, On the Navigation of Cape Horn, published in the American Journal of Science in July 1834. Maurys right leg suffered multiple fractures. However, he did not support the legal abolition of slavery. On July 2, 2020, the mayor of Richmond ordered the removal of a statue of Maury erected in 1929 on Richmond's Monument Avenue. We further reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to "[17] In the end, the plan did not attract the intended immigrants and Maximilian, facing increasing opposition in Mexico, ended it. Gratuitous links to sites are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments. At age 12, Matthew fell from a high tree badly injuring his back and almost biting his tongue off. Lee also secured him a post at VMI. Within a few years, nations owning three-fourths of the shipping of the world were sending their oceanographic observations to Maury at the Naval Observatory, where the information was evaluated and the results were given worldwide distribution.[9]. Husband of Rose Maury. A Naval officer and pioneer in the emerging field of oceanography, Matthew Fontaine Maury was nicknamed the "Pathfinder of the Seas." Maury gave crucial support to Cyrus Field and the idea. He advocated for creating a state agricultural college as an adjunct to Virginia Military Institute. Ever the geographer, Maury instructed his children to find his location on a map "and trace me from place to place.". [3], causing the change of purpose and renaming of the depot to the United States Naval Observatory and Hydrographical Office in 1854. An article tying his legacy in oceanography to the slave trade suggested that Maury was ambivalent about slavery, seeing it as wrong but not intent on forcing others to free enslaved people. Born on what is now the Wilderness Battlefield, he considered himself a Virginian although his family had moved to Tennessee when he was a child. Although he was eager to get an education, his father decided Matthew should work on the farm. Other scientists were also active in the field. Other religious friends of Maury included James Hervey Otey, his former teacher who, before 1857, worked with Bishop Leonidas Polk on the construction of the University of the South in Tennessee. He was born in 1806 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near Fredericksburg; his parents were Richard Maury and Diane Minor Maury. Having charted the seas and currents, he worked on charting land weather forecasting. The Maury family was quietly religious and gathered in their home for Bible readings morning and night. [4] He pored over the documents, collecting information on winds, calms, and currents for all seas in all seasons. He recommended a southerly route with Memphis, Tennessee, as the eastern terminus, as it is equidistant from Lake Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico. [5], Maury's work on ocean currents and investigations of the whaling industry led him to suspect that a warm-water, ice-free northern passage existed between the Atlantic and Pacific. Maury was initially buried in the Gilham family vault in Lexington's cemetery, across from Stonewall Jackson, until, after some delay, his remains were taken through Goshen Pass to Richmond, Virginia the following year[22] He was reburied between Presidents James Monroe and John Tyler in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. [34] Nearby Arlington, Va., renamed its 1910 Clarendon Elementary to honor Maury in 1944; Since 1976, the building has been home to the Arlington Arts Center[35] (rebranded in 2022 as the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington). The captains recorded the lessons faithfully in their logbooks, which were then forgotten. When Matthew was four, his family moved to a farm in Franklin, Tennessee, eighteen miles north of Nashville. His expertise is evident in his large body of work, and particularly in his maps. [3] He held that position until his resignation in April 1861. remove content for any reason whatever, without consent. He designed what he called an electric torpedo we would call it an electrically detonated mine. Before he become known as the "Pathfinder of the Seas," he joined the Navy . Maury attended Harpeth Academy in Franklin and studied under Gideon Blackburn and James Otey, the first Episcopal Bishop of Tennessee. Adams thus felt no constraint in regularly stopping by for a look through the facility's telescope. The Library of Congress does not control the content posted. Please read our Standard Disclaimer. Thus, he always had able assistants. The Maury River, entirely in Rockbridge County, Virginia, near Virginia Military Institute (where Maury taught), also honors the scientist, as does Maury crater, on the Moon. In 1853 Maury served as the American representative to an international maritime conference in Brussels that developed uniform meteorological standards. Author of this page: The Doc Matthew was the seventh of the nine children she raised. Read historians' thoughts about the transatlantic cable. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Maury entered the navy in 1825 as a midshipman, circumnavigated the globe (1826-30), and in 1836 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. All rights reserved. Seafaring, in the 1800's, was a risky proposition, because. By 1855, the proposal had failed. The content of all comments is released into the public domain unless clearly stated otherwise. Maury served as a pallbearer for Lee. He lectured extensively in the United States and abroad. Maury and Maximilian planned to entice former Confederates to emigrate to Mexico, building Carlotta and New Virginia Colony for displaced Confederates and immigrants from other lands. Maury was a descendant of the Maury family, a prominent Virginia family of Huguenot ancestry that can be traced back to 15th-century France. Its banks and its bottom are of cold water, while its current is of warm. Provided with worldwide information, Maury was able to produce charts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. The two remained lifelong friends. Matthew Maury (1806-1873), an officer in the US Navy, is now known as the Father of Modern Oceanography and Naval Meteorology. Ships have been named in his honor, including various vessels named USSMaury; USS Commodore Maury (SP-656), a patrol vessel and minesweeper[29] of World War I; and a World War II Liberty Ship. Adjoining it is Maury Stadium, built in 1935 and still used for local high school sports events. Image from lithograph by N. Currier. From these, he aimed to produce detailed charts showing typical conditions and optimal navigation routes for naval ships at all times of the year. He considered becoming president of St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, the University of Alabama, and the University of Tennessee. Besides his detailed geographic depiction of the landscape, Maury included a wealth of thematic information, including predominant church denominations, geological regions, zoological distributions, and, of course, prevailing wind patterns across the country. Required fields are indicated with an * asterisk. While they may not look like much at first, a close examination shows the incredible distillation of data and painstaking precision that went into producing these charts, which greatly helped captains at sea use wind patterns to their advantage. While in Lexington, he completed a physical survey of Virginia, which he documented in the book The Physical Geography of Virginia. Another Maury Hall housed the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and the Robotics and Control Engineering Department at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. In March 2013, the U.S. Navy launched the oceanographic survey ship USNS Maury (T-AGS-66). Maury played a key role in the founding of modern oceanography. [12] He believed the future of United States commerce lay in South America, colonized by white southerners and their enslaved people. Maury also called for an international sea and land weather service. [16], Maury was not an enslaver, but he did not actively oppose the institution of slavery. U.S. Frigate, Brandywine, circa 1831. Naval Observatory, 1830-2000 (Cambridge, 2003), 109-11. John was killed in the Civil War: his body was never recovered. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Sign up for the American Experience newsletter! In this role, Maury helped develop the first electrically controlled naval mine, which caused havoc for U.S. shipping. In 1842, now land-based, Maury became superintendent of the Navys Depot of Charts and Instruments in Washington, D.C. Through the 1840s and 50s, driven by his strong work ethic, Maury contributed to a wide range of scientific and academic endeavors, including publishing perhaps the first modern textbook on oceanography (The Physical Geography of the Sea in 1855), tracking whale migrations, promoting greater international scientific cooperation, and even proposing routes for a cross-continental railroad. [37] Matthew Fontaine Maury School in Fredericksburg was built in 1919-1920 and closed in 1980. He went home after he recovered and told his wife Ann Hull Herndon-Maury, "I have come home to die. His father, Richard Maury, was a farmer. His systematic study of thousands of historical ships logs gave him detailed information about currents, winds, and weather conditions all over the worlds oceans. Lieutenant Maury published his Wind and Current Chart of the North Atlantic, which showed sailors how to use the ocean's currents and winds to their advantage, drastically reducing the length of voyages. This article was most recently revised and updated by, 9 Questions About the American Civil War Answered, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Matthew-Fontaine-Maury, NASA Ocean Motion - Timeline: 1800 A.D. - Biography of Matthew Fontaine Maury, Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture - Biography of Matthew Fontaine Maury, Matthew Fontaine Maury - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Updates? may result in removed comments. privilege to post content on the Library site. Oceanography and Lecture Tours His next assignment was to helm the Depot of Charts and Instruments, the precursor to the U.S. Upheaval from the Abyss: Ocean Floor Mapping and the Earth Science Revolution The statue was dedicated in the late 1920s. Maury established relations for the Confederacy with Emperor Napoleon III of France and Archduke Maximilian of Austria, who, on April 10, 1864, was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico. The content of all comments is released into the public domain With the outbreak of the American Civil War, Maury, a Virginian, resigned his commission as a U.S. Navy commander and joined the Confederacy. [13] However, a recent article explaining the removal of his monument from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, illustrated a proslavery stance through deep ties to the slave trade that accompanied his scientific achievements. He found nothing. Maury sent out survey ships to take depth readings in the Atlantic Ocean to begin building a map of the ocean floor. Matthew Maury died, age 67, on 1873 February 1, 1873 at the Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia. the Library of Congress may monitor any user-generated content as it chooses and reserves the right to Comment and Posting Policy. 111 116, Tyler, Lyon Gardner, "Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography", Lewis Hist. Gratuitous links to sites are viewed as spam and Maury was in the West Indies on his way back to the Confederacy when he learned of its collapse. Explore the 1928 dam collapse, the second deadliest disaster in California history. [17] When Virginia declared secession in April 1861, Maury nonetheless resigned his commission in the U.S. Navy, choosing to fight against the North. Matthew was the seventh of the nine children she raised. Matthew Fontaine Maury was born on January 14, 1806 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, USA. But while Maury left an indelible mark on the fields of oceanography and geography at large, his legacy is not without controversy. In 1868 he was pardoned by the federal government and returned to the US, accepting a teaching position at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, holding the chair of physics. His mother was Diane Minor. if ( 'querySelector' in document && 'addEventListener' in window ) { Between July 2-9, 2020, the bronze statue of Maury and other . Circling the Globe Naval Observatory joined many others from his rebellious home state of Virginia in the Confederate navy, battling then-President Abraham Lincoln's Union. p. 31. Dolphin, Lieutenant Otway Henry Berryman, conducted a series of deep-sea soundings from Newfoundland to Ireland. [7], For his scientific endeavors, Maury was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1852.[8]. Brasilia: UnB, 2011, pp. You are fully The war had brought ruin to many in Fredericksburg, where Maury's immediate family lived. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. His studies proved that by following the winds and currents ships could cross the ocean in fewer days than ever before. 1782. Here, Maury studied meteorology, compiled data from ships logs, promoted enhanced record-keeping among captains at sea, and produced charts that would communicate his findings. In 1842 he was placed in charge of the Depot of Charts and Instruments, out of which grew the U.S. Maury sent Field a copy of his letter, which stated in part that the soundings had revealed the existence of a plateau "which seems to have been placed there especially for the purpose of holding the wires of a submarine telegraph, and of keeping them out of harm's way." His father, Richard Maury, was a farmer. Nevertheless, in declining to fight against his native Virginia, Maury resigned his post and joined the Confederate Navy, initially to direct coastal and river defenses and develop naval mine technologies to use against the Union. Maury's Naval Observatory team included midshipmen assigned to him: James Melville Gilliss, Lieutenants John Mercer Brooke, William Lewis Herndon, Lardner Gibbon, Isaac Strain, John "Jack" Minor Maury II of the USN 1854 Darien Exploration Expedition, and others. The statue depicting Matthew Fontaine Maury on Richmond's Monument Avenue was removed by crews on July 2, 2020. Naval Observatory. In 1861, the pioneering ocean researcher and former superintendent of the U.S. Death of Matthew Fontaine Maury. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947. Maury entered the navy in 1825 as a midshipman, circumnavigated the globe (182630), and in 1836 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Maury traveled to England, Ireland, and France, acquiring and fitting out ships for the Confederacy and soliciting supplies. Upon learning of the plan, Lee wrote Maury saying, "The thought of abandoning the country, and all that must be left in it, is abhorrent to my feelings, and I prefer to struggle for its restoration, and share its fate, rather than to give up all as lost. It is the Gulf Stream. There, Maury claimed, was "work to be done by Africans with the American axe in his hand. 58:47. However, it was by no means a victory for skepticism. There is in the world no other such majestic flow of waters. Maury advocated for naval reform, including a school for the Navy that would rival the Army's United States Military Academy. Early Pictorial Maps of Asia and Europe from the Hauslab-Liechtenstein Collection, The Secret Maps of World War II Admiral Morton L. Deyo, Series: Imaginary Maps in Literature and Beyond. He lived in England for a number of years after the war, eventually returning to America and serving as professor of meteorology at Virginia Military Institute. "[5], In September 1862, Maury, partly because of his international reputation, and partly due to jealousy of superior officers who wanted him placed at some distance, was ordered on special service to England. document.documentElement.className += 'js'; The War ended in 1865, after which Maury eventually became a lecturer at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. [31][32] The lake is located on the Mariners' Museum property and is encircled by a walking trail. With the 1861 outbreak of the Civil War, however, Maurys legacy becomes murkier. The Matthew Fontaine Maury Papers, a collection at the Library of Congress, contains over 14,000 items that document his career, including correspondence, notebooks, written speeches, and more. A neighbor loaned Matthew a horse for his journey to the east coast and he left home with $30 in his pocket he had earned this tutoring younger students at Harpeth Academy. Maury estimated he had covered 1,844 miles in 12 November days and made $540; tickets to his lectures sold for 50 cents and he candidly admitted, "Am afraid of empty benches." Maury also had Dutch-American ancestry from the Minor family of early Virginia. Matthew was 18 when his brother died. Matthew Fontaine Maury was a key, if controversial, figure in American naval history. Knowledge of seasonal and geographic changes aided captains in their cross-Atlantic journeys. 1930 United States Federal Census. He published the Wind and Current Chart of the North Atlantic, which showed sailors how to use the ocean's currents and winds to their advantage, drastically reducing the length of ocean voyages. In 1848 he published maps of the main wind fields of the Earth. He proposed that the United States invite the maritime nations of the world to a conference to establish a "universal system" of meteorology, and he was the leading spirit of a pioneer scientific conference when it met in Brussels in 1853. Raised in Tennessee, Maury yearned to follow in his brother's footsteps and join the Navy. He wanted to emulate the naval career of his older brother, Flag Lieutenant John Minor Maury, an officer in the U.S. Navy, who caught yellow fever after fighting pirates. "[15], Maury wanted to open up the Amazon to free navigation in his plan. Maury asked his daughters and wife to leave the room. Maury kept the lifelong simple Christian faith of his parents, reading psalms in the morning and praying every night. Death: 1887 (37-38) Immediate Family: Son of Matthew Fontaine Maury and Ann Hull Maury. He would spend much of the war abroad, hoping to persuade Europeans to support the Confederate cause and bring the war to a quick end. In February 1854 Maury was composing a letter to the Secretary of the Navy with the results of the soundings when he received a communication from Field, asking about the feasibility of a transatlantic cable. Matthew Fontaine Maury (January 14, 1806 - February 1, 1873) was an American oceanographer and naval officer, serving the United States and then joining the Confederacy during the American Civil War. [citation needed] He became a commodore (often a title of courtesy) in the Virginia Provisional Navy and a Commander in the Confederacy. Maurys ship was due to sail from New York to the Pacific Ocean via Rio de Janeiro. [17], He had previously been suggested as president of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1848 by Benjamin Blake Minor in his publication the Southern Literary Messenger. Brother of Elizabeth Herndon Maury; Diana Fontaine Corbin; Lt. When war came, Maury resigned from the Navy and accepted a post with the Confederacy, serving as its agent in London. Matthew Fontaine Maury was born in 1806 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY'S EARLY YEARS Matthew Fontaine Maury was born in 1806 on a farm outside Fredericksburg, Virginia. Maury published hisThe Physical Geography of the Sea, the first American oceanography textbook, in 1855. Maurys 1854 work Bathymetrical Map of the North Atlantic Basin contained the first detailed mapping of the North Atlantic Ocean floor. Over the course of his career, Maury would produce maps, charts, and inventive diagrams that conveyed his new insights on ocean sciences. Matthew Fontaine Maury. Matthew Fontaine Maury, commencement speech to Virginia Military. Rutgers University Press, 2002. On February 17, 2023, the Academy announced that it had renamed this building in honor of Jimmy Carter, the only Naval Academy graduate to become President of the United States. (Photo: 8News) Maury statue is loaded in the back of a flatbed and taken to an . After decades of national and international work, Maury received fame and honors, including being knighted by several nations and given medals with precious gems as well as a collection of all medals struck by Pope Pius IX during his pontificate, a book dedication and more from Father Angelo Secchi, who was a student of Maury from 1848 to 1849 in the United States Naval Observatory. Maury's uniform system of recording oceanographic data was adopted by navies and merchant marines worldwide and was used to develop charts for all the major trade routes. Some were offered to Maury's wife, Ann Hull Herndon-Maury, who accepted them for her husband. In his own lifetime he was called Pathfinder of the Seas.. His mother was Diane Minor. Maury became convinced that adequate scientific knowledge of the sea could be obtained only through international cooperation. The scientific consensus was that the book contained a great deal of valuable observations, but scientists were unhappy that Maury linked these to his own unusual theories. Darwin Pleaded for Cheaper Origin of Species, Getting Through Hard Times The Triumph of Stoic Philosophy, Johannes Kepler, God, and the Solar System, Charles Babbage and the Vengeance of Organ-Grinders, Howard Robertson the Man who Proved Einstein Wrong, Susskind, Alice, and Wave-Particle Gullibility, ships sailing from New York to San Francisco via Cape Horn reduced their average travel time from 183 to 135 days, ships sailing from Britain to Australia reduced their travel time from 128 days to 97 days. It is available for purchase from the library. Matthew Maurys lifetime and the lifetimes of related scientists. By the age of 26, he was flag captain of the fleet and was destined for great things. [30] The ship is used for oceanography research and student cruises. His family moved to Williamson County, Tennessee, when he was five. Around this time Patricia Jahns wrote about Maury and his contemporary and . But his statue commemorates him not as a Confederate, but a Man of the World, literally and figuratively. Observer of the Oceans He told his family that his work was inspired by Psalm 8, "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas."[2]. Dick, Sky and Ocean Joined, 60.Frances Leigh Williams, Matthew Fontaine Maury: Scientist of the Sea (New Brunswick, 1963). In 1859, Maury produced a similar chart, documenting monsoon and trade winds of the Indian Ocean, including a map of seasonal wind patterns in February and August. Matthew was a fourth generation American, named after his greatgrandparents. Maury also showed prowess in land-based cartography, as seen in The Washington map of the United States, a large wall map produced in 1860 that measures over five feet wide and five feet high. As sailing master, Maury was responsible for planning the ships route. There is a beautiful statue of him as the Pathfinder of the Seas on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. This led to the establishment at Blacksburg of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, later renamed Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, in 1872. Matthew Fontaine Maury has been hailed as, among other names, the Scientist of the Seas for his contributions to understanding ocean navigation in the mid-19th century. Maury was neither a slave-owner nor a proponent of slavery. His papers and maps together are a testament to the hard work he devoted to his study. Maurys work inspired the first international marine conference, held in Brussels in 1853. As a result of John's painful death, Matthew's father, Richard, forbade him from joining the Navy. Matthew was the seventh child born to Richard and Diana Maury. "U.S. Hydrographic Office". Matthew Fontaine Maury simply couldn't give up the fight for slavery. When a leg injury left him unfit for sea duty, Maury devoted his time to studying navigation, meteorology, winds, and currents. Later researchers discovered that this ridge the Mid-Atlantic Ridge stretched the entire north-south length of the ocean. Brazil authorized free navigation to all nations in the Amazon in 1866, only when it was at war against Paraguay, when free navigation in the area had become necessary. Matthew Fontaine Maury was born on January 14, 1806 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, USA. In New York he sought information about the winds and currents the ship would encounter. Maury began working on a navigation textbook: A New Theoretical and Practical Treatise on Navigation, published in 1836. Numerous historical markers commemorate Maury throughout the South, including those in Richmond, Virginia,[38] Fletcher, North Carolina,[39] Franklin, Tennessee,[40] and several in Chancellorsville, Virginia.[41]. His great-grandfather was Matthew Maury who had married Mary Anne Fontaine. Dr Matthew Fontaine Maury Osborne. Read our Anticipating National Geographics Drain the Oceans by 150 years, Maury wrote: People who bought The Physical Geography were fascinated to learn such facts as microscopic sea shells had been found in samples taken from the ocean floor two miles under the Atlantic. He gave speeches until his last days when he collapsed while giving one. [5] It was soon after the Brussels conference that Prussia, Spain, Sardinia, the Free City of Hamburg, the Republic of Bremen, Chile, Austria, Brazil, and others agreed to join the enterprise. He was also called Pathfinder of the Seas and Scientist of the Seas. [14] Brazil maintained legal enslavement but had prohibited the importation of newly enslaved people from Africa in 1850 under the pressure of the British. His data enabled him to compile new shipping charts allowing ships to cut weeks from long voyages. When a leg injury left midshipman Maury unfit for duty aboard the U.S.S. Joining the U.S. Navy at the age of 19, Maury would sail around the world and rise through the ranks, but a stagecoach accident in 1839 left him unfit to continue on the high seas. [11] Maury, along with other politicians, newspaper editors, merchants, and United States government officials, envisioned a future for slavery that linked the United States, the Caribbean Sea, and the Amazon basin in Brazil.

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