Maury grudge

[matthew mckeon]

Interesting article in the paper last week.

Matthew Maury, a distinguished navigator in the antebellum Navy was made an honorary member of the Salem Marine Society, an association of sea captains and navigators in 1859. The Salem Marine Society's most famous member had been Nathaniel Bowditch, author of "Bowditch's Practical Navigation," but Maury's fame and accomplishments were even more respected. In 1861, Maury, a Virginian, offered his services to the Confederacy. The angry Salem men had his portrait turned to the wall, and hung upside down. A card was placed under the backwards picture reads, "Traitor."

And so it has been for 147 years. Maury has other monuments, in Richmond and at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Last week a delegation of Virginian historians hung a small picture of Maury next to the old upside down portrait.

[ole]

Talk about carrying a grudge! Whooo. I'd hate to have those guys mad at me.

ole