Charleston Shipbuilders- Eason Bros.

[JohnDLittlefield]

I am looking for information (or a good source of info) on Eason Bros shipbuilders from Charleston.

 

[redbob]

I have never been able to find out much about the Eason's except that they were ironworkers who made artillery shells and other iron related materials for the war effort around Charleston.

 

[DaveBrt]

John,

Go to Google Books and search on Eason Charleston. Many short entries on your man -- maybe something substantial that I missed in a quick look.

 

[JohnDLittlefield]

The most info I have been able to gain thus far has come from one of our own (rebelatsea) and from R. Luraghi's book A History of the Confederate Navy. Picking up a few scattered details from the interwebs... still searching for more.

 

[USS ALASKA]

http://www.augustamagazine.com/2015/04/01/cannons-and-confederate-cakes/

James Eason and his brother manufactured steam engines, boilers and other machinery at their foundry near the Cooper River. During the Civil War, the Eason brothers were called into service by the state of South Carolina to rifle smoothbore iron cannons to increase the range and power of the weapons. The Charleston Mercury reported on July 20, 1861, that "…it has been demonstrated that the Eason gun will throw solid shot or shell, with accuracy, further than any other cannon now in our possession."

Eason also built the CSS Charleston and the CSS Chicora, Confederate ironclad gunboats that defended Fort Sumter and other Confederate positions off Charleston throughout 1863 and 1864. When Charleston was evacuated on February 18, 1865, the crews of the Charleston and the Chicora burned the gunboats to prevent capture by Union soldiers.

https://books.google.com/books?id=MnNDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT34&lpg=PT34&dq=eason+brothers+shipbuilders+charleston&source=bl&ots=xs6UnEi3Sa&sig=Wl3YShwQ3hrBMUcXpr8U-5BhkVQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj74rzzqvHQAhVhilQKHUeTAEYQ6AEIITAB#v=onepage&q=eason%20brothers%20shipbuilders%20charleston&f=false

http://www.charlestoncurrents.com/issue/12_issues/12.1029.htm

The first of the three gunboats was to be named the Chicora and built by Eason & Brothers, located at 12 Columbus Street. James M. Eason, president of the company, was highly regarded for his locomotives built in the 1830s and his steam engines built in the 1850s. Eason had a Scottish lathe capable of constructing a flywheel twelve feet in diameter.

https://books.google.com/books?id=g2S3_eFxFnMC&pg=PA141&dq=Eason+brothers+ironclad&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjeo7vIrfHQAhVY62MKHYBXBHIQ6AEIIDAB#v=onepage&q=Eason%20brothers%20ironclad&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=csVYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA261&dq=Eason+brothers+ironclad&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjeo7vIrfHQAhVY62MKHYBXBHIQ6AEIMDAE#v=onepage&q=Eason%20brothers%20ironclad&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=XXVDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT206&dq=James+Eason+charlestown&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjF0MzRr_HQAhUQHGMKHU56B8gQ6AEILDAD#v=onepage&q=James%20Eason%20charlestown&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=aRJiAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA109&dq=CSS+Columbia+Eason&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZndWasPHQAhUSzGMKHf6fBzYQ6AEIKjAD#v=onepage&q=CSS%20Columbia%20Eason&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=tvx345wgt88C&pg=PA170&dq=CSS+Columbia+Eason&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZndWasPHQAhUSzGMKHf6fBzYQ6AEIPTAH#v=onepage&q=Eason&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=JGQNaParQKQC&pg=PA587&dq=Eason+Brothers+Foundry&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi79qv_sfHQAhUQ52MKHWWXAxIQ6AEIIDAB#v=onepage&q=Eason%20Brothers%20Foundry&f=false

No Chariot Let Down: Charleston's Free People on the Eve of the Civil War by Michael P Johnson, James L. Roark

Pages 133-139

Reports Of Cases Heard And Determined By The Supreme Court Of South Carolina: From November Term, 1868 by South Carolina. Supreme Court, J. S. G. Richardson

Pages 555-563

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

https://markerhunter.wordpress.com/tag/eason-brothers/

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[JohnDLittlefield]

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

Really Helpful. Thanks!!!

 

[rebelatsea]

http://www.augustamagazine.com/2015/04/01/cannons-and-confederate-cakes/

James Eason and his brother manufactured steam engines, boilers and other machinery at their foundry near the Cooper River. During the Civil War, the Eason brothers were called into service by the state of South Carolina to rifle smoothbore iron cannons to increase the range and power of the weapons. The Charleston Mercury reported on July 20, 1861, that "…it has been demonstrated that the Eason gun will throw solid shot or shell, with accuracy, further than any other cannon now in our possession."

Eason also built the CSS Charleston and the CSS Chicora, Confederate ironclad gunboats that defended Fort Sumter and other Confederate positions off Charleston throughout 1863 and 1864. When Charleston was evacuated on February 18, 1865, the crews of the Charleston and the Chicora burned the gunboats to prevent capture by Union soldiers.

https://books.google.com/books?id=MnNDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT34&lpg=PT34&dq=eason+brothers+shipbuilders+charleston&source=bl&ots=xs6UnEi3Sa&sig=Wl3YShwQ3hrBMUcXpr8U-5BhkVQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj74rzzqvHQAhVhilQKHUeTAEYQ6AEIITAB#v=onepage&q=eason%20brothers%20shipbuilders%20charleston&f=false

http://www.charlestoncurrents.com/issue/12_issues/12.1029.htm

The first of the three gunboats was to be named the Chicora and built by Eason & Brothers, located at 12 Columbus Street. James M. Eason, president of the company, was highly regarded for his locomotives built in the 1830s and his steam engines built in the 1850s. Eason had a Scottish lathe capable of constructing a flywheel twelve feet in diameter.

https://books.google.com/books?id=g2S3_eFxFnMC&pg=PA141&dq=Eason+brothers+ironclad&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjeo7vIrfHQAhVY62MKHYBXBHIQ6AEIIDAB#v=onepage&q=Eason%20brothers%20ironclad&f=false

View attachment 117011

https://books.google.com/books?id=csVYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA261&dq=Eason+brothers+ironclad&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjeo7vIrfHQAhVY62MKHYBXBHIQ6AEIMDAE#v=onepage&q=Eason%20brothers%20ironclad&f=false

View attachment 117019

https://books.google.com/books?id=XXVDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT206&dq=James+Eason+charlestown&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjF0MzRr_HQAhUQHGMKHU56B8gQ6AEILDAD#v=onepage&q=James%20Eason%20charlestown&f=false

View attachment 117010

https://books.google.com/books?id=aRJiAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA109&dq=CSS+Columbia+Eason&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZndWasPHQAhUSzGMKHf6fBzYQ6AEIKjAD#v=onepage&q=CSS%20Columbia%20Eason&f=false

View attachment 117016

https://books.google.com/books?id=tvx345wgt88C&pg=PA170&dq=CSS+Columbia+Eason&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZndWasPHQAhUSzGMKHf6fBzYQ6AEIPTAH#v=onepage&q=Eason&f=false

View attachment 117012

https://books.google.com/books?id=JGQNaParQKQC&pg=PA587&dq=Eason+Brothers+Foundry&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi79qv_sfHQAhUQ52MKHWWXAxIQ6AEIIDAB#v=onepage&q=Eason%20Brothers%20Foundry&f=false

View attachment 117013

View attachment 117018

View attachment 117020

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No Chariot Let Down: Charleston's Free People on the Eve of the Civil War by Michael P Johnson, James L. Roark

Pages 133-139

Reports Of Cases Heard And Determined By The Supreme Court Of South Carolina: From November Term, 1868 by South Carolina. Supreme Court, J. S. G. Richardson

Pages 555-563

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

Great info especially on the railro

 

[rebelatsea]

Great info especially on the railro

I'll start again ! great information, especially on the railroad engine. I don't know nearly enough about the early years of railroads in the USA .
One caveat though. CSS Columbia was categorically not by William Graves . It was a John Like Porter creation from start to finish.
CSS Charleston original plan was by Graves, but who actually designed the vessel as built is open to conjecture.

 

[USS ALASKA]

www.civilwarartillery.com/manufacturers.htm

"J. M. Eason Bros.: Charleston firm operated by James M. and Thomas D. Eason. James M. Eason, proprietor. Soon after the capture of Fort Sumter the Eason firm prepared machinery and began rifling a 24-pounder smoothbore for the State of South Carolina. Subsequently, a portable rifling machine was made which could rifle guns at various distant locations. (The Centennial of Incorporation (Charleston: The News and Courier Book Press, 1884), 235.) The Charleston Mercury of July 20, 1861, reported that "... it has been demonstrated that the Eason gun will throw solid shot or shell, with accuracy, further than any other cannon now in our possession." By September over twenty heavy guns were at the shop awaiting rifling operations. (Columbus Times, September 9, 1861) In November, 1862, Major Childs at the Charleston Arsenal reported "That full three weeks have heretofore been taken by Messrs. Eason & Bro. in rifling and banding 32-pounder and 42-pounder guns; but that by working at night and on Sundays and distributing the work between Eason and Cameron I hope to be able to finish one gun per week. I
should state that it is only lately that Cameron & Co. have procured a lathe large enough to hold a 32-pounder." (O.R., XIV, 690). General Beauregard, on his own initiative and without Richmond's approval, later had several Columbiads rifled by Eason. This embroiled him in a controversy with the War Department and initially payment on the bill was refused. Rifling of Columbiads had not proven successful in the past but Eason also banded the guns which made them considerably safer. Under growing political pressure, the War Department backed down and the bills were paid. Two 10-inch Columbiads rifled by Eason survive at Charleston."

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Kathymarie3392]

Could this be the same Eason brothers?

 

[redbob]

Could this be the same Eason brothers?

View attachment 314295

Welcome to the group from middle Alabama, it is good to have you join us.

 

[Kathymarie3392]

Welcome to the group from middle Alabama, it is good to have you join us.

Thank you! I am in Kentucky and glad to here!

 

[USS ALASKA]

@Kathymarie3392

Welcome from the Railroads & Steam Locomotives forum!

https://civilwartalk.com/forums/railroads-steam-locomotives.203/

Cheers and Enjoy!
USS ALASKA

 

[Kathymarie3392]

@Kathymarie3392

Welcome from the Railroads & Steam Locomotives forum!

https://civilwartalk.com/forums/railroads-steam-locomotives.203/

Cheers and Enjoy!
USS ALASKA

Thank you!

 

[USS ALASKA]

@Kathymarie3392

Where did you find those pics, ma'am?
1035

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Kathymarie3392]

@Kathymarie3392

Where did you find those pics, ma'am?
1035

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

Old old family album!

 

[Story]

@USS ALASKA & @Kathymarie3392
Note that the D in Thomas D Eason stands for Dotterer - implying a familial relationship to the other aforementioned Charleston firm.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32095606/thomas-dotterer-eason

Note that he is credited for CSA service in the Washington Artillery.

For general edification, I'd suggest a search of newspapers.com narrowed to Charleston for late December 1872 (or January 1873) would yield an illuminating obituary.

 

[Story]

James Monroe Eason
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32095462/james-monroe-eason

Nicely-cited mini-bio.

During the War Between the States, James M. Eason rifled and banded the first smooth bore cannon ever altered, and so successful was he in this single branch of the military service that the defeat of the Iron-clad Fleet and the sinking of the Keokuk was due to this improvised ordnance. He also built the first iron-clad gunboat in the South including the CSS Chicora, CSS Columbia, CSS Charleston. See 1883 Year Book, Armored Ships, Rifled Cannon, & c., page 549.

Eason & Brothers employeed 80 men who manufactured a wide variety of heavy machines, including steam engines, pumps, threshing machines, rice mills, sawmills, grist mills, sugar mills, and cotton presses. Built huge steam dredge that deepeded the Charleston harbor.

At the time of his death, James Monroe Eason was living at 107 Cannon Street in Charleston, South Carolina

May, 3, 1870: J.M. Eason invents Stump Extractor, Patent #102516.

 

[JohnDLittlefield]

James Monroe Eason
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32095462/james-monroe-eason

Nicely-cited mini-bio.

During the War Between the States, James M. Eason rifled and banded the first smooth bore cannon ever altered, and so successful was he in this single branch of the military service that the defeat of the Iron-clad Fleet and the sinking of the Keokuk was due to this improvised ordnance. He also built the first iron-clad gunboat in the South including the CSS Chicora, CSS Columbia, CSS Charleston. See 1883 Year Book, Armored Ships, Rifled Cannon, & c., page 549.

Eason & Brothers employeed 80 men who manufactured a wide variety of heavy machines, including steam engines, pumps, threshing machines, rice mills, sawmills, grist mills, sugar mills, and cotton presses. Built huge steam dredge that deepeded the Charleston harbor.

At the time of his death, James Monroe Eason was living at 107 Cannon Street in Charleston, South Carolina

May, 3, 1870: J.M. Eason invents Stump Extractor, Patent #102516.

Invoices I have from the National Archives from Eason Brothers are signed
"J.M. Eason & Bro" and Jas.M. Eason & Bro"