Monday, October 31, 2011

Johnston Blakeley, Lost At Sea

From Harper's Magazine:


Johnston Blakeley, born in Ireland and later a resident of North Carolina, was the commander of the USS Wasp (5th of that name) that captured the HMS Reindeer and sunk the HMS Avon... .

The USS Wasp was probably sunk in a gale; it was last heard of on October 9, 1814.  There is an historical marker commemorating Johnston Blakeley in Wilmington, North Carolina.  Johnston Blakeley's daughter Udney Marie died in childbirth; the Johnston Blakeley line is extinct.  His widow, Jane, married a Dr. [Robert] Abbott and moved to Christiansted in the Virgin Islands.


A newspaper account of Johnston Blakeley's romance was published in the Pittsburgh Press.

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