Naval Investigation of cruelty
Hi All,
I was finally able to get my SAM vet's personnel records.
There are all kinds of interesting stuff.
By today's standards he was not a stellar sailor. His seamanship was 5.0 (today he would have been 4.0. His
discipline records not so much. A disapointment to be
kind. He was AWOL a number of times,extra duty,reduced in rank, reduced in pay, the brig, etc. He was only 15yrs.
That is another story.
He was aboard the USS Adams from 1892-1895. On 08 March 1893
The San Francisco Call (http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cdnc) published
an article about the alledged numerous desertions, cruelty
and the like aboard the USS Adams and the USS Ranger.
There was per the news article a hearing and a Navy Board of investigation. If this is true there may be reasons he was awol. Later he was recommended for discharge but the Navy kept him until his contracted discharge date. He was given a "normal" (probably a general) discharge a short while before his 21st birthday.
He died in 1907 in San Francisco and is buried in Colma.
I would like to find out what happened. He was on the Adams
until it was decommisioned.
He went on to serve in other ships and the was almost no more disiplinary problems. No more awol, anyway.
Anyone have any ideas? input?
There is one more thing I would like to do. I need someone
in/near Colma to go and see if he has a VA headstone or medallion. Maybe he doesn't deserve it. I don't know but his
was a very sad life. Grfa a pirate and smuggler, father a
bigamist, and 2 more families with no benefit of divorce.
Thanks for any help
Mary