Say hello to Able-Bodied Seaman Ernst Conrad Pens, 1829-1901, who, after immigrating from Germany in 1849, joined the US Navy for a grubstake before homesteading in the Midwest. He served on the 24-gun sloop USS Vincennes for 10 years and was disabled in an incident in Peru. The photograph shows an authentic 1850 topman's going-ashore kit and it’s a tintype right out of the seafaring tales of Patrick O'Brian. What’s interesting, of course, is the word grubstake and its colorful, convoluted past. Batten down the hatches, Matey… A storm’s a blowin’.
© 2024 John Oliver
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