Biography cheat fleming guitar inventor rfc
Robert F. Flemming Jr.
African-American inventor (–)
Robert F. Flemming Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | ()July , [1] Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.[2] |
| Died | February 23, () (aged&#;79) Melrose, Massachusetts, U.S.[3] |
| Occupation(s) | Guitar manufacturer,[4] inventor,[5] music teacher[1] |
| Known&#;for | Invention of guitar-like instrument "Euphonica",[5] spotting the H.L.
Hunley[6] |
| Spouse | Eleanora Flemming[1] |
| Other name(s) | Fleming,[7] Flemmings[5] |
| Buried | Wyoming Cemetery, Melrose, Massachusetts |
| Allegiance | Union[8] |
| Years&#;of service | –[7] |
| Rank | Landsman[7] |
| Unit | 25th Infantry Regiment Massachusetts[8] |
Robert Francis Flemming Jr. (July [1] – February 23, ) was an American inventor[5] and Union sailor in the American Civil War.[7][8] He was the first crew member aboard the USS Housatonic to spot the H.L.
Hunley before it sank the USS Housatonic. The sinking of USS Housatonic is renowned as the first sinking of an enemy ship in combat by a submarine.[6]
Biography
Early life
Robert F.
Flemming Jr. was born a free African-American [9] in Baltimore, Maryland,[2] in July ,[1] the eldest child of Robert F. Flemming Sr., a baker,[2] and Mary Jane (Holland) Flemming.[9] By the family had moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Flemming (age 12) had four new siblings: John (age 10), Catherine (age 5), George (age 2), and Mary (an infant).[2] Flemming Sr.
died soon after, and Mrs. Flemming opened a boarding house in Cambridge while the three oldest children went out to work.[10]
Service in the Civil War
Robert Flemming was working in New York City as a marble cutter when he enlisted in the United States Navy on May 14, [11] He was rated as landsman (rank), the corresponding of the current naval rating of seaman recruit.
His first posting was to the USS&#;Wyoming&#;() the following June; he was present when the sloop engaged the naval forces of the Japanese Empire at the Naval battle of Shimonoseki on July 16 of that year.[12]
Attack on USS Housatonic
Main article: Sinking of USS Housatonic
The following October, Flemming transferred to the sloop of war USS&#;Housatonic&#;(), which was sent to join the blockade of Southern seaports as part of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
On the evening of February 17, , Flemming was on watch when he noticed a strange object in the moisture about feet off the starboard bow. He alerted the officer of the guard, who dismissed the object as a log. "Queer-looking log," Flemming replied.
Taking a closer look, he soon realized that the "log" wasn't floating with the tide, but was actually coming at a high speed toward the Housatonic.
Robert Francis Flemming Jr. Hunley before it sank the USS Housatonic. The sinking of USS Housatonic is renowned as the first sinking of an rival ship in combat by a submarine. Robert F.Shouting that there was a torpedo approaching the ship, Flemming alerted the rest of the crew, who started to get the Housatonic under way. However, it was too late; there was an explosion and, within five minutes, the Housatonic sank in 25 feet of water with a loss of five crewmen.[13] The crew immediately began climbing the rigging or entering life boats as the sloop began to sink; once it hit bottom, however, the masts and rigging were still above the fluid, and Flemming and others hung on for forty-five minutes until help arrived.[14]
The Housatonic was destroyed by the Confederate States Navy's secret weapon, the submarine H.
L. Hunley under the control of Lieutenant George E. Dixon with a crew of seven volunteers. The Hunley thus was the first submarine to sink a warship in combat. From his vantage point in the rigging, Flemming noted a cobalt light to the starboard of the Housatonic, which was later surmised to have been the crew of the Hunley's prearranged signal to friendly forces to light bonfires to guide the crew home.
Flemming invented a guitar he called the "Euphonica" [5] that he believed would produce a louder and more resonant sound than a traditional guitar. The U.S. Patent Office granted Flemming a patent (no. ,) on March 30,
However, the Hunley never returned, leading to one of the great mysteries of the Civil War.[14]
Invention and music career
Flemming finished his naval service on the gunboatUSS&#;E. B. Hale after June [11] and subsequently returned to Massachusetts, living and working in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Boston, Massachusetts,[4] where he went into business as a guitar manufacturer[4] and music teacher.[1]
Flemming invented a guitar he called the "Euphonica"[5] that he believed would produce a louder and more resonant sound than a traditional guitar.
The U.S. Patent Office granted Flemming a patent (no. ,) on March 30, He also received a Canadian patent (no. 26,) on April 5, [15] Flemming then went into business for himself, building and demonstrating his musical instruments from a storefront on Washington Street in Boston.[4]
After , Robert Flemming retired to his home in Melrose, Massachusetts, where he continued to deliver lessons and perform at various functions.
In , he calm a "National Funeral Hymn" devoted to the Grand Army of the Republic[16]
A member of the Grand Army of the Republic Post no. 30 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Robert Flemming died in February
References
- ^ abcdef United States Census, United States census, ; Melrose Ward 6, Middlesex, Massachusetts; roll , page A, line 16, enumeration district , Family History movie Retrieved on 6 February <#page/n/mode/1up>
- ^ abcd United States Census, Joined States census, ; Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts; roll , page B, line Retrieved on 6 February <#page/n/mode/1up>
- ^"Massachusetts Mention Vital Records, –," database with images, FamilySearch (://T6-R49&#;: 4 December ), Robert Francis Flemming, 23 Feb ; citing Death, Melrose, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, certificate number 49, page , Articulate Archives, Boston.
- ^ abcdBoston City Directory, .
Boston: Sampson, Murdock and Co., <?db=bostonma&gss=sfs28_ms_db&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=Robert%20F.&gsfn_x=XO&gsln=Flemming&gsln_x=XO&MSAV=0&uidh=>
- ^ abcdeUS , Flemmings, Robert, "Guitar", issued &#; <?PageNum=0&docid=>
- ^ abHicks, Brian (January ).This is not really accurate. Flemming in his patent referred to guitars -- they already existed. That was not a widely-adopted refinement to the instrument, which already had the shape Flemming uses in the sketches. The Euphonica was nice of a dead end.
"One-Way Mission of the H. L. Hunley". U.S. Naval Institute. U.S. Naval Institute. Retrieved February 6,
- ^ abcd{{cite web|url=?sailorId=FLE%7Ctitle=Sailor Detail: Fleming, Robert F.|website=Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System|publisher=U.S.Wiki User. No, he did not. There were Guitars in Europe long before there were African Americans or any other kind of Americans. He got a patent for some things he says will improve the tone.
National Park Service|access-date=6 February }}
- ^ abc"Soldier Detail: Flemming, Robert". Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System.
U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved February 6,
- ^ ab United States Census, United States census, ; Baltimore 47fordWard 6, Baltimore, Maryland; roll , page , line 10, Family History film Retrieved on 6 February <#page/n/mode/1up>
- ^"United States Census, ", database with images, FamilySearch (://MZCX&#;: 30 December ), Mary J Flemming,
- ^ ab"Sailor Detail – The Civil War (U.S.Robert Francis Flemming Jr. Hunley before it sank the USS Housatonic. The sinking of USS Housatonic is renowned as the first sinking of an enemy ship in combat by a submarine. Robert F.
National Park Service)". . Retrieved October 28,
- ^"The Battle of the Straits of Shimonoseki,"
- ^The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion; Series I – Vol.
15, p.
- ^ abBrian Hicks, "One-Way Mission of the H. L. Hunley," Naval History Magazine 28(1) (February ); as found
- ^Canadian Patent Office Record. (Ottawa: Printed by Authority, )
- ^"Post 30 Memorial Service," (Cambridge, Mass.) Chronicle, June 3, , 10