George Crowninshield Jr. was an American merchant, industrialist, shipowner, and yachtsman. He was involved with his father's commercial international trade George Crowninshield & Sons that conducted a shipping business in the West Indies, Europe, India and China. Because of this exposure to ships he became wealthy and was involved in making the first American yacht. Crowninshield, at his own expense, recovered two bodies of American naval officers that were killed during the War of 1812. It was rumored that he may have rescued Napoleon Bonaparte from exile with a luxurious pleasure yacht he owned. He was well known in the Salem social circles because of his personality. He never married, but did have a daughter.
Early life
Crowninshield was born at Salem, Massachusetts, on May 27, 1766. He was the son of George Crowninshield and Mary Crowninshield, who married in 1757. Crowninshield was the eldest of five adult brothers. His father and grandfather were both merchants, doing business in East India and China.
Mid life
Crowninshield went to local public schools until he was twelve. Then he studied navigation and first went to sea as a captain’s clerk and assisted in commanding a ship to the West Indies in 1790. He commanded the ship Belisarius to the East Indies in 1794. Crowninshield’s work was largely in the construction and outfitting of his family's ships. His father was the founder of the mercantile house of George Crowninshield & Sons. The firm was engaged in commerce with the West Indies, Europe, India and China. He was admitted into his father's Salem firm in 1801 and immediately built a sloop he named the Jefferson. This was the first American yacht and with it, Crowninshield became the first American yachtsman. He cruised the yacht for several years under the United States flag. Crowninshield took over the family firm upon the death of his father in 1815 and became an international merchant. Through these endeavors he became wealthy and was afforded substantial leisure time.
Personal
Crowninshield was a short person of in height and wore extravagant clothing like Hessian boots with gold tassels. He donned a pigtail and a shaggy beaver-skin hat. He was known around Salem for his extracurricular activities, such as driving around the city in his bright yellow curricle. He liked chasing down fires of burning buildings. Rescuing people from ships in distress, for the purpose of which he maintained a vessel, was a passion of his. Crowninshield procured all the necessary paperwork from Washington D.C.to bring home to Salem the bodies of Captain James Lawrence and Lieutenant Augustus Ludlow. They were killed in the defeat of the by the British vessel on June 1, 1813. He chartered the brigHenry at his own expense and manned it with a crew that sailed to Halifax, Nova Scotia. His crew were ship captains from the Salem Marine Society. The bodies were recovered and taken back to Salem. They arrived on August 23, 1813. Preparations meanwhile were made for a formal funeral that was attended by many high ranking officers of the United States Navy and the US Vice President. Crowninshield gained notoriety with his luxury pleasure yacht Cleopatra's Barge. The elaborate schooner with a deluxe interior was launched in 1816. Those that knew Crowninshield's admiration for Napoleon Bonaparte put it together that there was a good possibility he and his brothers rescued the Emperor from his exile on Saint Helena Island and took him back to America. It was speculated by author Francis Boardman Crowninshield that the sole purpose of Cleopatra's Barge was for the object of rescuing Napoleon, but that has not been conclusively proven. Crowninshield never married, but did have one daughter born 1811, Clarissa, whose mother was Elizabeth Rowell. Born in Salem, Clara was a friend of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who considered her like a sister. When Crowninshield died he bequeathed a large sum of money to Clara and her mother in his will. Benjamin Ropes Nichols, a Salem attorney, informally adopted Clara on the death of Crowninshield. Clara was sent to a female seminary in Hingham, Massachusetts. There her studies consisted of Latin, French, German, and literature. She became a friend of Mary Storer Potter, Longfellow's first wife. Clara recorded in her diary events of an eighteen-month trip to Europe with the Longfellows. Clara married a Mr. Louis Thies in 1843. They had a son and a daughter. Clara died in Dresden in 1907. Crowninshield died of a heart attack in Salem onboard Cleopatra's Barge on November 26, 1817. He is buried in Salem.
