William Lewis Maury
William Lewis Maury (c. 1813 – November 27, 1878) was an American explorer and naval officer who served in the United States Navy for over 32 years, assisting Charles Wilkes' exploration of the Pacific Ocean and served in Matthew C. Perry's 1854 naval mission to Japan. Later he served as a Captain in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War.
Biography
William Lewis Maury was born in Virginia, the son of William Grymes Maury and Ann Hoomes Woolfolk, and became a midshipman in the United States Navy in 1829. Maury served in the United States Naval Observatory under his cousin, superintendent Matthew Fontaine Maury; in charting the seas, cartography, and in recording astronomical observations.
In the famed United States Exploring Expedition then Lieutenant Maury served under Charles Wilkes from 1838-1842. He served on the ships Vincennes; joined the Peacock at Orange Bay, and the Porpoise at Callao.
It was during the Exploring Expedition's survey of Puget Sound that Commodore Wilkes named Maury Island after William Lewis Maury. Maury continued in Navy service serving on the Navy Efficiency Board. In 1860 he served as a member of the Japanese Treaty Commission.
When the American Civil War began he resigned his commission and joined the Confederate States Navy. He was initially assigned to a coastal defense battery at Sewell's Point, Virginia. His talent for coastline defense was recognized early on and he was reassigned to the Confederate Torpedo Service. Serving first at Wilmington Station and Charlotte, North Carolina, he was soon transferred to Charleston Station. Later, as commander of the ship CSS Georgia, a commerce raider, he captured and sank several ships carrying war materials while letting others with commerce not for war go free.
Basic Pedigree for William Lewis Maury
- Abraham Maury m. Marie Fourquuereau
- Matthew Maury b.18 Sept. 1696, Gascony, France m. Mary Anne Fontaine
- Rev James Maury m. Mary Walker
- Walker Maury m. Mary Stith Grymes
- William Grymes Maury m. Anne Holmes Woolfork
- William Lewis Maury m. Anne Fontaine Maury (1832-1890)
Legacy
As a member of Wilkes' expedition, the Maury name was applied to a discovered feature of Puget Sound, Maury Island. In the 20th century, an ice-filled bay east of Cape Lewis, Antarctica, Maury Bay, was named after this explorer.
References
Sources
- Morgan, James Morris (1917). Recollections of a Rebel Reefer. Houghton Mifflin Company.
External links
- William Lewis Maury at Find a Grave
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- Matthew Maury, immigrant
- James Maury (1718–1769)
- Mathew Maury (1744–1808)
- Matthew Hawes Maury (1777–1860)
- Matthew Henry Maury (1815-1858)
- Mason Maury (1848-1919) architect
- Reuben F. Maury (1824–1906), Oregon Union army colonel
- Matthew Henry Maury (1815-1858)
- Matthew Hawes Maury (1777–1860)
- James Maury (1746–1840), one of the first United States diplomats
- William Morris Maury, m. Sarah Mytton, English author
- Mytton Maury (b. 1839), m. Virginia Draper, daughter of scientist John William Draper and sister of scientists Henry Draper and John Christopher Draper
- Antonia Maury (1866–1952), astronomer & Carlotta J. Maury paleontologist.
- Mytton Maury (b. 1839), m. Virginia Draper, daughter of scientist John William Draper and sister of scientists Henry Draper and John Christopher Draper
- William Morris Maury, m. Sarah Mytton, English author
- Walker Maury (1752–1788)
- William Grymes Maury
- John Walker Maury (1809–1855), Mayor of Washington, D.C.
- William Arden Maury (1832–1918), U.S. Assistant Attorney General
- William Lewis Maury (1813–1878), Naval officer
- John Walker Maury (1809–1855), Mayor of Washington, D.C.
- William Grymes Maury
- Fontaine Maury (1761–1824)
- Eliza Maury (b. 1793)
- Richard Brooke Maury (b. 1794)
- Rev. Thompson Brooke Maury
- Richard Fontaine Maury (1882–1950), railway engineer
- Rev. Thompson Brooke Maury
- Richard Maury (1766–1843)
- John Minor Maury (1795–1824), m. Eliza Maury, his first cousin, daughter of Fontaine Maury
- Dabney Herndon Maury (1822–1900), Confederate general and brother William Lewis Maury (1818-1838)<-See Recollections..->
- Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806–1873), oceanographer, astronomer
- John Minor Maury (1795–1824), m. Eliza Maury, his first cousin, daughter of Fontaine Maury
- Mathew Maury (1744–1808)
- Abraham Maury (b. 1731), m. Susanna Poindexter, a cousin of George Poindexter
- Abraham "Abram" Maury, Jr. (b. 1766), Major, Tennessee state legislator
- Abram Poindexter Maury (1801–1848), U.S. Representative from Tennessee
- Abraham "Abram" Maury, Jr. (b. 1766), Major, Tennessee state legislator
- James Maury (1718–1769)