Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
July 15, 1797
Primary Source Reference:
Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser, 15 July 1797
Additional Source Text:
"The case to hold the Water thro' which the smoke passes, is handsomely ornamented with silver and the tube is flexible, measuring 15 feet in length."
Notes:
Thomas Tingey (1750-1829) was a native of London, England, who had served as an officer in the British navy before the Revolutionary War. At some point, probably close to the beginning of the war, he left the navy, settled in the American colonies, and commanded merchant vessels engaged in the West Indies trade. In 1794 he became a captain in the U.S. Navy, and while commanding the Ganges, sailed to the East Indies, where he may have acquired this donation. Tingey served with distinction during the Quasi-War with France and served as the first commandant of the new Washington Navy Yard until his death.
