All the workmen, laborers &c employed in the yard or in repairing the Ships &c are to be employed under the direction and controul of the Superintendent of the Yard, and to be paid for their services such compensation as may be agreed upon with him; - the amount of daily wages to be ascertained in the following manner viz.

           It shall be the duty of the Clerk of the Yard, daily and every day at morning, noon and Evening to muster every person employed, carefully noting in a Musterroll prepared for the purpose each and every person that may appear to be attending to their duty or employment, and their particular occupation and the object of employment; as well as such as may appear to be absent with the cause of absence (if understood).- Having a due regard in making the said Musters to the convenience of the persons employed and the Interests of the public, attending for the purpose, whenever circumstances may render it necessary, at the Shops or places of employment: and to deliver daily one copy of the musterroll so made out to the Superintendent, retaining another copy in his possession. -

And it will also be the duty of the said Clerk at the end of every month to make out Separate payrolls for the respective objects of the employment headed in the manner herein after directed, varying in the description so as to designate each separate object of employment viz. -
"Payroll for the Ship - Carpenters, Caulkers, Laborers &c employed in repairing the frigate United States in the month of Jany1803." - Including in the said respective payrolls every person employed in that particular object, designating their respective occupations and stating the number of days work actually performed, ascertained from the musterrolls made out as herein before directed; which payrolls he will then submit to the inspection of the Superintendent, whose duty it will be to compare the same with the musterrolls in his possession, and if it shall appear to him that the time of employment is therein correctly stated, he will certify it to be so, and insert opposite to the name of each person the daily wages at which they are respectively to be paid, and then to hand the payrolls so certified and inserted to the purser of the Yard, with directions to extend the amount due to each person and pay the same, taking their receipts on the payrolls. -¹

Historical Background: Secretary of the Navy, Robert Smith, issued his direction on pay rolls in response to complaints received from yard workers concerned about the integrity of the pay process (the Secretary of the Navy's office was only twelve blocks from the Yard), and also to assist yard officers who wanted a better system to insure civilian attendance and one comparable to those they knew from their active naval service afloat. As a consequence of Smith's order, for nearly a century,² large amounts of time and effort were spent ensuring the accuracy of the Yard's daily muster procedures. Robert Smith's elaborate requirement that each WNY employee muster three times daily and personally sign for the amount due, was designed to place a check on unscrupulous foremen or naval pursers who might be temped to abuse their positions. Secretary Smith's other purpose appears to have been to gather indicators as to the nature and amount of time his employees were spending on a specific ship or work project. Today these early little known records are a treasure trove of information for genealogists and historians researching early Washington, D.C. labor and family history. Some of these 1819 payrolls are unique in that they document family relationships, apprentice indentures, and most importantly slave and free Black employment and thus provide valuable information for those studying American History and the District of Columbia.

Each of these pay rolls required the Clerk of the Yard, Thomas Howard, to draw up the complete lists of employee names. Each name on the pay roll was compiled from the prescribed three daily musters where Thomas Howard or Francis Barry (Clerk of the Check) would read out each man's name and check their presence or absence. Typically the men were paid monthly, which meant that toward the end of each month a register of names was composed on the pay roll (the pay roll document was literally a roll of paper, and some were as long as six feet). On the appointed pay day each mechanic or laborer would muster by division and present himself to Naval Purser Louis Deblois,³⁸ or his clerk, as their names were called and receive wages for which they would sign their acknowledgement or make their X mark. Procedure also required Master Mechanics to sign for their indentured apprentices and slave masters or their designated agent to sign for their enslaved employees. Based on the July 1811 pay roll, about 20 percent of the employees on the rolls made their X mark. Each signature or X mark was witnessed by the Purser or his clerk. This completed payroll was then submitted to Captain John Cassin who as the Washington Navy Yard's second in command certified its accuracy and submitted the payroll to Commandant Thomas Tingey (1750 -1829) for submission to the Department of the Navy.

The Year 1811 was a busy time for the Washington Navy Yard, whose principle task was to build and refit naval ships. That summer most of the WNY workforce was laboring on the brig Hornet, which in January 1811 was hauled out of the Potomac River into a Ship House where she was found to be in bad condition because her futtocks were rotten and the ship's beams were falling. All that summer yard carpenters worked to restore the ship's hull while joiners completely rebuilt the ships interior.³ At the same time the workforce was also restoring the sloop Wasp which arrived on 21 May 1811 and was completely dismantled; her armaments, stores and ballast removed, her decks and upper works were caulked, her rigging refitted, her sails mended and she was painted throughout. Commodore Thomas Tingey took pleasure in pointing out how efficient his building efforts were in contrast to those of private builders in Baltimore.

The early Washington Navy Yard employed large number slaves who were leased to the Yard by their masters. Some of those who benefited from this unique arrangement were WNY senior civilian employees, men like: Thomas Howard, (Clerk of the Yard), Benjamin King, (Master Blacksmith) and John Davis of Abel, (Master Plumber). In addition some of these same men had indentured trade apprentices. Most of their apprentices were young white males, although some senior civilians such as Josiah Fox, (Naval Constructor), actually indentured their slaves. The exact number of employees, apprentices and slaves employed at WNY varied with the season and the work at hand. Typically WNY reduced staff in the winter and took on more employees in spring and summer. Most employees listed were per diem except for senior civilian who were paid an annual salary. As per diem employees the time worked for mechanics and laborers varied a great deal. During the month of July caulkers worked on average one day while blacksmiths, joiners, and carpenters 24 days. The exact number of slaves employed on the July 1811 Pay Roll is extremely difficult to calculate since the list for July 1811 is incomplete and the Clerk of the Yard used the same expression "Basil [Brown] of Mary Nevit" to denote slave and master but also uses similar language such as: "Charles Venable of Benjamin King" to describe an indentured apprentice and his Master Mechanic. The years prior to August 1814 (on 24 August 1814 the Yard was burnt less it fell to the invading British) appear to have had more enslaved workers and reportedly as many as fifty apprentices.⁴ I have made appropriate notes where it was possible to document the nature of the relationships.

Black Employees: In the Navy Yard, white workers and free and enslaved African Americans worked together especially in the anchor shop in uneasy tension.⁵ Many of Navy's early leaders were aware of this tension and occasionally they took steps to limit the number of slaves employed less they provoke open animosity. Some years later, the Board of Naval Commissioners Circular dated 17 March 1817, specifically bared the use of enslaved labor without the expressed permission of the Board. Sadly such orders routinely ran up against the entrenched resistance of white workers in performing what they viewed as menial work. John Davis of Abel, WNY Blacksmith Foreman, once summed up rather candidly the prevailing attitude ( 13 March 1817 letter to Thomas Tingey), "I believe [speaking of Black men] second to none in the establishment & his Ability seldom equaled by any . . . If any Impropriety exists in the employment of such it has been unknown to me heretofore as we have found by long experience that Blacks have made the best Strikers in the execution of heavy work & are more easily subjected to the Discipline of the Shop & less capable of to leave us on any change of wages."

Acknowledgements:

Glenn Helm, Director of the Navy Library, for his extraordinary efforts over the years in making the wonderful resources of the Navy Library available to everyone and his ever thoughtful advice on naval records and transcription.

Wayne Hinton, my editor at Genealogytrails.com Washington DC, for his patience and expertise in putting these WNY archival documents before a larger public.

My thanks once again to Mr. Charles W. Johnson Archives Specialist, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C., who generously gave his help and assistance in locating and giving me the opportunity to study and photograph these unique records of the Board of Naval Commissioners.

My appreciation to the District of Columbia Archives, who under the leadership of Dr. Stephanie Scott, Secretary District of Columbia, make the District records readily available to historians and members of the public. Also my thanks to two members of her staff, Mr. Robert Jordan and Mr. Ali Rahmaan, Archivists, District of Columbia Archives, who were able to locate important early Washington, D.C. records related to WNY indenture apprentices and masters.

Transcription Method: This transcription was made from digital images of the 1811 Pay Roll of Mechanics and Laborers which was photographed at the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. As noted earlier the July 1811 Pay Roll shows evidence of being incomplete and certain individual names appear more then once on different sheets of the roll. In transcribing this listing I have striven to adhere as closely as possible to the original in spelling, capitalization, punctuation and abbreviation including the retention of dashes, ampersands and overstrikes. The pay roll listings for 1811 are unique as they cover only one month; July 1811. The July 1811 Pay Roll has 196 employees' names (plus names of slave owners, their agents and the names of Master Mechanics who signed for their indentured apprentices. On the rolls, employees are arranged by department. The numbering system generally appears to follow where they were employed by the Navy Yard. Occasionally there are gaps in the listing, where there are tears in the manuscript or where I was unable to provide a clear image or where it was not possible to determine what was written, I have so noted in brackets. Where possible, I have attempted to arrange the transcribed material in a similar manner to that found in the July 1811 Pay Roll. All transcriptions of documents quoted from the National Archives and Records RG45 are mine.

² General Orders for the Regulation of the Navy Washington DC circa 1833 -1850 reflects how these regulations were implemented over time at the Navy Yard.
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/wny1850rules.htm

³ Peck, Taylor A History of The Washington Navy Yard and U.S. Naval Gun Factory, United States Naval Institution Annapolis Maryland 1949 p. 45

⁴ The figure of fifty apprentices is found in a letter to the Board of Navy Commissioners from Lt. John Harradan, dated 5 August 1815. On 11 May 1815, Commodore John Rodgers, President of the Board of Navy Commissioners, writing to WNY Commandant Thomas Tingey bluntly stated the Navy's view of the overall work atmosphere at the Yard prior to 1814.

                     It's the intention of the Board of the Navy Commissioners, to reestablish the Navy Yard at this place, as a building Yard only, & while stating to you this intention, it may not be improper for them to make you acquainted with their views generally with respect to the establishment.

                     They have witnessed in many of our Navy Yards & this particularly pressure in the employment of characters unsuited for the public service - maimed & unmanageable slaves for the accommodation of distressed widows & orphans & indigent families - apprentices for the accommodation of their masters - & old men & children for the benefit of their families & parents . These practices must cease - none must be employed but for the advantage of the public, & this Yard instead of rendering the navy odious to the nation from the scenes of want & extravagance which it has too long exhibited must serve as a model on which to prefect a general system of economy.

⁵ Dudley, William S., et al. eds. The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, Vol. 1. Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1985. P. 524 ALS, DNA, RG45, CL, 1812, Vol.3, No. 102 missing blacksmith petition was recently found and a copy is now in the collection of the Navy Library. In the part, the WNY white blacksmiths petition reflects the anger of white smiths toward black employees. "Your petitions further complain that they [ar]e now subjected to the insolence of negroes employed in the Navy Yard, altho' no redress is [suffic]iently provided for your petitioners, against the misconduct of blacks.". This 1812 petition was signed by Henry Kurtz, James Bury, Edward Wayson, William Parsons, Stanislaus Ridgley, Fredeick Bopp, Seth Robbinson, Charles Sanderson, Willaim Ardey and Henry Clark.

⁶ John Davis of Abel, Master Plumber owned a number of slaves.
For a brief biography of John Davis see
http://www.genealogytrails.com/washdc/biographies/davisjohnofabel.html

⁷ Joe Byers is listed in Secretary of the Navy, Robert Smith's letter to Thomas Tingey, dated 16 May 1808, Subject, slaves to be retained at WNY.

⁸ Jim Brown, a slave, listed in the 16 May 1808 letter

⁹ Washington Bowie, is listed as slave in a letter from Thomas Tingey to Robert Smith dated 16 April 1808. His master was recorded as Gustavius Ward. Commodore Tingey informed Secretary Smith that he had discharged Bowie and twenty other slaves in accord with Secretary Smith's instruction. Washington Bowie was apparently sold to Walter Cox and reemployed at WNY.

¹⁰ Luke Cannon was listed as a slave in the 16 May 1808 letter; he appears to be a free black employee since on the July 1811 Pay Roll Luke Cannon is signing for his own wages.

¹¹ Possibly "Jerry Gratton", a slave of Azariah Gratton, listed in the 22 April 1808 letter of Commodore Thomas Tingey to Secretary of the Navy Robert Smith.

¹² Henry Kurtz later became Foremen of the WNY Anchor Shop see Commodore Thomas Tingey's letter to the Board of Navy Commissioners dated 3 August 1816.

¹³ Benjamin King, Master Blacksmith (1779-1837)
http://www.genealogytrails.com/washdc/biographies/bio3.html#Benjamin_King
owned slaves some of whom he used as apprentices. The anchor shop was considered one of the most demanding and dangerous of all the work assigned in the Yard. Benjamin Latrobe recounts Master Blacksmith Benjamin King as a severe and harsh task master 'Ben. King is forging the Crank. He has thought proper to alter his opinion and is making it the most tremendous lump of Iron, the Necks 4 inches in diameter, the squares 5 inches. He now thinks it too weak. He has been swearing and whipping his black Strikers at a terrible rate these two days past ... "The Letters of Benjamin Henry Latrobe Benjamin Latrobe", vol 1 p. 911 to James Smallwood dated 5 Oct 1810

¹⁴ Frederick Bopp, blacksmith, was from Germany and is mentioned in a 15 April 1817 letter from Thomas Tingey to the Board of Navy Commissioners stating that Fred Bopp, a blacksmith, a good hand ( a German) has worked in the Yard from 1805 - the five years of his application for citizenship will expire by the sitting of the June Court when he will obtain it."

¹⁵ George Plowden may be a slave of Alexandra Smoot who owned and leased other slaves to WNY e.g. Joe Smoot.

¹⁶ Joe Smoot, a slave, listed in the 16 May 1808 letter.

¹⁷ Joe Thompson is one of the slaves listed in the 16 May 1808 letter. Thompson is also mentioned in
the Diary Of Michael Shiner                 http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/shinerdiary.html
page 22 entry for 1828 On 8 April 1829 in a List of Colored men free & Slaves now Employ'd in the Blacksmiths & Engine department & in Ordinary at the Navy Yard Washington. Joe Thompson is again listed as employed in the WNY Blacksmith Shop and a freeman. His occupation is described as "striker".

¹⁸ Charles Venable was indentured to Benjamin King Master black smith in 1807
http://www.genealogytrails.com/washdc/apprenticedocuments/appindvenabletoking.html

¹⁹ Edward Wayson was born in Maryland about 1771 he is listed on the 1860 census for the District of Columbia as a Blacksmith age 89. 1860 Census for the District of Columbia, Roll M 653_104; 651 Image 88.

²⁰ Anthony or Andy Washington is a slave listed in the 16 May 1808 letter

²¹ Charles Washington is a slave listed in the 16 May 1808 letter

²² Samuel B. Ellis, an Englishman , whom Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the Engineer who designed many of the building at WYN, helped to secure employment as the operator of the first steam engine. Ellis began work at WNY in January 1811. The Papers of Benjamin Henry Latrobe Vol. 1 1805-1810 p 910n3

²³ In the early shipyards the ship carver was a distinct trade, figurehead and other carvings frequently decorated naval and commercial wooden ships in the age of sail. Carvings on a vessel were meant to show pride and to capture the public's attention. Naval and commercial vessels were required to have a name and the carvings frequently reflected that name

²⁴ Joiners specialized in ship interior carpentry such as ship cabins, berths, and hull spaces.

²⁵ William Burdine (1780 -1858) "Mr. Burdine came to this city in the year 1804, and was one of the first hands employed in the pattern department of the Navy Yard , after the establishment of the Government works here; and few vessels built for the U.S. Navy since that period but what bear the marks of his handiwork; for, until within the last nine months, he has hardly ever been missed a day from his post in the pattern shop, during a space of fifty-five years, when the works there have been in operation. In the time of the war of 1812, Mr. Burdine, with many other citizens, shouldered his musket and went forth to do his duty in the field. He was a member of Captain Burch's company, during the war, and was one of the guards appointed to superintend the burning of the Anacostia bridge on the occasion of the visit of His Majesty's troops to Washington in August, 1814. He was the most active of the founders of the Navy Yard Beneficial Society in 1831, of which society he was a member up to the day of his death. In February last he was completely paralyzed (having been partially so for the last nine years) and from that stroke never recovered so as to be able to speak, to the time when called upon to render up his final account to the Great Author of all existence."
(Congressional Cemetery plot R137/252). see Congressional Cemetery on line obituaries
http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/

²⁶ Nicholas Fitzpatrick (Joiner) is mentioned in a 15 April 1817 letter from Thomas Tingey to the Board of Navy Commissioners stating that Fitzpatrick came to the United States "at or under 8 years of age - having served all their youth to the trade and worked long in the yard - consider themselves citizens."

²⁷ James Fry ( Joiner) is also mentioned in a 15 April 1817 letter from Thomas Tingey to the Board of Navy Commissioners stating that Fry and Fitzpatrick came to the United States "at or under 8 years of age - having served all their youth to the trade and worked long in the yard - consider themselves citizens."

²⁸ Caulking is the process by which wooden ships are made watertight. To seal the cracks between the ship's wooden planks, caulkers use a caulking iron and mallet to stuff them with oakum (pieces of old rope) soaked in pitch (a dark, sticky substance like tar). When the wood gets wet, it swells, narrowing the cracks between the planks. The oakum also swells, ensuring that absolutely no water can leak through the cracks. Caulking requires a great degree of skill and experience to be done properly.

Both free and enslaved African Americans worked as caulkers also spelled "calkers". At WNY men such as George Bell, Moses Liverpool and Nicholas Franklin were able to purchase their freedom, support their families and become leaders in the African American Community. WNY and other naval and commercial shipyards in the first half of the 1800s employed large numbers of black caulkers. Although blacks also worked in other maritime trades (although they were banned from the prestigious position of ship carpenter), their roles as caulkers is especially significant because they dominated this industry.

²⁹ Dennis Vermillion's, brother John Vermillion, was also employed at WNY as a boat builder apprentice in 1812
http://www.genealogytrails.com/washdc/apprenticedocuments/appindvermillionjtomccauley.html

³⁰ Henry or Harry Smallwood is a slave listed on the 16 May 1808 letter.

³¹ John Hebron, Master Caulker, WNY employed a number of indentured apprentices; "George Diamond" is possibly George Liedman Morgan Dement who was apprenticed to Hebron 20 June 1808.

³² Bill Barnes, a slave, listed on the 16 May 1808 letter, his master Thomas Howard, was Clerk of the Yard and was also the master of Michael Shiner (1805 -1880) see The Diary of Michael Shiner relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/shinerdiary.html
Bill Barnes, mentioned in Shiner's entry for 1828 page 22.

³³ Thomas Howard (1779-1832), overseer of the WNY laborers, later Clerk of the Yard owned slaves: Bill Barnes, Rodger Howard, Andrew and later purchased Michael Shiner. For a biography of Thomas Howard and transcription of his last will see:
http://www.genealogytrails.com/washdc/wills/wills1.html#Thomas_Howard

³⁴ Harry Hicks, listed in the 16 May 1808 letter as a slave; he appears to be a free black employee since on the July 1811 Pay Roll Harry Hicks like Luke Cannon is signing for his own wages.

³⁵ Ned Nevit is listed in a letter from Secretary of the Navy Robert Smith to Commodore Thomas Tingey dated 19 May 1808 as a slave to be retained in the service of WNY.

³⁶ Peter Selby is probably the slave listed in the 16 May 1808 letter as "Peter Selly".

³⁷ Elizabeth Magruder owned a substantial number of slaves, her last will, dated 27 March 1827, mentions a "negro man Bob Forrest" she also had a female slave named "Toby" its unclear what if any relations these individuals had to Toby Forrest.
Provine, Dorothy District of Colombia Free Negro Registers 1821-1861 vol. 1 p 27

³⁸ See : Biography of Louis Deblois

Dudley, William S., et al. eds. The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, Vol. 1. Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1985

Green, Constance McLaughlin. The Secret City: A History of Race Relations in the Nation's Capital.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1967.

____. Washington: A History of the Capital 1800 -1950.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1962.

_____. The Economic Position of Free Blacks in the District of Columbia
in The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 58, No. 1. (Jan.1973), pp.61-72.

Latrobe, Benjamin Henry The Papers of Benjamin Henry Latrobe Volume 1-3 edited John C. Van Horne Yale University Press New Haven 1984 -1988.

Maloney, Linda M. The Captain from Connecticut: The Life and Naval Times of Isaac Hull.
Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1986.

Peck, Taylor Round-Shot to Rockets A History of the Washington Navy Yard and United States Naval Gun Factory.
United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland 1949

Sharp, John G. History of the Washington Navy Yard Civilian Workforce 1799-1962.
Stockton, CA: Vindolanda Press, 2005.
http://www.history.navy.mil/books/sharp/WNY_History.pdf

Shiner, Michael The Diary of Michael Shiner Relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard 1813-1869
. Navy Department Library online, transcribed with an Introduction and Notes John G. Sharp 2007.
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/shinerdiary.html

Tremian, Mary. Slavery in the District of Columbia: The Policy of Congress and the Struggle for Abolition.
New York: G.B. Putnam's Sons, 1898.