 Ann MillerMarried name: Fox Married/ Related to:  Josiah FoxBorn 1763 Falmouth, Cornwall, Kingdom of Great Britain, died 1847, 83 or 84 years. Occupation: Naval Architech Josiah Fox (1763–1847) was a British naval architect noted for his involvement in the design and construction of the first significant warships of the United States Navy. Fox was born in Falmouth, Cornwall, Kingdom of Great Britain in 1763, and completed the apprenticeship at the Royal Dockyard, Plymouth, where he later served as a shipwright. In 1793 he traveled to the United States to survey timber resources and was there engaged to teach drafting to the sons of Jonathan Penrose, an American shipwright. In 1794 he was employed by the US Navy as a draftsman working under Naval Constructor Joshua Humphreys, the designer of the first Navy frigates. Fox and Humphreys disagreed over design issues, the former believing that the designs were too long and had too sharp a bow, among other problems. This disagreement caused significant animosity between the two, with arguments over credit for the design continuing in the press as late as 1827. In 1798, Fox was appointed Master Constructor of the frigate Chesapeake, 38, which was to be built in Norfolk. Fox apparently altered Humphreys’ design to his own liking, though this may have been partially the result of a timber shortage. The Chesapeake turned out to be less impressive a sailer than the other early frigates, had a reputation as an unlucky ship, and was captured by HMS Shannon in 1813. In the first years of the 19th century, Fox was responsible for fitting out some of the gunboats that were the Republican Jefferson Administration’s unsuccessful attempt at creating a “Naval Militia.” Fox died in 1847 and was buried in the cemetery near the Concord Hicksite Friends Meeting House, near Colerain. Quaker, married Anne Miller of Philadelphia and had 10 children. He had been disowned from his Quaker Meeting for his involvement in the construction of warships, but was reinstated after the War of 1812. In 1814, Fox and his family settled in Colerain, Belmont County, Ohio, located in south-eastern Ohio. Josiah Fox and two of his sons visited Cornwall in September 1833, to take possession of the property of his deceased brother, John. On Sunday 8 September, he met one of his relations, Barclay Fox, who recorded the meeting enthusiastically in his journal. On the next day, they met by chance at Falmouth Docks, which Josiah and his sons were inspecting From Wikipedia Ferry Landing, Fall 2003". Martin Ferry Area Historical Society Toll, Ian (2006). Six Frigates: the Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy. New York: W. W. Norton Fox, Robert Barclay (1979). ed. by Raymond Brett, ed. Barclay Fox's journal. Totowa, N.J.: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-8476-6187-3. Pages 55 and 56. ------------------------------------------------------------------- JOSIAH FOX, NAVAL ARCHITECT From Welcome To Colerain, Its History From 1800-1976 Colerain Junior Women’s Club Josiah Fox was born at Falmouth in Cornwall, England, in 1763.He was the only formally trained shipwright concerned with the design of early American ships. Apprenticed at age eighteen to the master constructor at his Majesty’s Dockyard at Plymouth, he was later employed as a shipwright. The young Josiah Fox made a number of voyages aboard the CROWN, which was captained by one of his brothers. Arriving in the United States in 1793, he planned to study American timber and to visit friends and relatives in Philadelphia. The following April, he was employed, along with Joshua Humphreys, by Secretary of War, General Knox, to assist in the design and construction of the proposed navy. His title was originally “Clerk” in the War Department. Within a year, he was promoted to the rank of Assistant Navy Constructor and assigned to design the frigate CRESCENT, which was to be given to the Dey of Algiers to fulfill a condition of the treaty that ended the war with the Barbary States. The U. S. S. CONSTITUTION “Old Ironsides” was a joint effort of Josiah Fox, Joshua Humphreys, and William Doughty. She was launched October 21, 1797. “She was perhaps as fine a frigate as ever plied the seas under sail. With her bottom sheathed in copper furnished by Paul Revere and a hull of the strongest live oak, she was a marvel of the shipwright’s skill.” The defeat of the GUERRIERE was the first major sea victory of the war of 1812. Off the coast of Nova Scotia on August 19, 1812, the masts of the once-proud GUERRIERE splintered and fell under a withering barrage of cannon fire from the CONSTITUTION. Striking another blow to British sea power, it defeated the British ship JAVA off the coast of Brazil on December 29, 1812. In 1815, “Old Ironsides” captured the CYANE and the LEVANT after an engagement near Gibraltar. Deemed unseaworthy about 1829, the CONSTITUTION was ordered dismantled, but the order was rescinded in deference to the sentiment aroused by the Oliver Wendell Holmes poem “Old Ironsides” . Rebuilt in 1833, the ship became a training ship. Congress ordered it rebuilt in 1925 . Today , she is tied up to a dock in the old Boston Navy Yard, manned by a full crew of enlisted men, and skippered by a regular naval officer. Still being in commission, she has the same status as an aircraft carrier or a nuclear submarine. “She is part of America.” Some other ships designed by Josiah Fox were U. S. S. UNITED STATES with Humphreys and Doughty, the U. S. S. CONSTELLATION, also with Humphreys and Doughty, and the frigate CRESCENT, the PICKERING, EAGLE, and DILLEGENCE, revenue cutters, the U. S. S. PHILADELPHIA, U. S. S. JOHN ADAMS, and the U. S. S. CHESAPEAKE. During his fifteen years as Naval Architect, he served under presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison. He was married to the the former Anna Miller of Philadelphia. They had ten children. Josiah Fox was a Quaker, and because it is against the Quaker faith to be engaged in war activities, he was disowned by the Philadelphia Meeting. Also his wife was not a Quaker. However, after the war of 1812, he was restored in good faith to the Quaker religion. In 1814,they settled on a farm near Colerain, Ohio. The home he constructed there is said to be a replica of his ancestral home in Cornwall, England. Josiah Fox died in 1847 at the age of 84. He is buried in the cemetery next to the old Concord Meeting House. His home, now known as “Quaker Acres”, is owned by David and Cindy Lash. The MFAHS Board of Directors held the October meeting there Child: 1. Sarah Scantlebury FoxMarried name: Dungan, born 12 Jun 1808 Farmington, Belmont, Ohio see notes, died 24 Mar 1889 Belmont County Ohio, 80 years 1880 census of Elizabeth Cope state Sarah was born in District of Columbia | |||