Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1880-02-05
AN OLD STORY RET0LD.
The Famous Mutiny on Board the
"Somers."

y
Wy. While in mid-ocean the O
ficers of the United States brig
of-war Somers discovered that
conspiracy existed on board til
vessel to murder themselves an
turn the vessel into a privatee
for the purpose of piracy; bu
the ringleaders were discovere
and executed and the crime frus
trated. The leader in the affai
was Philip Spencer, son of Hon
John G. Spencer, the distinguish
ed statesman from New York
then Secretary of War in th'
Cabinet of President Tyler. On
account of the prominence thu
given to the event, the mutin,
was everywhere topic of dis
cussion, and reviews Of the cas-
were written by number of not
ed men, including j. Fenimor'
Cooper. The Cleveland Leader
thus tells the story from the
lips of one of the crew:
Captain VIM. Burlington, wei
known along the lakes and who
last season sailed the schooner
Pelican, was one of the crew of
the Somers. He was visited al
his residence on the Detroit
road, yesterday afternoon, by a
Leader reporter, and related the
story, though modestly prefer
ring not to have anything pub
.ished as coming from him. AT
the time of the mutiny Captain
Burlington was eighteen or nine
teen years of age, and many of
the facts have escaped his men,
ory. The Somers sailed from
New York for Liberia, Africa,
with dispatches, but was obliged
to put back on account Of insult
ficiency of crew, and other sea-
men were obtained from the re-
ceiving ship North Carolina, Mr..
Burlington being a member of
the second crew. On the return
from Liberia, before reaching St.
Thomas, where it was the inten-
ton to stop and take on coal and
provisions, word was brought to
Captain Alexander Slidell Mac
kenzie, the commander of the
Somers, that a conspiracy exist
ed to capture the vessel and take
her to the Isle of Pines, where
she would be joined by a Mexi-
can privateer, and the two would
commence on a career Of piracy.
In those days comparatively
few steamers sailed the ocean,
and of course the security of the
pirates was much better than it
would be at present. Mr.. Wales,
the steward of the brig, first
brought the affair to notice. On
the night of November 25th Mr..
Wales was asked by Spencer,
who was a midshipman, to go a
loft in the rigging where he want
ed to converse with him conf
When alone the mid
shipman accosted Wales with a
question, "Do you fear death; do
you fear a dead man; are you a
fraid to kill a man?" Somewhat
surprised, though still cool and
collected, the steward listened to
what followed, taking the oath
of secrecy imposed upon him by
Spencer. The latter then unfold
ed the plan for mutiny, stating
that it was written out on paper
and then under his collar, back
of his cravat, and he would show
it in the morning when it was
light so as to read it. Twenty
of the crew, he claimed, were
leagued with him, and the mur-
der of the captain and the Off
GERS of the vessel would be an
easy matter.
When fully apprised of what
had taken place, Captain Mac
kenzie ordered a strict watch
kept of the movements of Spen-
Ger. In a day or two the Cap
tain encountered Spencer on deck
and asked him what he meant by
such talk to Wales, but the
young man explained that it was
all a joke, and no harm was in
tended. The written plot was
demanded, but Spencer denied
its existence, and a careful search
Of his person failed to disclose
it. 1t was found, however, Sc
creted in Spencer's razor-case,
written in the Greek language,
but one of the officers understood
the characters and translated
them into English. The names
of a number of the crew were
written who would be given a
chance to "walk the plank" that
is be dropped overheard, and
others were to be given their
choice between compulsory SER
vice as pirates or watery grave.
E. Cromwell, the boatswain's
mate, and Elisha Small, a sea-
man from Boston, were also ar
rested, they being discovered
frequently in conversation with
Spencer. The three were doub-
le-ironed and taken below. They
were speedily tried by Court
II I'll -.,,si4xx <l.a