George Hartley Did NOT Go To That Meeting

In previous posts I have speculated that Solomon Hartley (1775-1815) had a brother George Hartley who was also a mariner/rigger in the Northern Liberties area of Philadelphia in the early 1800s.  Here is a notice by this George Hartley declaring that he did not attend a meeting at the widow Clothier's ("sign of the Beehive") for raising wages:

The Subscriber,
Hereby gives notice to those Journeymen
Riggers who held a meeting at the widow
Clothier, sign of the Beehive, on the 15th inst.
for the purpose of raising their wages, that will
please to come forward, in a public manner and
clear me of the false report which has gone a-
broad, that I had attended the said meeting and
approved of the proceeding.  In case of neglect-
ing to do this, I shall consider them as the au-
thors of the report, and prosecute them to the
full extent of the law, for using my name to
serve their puposes, and to the injury of my
reputation.
George HartleyMay 22--d3t

-------------------------------
We, the Subscribers
Journeymen Riggers, do in this public man-
ner declare that neither George Hartley,
nor Martin Brown, were at the meeing held at
the widow Clothier's on the 15th inst. neither
has any of us said that they were.  We therefore
clear them of the false report that has gone a-
broad.
Joseph Wills,
Solomon Hartly,
George Ekhart,
John Mirkil,
Simon Johnson***,
Joseph Brown, x his mark.
Daniel Mark
Asa B. Bramble,
John Cristi,
Peter Walters,
F. F. Schluck,
Peter Fox, x his mark.
James Chembers,
George Carr,
John Walker, x his mark.
Frederick Keller [or Ketler?]
May 22--d3dt

"We, the Subscribers," Philadelphia Gazette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), May 25, 1809, page 4, col. 3; digital image, GenealogyBank (https://www.genealogybank.com : 24 March 2018).

More names for the Solomon Hartley FAN club!




***Simon Johnson was known to be Solomon Hartley's brother-in-law: Solomon Hartley married Mary Gwinnup, and Simon Johnson married Elizabeth Gwinnup, Mary's sister.  Simon Johnson's son, Joseph A. Kelting, was my grandfather George W. Hartley's (1805-1880) first cousin.  Joseph Kelting was active in the Mormon church for many years.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

My Ancestor Solomon Hartley (1775-1815) Was A Rigger: What Did That Mean?

I've gleaned from Philadelphia city directories in the early 1800s that Solomon Hartley, my 4th great grandfather, was a rigger (and once referred to as a mariner).

So I am assuming his primary work involved working the rigging (rope, pulleys, and sails) on a ship. I'm not sure what kind of ship, although I suspect commercial (there is a family story that he had gone to China once on a several-year trip and brought back dishes).

I've included his 3-part video shows plenty of rigging action on a traditionally rigged ship The Sørlandet to get an idea of what that looked like (warning, very technical):

Some more footage (vastly less technical) is from "World of Discovery - Tall Ships: High Sea Adventure", aboard The Danmark:

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.