by Christopher H. Ezelle
Matthew Fontaine Maury, seventh child of Richard and Diana Maury, was born on January 14, 1806 near Fredericksburg, Virginia, but the years of his youth were spent near Franklin, Tennessee. An avid learner, student and sage, his greatest interest was in science, in which he excelled. He was inspired by his brother, John Minor Maury, who served under David Porter on the famous cruise of the Essex in the Pacific during the war of 1812. Matthew chose a life of the navy. from 1825 to 1834, Maury made his first three extended voyages — to Europe, around the world and to the pacific coast of South America. Upon his return in 1834, Matthew married Ann hull Herndon, his first cousin, and settled in Fredericksburg, Virginia. His first home was located there in early married life in the 1830s and 1840, where four of his children were born. in 1953, the home was part of a junkyard, and it was torn down.
During the years 1834 to 1841, Maury produced published works on sea navigation and detailing sea journeys. he also began writing political essays pushing for navy reform under an assumed name. in 1843, Maury was appointed superintendent of the Depot of Charts and Instruments of the Navy Department in Washington. In this position he began publishing his research on oceanography and meteorology, as well as charts and sailing directions. By the fall of 1853 Maury had become internationally recognized for his work. He was sent to an international congress at Brussels as the United States representative. Maury’s system of recording the oceanographic data of naval vessels and merchant marine ships was thereafter adopted world-wide. In 1855, he published The Physical Geography of the Sea, which is now credited as “the first textbook of modern oceanography”.
Maury had always been very interested in the commercial construction of the South. As tensions increased between the South and the North, his regional interests became solidified. on April 20, 1861, three days after Virginia seceded from the union, Maury resigned from the United States Navy. Several days later, he accepted the position of Commander in the Confederate States Navy with the rank of Commodore. Because of his international fame, he was sent to England as a spokesperson for the confederate government and the Southern cause. During the War Between the States, Maury was successful in acquiring war vessels for the Confederacy and in the progress he made in harbor defense, experimenting with electrical mines.
After spending a few post-civil war years in England, Maury returned to Lexington, Virginia in 1868, accepting the position of Professor of Meteorology at the Virginia Military Institute. In the fall of 1872, Maury became ill during one of his lecturing tours. He died several months later on February 1, 1873, and was temporarily buried in Lexington. Maury’s body was then moved to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, where it was re-interred between the graves of presidents Monroe and Tyler.
- Commodore Maury has an enviable list of noteworthy accomplishments that include:
- Founder of the U.S. Naval Observatory
- Author of the first book on nautical science by an American naval officer
- First hydrographer
- Founder of the science of oceanography
- Father of world meteorology
- Locator for the first transatlantic cable
- Advocate for naval reform and reorganization
- A champion for the establishment of the us naval academy
- Prophet of the Panama Canal
- Planner for Amazonian, Mississippian and Antarctic explorations
- Inventor of the first electrically controlled submarine mine successfully used in warfare
- Author of public-school geographies
- Father of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute
No other American scientist, living or dead, has ever received from foreign government the orders, decorations, medals and diplomas given to Commodore Maury: Russia, Denmark, Portugal, Belgium, France, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Holland, Sardinia, and Breman giving orders and medals; more than 16 learned societies making him an honorary member, while he received more than 20 diplomas from foreign institutions of learning.
And as Dr. J. N. barney, the host at the dedication in 1915 stated so eloquently, he died as he lived, simply and quietly, his last words being “it is well”, and the spirit went from his quiet home in Lexington to be among the stars which in life he studied so earnestly and so well.