From 1894-1898, John served in the Revenue Cutter Service, forerunner of the U.S. Coast Guard, onboard the Morrill and the Colfax.
After the Revolutionary War, the United States was in
desperate need of money. Almost all of the nations
revenues came from taxes on imported goods.
Unfortunately, many Americans developed a taste for
smuggling during British rule and refused to stop after
independence.
The Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, asked
President George Washington for revenue cutters to
stop the smugglers at sea. On August 4th, 1790,
Congress started what we call today the U.S. Coast
Guard when it authorized the construction of ten
revenue cutters.
The fight against smugglers began in earnest once the revenue cutter fleet was commissioned. The new cutters
were stationed from New Hampshire to Georgia. Little is known about the Revenue Cutter sailors. The majority
of the captains were former members of Continental Navy or of the numerous states navies which had existed
during the American Revolution.
Many of the crewmen were undoubtedly from the same sea services. They were also from the area where the
cutters were stationed. There were no enlistment hitches at the time and a new crew was hired at the dock for
each season. A season generally lasted for 6 to 9 months depending on the weather.
The job of the revenue cutter sailors would be familiar to many of today's Coast Guardsmen. They went out on
law enforcement patrols, they boarded merchant ships at sea and checked the cargo manifest. If they found
unlisted items on board, they assumed the captain was smuggling and escorted the vessel to the nearest
customs house.
The Morrill, a 288 ton iron-hulled second-class patrol vessel, was built in 1889 by Pusey and Jones Corp. for the Revenue Cutter Service. She began her career operating out of Charleston, SC, then Key West and Wilmington, NC.
During the period 1895-1898 Morrill, in company with cutters Boutwell, Colfax, Forward, McLane, and Winona, maintained a neutrality patrol off the Straits of Florida and adjacent waters. "The enforcement of neutraility laws," said Revenue Cutter Service Commandant Capt. Charles F. Shoemaker, "made necessary by many attempts to send illegal expeditions from our coast to Cuba in the interests of the insurgents, has compelled vigilant cruising by the Cutter Service." The cutters seized seven ships for violating neutrality regulations, detained a dozen suspected violators in port, and broke up two organized filibustering expeditions before the destruction of Maine on February 15, 1898.
Morrill was transferred to the Navy Department by Executive Order dated April 9, 1898. Armed for service with the "Mosquito Fleet," she passed through Hampton Roads April 24 in company with cutters Hudson and Hamilton en route to Key West. She worked effectively with naval units during this duty with the fleet blockading Cuba.
The Colfax, a 250 ton iron framed sidewheel steamer, was built in 1871 by Dialogue & Wood of Philadelphia.
Her first duty station was Baltimore, MD, with cruising grounds extended to Savannah, GA. She was moved to Charleston, SC, in 1896.
