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James H. Williams
James H. Williams (1864-1927) was an African-American seaman with reddish hair and light-brown skin. He was born on May 21, 1864 in Fall River, Massachusetts, the son of James C. a...view moreJames H. Williams (1864-1927) was an African-American seaman with reddish hair and light-brown skin. He was born on May 21, 1864 in Fall River, Massachusetts, the son of James C. and Margaret Crotty Williams and went to sea at an early age. It was in 1897 that he first began to write about life in the old merchant marine. He was then thirty-three years old and had been a sailor for twenty-one years. Hamilton Holt, then the managing editor of the Independent, a prominent national magazine, opened the columns of his journal to Williams and subsequently prints over thirty articles and editorials from Williams’ pen. Williams died in Manhattan, New York on August 24, 1927, aged 63.
Warren F. Kuehl was an Associate Professor of History at Mississippi State University and the author of the biography of Hamilton Holt. He discovered James H. Williams’ manuscript among the papers of the late Hamilton Holt, President of Rollins College and former editor of The Independent magazine. The book Blow the Man Down!: A Yankee Seaman’s Adventures Under Sail is based upon that manuscript and upon the same recollections as published separately many years ago in The Independent and another periodical. Now edited and arranged a chronological narrative by Mr. Kuehl they form an unforgettable portrayal life and conditions under sail. Blow Man Down! is an important contribution to American seafaring literature.view less