MAPLE LEAF
AS A UNION ARMY
TRANSPORT

By James W. Towart and Col. J. V. Witt, USA Ret.
Contact James W. Towart

Romeo Murray, who was pilot of the Maple Leaf the night it sank was a local black man employed by the army. He testified at the Board of Survey hearings on the loss of the ship that he had been pilot on the St. Johns River and along the Atlantic coast between Jacksonville and Savannah and Charleston for sixteen years. A search of the 1860 census did not find his name so the presumption is that he was a slave at that time, as slaves were not enumerated by name.

The 1870 census shows Romeo Murray living in Mandarin, Florida which is where the Maple Leaf was sunk. He was living with his wife Francis and eight children ranging from 6 to 21 years of age. His occupation was listed as "laborer". In the census of 1885 Romeo Murray was enumerated in Duval County, of which Mandarin is a part. At that time he was married to Panchila, and the family, living in three residences consisted of an unmarried daughter, three married children and eight grandchildren. Romeo's occupation was listed as "pilot" as was his son Charlie.