After the death of his first wife in April 1838, Luther Hale Pinkham (1815-1873), son of Jonathan6 (Thomas5Jonathan4 James3 John2 Richard1) and Alice (Runnels) Pinkham, sailed to New Orleans. In October of that year he sailed back to Portsmouth. The story of how he tried to get a cheaper ticket back is gleaned by a news story in the 27 October 1838 edition of the Times Picayune.
"True, Luther H. Pinkham, the Yankee, could prove satisfactorily, that he had given the collector a ticket, and that his lawful name was Luther H. Pinkham. All eyes were now turned to Luther H. Pinkham, the tar; for the passengers had, by this time, quite as much to do with the case as the captain."
A tar, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, in the third definition is a familiar appellation for a sailor, perhaps short for tarpaulin. However, in this case I believer the meaning is from definition 1 (c): in reference to extraction from a negro or dark-coloured ancestry. In other words, one Luther was white and the other black.
The quick jury verdict was guilty. The facts, the story says were not ascertained, notwithstanding the verdict, but when the "tar" was told that the Yankee had come out and told the whole agreement:
"Well, said the tar, I've got into a scrape, and if he has come out, I will. My name is Gooding of S. Berwick, and his name is Luther H. Pinkham of N. Derne. (sic for New Durham) He told me if I would pay for a ticket, and give it to him and give his name to the Captain, he would get me through for half price."
My take 170 years later: Luther convinced a free black man named Gooding of South Berwick, Maine, to pretend to be his slave in order to go on the boat for half price. This way each would save a portion on their fares. The ship was going to Portsmouth, N.H. I'm wondering if this short of chicanery was used often. In any case, what an unusual story to find out about one's great-great-great-grandfather.
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