What do a Swedish engineer, a Connecticut Capitalist, a Glastonbury citizen, President Abraham Lincoln and an escaped teen-aged slave have in common? They changed Naval warfare, ship building, and manufacturing techniques for ever.

The Swedish Engineer is John Ericson. The capitalist is New Haven resident, Cornelius Bushnell, Gideon Welles, a well respected Glastonbury, native, Tommy Taylor an escaped slave and of course the president Abraham Lincoln.

Ships were made of wood and it was said of naval crews they were “wooden ships and iron men.” Ericson tried for years to get attention for his design of an all metal ship that failed to attract any of the European countries. Perhaps it was said jokingly, although it was well known that metal sinks. Of course as we know now floating is due to the amount of water displaced by a vessel that makes it float.

Ericson came to America with his metal ship plans and was not met with any degree of interest. Then as luck would have it, he and Bushnell met at the time of the Civil War. At the same time, the South covered an old ship with sheets of iron and our vessels were no match for it. Cannon shells did not explode upon contact they were used to open holes at or just below the waterline to cause sinking and knock out masts making a vessel vulnerable to attack.

Bushnell saw the advantages of an all metal ship and he built a cardboard model and with Ericson and his plans he went to Washington to see Lincoln. I read where Bushnell plunked his model on the president’s desk saying this is how future vessels will be constructed. After Ericson went over his plans Lincoln said it should be pesrued. This involved Welles who later became secretary of the Navy.

All this led to the first all metal vessel called the Monitor. It was launched and put into action just in time to prevent the CSA ship, The Merrimac, from destroying many of ours in the Chesapeake Bay encounter. An escaped slave had worked his way from a plantation in Coles Point, North Carolina to a Union Ship Yard in Hampton Roads, VA where he became an officers ward to the Monitor’s Captain. He was aboard ship at the time of the engagement. His name is Tommy Taylor and ended up living in Putnam, CT and is buried in Grove Street Cemetery. Tommy was recognized for his exploits during the Freedom Trail Observance and his graveside is appropriately marked.

There is a book in the children’s section of the Putnam Library, which I authored for my grandson, Klye. The title is “Kyle Meets a Civil War Hero” that tells Tommy’s story. Taylor is credited with being the last of the Monitor’s survivors.

He was born in 1882 the son of an escaped slave. His father, Joshua, is credited with a lengthy swim up the Thames River and is known as being Norwich’s first runaway slave. Our subject’s name is Ellis Ruley who became a recognized artist and whose work today is highly collectible and brings a hefty price, certainly more than the $15 or $20 he charged.

Ruley worked for many years at hard labor and earned a few dollars painting shutters and window screens which was popular back then. What pressures he faced in his early years seemed to lessen when he was drawing and painting. Then good fortune and misfortune struck almost at the same time. He received $25,000 cash as settlement for injuries received on his job. Imagine the purchasing power of that amount in the 1900s. With his good fortune, he bought a house and car and suddenly became a “man of means.”

In addition, his art talents were beginning to bear fruit as his name was recognized in art circles. He could not afford the paints and other supplies we see today and used regular house paint. His subjects were historical and what life was like for the average person and families at that time. I imagined him to be the Norman Rockwell of Norwich. This did not go well with some local people.

Tensions still were evident as the Local Klu Klux Klan burned a cross on his property in 1924 and his new found wealth helped swell resentment. Plus he had married a German woman, Wilhelmina Fox who was white. This did not help as the KKK used this to seek members.

He died in 1959 and it remains today a mystery. I assume it was around the holiday season as he cashed his Social Security check and went to a local bar to meet with friends. He took a cab home and was found the next morning in his yard, partially frozen, at the end of an estimated 150 foot bloody trail. His death was listed as a “heart attack.”

His body was exhumed in October 2014 and the results were declared inconclusive. His work can be seen in museums around the state. If interested I suggest the Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich Free Academy.

RIP Ellis Ruley.