Metrics
10 File views/ downloads
49 Record Views
Thesis
Pretended Friends and Open Enemies: Samuel Keep Jr., Civil-Military Discord, and the Construction of the Pensacola Navy Yard, 1825-1830
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida
2025
Abstract
In October 1826, 23-year-old Samuel Keep Jr. and a crew of carpenters and stoneworkers arrived in Pensacola after a long sea journey from Boston. Samuel Keep had been contracted by the U.S. Navy to serve as the superintendent of construction at the fledgling Pensacola Navy Yard. Severe interpersonal conflicts developed immediately between naval and civilian personnel, and Samuel Keep Jr. was subjected to ongoing interference and abuse by the officers at the Yard. After Keep’s improper dismissal by the Navy, he moved to Washington D.C. where he interacted with notable figures in American political history including Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and many others. Samuel Keep successfully appealed his firing in the U.S. Congress, before dying tragically in 1830 when he accidentally drank caustic acid on the night after his wedding. The purpose of this study was to use historical and archaeological methods to illuminate the nature, causes, and impacts of the discordant relationships between U.S. Navy and civilian personnel during the initial construction and occupation of the Pensacola Navy Yard between 1825 to 1830. Historical and cartographical research, and remote sensing fieldwork, were conducted to identify the locations and functions of the temporary and permanent buildings first constructed at the Pensacola Navy Yard. The types and geographic distribution of previously excavated ceramic artifacts were analyzed in order to identify possible relationships to the Navy Yard’s original construction and to examine social identities and sociocultural differences. Ultimately, regional and political differences, in combination with personality conflicts and jealousy, ineffective leadership, and organizational shortcomings resulted in pervasive disharmony and the Pensacola Navy Yard’s delayed completion.
Details
- Title
- Pretended Friends and Open Enemies
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Contributors
- John R. Bratten (Committee Chair)John Worth (Committee Member)John Jensen (Committee Member)Carrie Williams-Hannah (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries; Argo Scholar Commons
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 315
- Copyright
- © 2025 Kevin J. Callahan
- Identifiers
- 99381559333006600
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Master of Arts (MA)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida