Georgetown County ScArchives Obituaries.....Myers, Horatio Gratz September 16, 1834
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The  Military and Naval Magazine of the United States, Volume 6 Published in Vol.  VI.- No. 4. December 1835
HORATIO GRATZ MYERS.
The dead frequently leave behind them useful 
admonitions to the living. History is the great chart of the actions of men, and 
is but little more than the biographies of the actors. An immortality is thus 
given alike of the virtuous and the profligate, affowling at the same time 
useful lessons to posterity. The mind is more readily awakened and interested, 
in the recital of the actions of the blood-stained pirate or brutal murderer, 
than the even tenor of a good man's ways. Hence it is, that in this brief notice 
of an estimable young man, there will be nothing to awaken that curiosity for 
the awful and atrocious, which will interest the many. But all those who delight 
in tracing the workings of a pure heart, the manly bearing of spotless honor, or 
the glowing of those generous and ardent feelings which spring from the best 
affections of our nature, will yield the tribute of a tear to the memory of 
HORATIO GRATZ MYERS, lately a Passed Midshipman in the Navy of the United 
States.
 
Midshipman Myers was born in Georgetown, South Carolina, on the 13th day of 
August, 1808. His parents were Mr. Jacob Myers, and Mrs. Miriam Myers the 
daughter of Mr. Solomon Etting, of Baltimore. 
 
It was the misfortune of Horatio to lose his mother nine days after his 
birth. Those who knew this excellent, accomplished and intelligent lady can well 
attest how grievous was this bereavement. Tis true that his paternal grandmother 
and aunts reared him in his infancy with the utmost tenderness and affection ; 
yet it is equally true, that no kindness or devotion can supply the untiring 
care and ceaseless solicitude of a mother's love. The sacred fountain of 
nourishment was gone forever, nor could it ever be equally well supplied. Those 
who have known a mother's love, know how to deplore a mother's death. 
 
At the age of eleven months, at the earnest entreaty of his maternal grand 
parents, he was removed to Baltimore and lived with them. Under their immediate 
care he was educated and fitted for a life of usefulness. As his mind and heart 
gradually unfolded, he became the more endeared to his friends and relatives. 

 
His father had always anxiously desired to see his son in the Navy of his 
country, and to that earnest desire he most dutifully responded ; -and from the 
seducing allurements of luxury and ease he entered upon an arduous profession. 

 
In the winter of 1825 he obtained a Midshipman's warrant, and in 1826 he 
was ordered to the Brandywine, the flag ship of Commodore Jones, then about to 
sail with the sloop of war Vincennes for a three years cruize in the Pacific 
Ocean. 
 
Just before embarking he had the misfortune to lose his father. He bore up 
under the affliction with manly fortitude, and seemed the more desirous of 
pursuing his new profession. Had he listened to the earnest entreaty of many of 
his friends, he would now have retraced his steps. The wishes of a respected aud 
beloved father he was determined to consummate at every sacrifice. That which 
was a duty to the living parent he considered a more imperative obligation now 
that he was no more. And although he had not yet formed any acquaintances among 
the crew, his gentlemanly deportment attracted the attention, and won the esteem 
of his brother officers, and even the older seamen, who had breasted the battle 
and the breeze, were interested in his behalf. It was indeed a trying situation 
to a youth, of eighteen years of age, in the green hour of his grief, just risen 
from the couch of luxury and ease, entering upon an arduous profession which was 
yet to be acquired, among perfect strangers, a voyage of many thousand miles 
over the waste of waters, and an absence of years from those to whom he was most 
intimately and tenderly attached. All was overcome, and if a sigh escaped him 
when the seamen manned the capstan and sung out ' yo-heave-o,' it was from a 
bosom so pure and a source so natural and ennobling, that he would have been 
less than man had it been otherwise. 
 
The cruize of the squadron was protracted beyond the anticipated period for 
its continuance, and on its return the young seaman again pressed the land of 
his fathers. He was stationed at the Navy Yard at New York after leaving the 
Brandywine, where he was to remain until the Board of Officers for the 
examination of midshipmen should take place. This examination was had at 
Norfolk, and he was passed with many others, and thus was fairly on the list for 
preferment in the ordinary routine of vacancies.
 
After the conclusion of the examination, he applied for leave of absence 
which was most readily granted ; and he forthwith visited his immediate friends 
and relatives. It was now for the first time that he was permitted to kneel at 
the tomb of a beloved father, and in the midst of the solitude of the dead, to 
let the tear that coursed his cheek, tell his sorrows and his sufferings for the 
most heart-rending of all bereavements, the orphanage of the grave. Never did a 
purer heart or more devoted affection, sacrifice at the altar of filial love and 
reverence. 
 
The WATCHERS around the throne of eternal light, might have breathed his 
prayers, nor offended the majesty of heaven. Oh, no! we can never be partakers 
of immortality, if the indulgence of the best affections of our heart be not the 
most grateful sacrifice to the deity.
 
After a respite from duty of a short period, midshipman Myers was ordered 
to the Constellation frigate, then under the command of Captain Read and bound 
to the Mediterranean to join the United States squadron in that sea. Here he had 
a wide field for improvement, for all around him was classic ground. His letters 
to his friends during this cruize proved his rapid advancement in intellectual 
acquirements.
 
After an absence of three years the Constellation was ordered home, and 
with heartfelt longings his friends looked to the hour of her arrival. Anxiously 
did they again wish to press him to their bosom, and hang with delight upon the 
recital of his cruize; to receive the tokens of affection he had treasured up 
for their acceptance, and to trace in manly form the many virtues that budded so 
beautifully in youth. 
 
As hope is most buoyant when the affections of the heart are warmest, so is 
that grief the more poignant when all our most cherished anticipations are 
forever blasted. An inscrutable Providence had willed, that he should never 
again see the objects of his affection. 
 
The Constellation visited Mahon in August, 1834, at which place, on the 
15th September following midshipman Myers was attacked with cholera and survived 
but eighteen hours. 
The following letter from Doctor Morgan of the U. S. N. 
to Doctor Myers of the U. S. A., a brother of midshipman Myers, is so just in 
its estimate of the character of the deceased, that I cannot refrain from its 
insertion.
Philadelphia, June Sth, 1835.
Sir,—I have just received your 
letter of Hie 14th December, in which you request to be informed of the last 
illness of your late amiable and excellent brother H. G. Myers.
Although I was very intimate with him we seldom adverted to family affairs, and
until the receipt of your letter I was not apprized that he had so near a 
relation.  

Immediately on hearing that your grandfather lived in Baltimore, I 
wrote him and gave him all the information concerning this great affliction to 
your family which the occasion seemed to require.
Your brother had suffered considerably from a strumous affection, cutaneous and
glandular, for upwards of 
a year. I had directed lodyne baths—regimen—exercise—travelling, and every thing
that would promote his comfort of body and mind. He was much benefitted, and
after spending most of the winter and spring in France and Italy, he wa=, on our
return to Mahon in August, apparently doing well and by the continuance of the
Iodyne I had just hopes of his permanent cure. About the middle of September the
epidemic cholera appeared at Minorca with its usual malignity, and he was the
first person seized with it on board the. ship. He was taken on the morning of
the 15th September, and notwithstanding the assiduous employment of all the
usual remedies he survived only about eighteen hours.
 
The only consolation I can offer you is that he was nursed carefully and
tenderly by his friends, when every heart was warmed with generouss sympathy;
and though in the early stage of the disease he suffered a good deal from the
spasms, yet they after awhile abated, and he died without pain. 
He was interred with becoming military honors at Villa Carlos ( Georgetown,) and
a handsome monument has been erected by the officers with the following
inscription, which I composed as a sincere but feeble tribute to his virtues:
"In memory of Horatio G. Myers, a native of South Carolina, and late a past
midshipman on board the U. S. Frigate Constellation—who died at Mahon after a
short but severe illness, on the 16th September 1834, deeply regretted by all
his brother officers. A well cultivated mind, united to a pure and exalted moral
worth, with social qualities the most able and refined, had endeared him in no
ordinary degree to his friends and associates, who have placed this stone to
protect the remains of one who never caused pain to any heart, until in his
sickness and death."
 
I should not have failed to communicate his death but for the circumstances 
I have already mentioned. Your brother maintained uniformly that exemplary 
character which commands the respect of the worthy, and though his life was too 
short for his relatives and friends, yet he lived with honor, was beloved by 
all, and seldom have 1 witnessed such general and sincere regret as at his 
death.
 
With proper sentiments of sympathy for this your bereavement, I am, dear 
sir, your obedient servant,
MORD. MORGAN, Surgeon U. S. Navy.
 
It would be doing injustice to the deceased to withhold the letters of 
Captain Read, and Mr. J. B. Cutting, of the United States Navy ; the first 
addressed to the brother of the deceased, and the latter to Mr. Solomon Etting 
the grandfather.
 
Philadelphia, 31st December, 1834.
Dear Sir : Your letter of the 14th 
inst., asking for information with regard to the sickness and death of your 
lamented brother, has just reached me, and I hasten to perform this melancholy 
duty.
 
Your brother, passed midshipman H. G. Myers, had for a long time been 
indisposed from a complaint which Dr. Morgan did not think he would ever 
entirely recover from. From time to time however, he had been on duty, and 
appeared ambitious of acquitting himself to the satisfaction of those placed 
above him in authority, which he not only succeeded in, but acquired their warm 
regard and friendship. He was in ill health during the summer of '33, and 
obtained permission to remain on shore during the sojourn of the ship at 
Leghorn. On our going into Toulon to refit in February last, he asked and 
obtained permission to live at Marseilles, for the purpose of taking the benefit
of sulphur and other baths. We left that port on the 31st May, when he appeared
to be benefitted by taking the course which had been prescribed for him by Dr.
Morgan, the surgeon of the ship.

In June we visited Leghorn, when he expressed a wish to go to Rome with some
officers of the ship. Dr. Morgan recommended it, and I granted permission.
During the whole time he was absent, and on his return, he complained of being
ill, and frequently was heard to say he could not live much longer. We returned
to Mahon on the 12th August with a crew as healthy as it was possible to be. The
officers and men enjoying themselves on shore when the duties of the ship would
permit, and all in the most perfect health, except your brother, up to the 14th
September, when a disease which had made its appearance some time before on the
island, broke out on board, and your brother became the first victim of its
rage. The character of the disease was not for some time known, but from the
manner in which your amiable and excellent brother was attacked and his rapid
dissolution ( having died in 18 hours from the time attacked ) there was no
doubt left of its being cholera. He had eaten some peaches the evening before
and attributed his sufferings to this circumstance; but the truth was that we
had been visited by the Asiatic or spasmodic cholera, and his was the first
case. Several officers were slightly attacked soon after, but having good
constitutions and by taking medicine in time were saved. In three weeks after,
we had lost by this fatal disease twenty of the most healthy, robust and most
useful men in the ship.  
If it will ( and it is natural it should be a consolation to you to 
know that your brother received every attention from the officers of the ship ) 
prove to be a mitigation of your sorrow, I can with truth say that from the 
Commander down to the meanest individual, every thing that could be done for the
amiable person in question was effected in sickness, in death, and in the last
scene. A subscription was proposed to have a neat and appropriate Tomb erected
to his memory, every officer from the Captain to the Midshipmen assuming his
proportion of the cost. Mr. Vails, of Mahon, undertook to have the monument
executed and erected, and funds were placed in his hands by the purser ( Mr.
Colston ) for this purpose. Dr. Morgan wrote the epitaph, which I am sorry I
cannot send you a copy of ( not having it in my possession ) but Dr. M. will, on
application, be happy to do so.  Should you wish further information on this
melancholy, but interesting subject, Dr. Morgan will furnish you with all the
particulars. 

I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant,
GEORGE C. 
READ.
 
December 1st, 1834. My Dear Sir : I should be doing violence to my 
sensibility if I did not give utterance to the condolence I feel with the 
relations of Horatio G. Myers, late passed midshipman in the U. S. Navy, who 
died of cholera, attached to the frigate Constellation. It had been my good 
fortune to have been closely associated with the deceased for more than six 
years, during which time he gave such repeated proofs of nobleness of 
disposition, manly bearing and personal friendship for me; his death has created
a sentiment of sorrow not unlike that of a brother whose attachment had been
unceasing through the many trials incident to a life of privation. I can add the
respect for his talents and character by his comrades was remarkable, and that
the service has lost a valuable member, his family and society an estimable man
; and that in common with his nearest relatives, I shall never cease to cherish
the most affectionate recollection of him, as well as the greatest for them, and
beg them to be assured' that this short notice springs from a person whose
sincere regard he had. Though immeasurably deficient in pourtraying the high
toned virtues of this friend of my early youth.
With great 
consideration,
JOHN B. CUTTING, U. S. Navy.
 
The writer can add nothing to the high encomiums of these gentlemen, of the 
many virtues of the deceased. Knowing him from infancy to his death, he can 
fully attest to the correctness of all that they have said.
 
It is somewhat singular that the subject of this notice, should have been 
born at Georgetown, South Carolina, and have died at Georgetown, in the Island 
of Minorca. He was born on the 13th of August, and the Constellation arrived at 
Port Mahon on the 12th of said month. The service has lost one of its members 
that would have been an ornament to it, and his friends have lost one whose 
memory they will forever cherish and love.

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