Objects of the Revolution: The Silver Oar

Sailing through Deep Waters

Images from Document 259, February 1941, "Gift of the Silver Oar to the United States District Cour
for the Southern District of New York.  Court en banc, Room 506, February 14, 1941, 10:30 a.m.

This object forms a bridge between pre-Revolutionary New York Province and post-Revolution New York City.  What is it, who made it, and where is it now?

What?

This is the Silver Oar, formerly the mace of the Vice-Admiralty Court of the Province of New York until the court was dissolved in 1775.  At that time, Thomas Ludlow, Jr., the Marshal of the Court, took the oar “into his own possession, doubtless for safekeeping.”  It remained in his family until around 1939.  It was put up as collateral for a loan and then sold in October 1940 to a silversmith (Robert Ensko), who sold it to a group of Columbia University men and friends.  (By the way, Columbia beat out Yale for the purchase of the oar. Roar, Lion, roar!)

Who made it?

Preeminent silversmith Charles LeRoux (1689-1745) served for many years as the official silversmith of New York City.  He made many gold and silver boxes to contain seals that granted the freedom of the City, and is noted for engraving the plates for bills of credit issues from 1715-1737.  The bills for 1737 show a version of the Seal of New York, still in use today.

Who led the effort to purchase it?

Charles Culp Burlingham (1858-1959) spearheaded the fund-raising effort.  He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1879 and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Columbia University in 1881.  (He received an honorary Juris Doctor degree from Columbia in 1933).

Where is it now?

On 14 February 1941, the silver oar was presented to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, document no. 259.  I don’t know where the Court keeps the oar, or even if the Court still owns it.  That is a subject for further research.  A copy was exhibited in New Hampshire in 2010.

Notes:  More details about LeRoux and the silver oar are available. The writer has done a great deal of research on colonial silversmiths, especially Charles LeRoux and his family.  Post a comment here if you would like more information about him or other silversmiths in New York City before the Revolution.

Prepared by Maria A. Dering
Member, Board of Governors
American Revolution Round Table of New York