[KeyStoneChapter] Mysterious Blind Fisherman

[The Blind History Lady]

Email from The Blind History Lady Mysterious Blind Fisherman My files are full of blind men and women who had just one or two documents to let us know they came before us. I revisit the files every year or so in hopes that I can find out more about our blind ancestors. Black men and women were written up in many newspapers, but often their full names were not included in the story. If they were identified with a name, it was usually only a first name. The same is true for blind ancestors. Many stories tell of “Blind Tom” or the little blind girl, who might have been 50 years old. It takes time piecing puzzles together, looking at town records and addresses in hopes I can identify our blind ancestor. This story has been in my files for several years. It took a while to find his last name, and when I did, I was surprised to find so many men with his name in the area. Luckily, he was Black. That narrowed my choices, and I found enough to tell you all I know of our mysterious blind fisherman. Everyone knew of John Wesley “Wes” Matthews around Anne Arundle County, Maryland but did anyone really know Wes personally? Born to a free, Black woman, Harriette Matthews in 1850, Wes, as he was known in his adult life, grew up in the unincorporated areas of Anne Arundle County, Maryland. His childhood was spent fishing on the water to earn money. Older fishermen showed him the best fishing locations and when to fish. He learned about navigating boats by the stars, the habits of land and water creatures, and the different plants and what stories they had to tell about the water. At the age of 25, Wes signed on a ship as a cook. The ship was at sea for weeks at a time. Already a good self-taught navigator, he worked his way from the kitchens through every job on the ship. He was a strong man and eager to learn every job aboard in hopes that someday he could become a professional navigator or captain his own vessel. In 1883, Wes signed on to the Beryl Hooper, bound for South America. While chopping wood to help the cook aboard ship, a splinter flew into one of Wes’s eyes, blinding that eye immediately. Infection set in the other eye. There was no doctor and little medical supplies aboard ship to treat himself. Wes did not want to get off in a foreign country to find a doctor. By the time the vessel reached Baltimore, he was totally blind. Wes spent several months in a Baltimore hospital to rid himself of the infection. Treatments for his eyes were unsuccessful. When he was released from the hospital there was no place to go for a blind fisherman. Little services for adult blind persons were limited in the mid 1880s. Even less for “Colored” blind adults. The schools for the blind campus’s were located in Baltimore but the campus for the Black blind and the non-Black were separate. The staff were separate as well. If a white person accepted a job at the school for the Colored blind, they often were kicked out of their rented spaces by their landlords for working with the Coloreds. Mostly, the residents of Baltimore supported the schools and its white students. But the school for the Colored often were forced to address complaints about its students being seen in the neighborhoods, even if they were just walking back to the campus from the trolley stop. The Maryland School for the Colored Blind and Deaf took in adult students for training in industrial work. Wes was accepted as a student in the workshop where they could teach him the trades of broom-making, rug-weaving, or making nets. Already good with his hands, Wes picked up the art of working without his vision. One of Wes’s habits from early life was chewing tobacco. The workshop officials said he could not chew while a student. After trying to convince the administration that as an adult, he had a right to chew tobacco, they gave him an ultimatum. Either give up the tobacco, or training. Wes gave up the training. Wes went back to the only thing he knew, the sea. He joined oyster-tonging crews demonstrating he could work along the sighted men even if he was blind. He roomed on the property of white folks that lived near the docks. Without a cane or a guide, he walked to and from the docks each day. Eventually he earned enough money to purchase a flatbottomed skiff. He found he could make more money by hiring his services as captain to groups of weekend fishermen or duck hunters. Wes did not wear fancy captain’s hats or jackets. In fact, he dressed in his old, worn clothes. But that did not stop the sighted weekenders from hiring Wes. When fishermen came to the docks and asked who was the best pilot-guide, and what boat they could hire for the day, they were told to look for “the blind man.” Habits of ducks and many sea-life rarely changed. Wes listened to the water lapping the shore, the sounds of schools of fish as they skimmed the surface of the water, paid attention to wind patterns, and had a keen sense of direction from his many decades navigating the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. He knew the best spots to catch fish and the best locations to find the ducks during season. When Wes reached the spot he selected for his customers, he dropped anchor and waited. Sometimes he instructed the fishermen on their bait or told the duck hunters what to look for. He never married or had children that anyone knew of. There is no record of his death and no one to pass on his story, until now. .Do Not reprint this article without written permission from the author. Peggy Chong is the 2023 Jacob Bolotin Award Winner.   To schedule The Blind History Lady for a presentation for your business, church or community group, email; theblindhistorylady at gmail.com   Purchase a copy of my book, Don Mahoney: Television Star at is new low price at Don Mahoney: Television Star: Chong, Peggy: 9781098082956: Amazon.com: Books   Please check out my other works at https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/24325 www.theblindhistorylady.com . The Blind History Lady | 14152 E Linvale Pl 201 | Aurora, CO 80014 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice
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