Lewis Gerhardt Goldsmith

Who is Lewis Gerhardt Goldsmith?

In 1879,during an international fad for attempting long voyages in tiny vessels, 40-year-old Captain Lewis Gerhardt Goldsmith, a Danish immigrant and Civil War veteran, announced at a press conference in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, that he was having built a boat of his own design. The vessel would be based on the latest "lifeboat" technology, and he would sail around the world in it. Dubbed the Uncle Sam, it was to be an open dory eighteen feet long by six feet wide, with a single fore-and-aft rigged mast. In place of a cabin, the Uncle Sam would have a watertight "trunk", large enough to sleep in. Goldsmith also announced that his new 22 year old wife, who had no prior seagoing experience, would be accompanying him as his "crew".

The planned route would take them along the coast of North America to Newfoundland, then to England, to a restorative stopover with family in Copenhagen, then through Gibraltar to the Mediterranean, through the new Suez Canal and on to the Indian Ocean. Then from India, on to China, Japan, Hawaii, San Francisco, Cape Horn, and home.