On July 5, 1801, in a rude cabin in Eastern Tennessee, David Glasgow
Farragut was born.
It was a wild and lonely place. For miles around the little farm,
nothing could be seen but woods. Few sounds could be heard save the
singing of birds and sometimes the cries of wild beasts.
There was already one child in the family, a boy, whose name was
William.
George Farragut, the father, was a brave man. He was a Spaniard, and had
come to America during the Revolutionary War.
He was a lover of liberty, and for that reason he had taken up arms with
the colonists to help them win their independence from England.
After the close of the war, he had married a hardy frontier girl, and
had come to this wild place to make his home.
His life on the little clearing in the backwoods was one of toil and
frequent hardships. Every day he was busy chopping down trees, planting
crops, or hunting in the great forest.
The young wife, Elizabeth, was also busy, keeping her house and spinning
and making the clothes for herself, her husband, and her children.
Little David Farragut grew strong very fast.
He and William had no playmates, but they liked to run about under the
trees. They could not go far from the cabin, however, as there were both
wild beasts and Indians in the woods.
Sometimes the father would be away for several days, hunting wild game
for the family to eat. At such times, the mother and children would be
left alone.
One day a band of Indians came and tried to enter the cabin. The mother
sent the boys into the loft, where they crouched down close to the roof
and kept very still. Then, for hours, she guarded the door with an axe,
until, at last, something frightened the Indians and they went away.
When little David was about seven years old, his father was appointed by
the government to command a gunboat on the Mississippi. As his
headquarters were to be at New Orleans, the family moved to a plantation
on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain. This lake is near the city.
When not on duty on the gunboat, George Farragut was very fond of
sailing on the lake. He had a little sailboat in which he would take the
children, even in severe storms.
Sometimes the weather would be so bad that they couldn't come home; and
then they would sleep all night on the shore of some island. The father
would wrap the children in a sail, or cover them with dry sand to keep
them warm.
One day a neighbor told him that it was dangerous to take the children
on such trips. George Farragut replied, "Now is the time to conquer
their fears."
When fishing in the lake one morning, George Farragut saw a boat in
which there was an old man all alone. Pulling alongside, he found that
the stranger had become unconscious from the heat of the sun.
He was taken to the Farragut home, and, although he was nursed for some
time with the greatest of care and everything was done for him that
could be done, yet he grew no better.
Finally Mrs. Farragut also was taken very ill, and in a few days both
she and the stranger she had nursed so tenderly, died. This was a sad
day for the family of George Farragut.
Not long after the funeral, a stranger called at the Farragut house. He
said that his name was David Porter and that he was the son of the old
gentleman who had died there. He thanked George Farragut for his
kindness to his father, and offered to adopt one of the Farragut boys.
There were now five children in the family, and David's father was very
glad to accept this offer. The oldest son, William, already had a
commission as midshipman in the navy, and so it was decided that David
should be the one to go.
Captain Porter was at that time the commander of the naval station at
New Orleans. His handsome uniform, with its belt and shining buttons,
seemed very attractive to little David, and he was eager to go with his
new guardian.
David spent a few months with the Porter family in New Orleans. Then
Captain Porter took him to Washington and placed him in school there.
One day David was introduced to a great man, the Secretary of the Navy.
He asked the boy many questions, and was so pleased with his intelligent
answers that he said to him, "My boy, when you are ten years old I shall
make you a midshipman in the navy."
This was a proud moment for little David Farragut. The great man did not
forget his promise. The appointment came six months before the time that
was named. It was arranged that the lad should go with Captain Porter in
the frigate _Essex_.
It was several months, however, before the vessel was ready to sail. In
the meantime, David attended a school in Chester, Pennsylvania.