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Note: Leon, Bill and Uncle Buck
My Uncle Buck was a quiet, hard-working, chain smoking, "blue-collar" ship builder! According to many family stories, he was not always so meek or quiet. During the early 1900's Uncle Buck owned a sporty motorcycle and thrilled onlookers with his two-wheel stunts and riding skills.
A tragic accident that claimed the life of his first wife changed Uncle Buck's personality. He was devastated when he shot his new 19-year wife, Belle Bishop, while cleaning his gun. To recover emotionally, Uncle Buck left his family in Newport News to visit his brother in Jacksonville, Florida where Uncle Buck later met and married Ruby Berger in 1921. While there in Florida. his first son, Leon, was also born.
Being a skilled ship builder, my Uncle Buck was interested in all parts of the sea and its history. The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA was actually founded when I was about four years old. Archer and Anna Huntington opened this one-of-a-kind marine display to the public in1933. Archer Huntington was a marine scholar, a generous philanthropist, and son of Collis P. Huntington who brought the Union Pacific Railroad to Newport News in 1881. Collis was also instrumental in building the Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Company, which ultimately became the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in 1890.
Even when I was young, I remember The Mariners' Museum as one of the largest international maritime museums in the world. It is dedicated to "preserving and interpreting the culture of the sea and its tributaries, and its influence on civilization." My twin sons, Jeff and Steve, still love to visit this famous Newport News landmark to learn more about our marine family.
Today, its collections consist of more than 40,000 maritime items including ship models, scrimshaw, maritime paintings, sea chanting music, research libraries, decorative marine arts, and intricately carved figureheads, and even working marine steam engines.
The Museum's display galleries include: the Age of Exploration, Antique Boats, Art of the Sea, The Chesapeake Bay Gallery, Masters Collections, The Crabtree Collection of Miniature Ships, the Great Hall of Steam Ships, A Marine Photography Gallery, Ship Models Gallery, Small Craft Collection, The "Thar-She-Blows! " Whaling Gallery, and "William Francis Gibbs: Naval Architect" Gallery. Any family with connections to the sea, such as ours has got to appreciate this vast collection of historic seafaring memorabilia.
It was to this heritage-rich collection that my Uncle Buck would take his two sons, Leon and Bill almost every Sunday for them to see, explore and enjoy its constantly changing exhibits and displays. Uncle Buck died in 1959. but his surviving sons and grandsons will long remember the memories they acquired there with their father
Uncle Buck was notified that his sister (Frances Smith Brooks) had delivered her first born boy, Dewitt Taylor Brooks, Jr., on July 4,1928 in Norfolk, VA. Uncle Buck and Aunt Ruby at that time were living at 1051 E. 12th Street in Jacksonville, FL.
When the Smith family returned to Virginia, Uncle Buck returned to shipbuilding. He was aided by his uncle, Lem Wheeler who found him a job in the Shipyard.
Since 1886 the pride and craftsmanship of the Smith men and women of Newport News Shipbuilding have been evident in each of the nearly 800 ships they have built. Throughout this period, Shipyard apprentices and Apprentice School graduates have helped shape our Country's history. Uncle Buck's son, Bill Smith started as an apprentice in the Yard. Smith family men and women, their concepts, ideas, capabilities and efforts have been applied in virtually every aspect of shipbuilding from basic production, maintenance and design trades to supervisory and senior management levels.
Newport News Shipbuilding's four generations of craftsmen have established an unequaled record of performance that has made Virginians the most skilled and advanced shipbuilders in the world.
The "Yard's" first apprentice completed his training in 1894 in the
Shipyard's Machine Shop. During his apprenticeship Newport News built a number of 406-foot cargo vessels - the largest ships constructed in the United States up to that time. From its beginnings the Company has been the leader in constructing ships for the U.S. Navy. By World War I, nearly 20 percent of all U.S. Navy l tonnage had been built
by Newport News shipbuilders. In 1960, Newport News marked a major milestone in our shipbuilding history with the launching of the Enterprise - the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The shipbuilders of Newport News have designed and constructed our Navy's entire nuclear carrier fleet. My cousin, Bill Smith, his father and uncles have contributed to many of these ships in numerous ways.
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