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The Thirteenth Earl of Cassillis p205

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{205} The following certificates also accompanied the letter:

I do certify that Samuel Rinker Esqr. Sailing Master in the U. S. service, sail'd under my command in the Revolutionary War and that he conducted himself well and perfectly to my satisfaction. I also know he commanded different Vessels after the war out of this port in all of which so far as came to my knowledge to the satisfaction of his employers; that he is well respected and regarded by his fellow citizens and in my Opinion is entitled to full confidence to perform anything he under takes or is employed in.

Mathew Lawler.

Philada. 30 January 1822.

I Certify to whom it may Concern that the bearer Captain Samuel Rinker has been long known to me, that I have always Considered him an Active & Usefull Citizen in the line of his Profession & that I believe his services to his Country began at a trying time in our revolutionary war & that Since I have always regarded him and respected him.

David H. Conyngham,

Surviving Partner of Conyngham, Nesbitt & Co.

The Navy Department gives as the sources for all of the above Officers Letters, 1821, Vol. 1, No. 109. (Should be in 1822.)

According to Samuel Rinker's own statement he first enlisted in the Army at Fort Billingsport. Thinking that War Department records might have an account of the swimming of the Delaware, information was sought at that source. In two days' time came this statement from E. T. Conley, Major General, the Adjutant General:

The name of Samuel Rinker appears on a register of certificates issued by Joseph Pennell, Commissioner of the Marine Department, which shows that he was issued a certificate dated January 24, 1785, and due May 19, 1780, in the sum of $35 21/90. Nothing has been found of record to show for what purpose the certificate was issued, and nothing further relative to him has been found.

So, that's that.

John Miller Rinker, fourth child of Samuel, was appointed midshipman January 1, 1818, and stationed sloop Peacock, as lieutenant, 1820. An account of this ship is given on pages 89 to 91. Had he lived there might have been two of the ancestral line on the expedition to the South Pole. The other is Andrew Kennedy Long, his cousin. The story of the latter's part in the expedition is given farther on. There are several references to Lieutenant Rinker in this collection of papers and memoranda, one of which follows:

Navy Department, October 7, 1831.

Sir:

You are hereby detached from the Schr. "Grampus", agreeably to your request of the 7th inst., with a leave of absence for three months, at the expiration of which you will report to this Department, keeping it advised of your residence in the meantime. I am, respectfully, &c.,

Levi Woodbury

Washington, D. C.

Lieut. Jno M. Rinker, U. S. Navy

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Source

This page is from John Seitz Beck's book about the Kennedy family. It was written after his retirement in the 1930s. The original manuscript is typed on a 1930s typewriter with 5 carbons!!! It has been transcribed and added to this site by Peggy Tarrant Robinson. The page numbers, done in red correspond with the original page numbers on the 1930s typed copy.

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