George Washington Reed

George  Washington Reed (youngest son of Joseph and Esther) was raised by the Pettit family who died during the War  of 1812 when his Brig, The US Brig Vixen was captured by the HMS  Southampton off Conception Island in the Carribean and wrecked on a shoal.The crew was rescued and taken to Jamaica as prisoners of war. Reed, due to his status as a Commander, was offered a parole, but refused, because he was unwilling to forsake his companions in captivity, in a pestilential climate, and himself perished as a Prisoner of War in Jamaica in 1813. .His tomb is still there. In this portrait, by Rembrandt Peale, son of Charles Wilson Peale, made prior to the fateful journey, Reed’s crossed arms and direct gaze suggest the determination of a captain who would not abandon his crew.

Painting and inscription from the Huntington Museum and Library, San Marino CA.