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Description

“Welcome, traveler. Come in, take a seat. My family are just settling down to dinner. Leave your baggage at the door, I’ll sort it out when we’re done. Come along, don’t be shy now.”

Charlotte “Old Ironsides” Plymouth needs no introduction. Being the oldest vessel in the world still in use to the present day, and one of the USN’s first ships registered, Charlie has garnered enormous fame and was soon recognized as the symbol of her hometown Boston, Massachusetts.

Name: Charlotte Marabelle Plymouth
Aliases: Charlie, Grandma Ironsides, Boston's Finest
DOB: September 4, 1720

Height: 5'5"
Weight: 189lb
Hair: Silvered blonde
Eyes: Sapphire blue
Notable features: missing left eye; thin scar on right breast about 5” long

Current location: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Branch of Service: Continental Navy; United States Navy
Rank: Vice Admiral
Command: USS Constitution (IX-21, 1810-1835; 1991-Present)

Personality: Charlie is a caring soul, and more than happy to welcome any poor spirit into her home. She charges very little for her kindness, if anything at all, and does everything she can to make her guests feel right at home. She can get overexcited about seeing new faces and dote on them a little too much, and can get aggressive when her lessons aren't taken. But when all is said and done, anyone can say this grandma has a heart of gold within her warm oaken shell.

Bio: Charlotte was born in 1720 to a Puritan shipwright in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and lived a relatively peaceful life until the 1761 Boston Tea Party. After the American Revolution (1776-1785) concluded Charlie would remain in Boston. 'Constitution' was built in 1797 as one of the first ships in the Continental Navy, and in the War of 1812 came Charlie's baptism of fire as a warship captain. Patrolling the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, on a southerly homeward heading, Charlie spotted a British ship off in the distance and hailed it. HMS Guerriere, under the command of French sailor Gabrielle Saint-Luca, responded with a cannon shot to Constitution's hull. Charlie lost her left eye to a pistol round in the resulting duel, and took the Frenchwoman's ship and crew prisoner.

Old Ironsides retired from active duty in 1835 and joined the Freedom Trail museum, opening a small hotel near the harbor called “Captain’s Cabin” 15 years later. Her son Matthias (born in 1841) took charge of the desk. When the Civil War broke out in 1861 Matthias was called to fight, and returned home after the war in 1869 with Emily Baltimore and her father John, a wealthy Virginia cotton planter. Matthias and Emily married in 1874, and three years later Marcus was born. Michael was born in 1880, and until the Spanish-American War in 1897 life at the Captain's Cabin was peaceful. She took the news of her son's death in July 1898 especially hard, and also had to deal with his wife succumbing to Spanish flu in February of 1920. While Marco and Mike were young adults, Charlie still felt the need to care for them as her own. On top of all of this she had the hotel to run.

Between 1904 and 1908 Cara Princeton, commander of the Cunard steamer Carpathia, sometimes visited and helped Charlie with the cooking while Marco was out on patrol. The little captain left one of these visits having learned how to prepare apple fritters from scratch as well as how to mend her clothes.
Hard times threatened to close the Captain's Cabin, but in 1909 the old woman's prayers were answered.
A new hand came in to help Grandma Charlie at the desk, a redskin man by the name of Daniel Comanche (later captain of battleship 57, South Dakota); after several lynching threats - two of which ended in his parents’ murder - he had to leave his old home in Omaha, Nebraska.
Anna Carlisle was welcomed to the hotel under Marco's escort in December 1912, following the disaster of her liner Titanic in April, to start a new life as the hotel's seamstress (her role in the staff was laundering the sheets and stitching together any damaged linen, but the work was so light Charlie ended up teaching the English lady how to make her own clothes). In November 1914 both Marco and Anna departed for Liverpool, and Mike took charge over a citywide effort to collect scrap metal and other reusable materials for the war. At its end four years later Michael came home and, as had become a norm, sought out a girlfriend. In June the next year Marco and Anna came home, the former being hailed as a hero for halting the German naval advance on Jutland. It was good timing too, as he came home on his 45th birthday.

Until 1939, Dan was a regular sight around the Captain’s Cabin, which Charlie ran as tight as her ship. The boys were called to service in 1940, ‘42 and ‘43 respectively, following Germany's blitz through Europe and Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Throughout World War Two and the decades following, Charlie welcomed many guests to her cozy hotel and has shared the many stories about her family and crew. 1947 saw Dan, Marco and Mike come home; Anna returned in 1949; Cara followed the next year. The Captain’s Cabin crew was back together and the hotel ran smoothly until the 50s, 60s and 70s rolled around. Grandma Charlie stayed in Boston until July 3, 1991, when after a series of crippling financial difficulties she was forced to close her hotel. It saddened her to lose a business she had run for 140 years, so with a small farewell to the city she called home she packed her things, left a final silver dollar on her late son's gravestone, hoisted sail on her old rig and departed for Hawaii to reunite with her grandsons.

As of this writing she enjoys carving driftwood sculptures, telling her grandsons and their many friends her tales about the old days, and keeps a weekly journal should her life suddenly turn upside down again.

Update 06/09/23: Drawing

Description

“Welcome, traveler. Come in, take a seat. My family are just settling down to dinner. Leave your baggage at the door, I’ll sort it out when we’re done. Come along, don’t be shy now.”

Charlotte “Old Ironsides” Plymouth needs no introduction. Being the oldest vessel in the world still in use to the present day, and one of the USN’s first ships registered, Charlie has garnered enormous fame and was soon recognized as the symbol of her hometown Boston, Massachusetts.

Name: Charlotte Marabelle Plymouth
Aliases: Charlie, Grandma Ironsides, Boston's Finest
DOB: September 4, 1720

Height: 5'5"
Weight: 189lb
Hair: Silvered blonde
Eyes: Sapphire blue
Notable features: missing left eye; thin scar on right breast about 5” long

Current location: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Branch of Service: Continental Navy; United States Navy
Rank: Vice Admiral
Command: USS Constitution (IX-21, 1810-1835; 1991-Present)

Personality: Charlie is a caring soul, and more than happy to welcome any poor spirit into her home. She charges very little for her kindness, if anything at all, and does everything she can to make her guests feel right at home. She can get overexcited about seeing new faces and dote on them a little too much, and can get aggressive when her lessons aren't taken. But when all is said and done, anyone can say this grandma has a heart of gold within her warm oaken shell.

Bio: Charlotte was born in 1720 to a Puritan shipwright in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and lived a relatively peaceful life until the 1761 Boston Tea Party. After the American Revolution (1776-1785) concluded Charlie would remain in Boston. 'Constitution' was built in 1797 as one of the first ships in the Continental Navy, and in the War of 1812 came Charlie's baptism of fire as a warship captain. Patrolling the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, on a southerly homeward heading, Charlie spotted a British ship off in the distance and hailed it. HMS Guerriere, under the command of French sailor Gabrielle Saint-Luca, responded with a cannon shot to Constitution's hull. Charlie lost her left eye to a pistol round in the resulting duel, and took the Frenchwoman's ship and crew prisoner.

Old Ironsides retired from active duty in 1835 and joined the Freedom Trail museum, opening a small hotel near the harbor called “Captain’s Cabin” 15 years later. Her son Matthias (born in 1841) took charge of the desk. When the Civil War broke out in 1861 Matthias was called to fight, and returned home after the war in 1869 with Emily Baltimore and her father John, a wealthy Virginia cotton planter. Matthias and Emily married in 1874, and three years later Marcus was born. Michael was born in 1880, and until the Spanish-American War in 1897 life at the Captain's Cabin was peaceful. She took the news of her son's death in July 1898 especially hard, and also had to deal with his wife succumbing to Spanish flu in February of 1920. While Marco and Mike were young adults, Charlie still felt the need to care for them as her own. On top of all of this she had the hotel to run.

Between 1904 and 1908 Cara Princeton, commander of the Cunard steamer Carpathia, sometimes visited and helped Charlie with the cooking while Marco was out on patrol. The little captain left one of these visits having learned how to prepare apple fritters from scratch as well as how to mend her clothes.
Hard times threatened to close the Captain's Cabin, but in 1909 the old woman's prayers were answered.
A new hand came in to help Grandma Charlie at the desk, a redskin man by the name of Daniel Comanche (later captain of battleship 57, South Dakota); after several lynching threats - two of which ended in his parents’ murder - he had to leave his old home in Omaha, Nebraska.
Anna Carlisle was welcomed to the hotel under Marco's escort in December 1912, following the disaster of her liner Titanic in April, to start a new life as the hotel's seamstress (her role in the staff was laundering the sheets and stitching together any damaged linen, but the work was so light Charlie ended up teaching the English lady how to make her own clothes). In November 1914 both Marco and Anna departed for Liverpool, and Mike took charge over a citywide effort to collect scrap metal and other reusable materials for the war. At its end four years later Michael came home and, as had become a norm, sought out a girlfriend. In June the next year Marco and Anna came home, the former being hailed as a hero for halting the German naval advance on Jutland. It was good timing too, as he came home on his 45th birthday.

Until 1939, Dan was a regular sight around the Captain’s Cabin, which Charlie ran as tight as her ship. The boys were called to service in 1940, ‘42 and ‘43 respectively, following Germany's blitz through Europe and Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Throughout World War Two and the decades following, Charlie welcomed many guests to her cozy hotel and has shared the many stories about her family and crew. 1947 saw Dan, Marco and Mike come home; Anna returned in 1949; Cara followed the next year. The Captain’s Cabin crew was back together and the hotel ran smoothly until the 50s, 60s and 70s rolled around. Grandma Charlie stayed in Boston until July 3, 1991, when after a series of crippling financial difficulties she was forced to close her hotel. It saddened her to lose a business she had run for 140 years, so with a small farewell to the city she called home she packed her things, left a final silver dollar on her late son's gravestone, hoisted sail on her old rig and departed for Hawaii to reunite with her grandsons.

As of this writing she enjoys carving driftwood sculptures, telling her grandsons and their many friends her tales about the old days, and keeps a weekly journal should her life suddenly turn upside down again.

Update 06/09/23: Drawing