Capt William Christopher “Bill” Driver Sr.

Birth: 17 Mar 1803
Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA
Death: 2 Mar 1886 (aged 82)
Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA
Burial: Nashville City Cemetery

Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA Show Map GPS-Latitude: 36.1468773, Longitude: -86.7698135
Plot: Section 20
Memorial ID: 5618144 View Source

Mariner, Patriot. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, at age 13, he ran away from home to be a cabin boy on a sailing ship. At 21, he qualified as a master mariner and was licensed to sail a ship. As Captain of his own ship, his mother sewed an American flag which he nicknamed "Old Glory" and hoisted on the main mast. Among his sea adventures, he sailed to Australia and twice around the world. In 1831, departed Salem on a voyage to the South Pacific which included the escort of sixty-five descendants of the Bounty survivors from Tahiti back to their home on Pitcairn Island. He left the sea in 1837, moved to Nashville and became a salesman for various Nashville businesses. Every holiday, he displayed "Old Glory" outside his house. During the Civil War, Driver remained loyal to the Union and sewed "Old Glory" into a quilt for safekeeping. When the Union Army occupied Nashville, he gave the flag to the troops to be flown for a short time over the State Capitol.

Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith

Inscription

A Master Mariner
Sailed twice around
The World, once around
Australia, Removed
The Pitcairn people
From sickness and
Death in Tahieta
To their own
Island home
Sept. 3, 1831.

The 69 in number
Now 1200 souls

William Driver
Born in Salem Massachusetts
March 17, 1803
Died in Nashville, Tennessee
March 3, 1886

Trust in the Lord and do good
So shalt thou dwell in the land
And verily thou shalt be fed
PS. 37.3
I have never wanted since