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The hunt for the U.S.S. Alligator
The first submarine accepted into the United States Navy was designed by Brutus DeVilleroi, a self-described "natural genius" from France who had emigrated to Philadelphia. Completed in 1862, the new submarine was named the Alligator by an enterprising newspaper reporter who saw a resemblance. The Alligator was used for stealth missions, to deploy divers to destroy railroads, until April 2, 1863, when it was sunk in a violent storm off the coast of North Carolina. And there it's stayed for over a hundred years.
Today, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and the Navy & Marine Living History Association are doing research into the Alligator. Their goal: To learn about DeVilleroi, and find and raise the Alligator!
The Clinton County Historical Society was contacted for information, because Brutus DeVilleroi once owned land in Clinton County. In March 1849, he purchased fifty acres of land in the Renovo area from a man named Elliott Cresson. In December 1850, the land was seized for nonpayment by count sheriff James Chatham, and reverted back to Cresson.
During this time, DeVilelroi was living by the Susquehanna River with a man named Norman Butler. Butler was the postmaster, and the man who suggested the community be named Westport. During the time he lived in Clinton County, DeVilleroi was sued for nonpayment of debts twice, and had to pay $120,000----Over three million by today's standards. Which leads to an important question: How, exactly, did DeVilleroi make the money to build the Alligator? It was not funded by the government. A March 8, 1861 letter to President Lincoln states that the submarine is already built, with a crew ready to go on an expedition. DeVilleroi somehow managed to raise the money to build a submarine even after being successfully sued.
There is no record of DeVilleroi lumbering the land, and he could not have made that much money from lumber in the year he owned it. The NMLHA researchers feel he made money in Clinton County, but have not been able to document how he did it. However, old legends of that area involve a lost silver mine known only to the Indians. Early settlers told of Indians carrying backpacks of silver ore out of the land that later became DeVilleroi's. Might that be the answer? Brutus DeVilleroi might have discovered silver on his land, removed it, and sold it without telling anyone. This could account for the money used to pay the lawsuits, and design and build the Alligator.
Before you scoff at this idea, take note: Silver has actually been discovered in Clinton County before. In 1885, a man named Harry Glen sold shares in a company to mine silver ore that had been discovered in Chatham's Run. Silver was reported in the Pine Creek area in 1875, and an 1899 headline read,"Clinton's Silver Mine: Vast Quantity of Rock With Deposits of Silver."
So, perhaps DeVilleroi discovered silver in Clinton County, and used it to finance the first Navy submarine. Whether you believe or not, it is another one of the intriguing mysteries of Clinton County.
For more history on the USS Alligator you may visit the Navy and Marine web-site at: http://www.navyandmarine.org/alligator
Good Hunting!