“What??  A cannonball in your house??”  That was the excited remark I made when Mr. Takashi Savory, a descendant of Mr. Nathaniel Savory, asked me if I wanted to see a cannonball that my ancestor, Commodore Matthew Perry, had possibly given to his ancestor in 1853.  The question came as a complete surprise during a very hospitable and lively BBQ party at his house in Chichijima, Japan.  I was with a cultural exchange group sponsored by the Manjiro-Whitfield Center for International Exchange (CIE) and Takashi had invited us to his private home for food and drinks.

I immediately followed him into the living room and on an inconspicuous spot on the top shelf of a book cabinet, was this historic cannonball.  When Commodore Perry went to Japan, he knew about the Bonin Islands and that an American, Nathaniel Savory, with other foreigners, had settled on the small island of Chichijima and had made it home.  Perry became friends with Savory and gave him a 31-star US flag.  The flag was burned when the Japanese military occupied Chichijima during World War II, as the Savory descendants thought it might reflect allegiance to the United States of America.

By this time, however, the original settlers had intermarried with other islanders from Guam, Hawaii, and Japan, and did not claim allegiance to any country.  They felt they were independent and called themselves “Islanders.”  Although the flag was destroyed, the cannonball certainly was not.  But how did the cannonball get transferred from an expedition ship to land and who actually made the transfer?  Another question I had was, where was the cannonball during World War II when the American descendants of Savory were forced to leave?

Certainly, the descendants did not take the cannonball to Tokyo when they were removed for security reasons.  My guess is that the Savory descendants buried the cannonball with hopes of returning and repossessing this artifact of Perry’s visit.  The ball was brown in color indicating it possibly had once been rusted, but now not showing any sign of rust.  The ball also did not have any seams.  If it had seams it would have indicated the ball came from a mold.  Without seams it most likely meant molten iron from a furnace was dropped from a high tower into cold water, as molten metal forms a solid perfect sphere with this technique.  The ball also did not have any marks or holes.  If the ball had any holes, it might have indicated it was made as an exploding ball, which Commodore Perry was early to suggest as a more effective weapon of war and had some on the expedition.

When I returned to the United States, I immediately told some friends with a military interest about the American cannonball in Japan.  I received more questions than answers from them, and quickly realized I needed to do more research.  Maybe Takashi-san would know more information about this mysterious cannonball to help satisfy myself and friends.  Through email correspondence with him, I learned that he was unsure if the ball had actually come from Commodore Perry or that his ancestor Nathaniel had received it directly.  The cannonball possibly had been found a year later in a field near the home of a Savory relative, which was adjacent to land purchased by Perry in 1853 for coal storage.  Oral history had been told of it coming from Commodore Perry, but no further details were available.

I thought a cannonball would make a strange gift unless someone was particularly interested in American armament during that period.  However, a friend of mine in Maryland, Mr. Jim Petrie, who is an expert on military history, especially armament, told me that when Perry was a junior officer, he served under Commodore Bainbridge in the Mediterranean Sea fighting against the Bey of Algiers and the piracy associated with this regime.  At the end of the Second Barbary War, Commodore Bainbridge presented the Bey with a ceremonial cannonball in a decorative gift case as a sign of peace.  The cannonball was peacefully received and was perhaps a subtle warning against any further hostilities.  Lieutenant Matthew Perry under Commodore Bainbridge would have certainly been aware of this act of friendship and peace.

I did not ask Takashi the weight or diameter of the cannonball when I examined it, but with a request from me he took measurements and learned the cannonball weighed 11.3 kg. (24.9 pounds and the diameter was 14.4 centimeters (5.7 inches).  This would mean that the cannonball was a “24 pounder” (24+/-1.5 pounds) but used in one of the less common of the cannons on the expedition’s ships.  He also told me his cousin owned the ball and he had borrowed it to show me.  Takashi said he was going to check records in the Ogasawara Village Board of Education to learn if there was more information in their files.

Takashi-san was very successful in obtaining more information from old town records.  The first written account dealing with the cannonball is in a 1971 report of an anthropological field trip to the Bonin Islands by Blodwen Hammond and Mary Shepardson.  They traveled to Chichijima to study an ethnic group of 167 living descendants of the early settlers of the Bonin Islands.  They stated that Commodore Perry purchased a piece of land (around 50 acres) in 1853 from Nathaniel Savory near Ten Fathom Hole for $50.  Perry then presented his new friend “Nat” with an American flag, a cannonball, and an official salaried position as his agent in an American colonization scheme.  The Hammond/Shepardson report stated that the cannonball was still in possession of Nathaniel’s great-grandson, Nathaniel Savory 4th (1908-1987).

However, the above anthropological report differs from the oral history of some descendants.  The Ogasawara official records also state that a cannonball was displayed in Chichijima for a visit by the Japanese Emperor Showa (Hirohito) on July 30, 1927, with the following legend: “In 1854, Commodore Perry who was in Edo, dispatched Captain Abbot of the USS Macedonian to Chichijima.  When the ship anchored at Futami Port, they practiced shooting cannon.  This cannonball was picked up in Okumura at that time.”  The cannon training exercises are recorded in official logs and diaries of crew members.

Futami Port was originally named Port Lloyd by British and Okumura is the area now known as Yankee Town, where Nathaniel Savory and his descendants lived.  The records further state that Nathaniel Savory picked up the cannonball in 1854 after gun training exercises of the USS Macedonian on May 2, 1854.  He was 59-years old at the time and gave it to his eldest son, Horace Perry Savory (1855-1931), born 2 years after Perry’s visit and whose middle name reflects admiration that Nathaniel had for the Commodore.

Wilson Savory (1887-1969) inherited the cannonball when his father, Horace, died in 1931.  According to oral history and Ogasawara records, Wilson probably buried the cannonball in 1944 when the Pacific War intensified, and he and relatives were forced to leave.  He returned two years later at the age of 59 and with his son Nathaniel 4th, retrieved the cannonball.  Nathaniel 4th inherited the cannonball in 1969 when his father died and retained possession until he died in 1987.  The historic cannonball is now in possession of Ryo Savory, a direct descendant of Nathaniel Savory and cousin of my friend, Takashi Savory.

When the cannonball was displayed for Emperor Showa, authorities had to determine if it was a real one and if it was safe to display. As the result of an investigation by the authorities, they certified it as a real cast-iron cannonball fired during the Macedonian crew gun training and was safe to be displayed.  Emperor Showa also visited Yankee Town during his visit.

This area now has a motel run by Sho Sebori and his family.  Sho is a descendant of Nathaniel, and during the Forum some of us attendees had the pleasure to stay there.  The motel is less than a block from Yankee Town Bar run by Rance Ohira (a.k.a. Rance Washington) another descendant of early settlers, who had worked in the United States.  He was extremely friendly and very knowledgeable about Bonin Islands history.

On January 7, 1985, the Japanese Yomiuri Newspaper printed an article entitled “Living witness of nature and history.”  The article has a picture of Nathaniel Savory 4th, with the cannonball.  Nathaniel 4th was 77-years old at the time and stated that the cannonball had been fired by Perry’s fleet during gun training exercises in 1854.

The explanation that the cannonball was found on land purchased or near land that Perry had purchased (now Yankee Town) was repeated in a 2003 on Japanese television film (Anything Appraisal Team) about the appraisal of the cannonball.  Nakajima-san was the appraiser and he stated that the cannonball was real and undoubtedly came from Chichijima.  The result of the appraisal was that the ball was worth 200,000 yen (around $1500).

With further correspondence with friends and researching the literature about the expedition ships, I learned that the USS Macedonian that conducted firing exercises on Chichijima did not have 24 pounders as part of its armament and was equipped, as most ships were with the more modern shell guns developed by the French General, Henry-Joseph Paixhans.  Commodore Perry was a major promoter of advanced armament on ships so it seems logical that he would have had this weaponry on his fighting ships.  Only three supply ships (Lexington, Southampton, and Supply) had 24 pounders as armament.  Although these supply ships did not go to Chichijima with Perry or Abbot they were responsible to carry the hundreds of presents that Perry brought to Japan, including many types of weapons and ammunition.  So, it seems likely that Commodore Perry would have received gifts (including a possible cannonball) from the supply ships before he left for Chichijima.

However, further correspondence with armament expert, M. Jim Petri, revealed that although the Macedonian did not have 24-pounder cannons, the boats assigned to the Macedonian did have 24-pounder cannons and that these boat armaments are not listed in the typical ship armament inventories.  The logs of crew conducting the gun training state that firing of guns occurred on shore and from the boat.  Unfortunately, the diaries do not state what type of guns were fired during the training.

Until we get more information on this mysterious cannonball, we are forced to speculate on how it got from an American ship into Chichijima and the connection with the Savory family.  We can be pretty sure that the cannonball was made in the United States, as China at that time only used molds for cannonballs, which would have shown seams.  Japan knew about cannonballs made by the Dutch and Chinese, but Japan was not advanced in firearms and large armaments as they had given up on the gun when Portuguese were expelled.  Commodore Perry learned in 1853 what appeared as forts on shore were fake, and he referred to them as “dungaree forts,” due to the cloth made to look like fortifications.  After the Americans left Japan in 1854, the Japanese quickly fortified Edo with cannons to be more prepared for future visits from foreign countries.  These cannons are now on display in Odaiba Park in Tokyo Harbor.

Mr. Petrie stated that no western country made cannonballs from pure iron, and that they always used a slightly deluded alloy.  They would incorporate some minerals to retard rust, and a second mineral to improve the compressive ability of the cannonball.  A cannonball made of pure iron that was cold, for example due to the weather, had a high probability of shattering when fired.  A mixture of about 2% lead greatly reduced the chances of the cannonball shattering, without affecting the ballistics or the impact of the ball itself.  Hopefully, more questions will lead to reliable answers to these mysteries.

The cultural exchanges that I have attended during the last decade have given me improved knowledge and understanding of the Japanese people and their customs, but it also has given me many opportunities to learn new information about my ancestor, Commodore Perry.  In the process I have received and shared new information with many historian friends in Japan.  Hopefully, this nice relationship will occur in future Grassroots Summits as we learn about each other’s cultures, but also the interesting history our countries have shared since Manjiro Nakahama, Captain Whitfield, and Commodore Perry made early contact in the 1840-50s.