Robert F. Weir (1836–1905) earned his living in the various careers of seaman, naval officer, engineer, and freelance artist. His sailing career spanned the better part of a decade, first on whaling cruises and later as a junior engineering officer on the USS Richmond during the Civil War. After the war, he continued to supply freelance illustrations to Harper’s Weekly, a practice he began while serving in the Navy, and worked as a civil engineer in New Jersey. Mystic Seaport Museum is the nation's leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929 to gather and preserve the rapidly disappearing artifacts of America's seafaring past, the Museum has grown to become a national center for research and education with the mission to “inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience." Andrew W. German is former director of Mystic Seaport Museum’s Publications Department and coauthor of multiple Mystic/whaling-related books, including America and the Sea: A Maritime History and The Charles W. Morgan: The World's Last Wooden Whaleship. He lives in Mystic, Connecticut.