Brian McGinty is an attorney and writer who specializes in American history and law. His books include Lincoln and the Court, The Body of John Merryman: Abraham Lincoln and the Suspension of Habeas Corpus, and John Brown s Trial. He lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.
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On July 4, 1861, the schooner S.J. Waring set sail from New York on a routine voyage to South America. Seventeen days later, it limped back into New York's harbor with the ship's black cook and steward at the helm. While the story of that ill-fated voyage... SEE MORE