George Claghorn

George Claghorn
Old Ironsides in Boston Harbor – 2014
Born	(1748-07-17)July 17, 1748 Chilmark, Massachusetts
Died	February 3, 1824(1824-02-03) (aged 75) Seekonk, Massachusetts
Nationality	American
Occupation	Shipwright
Known for	Military service in the American Revolutionary War and as the master shipbuilder of the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides)

George Claghorn (July 17, 1748 [O.S. July 6, 1748] – February 3, 1824) was an American patriot and shipwright. He served as an officer and was wounded in the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he was awarded the rank of colonel in the Massachusetts militia. Claghorn was the master shipbuilder of the USS Constitution (a.k.a. "Old Ironsides"), which he built for the early United States Navy during the years 1794–97. The Constitution is the oldest naval vessel in the world that is still commissioned, afloat and seaworthy.

Claghorn was born in 1748, the ninth child of Experience (Hawes) and Shubael Claghorn in Chilmark, Massachusetts on Martha's Vineyard. As a family name, Claghorn (also Cleghorn) appears in Scottish records as early as 1350 in Edinburgh, Cramond, Lothian and Corstorphine. His great-grandfather, James, had been brought to New England in 1650 as a prisoner of war during the Scottish Rebellion, following the Battle of Dunbar. Claghorn married Deborah Brownell of Dartmouth on December 20, 1769, and they had eight children. He died in 1824 in Seekonk, Massachusetts.

George Claghorn served in the Massachusetts militia during the American Revolution. He was shot and wounded in the knee at the battle of Bunker Hill. After the war, Claghorn was promoted to the rank of colonel in the militia.