David J. Naylor

David Johnson Naylor was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Mobile Bay.

Biography

Naylor was born on November 14, 1843, in Thompsonville, Connecticut. Naylor was still living in that state when he joined the Navy. He served during the Civil War as a landsman on the. At the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, he supplied gunpowder to one of his ship's Parrott rifles as a powder boy. When his passing box, used to protect the powder as it was being carried, was shot from his hands and fell overboard into a small boat of the, Naylor retrieved the box and resumed his duties. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor four months later, on December 31, 1864.
Naylor's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
After the war, Naylor settled in the Potter Hill section of Hopkinton, Rhode Island where he was employed as a mill worker.
Naylor died on February 7, 1926, at age 82 and was buried at River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, Rhode Island.