When Larry’s father died, he stepped up to become a sort of father-figure for his younger half-brother, George. But this got old fast, so Larry decided to send young George off to become a midshipman in England’s Royal Navy.

Their mother, however, put her foot down saying, “An American farmer’s young son would be considered little more than a bumpkin by the English and could never rise through the rigidly stratified, aristocratic world of the Royal Navy.” An English uncle agreed, and a disappointed Georgie unpacked his bags.