Naval chaplain and author, born on the 9th of May 1797, in Rutland, VT; died on the 22nd of January 1851, in Philadelphia, PA; was graduated in 1822 at Yale College, and in 1825 became a teacher in the Middletown Academy, Connecticut. He next engaged in journalism as editor of the American Spectator at Washington, DC. In 1831 he received an appointment as chaplain in the United States navy. From that time until 1849 he continued in the naval service, visiting the West Indies, the Mediterranean and California, all the while continuing his journalistic work, having editorial connection with the Colonization Herald, Charlestown, MA, and the Philadelphia North American; and while stationed in California published the Californian, at San Francisco, the first newspaper in California. While in California he took an active part in the interests of the community, and was largely instrumental in the establishment of the first schoolhouse. To him belongs the credit of making the first public announcement of the discovery of gold in California, which was made in an open letter to the North American in May 1848. He returned to Philadelphia in 1850. During his voyaging he gathered material for several valuable books of much interest. Among these works may be mentioned Ship and Shore in the Mediterranean (1835); Three Years in California (1850); and Deck and Port: Incidents of a Cruise to California (1850). After his death his Sea and Sailor, Notes of France and Italy, and Other Literary Remains, was published by his editor, H. T. Cheever.
