American naval officer, born at Fredericksburg, VA, on the 25th of October 1813. He served in the American navy and in the Mexican War. In 1851 he was sent to explore the Amazon River. He crossed the Andes from Lima to the headwaters of the Amazon, and then sailed down the river in a canoe. The United States government published two volumes of Herndon’s Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon. In 1857 he was captain of the steamer Central America, which, with 580 persons on board, sailing from Havana for New York, sank in the Gulf stream, September 12th. The women and children were saved, but Herndon with 426 men sank with the vessel. His daughter was the wife of President Arthur.
