Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/248

 PAULDING

PAULDING

PAULDING, Hiram, naval officer, was born near Peekskill, Westchester county. N.Y., Dec. 11. 1797; son of Jolin Paulding. He attended the public schools until 1811, when he was com- missioned a midsliipman in the U.S. navy and began the studj' of mathematics and navigation. He was ordered to join Capt. Isaac Chauncey on Lake Ontario, in 1813, and was transferred to the President, the flagship of Commander Macdou- ough, in August, 1814. The American squadron being short of officers, he was commissioned acting lieutenant, and for his gallantry while in charge of the second heavj-gun division on board the Ticonderogn, Lieut. Stephen Cassin, during the battle of Lake Champlain, was highly com- plimented, and received a vote of thanks from congress. After the close of the war he joined the squadron of Commodore Decatur and served with distinction during the Algerian difficulty. He was promoted lieutenant, April 27, 1816; served on the Independence and the brig Prometheus, 1816- 17, and cruised on the Macedonian, of the Pacific squadron, 1817-20. On his return to the United States he procured a leave of absence, and attended the American Literary, Scientific and Military academ}-, Norwich. Vt., where he was graduated in 1823. He joined Commodore Porter's squadron as first lieutenant on the Sea Gull, in 1823, was ordered to the frigate United States in 1824:, and cruised in the Pacific ocean on board the Dolphin, 1824-28. He was on the frigate Constitution, 1828-30, and commanded the schooner Shark, 1834-37. In 1837 he was promoted commodore, and was assigned to the command of the sloop of war Levant. Feb. 9, 1837, cruising in the West Indies, 1837-41. He was executive officer of the U.S. navy yard at Brooklyn, N.Y., 1841-44; was promoted captain in 1844, and cruised on the Vincennes in the East Indies, 1844—47. He was in command of the East Indian station, 1847-48; was transferred to the frigate Sf. Lawrence, and cruised in the Baltic, North and Mediterranean seas, 1848-51. He took charge of the U.S. navy yard at Wash- ington, D.C., in 1852, and com- manded the home squadron, 1854-57. While in South Ameri- , nan waters in unmand of the I i;;ate Wahash, -May 1. 1857, he came into port at the mouth of the San Juan river, Nicaragua, where William Walker (q.v.), having captured the town with 200 men a short time before, had established his camp. Commo- dore Paulding demanded the surrender of Walker,

and backed up his demand by landing 350 armed men, and by bringing the guns of the Wabash to bear on the camp. Walker surrendered and was paroled, but on reaching Washington, D.C., was not acknowledged by the U.S. government as a prisoner. His action was pronounced by President Buchanan in a message to congress, a grave error, which, if unrebuked, might give serious trouble to the government. Paulding was also warned not to exceed his instructions or legal authority in the future. Paulding's action began the subject of congressional investigation, and the committee of foreign affairs in the house reported against the legality of Walker's arrest, which called out an extended debate ia both houses of congress and be- came a sectional issue. Paulding was presented with a sword and a large tract of land as a re- ward for his services, by the President of Nicar- agua, but was not allowed by the U.S. govern- ment to receive the land. He was appointed in September, 1861, by President Lincoln, to serve on the board to examine plans of iron-clad vessels. He was ordered to take command of the U.S. navy yard at Norfolk, Va., and set out on the Pawnee with 600 men. Upon his arrival he found that he could not hold the yard against the Confederates, and after transferring the arms and munitions from the Pennsylvania and other vessels stationed there, he scuttled the sliips and taking the Cumberland in tow, he set fire to the yard and went to Hampton Roads. He was relieved by law, Dec. 21, 1861, being over sixty- two years old, and in July, 1862, was one of the ten retired officers to receive the newly created grade of rear-admiral. He was governor of the naval asylum at Philadelphia, Pa., 1866-69, and port admiral of Boston, Mass., 1869-74. He is the author of: The Cruise of the Dolphin (1831). He died at Huntington, N.Y., Oct. 20, 1878.

PAULDING, James Kirke, cabinet officer and author, was born in Great Nine Partners, N.Y., Aug. 22, 1778; son of William and Catharine (Ogden) Paulding, and a descendant of Joseph Paulding, who settled in New Amsterdam before 1640. William Paulding was a wealthy ship- owner and storekeeper at Tarrytown-on-the- Hudson, and at the outbreak of the Revolutionary war gave his entire fortune to the patriot cause and was himself appointed state commissary to the Continental forces. After the war he returned to Tarrj-town, where he lived in actual want. James received but little schooling, and in 1797 obtained employment in an office in New York city. He entered the best society of the cit}' and became intimate with such men as Gouverneur Kemble, Henry Brevoort. Jr., and Washington Irving. He joined the Calliopean society, one of the foremost literary institutions in New York. He began his literary career by