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