Description: [NAVAL] N.H. Farquhar (Rear Admiral Norman Von H. Farquhar, USN, (1840-1907). Letter Signed, marked "Copy", USS Trenton, Apia, Samoa, April 22, 1889, 2 pages, 7-3/4 x 10". The original was sent to the Secretary of the Navy, Washington DC [Benjamin F. Tracy]. This "copy" letter was sent to Henry Lyon, who became commander of the Nipsic. Dated about a month after this famous naval incident (The Samoan Crisis ). This letter is of high praise for Lieut. Commander Henry W. Lyon, saving the Nipsic "...to his excellent service during the Hurricane of March 16th and 17th, 1889, and since then in saving valuable property from the wreck. During the gale, he intelligently carried out my orders; personally supervising the many plans to keep out water, getting lines to the Vaudalia to prevent the total destruction of the Trenton and many other duties besides..." Norman Von Heidreich Farquhar (1840-1907) was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, attended the U.S. Naval Academy during 1854-59. After graduation, he served with the Africa Squadron until September 1861. Lieutenant Farquhar spent most of the Civil War off the U.S. Atlantic coast and in the West Indies, serving in the gunboats Mystic, Sonoma and Mahaska and the cruisers Rhode Island and Santiago de Cuba. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in mid-1865, a few months after the fighting ended, and was on duty at the U.S. Naval Academy from then until September 1868. For the rest of the 1860s and into the next decade, Farquhar served in the warship Swatara, was Executive Officer of USS Severn and USS Powhatan and Commanding Officer of USS Kansas. He also had two tours at the Boston Navy Yard on ordnance duty and as Executive Officer. Advanced in rank to Commander in December 1872, Farquhar spent nearly five years at the Naval Academy. He commanded the training ship Portsmouth in 1877-78, and the steam sloops Quinnebaug and Wyoming in European waters in 1878-1881. Five more years of Naval Academy duty were followed by torpedo instruction at Newport, Rhode Island, in 1886. From May 1887 until her loss in the March 1889 Samoan hurricane, Captain Farquhar commanded the steam frigate Trenton. He then served on several of the Navy's boards and, in March 1890 became the Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks. During 1894-97, he was Commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Commanding Officer of the cruiser Newark, and President of the Naval Examining Board. While holding the ranks of Commodore and Rear Admiral, Farquhar was Commandant of the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1897-99, commanded the North Atlantic Station during 1899-1901 and was Chairman of the Lighthouse Board in 1901-02. He retired from active duty in April 1902, upon reaching the statutory service age limit of 62. Rear Admiral Farquhar died at Jamestown, Rhode Island, on 3 July 1907. The letter is in very fine condition. Provenance: Estate of Admiral Henry W. Lyon, who had a distinguished Naval career, was honored for his service in the Spanish-American war where he commanded the U. S. S. Dolphin. Lyon and his wife, Liela, bought a house in Paris Hill, Maine in 1899 and moved there full time when he retired from the Navy in 1907.
Price: 60 USD
Location: Wells, Maine
End Time: 2025-01-29T14:46:19.000Z
Shipping Cost: 4.6 USD
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