John D. Sloat
John Drake Sloat | |
---|---|
Military Governor of California | |
In office July 7 – 29, 1846 | |
Preceded by | Pío Pico (civil governor) |
Succeeded by | Robert F. Stockton |
Personal details | |
Born | |
Battles/wars | War of 1812 Capture of the sloop Anne Mexican–American War |
John Drake Sloat (July 26, 1781[1][2] – November 28, 1867) was a commodore in the United States Navy who, in 1846, claimed California for the United States.
Life
He was born at the family home of Sloat House in Sloatsburg, New York, of Dutch ancestry. He was orphaned at an early age, his father, Captain John Sloat, having been mistakenly shot and killed by one of his sentries two months before he was born,[3] and his mother dying a few years later.
Appointed
California
In 1844 Sloat was appointed to command the
Later, his poor health forced Sloat to take commands ashore, where he commanded the
Legacy
Two destroyers were named USS Sloat in his honor as well as the World War II Liberty ship, the SS John Drake Sloat.
The town, Sloat, California, in Plumas County, California was named for him in 1910.
A major street, Sloat Boulevard, and the Commodore Sloat Elementary School, both in San Francisco, California are named for him.
John Sloat Elementary School located in Sacramento, California is named for him.
Streets located in
There is a monument erected in his honor on the
His hometown of Sloatsburg, New York is named after his grandfather, Stephen Sloat.
Dates of rank
- Midshipman - 12 February 1800
- Sailing Master - 10 January 1812
- Lieutenant - 24 July 1813
- Master Commandant - 21 March 1826
- Captain - 9 February 1837
- Reserved List - 27 September 1855
- Retired List - 21 December 1861
- Commodore on Retired List - 16 July 1862
- Rear Admiral, Retired List - 25 July 1866
Gallery
-
Base of John Sloat memorial
-
Sloat memorial overlooking Monterey Bay
-
1905 lithograph (origin unknown)
-
Sloat medallion on Native Sons Building, San Francisco
Notes
- . (subscription required)
- ^ "Sloat I (Destroyer No. 316)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
- ^ Tholl, Claire (May 1974). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, Sloat House". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
- ^ Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). Encyclopedia Americana. .
- ^ Ruhge, Justin (February 8, 2016). "The Mexican War and California: Monterey's Presidio Occupied and Improved". militarymuseum.org.
- New International Encyclopedia(1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
Further reading
Knickerbocker Commodore: The Life and Times of John Drake Sloat, 1781-1867 by Bruce A. Castleman, 2016, State University of New York Press
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~mdannear/firstfam/watkins.htm[permanent dead link]
References
- Proclamation to the Inhabitants of California (7 July 1846).
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.