Stephen Decatur Sr.

Stephen Decatur Sr. (June 1751 – November 11, 1808) was an American naval captain in the Revolutionary War and later in the Quasi-War. He was the father of Stephen Decatur Jr.

For other people named Stephen Decatur, see Stephen Decatur (disambiguation).

Stephen Decatur Sr.
BornJune, 1751
Newport, Rhode Island
DiedNovember 11, 1808
Frankford, Pennsylvania
Buried
St. Peter's Church
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Allegiance United States
Branch United States Navy
RankCaptain
Commands heldComet
Rising Sun
Fair American
USS Delaware
Battles/wars
Spouse(s)Ann Pine
Children

Born in Newport, Rhode Island, Decatur was a merchant captain before the Revolution. He married Ann Pine; in addition to their son, they had two other children, Lieutenant James Decatur, who was killed in action in 1804 during the Barbary Wars, and Ann Decatur McKnight.

During the American Revolution he commanded the Royal Louis, the Comet, the Retaliation, the Rising Sun, and the Fair American.[1]

With the outbreak of the Quasi War with France, Decatur was commissioned as a captain in the United States Navy on May 11, 1798.

On May 5, 1798, Decatur was placed in commanded the converted merchant ship USS Delaware and sailed in the first American Navy squadron to cross the Atlantic along with his son Stephen Decatur Jr.[2]

On October 12, 1799, he was inducted as a member of St. John's Lodge #1 in Newport, Rhode Island.

In 1800, Decatur commissioned Philadelphia, the very vessel that his son later burned several months after it ran aground and was captured near Tripoli harbor in 1803.

In accordance with the Peace Establishment Act of 1801, which greatly reduced the United States Army and Navy, Decatur was discharged from the Navy on October 22, 1801.

He died in 1808, at his country home "Millsdale" in Frankford, Pennsylvania. He is interred next to his famous son at St. Peter's Church in Philadelphia.

References
  1. MacKenzie, 1846 p.9
  2. MacKenzie, 1846 p.22
  • Drawing of Decatur
  • "Stephen Decatur Sr". Find a Grave. Retrieved March 28, 2008.

Bibliography
  • MacKenzie, Alexander Slidell (1846). Life of Stephen Decatur: a commodore in the Navy of the United States.
    C. C. Little and J. Brown, 1846 – Biography & Autobiography. p. 443.
  • Waldo, Samuel Putnam (1821). The life and character of Stephen Decatur.
    P. B. Goodsell, Hartford, Conn., 1821. p. 312.
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