Wilkes, Charles (1798-1877)

Name:

Wilkes, Charles (1798-1877)

Title:

Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, 1826
Command of Navy's Department of Charts and Instruments, 1833.
Member of Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences.
Involved in the Trent Afair over a blockade of a British mailing ship in Bermuda.
Captain, U.S. Navy, 1855.
Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, 1866.

Born:

04/03/1798

Birthplace:

New York City, NY

Died:

02/08/1877

Death Location:

Washington, DC

Residence:

New York City, NY
Washington, DC
Bermuda

Nationality:

American

Occupation:

Sailor
Navy Officer

Father:

Wilkes, John de Ponthieu

Mother:

Seton, Mary

Relations:

In Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences along with Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams.
Seton, Elizabeth Ann (1774-1821): aunt of Charles, raised him after the death of his mother; first native-born United States citizen to be canonized by Catholic Church.

Spouse:

Lynch, Mary
Renwick, Jane Jeffrey (1801-1848), mother of Wilkes's children.

Children:

Wilkes, John (1827-1908).
Wilkes, Jane (1829-1921.
Wilkes, Eliza (1838-1908).

Notes:

Court-martialed for mistreatment of officers and excessive punishment of sailors on United States Exploring Expedition.
Commander in Trent Affair.
Publication by E. A. Duyckinick notes his birth year as 1801, but other sources, including grave stone read 1798. Perhaps birth date was confused with death year of his mother.