Kearny, Lawrence, 1789-1868

Naval officer commandant; Norfolk, Va. and New York City.

Frank Ellery was a nephew of William Ellery, a Deputy Governor of Rhode Island and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Lawrence Kearny, the son of Elizabeth Lawrence and Michael Kearny, was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey in 1789. He joined the U.S. navy in 1807 as a midshipman. He gained recognition for his skill in the War of 1812 and later would combat pirates off the southern coast of Cuba and in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1840, he was ordered to defend American mercantile interests in China, and upon learning that the British had gained preferred trading status with the Chinese at five ports, took it upon himself to acquire similar privileges for the United States. Ten months later the Chinese granted his request. Kearny continued working for the navy at various posts in the United States until his retirement in 1861. He married Josephine C. Hall in 1834 and together they had two children. Kearny died at the home where he was born in 1868.