Lancey, Thomas Crosby, 1824-1885.

Lancey was born in 1824, and was a native of Dover, ME; entered merchant service at an early age and served on voyages to Havana, the Netherlands, France and China; entered the US Navy on Apr. 26, 1846 as baggage master on the North Carolina, serving until July 3, when he was transferred to the U.S. Sloop of War Dale as captain's coxswain; the Dale sailed from the Brooklyn Navy Yard on June 6, 1846 to take re-enforcements to Commodore Sloat's Pacific squadron; Lancey served on board while taking in the action of Muleje, Lower California and the bombardment of Guaymas, Mexico; he kept a journal of daily occurrences which formed the basis of the three volume manuscript, The cruise of the Dale, some of which Hubert Howe Bancroft used in preparing his history of California; after his discharge from the US Navy on March 13, 1849, Lancey kept a store for Hoyt and Smith near Sacramento, and ran the first stage to the gold mines; in 1851 he settled in San Francisco, where he became a painter and mining agent; he continued to collect clippings from newspapers and information from his fellow veterans; he died in 1885.

From the description of Papers, 1846-1855. (University of California, Los Angeles). WorldCat record id: 39214986

Biography

Lancey was born in 1824, and was a native of Dover, Maine; entered merchant service at an early age and served on voyages to Havana, the Netherlands, France and China; entered the U.S. Navy on April 26, 1846 as baggage master on the North Carolina, serving until July 3, when he was transferred to the U.S. Sloop of War Dale as captain's coxswain; the Dale sailed from the Brooklyn Navy Yard on June 6, 1846 to take re-enforcements to Commodore Sloat's Pacific squadron; Lancey served on board while taking in the action of Muleje, Lower California and the bombardment of Guaymas, Mexico; he kept a journal of daily occurrences which formed the basis of the three volume manuscript, The Cruise of the Dale, some of which Hubert Howe Bancroft used in preparing his history of California; after his discharge from the U.S. Navy on March 13, 1849, Lancey kept a store for Hoyt and Smith near Sacramento, and ran the first stage to the gold mines; in 1851 he settled in San Francisco, where he became a painter and mining agent; he continued to collect clippings from newspapers and information from his fellow veterans; he died in 1885.

Extended Biographical Narrative

The Thomas Crosby Lancey Papers contain bound volumes, loose papers, notes and clippings pertaining to the American conquest of California during the Mexican War with particular reference to the American naval operations. These papers are the rough notes and journals of Thomas C. Lancey, who served on the U.S. Sloop of War Dale from 1846 to 1849.

Lancey, a native of Dover, Maine, was born in 1824. At an early age he entered the merchant service and shipped as an able seaman on voyages to Havana, the Netherlands, France and China. He entered the U.S. Navy April 26, 1846 as baggage master on the old North Carolina and served until June 3rd of that year, when he was transferred to the U.S. Sloop of War Dale as captain's coxswain.

The Dale sailed from Brooklyn Navy Yard on June 6, 1846 to take much needed re-enforcements to Commodore Sloat's Pacific Squadron and remained on the Pacific coast until March 14, 1849. During this time Lancey served on board taking part in the action of Muleje, Lower California and the bombardment of Guaymas, Mexico.

Lancey kept a journal of daily occurences which it is believed he later supplemented with additional recollections to form the three volume holograph manuscript known as The Cruise of the Dale . This manuscript is the gem of his papers. An earlier version appeared serially in the San Jose Pioneer and the installments were assembled by the historian Hubert Howe Bancroft in scrapbook form. Bancroft used Lancey's narrative as well as other materials from his collection in the preparation of the California History, and spoke of it as the most complete collection extant of data on the conquest of California. Lancey also received praise from Bancroft for his indefatigable zeal and marked ability in his researches. There is no question that Lancey possessed many of the instincts of a true historian. Certainly he did realize keenly his responsibility as a witness and participant in the Mexican War in the Pacific to gather and perserve material conerning it.

After his discharge from the U.S. Navy at San Francisco on March 13, 1849, he kept a store near Sacramento for Messrs. Hoyt and Smith and ran the first stage to the gold mines. In 1851 he settled in San Francisco permanently taking up employment as a painter and mining agent.

Lancey did not long lay aside his research, but continued to collect data from newspapers and from fellow veterans who had settled in San Francisco. He was assisted in his work by a number of old shipmates from the Dale, particularly James Louis Martel, who had become a real estate broker in San Francisco. Even during the last years of his life when he was almost constantly bedridden he continued his work with the hope that these rough notes may in after years assist the true historian to give his people a true chronicle of the achievements of Fremont, Sloat, Stockton and their compatriots in arms.

Upon his death without direct heir, Lancey's notes and papers passed to his close friend and former shipmate in the Dale, James Louis Martel. They remained in the possession of the Martel family until 1922, when they were purchased from Adele Martel by the late Robert E. Cowan and now form a significant unit in the Robert Ernest Cowan Collection of Californiana in the Library of the University of California at Los Angeles.

From the guide to the Thomas Crosby Lancey Papers, 1846-1855, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.)