President Martin Van Buren Appoints Revolutionary War General Jedediah Huntington’s Grandson a Surgeon in the Navy

Dr. Huntington was assigned to Admiral Perry’s African Squadron, sent to halt the shipment of slaves

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A very uncommon presidential medical appointment, with a nice association to the Revolutionary War

Joshua Huntington was the son of Pastor Joshua Huntington of the Old South Church in Boston, which gained fame as the organizing point for the Boston Tea Party, and the grandson of Revolutionary War general Jedediah Huntington. The...

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President Martin Van Buren Appoints Revolutionary War General Jedediah Huntington’s Grandson a Surgeon in the Navy

Dr. Huntington was assigned to Admiral Perry’s African Squadron, sent to halt the shipment of slaves

A very uncommon presidential medical appointment, with a nice association to the Revolutionary War

Joshua Huntington was the son of Pastor Joshua Huntington of the Old South Church in Boston, which gained fame as the organizing point for the Boston Tea Party, and the grandson of Revolutionary War general Jedediah Huntington. The younger Huntington went to Amherst College and then graduated from Yale Medical School. He sought service in the Navy on board a ship, and President Martin Van Buren was pleased to accommodate him.

Document signed, as President, on vellum, complete with engravings of a large eagle, drums, flags, and cannon, Washington, June 28, 1838, for Dr. Joshua Huntington, saying “I have nominated, and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint him an Assistant Surgeon in the Navy, from the 20th of June 1838.” The document is countersigned by Mahlon Dickinson as Secretary of the Navy, and the Great Seal of the U.S. is still present.

Dickinson was assigned to the Brigantine Boxer, serving in the Gulf of Mexico and West Indies, and then to the USS Macedonian in Admiral Perry’s African squadron, whose duty was to interdict the slave trade under the Webster-Ashburton Treaty. Huntington continued in this endeavor through 1844. He then left the service to attend Andover Theological Seminary. During the Civil War, President Lincoln appointed him a clerk in the Treasury Department.

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