George Francis Faxon Wilde

Background

George Francis Faxon Wilde was born on Feburary 23, 1845 at Braintree, Massachussets, the son of William Read and Mary Elizabeth (Thayer) Wilde and a descendant through his mother of William Thayer who came to New England about 1640.

Education

After attending school at Braintree he secured an appointment as midshipman, walked to Boston for his examination, and entered the Naval Academy, then at Newport, R. I, November 30, 1861.

Career

Following his early wartime graduation in the summer of 1864, he served in the Susquehanna, which blockaded the Stonewall at Havana in the spring of 1865 and later was flagship in the Brazil Squadron. He was made lieutenant March 12, 1868, and lieutenant commander June 26, 1869, continuing in routine sea and shore duty until his promotion to commander October 2, 1885. He then received his first noteworthy independent command, the new steel cruiser Dolphin, which in 1886-89 he took on a cruise around the world. After serving in 1889-93 as inspector of the Second Lighthouse District, New England, he was secretary of the lighthouse board, 1894-98, in which position he was chiefly instrumental in the introduction of gas buoys on the Great Lakes, of telephones from lightships to shore, and of an electric lightship on Diamond Shoal, Cape Hatteras. In the Spanish-American War he commanded the harbor defense ram Katahdin on the North Atlantic patrol, April-September 1898. On November 7 following, he took command of the cruiser Boston, then stationed at Taku, China, for the protection of American interests at the beginning of the Boxer uprising. The Boston during the following winter cooperated with the army in suppressing the Philippine insurrection, and on Feburary 11 landed a marine force which held the town of Iloilo, Panay Island, until the arrival of troops. Later, in command of the battleship Oregon from May 1899 to January 1901, Wilde landed marines to occupy the town of Vigan and held it four days, releasing 160 Spanish officers and their families, for which service he received the thanks of the Spanish representative at Manila. The Oregon on June 28, 1900, struck an uncharted reef in Pechili Gulf, China, but with considerable effort and good seamanship was gotten off and taken to Kure, Japan, for repairs. He was subsequently at the Portsmouth and (after May 28, 1902) at the Boston navy yard, and from February to May 1904 was commandant of the Philadelphia navy yard; thereafter he was again at the Boston yard as commandant, with promotion to rear admiral August 10, 1904. He retired at his own request Feburary 10, 1905, and until his death was chairman of the Massachusetts Nautical Training School Commission, making his home at North Easton, Massachussets, near the scenes of his boyhood. His death from heart trouble followed only a few months that of his wife.

Achievements

• In the Spanish-American War he commanded the harbor defense ram Katahdin on the North Atlantic patrol.

Connections

He married Emogen B. , daughter of Jason Howard of Easton, Massachussets, on December 13, 1868. He had no children.

Father:

William Read Wilde

Mother:

Mary Elizabeth (Thayer) Wilde

Spouse:

Emogen B.