Lawrence Kearny was an American naval officer. He served as a Mayor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey from 1848 to 1849.
Background
Lawrence Kearny, the son of Michael and Elizabeth (Lawrence) Kearny and brother of Francis Kearny, was born on November 30, 1789 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, United States, where his great-grandfather, Michael Kearny, coming from Ireland about 1704, had settled in 1720. From this ancestry also came the distinguished soldiers, Stephen Watts Kearny (first cousin of Lawrence Kearny) and Philip Kearny. Elizabeth (Lawrence) Kearny, half-sister of Captain James Lawrence, established a local reputation as a poet, besides rearing eight sons.
Career
Kearny was appointed a midshipman in the navy July 24, 1807, and for a number of years was assigned to vessels engaged in cruising up and down the coast to protect American shipping. Commissioned lieutenant March 6, 1813, he commanded successively the schooners Caroline, Ferret, and Nonsuch, and then a flotilla of galleys and barges. On January 29, 1815, he captured the tender belonging to the British ship Hebrus, and thirty-six men. While in command of the Enterprise (1821), he captured several piratical boats off southern Cuba, and destroyed a pirate rendezvous at Cape Antonio, Cuba. Promoted to rank of master commandant on March 3, 1825, he was given the Warren and ordered to the Mediterranean. At this time the Greeks, no longer controlled by the Turks, were making depredations on ships of all nations.
Cruising almost constantly (1827 - 1829), he convoyed American ships to Smyrna and patrolled the waters about the Cyclades. In a little over two months after his arrival he had taken seven boats belonging to the pirates and recovered much stolen property. He was promoted to captain December 27, 1832. In 1840 he was given command of the East India Squadron and instructed to protect American interests in China. Going to Canton at the conclusion of the Opium War, he made a highly favorable impression by announcing on Mar 31, 1842 that the United States "does not sanction 'the smuggling of opium' on this coast under the American flag, in violation of the laws of China". American merchants, at this time carrying on extensive trade at Canton, had suffered losses due to mob violence. Kearny arranged for the prompt payment of reparations; but ruling against excessive claims, he further impressed the Chinese by his fairness. When he heard that China had signed a treaty with Great Britain opening five ports to her merchants, he recognized the opportunity for America, and dispatched his report to Washington by special messengers, one copy by sea and two copies by the overland route.
At the same time he addressed the Governor of Canton, the Chinese High Commissioner, urging that American citizens "be placed upon the same footing as the merchants of the nation most favored". This brought a prompt reply to the effect that the interests of American merchants should be considered. On August 1, 1843, the American consular agent at Canton was informed that the right to trade at the five ports had been granted to all foreign nations, and in the letter containing this announcement, reference was made to Kearny's request of ten months previous. Here was the beginning of the Open Door Policy in China. The successful negotiation of the first treaty on July 3, 1844 between the United States and China was in no small measure due to the influence of Kearny, who promoted friendly feeling during the critical period, urged equal rights for America while the details of the British treaty were being elaborated, and by timely representations at Washington prompted the sending of the commission that negotiated the treaty. His correspondence was called for by the Senate and was printed in full.
On his return trip Kearny visited Hawaii, lending his influence towards maintaining the sovereignty and independence of the islands, which was being seriously threatened by the excitable and erratic Lord George Paulet. His subsequent career was comparatively uneventful: he was president of the board to examine midshipmen (1846), commandant of the Norfolk Navy Yard (1847), general superintendent of ocean mail steamships at New York (1852), commandant of the New York Navy Yard (1857). He was retired November 14, 1861, and commissioned commodore on the retired list April 4, 1867. Returning often to Perth Amboy, he was mayor of the city, 1848-1849, and vestryman of St. Peter's Church (Protestant Episcopal), 1851-1855.
Achievements
Connections
Kearny was married to Josephine C. Hall, January 2, 1834, and had two sons.