Hopley Yeaton

Infobox Person


name = Hopley Yeaton
nationality= American
birth_date = 1739
birth_place = New Hampshire, United States
known_for = First officer commissioned officer into the Revenue Cutter Service.
occupation=Mariner, Ship’s Master
death_date= death date and age|1812|5|12| 1739 |1|1
death_place=Lubec, Maine, United States

Hopley Yeaton (1739 – May 14, 1812) was the first officer commissioned (March 21, 1791) under the Constitution of the United States by George Washington into the Revenue Cutter Service which is the forerunner of the modern day United States Coast Guard. The Coast Guard was later created when the United States Congress merged the Revenue Cutter Service with the U.S. Lifesaving Service in 1915.

Yeaton was a veteran of the Continental Navy and the commanding officer of the Revenue Service cutter USRC Scammel. Yeaton probably brought along his slave, Senegal, during the Scammel's patrols as was this practice was permitted by the Treasury Department at this time. Yeaton fired three of his crew after their first few months of service. The men had been in "open rebellion" over issues of pay and daily food rations--particularly after they learned that their fellow sailors on board the Massachusetts received more and varied foods each day than they did.

Monuments

Captain Hopley Yeaton Memorial

Coast Guard Academy – New London, Connecticut

The tomb of the first commissioned officer of the Revenue Marine, Hopley Yeaton, now lies on the Academy's grounds. He was originally buried in Lubec, Maine, but in 1975 his burial site was threatened by modernization. The Corps of Cadets sailed the Barque Eagle to Lubec where his remains were exhumed and laid to rest at the Academy.

Hopley Yeaton Walk of History Plaque

Coast Guard Station Grand Haven – Grand Haven, Michigan

On August 2, 2008, in a bid to help affirm Grand Haven as "Coast Guard City USA," the Walk of History of history was revealed to the public. The first point of history was the Hopley Yeaton Plaque, which was ceremonially unveiled by Vice Adm. Clifford Pearson and direct descendant of Hopley, Andrew Yeaton.

References

* Florence Kern. "Hopley Yeaton's U.S. Revenue Cutter Scammel, 1791-1798. "The most effectual check to the mischiefs. [sic] " Washington, DC: Alised Enterprises, 1975.
* [http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/pageload.cgi?comfort::yeaton::178.html Hopley Yeaton Genealogy]
* [http://www.uscg.mil/history/faqs/uscgmemorials.asp Coast Guard Monuments & Memorials]
* [http://www.cga.edu/display.aspx?id=394 Captain Hopley Yeaton Memorial]
* [http://www.uscg.mil/History/WEBCUTTERS/Scammel_1791.html History of the Scammel]
* [http://www.grandhaventribune.com/paid/297575230330609.bsp Festival honors heritage in Walk of History]