Tracy, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1830-1915

Holograph order for reassignment of Commander F. W. Dickens, CO, USS Tallapoosa, Montevideo, Uruguay, South Atlantic Squadron. Annotation regarding expenses allowed and date of departure appear as well as signatures of Rear Admiral Gillis, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy and Dickens.

Signature on an Album Sheet.

Research source materials relating to the life and career of Benjamin F. Tracy, Secretary of the Navy, 1889–1893, for the work entitled Benjamin F. Tracy, Father of the American Fighting Navy. Materials include Xeroxed copies, holograph and typewritten notes from the National Archives, Navy Department Archives and Library of Congress relating to Tracy’s youth, education, legal training, Civil War record, post–Civil War career as N.Y. Attorney, Secretary of the Navy including administration of the Navy Yard and reforms, construction of the New Navy, Relations with Congress, Administration of President Benjamin Harrison, Naval War College and A.T. Mahan, Naval Reserve Militia and International Relations with Chile and Caribbean, Bering Sea, Hawaii, and Venezuela, New York, Brooklyn politics and final years, 1832–1915; Xerox copies of Annual Reports of Secretary of Navy and Navy Department, 1889–1892; Reports of the Steel Inspection Board, 1890–1893; Proceedings of the Board of Design of Ships; Copies of General Orders and Circulars, 1887–1893; Typescript of B.F. Tracy, Father of the American Fighting Navy and typescript of dissertation, “B.F. Tracy, Lawyer, Soldier, Secretary of the Navy”; Copies of newspaper clippings; Microfilm of Tracy papers.

Lieutenant Stephen McCarthy (1859-1938) served in the U.S. Navy from 1887 until his retirement in 1923. He retired in Newport, Rhode Island. His papers include naval commissions from various promotions in the U.S. Navy.