Palmyra’s Admiral William T. Sampson

Presented by: Marilee Sampson Fisk and Ann Guest, US Navy

Early History

William Thomas Sampson was born in Palmyra, New York, on February 9, 1840, the first of seven children. Both of his parents, James Sampson and Hannah Walker Sampson, had been born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States. Second Sampson Family Home

Early Years As a boy he was a dedicated student. He walked to the one-room schoolhouse on Throop Street from his home at the corner of Johnson Street and Prospect Drive.

Secondary Education

He moved with his classmates to the Union School Building in 1848. He also spent his spare time helping his father with various local projects -- road-building, bricklaying, etc. -- and on the C.D. Johnson farm. In 1853 he started his secondary education and held the position of head of his class for most of that time.

Appointment to the U.S Naval Academy

In 1857 an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy was opened for a local student, Frederick Clemons, but young Clemons declined (his mother would not let him go) and suggested “my friend, Bill” instead. Congressman E.D. Morgan of Cayuga County arranged to have Sampson appointed to Annapolis. His father wanted him to remain in Palmyra, but his mother wanted at least one of her children “to make something of himself” and he was allowed to go.

U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland

William entered the U.S. Naval Academy on September 24, 1857. He was 17 when he entered and was ranked first in his class all three of his final years; he was commanding officer of the cadet battalion during his last year (1860-1861). In the spring of 1861, as Federal troops appeared off the coast of Maryland, pro-secessionist Annapolis residents surrounded the Naval Academy and threatened the Northern students within. As commanding officer of cadets, Sampson, along with the New York Seventh Regiment and the Massachusetts Eighth Regiment, held back and eventually dispersed the mob.

First Duties

In May 1861 he spent three weeks aboard the Pocahontas, which was charged with escorting Union troop and ammunition transports along the Potomac and in lower Chesapeake Bay. On June 1, 1861, he was promoted to Master and transferred to the Potomac, then undergoing repairs in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He joined the Potomac as a junior officer when it sailed on August 20, 1861, and spent the next nine months on patrol in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ship similar to USS Potomac

Beginning a Family

He married Margaret Sexton Aldrich, niece of Pliny Sexton, at the Western Presbyterian Church in Palmyra on December 18, 1862.

Children in “first” family William and Margaret had six children.

Margaret was born in 1863, Catherine in 1866, William in 1870, Susan in 1871, Hannah in 1875, and Olive in 1877.

Two of them, Susan and William Jr., died early in life and are buried in the Palmyra Cemetery in the Aldrich plot.

Loss of Wife Margaret Sampson died in 1878 and is buried in the Palmyra Cemetery.

Teacher, Then Service on an “Ironclad”

Promoted to Lieutenant on July 16, 1862, Sampson spent the next two years as an instructor at the Naval Academy. In August of 1864, Sampson joined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, commanded by John Dahlgren, as Executive Officer of the ironclad monitor-class Patapsco.

Ironclad USS Patapsco

More Service, Then Back to Teaching Promoted to Lieutenant Commander in July of 1866, Sampson next served aboard the steam frigate Colorado, then the flagship of the European Squadron. He joined the faculty of the Naval Academy's Department of Natural Philosophy in 1867, and became head of that department when it was renamed the Department of Physics and Chemistry.

USS Colorado

Promoted to Commander on August 9, 1874, Sampson resumed his chairmanship of the Naval Academy's Department of Physics and Chemistry. In this capacity he championed scientific education for students, and personally conducted many scientific experiments.

From 1879 to 1881, Sampson commanded the screw gunboat Swatara, of the Asiatic Squadron.

USS Swatara

“Second” Family

In 1881, Sampson and his family moved to Washington, D.C., where he served as Assistant Superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory until 1884.

In 1882 he married Elizabeth Burling at the home of her father in Rochester, NY. She had been a preceptress (teacher) at the Palmyra Classical School. In 1883 William Burling Sampson was born, but died four months later. His two other sons, Ralph (1887-1965) and Harold (1890-1948) followed him into military service.

From 1884 to 1886, Sampson served as Inspector of Ordnance and Head of the Torpedo Station at Newport, Rhode Island.

From 1886 to 1890, Sampson served as Superintendent of the Naval Academy, one of the youngest officers ever to hold that position. As he had done at his previous postings, he made major improvements to the academy's infrastructure, including having electric lighting installed throughout the campus.

Sampson was promoted to Captain in March of 1890, and, that spring, moved his family to California to oversee the final stages of construction of the cruiser San Francisco. He took command of the ship in March of 1891 and joined the South Pacific Squadron off the coast of Chile, then embroiled in a civil war, to protect American interests.

USS San Francisco

Returning to America, Sampson became temporary Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance at the Washington Navy Yard, in June 1892; he subsequently became permanent Chief of the Bureau.

Sinking of the USS Maine

On February 15, 1898, the battleship Maine exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. Because of his expertise in ship manufacture and ordnance, Sampson was made president of the Court of Inquiry called to determine the cause of the explosion. The Court determined that there was nothing physically wrong with either the Maine itself, its crew, its ordnance, or its load of coal, and that, therefore, the only possible cause for the disaster was the explosion of a Spanish-planted submarine mine.

On March 24, 1898, Sampson replaced Montgomery Sicard (who was suffering from malaria) as Commander of the United States North Atlantic Squadron (the most prestigious post in the U.S. Navy), was made Acting Rear-Admiral, and took command of the Squadron's flagship, the armored cruiser New York.

Sinking of USS Maine

Promotions

On July 3, while Sampson sailed the New York toward the Army base at Siboney for a conference with Brigadier General William Rufus Shafter, The Spanish fleet attempted to run the blockade. The American fleet, temporarily under the command of Winfield Scott Schley, decimated the Spanish fleet in a matter of hours. Although Sampson was not present during the battle, he has been credited with instituting the discipline and firing capabilities aboard the American ships that allowed the Americans to defeat a naval force that was actually superior in experience and equipment.

Promoted to Commodore in 1898, Sampson returned to Cuba after the war to serve on the commission that oversaw evacuation of Spanish troops from the island and the preservation of governmental property.

Return to Palmyra The Sampson family returned to Palmyra in 1899 for a “hometown” celebration. In 1900 he received an honorary degree from Harvard.

Already in failing health by the end of the war, he was forced to return home at the end of 1898 after contracting malaria. He maintained command of the North Atlantic Squadron until increasingly poor health forced him to step down in September of 1899. After suffering a stroke in September of 1901, Sampson went into seclusion at Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire. By February of 1902 he could no longer recognize his family, and he died of a brain hemorrhage on May 6, 1902.

A state funeral for Admiral Sampson was held in Washington, DC; (despite his will and the family’s request that he be buried in Palmyra) President Theodore Roosevelt decided that he would be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Honoring Admiral Sampson

On May 30, 1903 the Navy Department helped in the dedication of a gun from the Spanish ship, Almircante Oquendo, on Main Street. It was later moved to in the Village Park .

Acquisition of Cannon

In July 1919, the Sampson gun was permanently loaned to the Palmyra VFW for display.

United States Naval Academy – Sampson Hall

In 1942, along the east shore of Seneca Lake a training station was named Sampson Naval Training Center in his honor.

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Friday, July 16, 1920

Legion Post Changes Name.

Palmyra, July 15.- The American Legion post of Palmyra has changed its name from "Rear Admiral Sampson Post" to "James R. Hickey Post." When the young veterans met to organize the name of Admiral Sampson was temporarily taken, as he was Palmyra's most famous son of modern times. As the membership of the post increased, it was voted to rechristen it with the name of one of the comrades who made the supreme sacrifice. As James R. Hickey was the first to fall in battle, his was the logical name to be chosen.

Admiral William T. Sampson Post #120 – American Legion Boy Scout Troop

Now known at James R. Hickey Post

Formed 14 July 1919 with temporary charter until 12 July 1920

Name changed in 1920 – ruling by National Legion office

Boy Scout Troop

Sponsored by Post

Name stayed until the late 1930s/early 1940s

Sampson Medal or West Indies Naval Campaign Medal

USS Sampson - 1916

USS Sampson - 1938 USS Sampson - 2006

USS Sampson - 1960

Four Ships Named for Admiral Sampson

Admiral Sampson’s Ceremonial Sword at

Historic Palmyra’s Museum

Rear Admiral’s Flag

In October of 2015, the Naval History and Heritage Command of the Department of the Navy provided a 4’ x 6’ Rear Admiral’s flag as a gift from the Naval Historical Foundation to the Palmyra Historic Preservation Commission. The flag will hang in the Village Hall.

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© 2016 Palmyra Historic Preservation Commission/James R. Hickey Post 120