FRANCIS E. SUTTON, 1LT, USMC
Francis Sutton '81
Francis Eskridge Sutton was admitted to the Naval Academy from New York on June 21, 1877 at age 16 years 6 months.
Photographs
Photograph from the collection of the Nimitz Library at the US Naval Academy.
Photograph from the collection of the Nimitz Library at the US Naval Academy.
Loss
Francis was lost when U.S.S. Vandalia was wrecked in a cyclone. Forty-two other officers and men were also lost.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Born in Russia, Herkimer county, New York, Francis came to Rome, New York, in 1866 and attended its public schools. He finished his education at Pulaski Academy where the principal of the school was his uncle, Professor Sebastian Duffy.
Francis was a “star” man all through his naval course and was No. 5 in the graduating class. He made two cruises in the Mediterranean and visited many South American ports. In 1882 and until July 1883, he was in Peru on the Pensacola during the Peru-Chilian difficulty. During the trouble on the Isthmus of Panama, he was in command of a body of men. He twice visited the West India Islands and the Azores.
At one time, he was in command of 500 Marines at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He also was stationed at navy yards in Portsmouth, both New Hampshire and Virginia, and in Mare Island. He spent one season at the torpedo station in Newport, Rhode Island.
As a cadet midshipman, Francis kept a practice log of USS Pensacola from October 1, 1881 through March 14, 1883 under the commands of William P. McCann and Joseph Fyffe. It is on microfilm in the Nimitz Library.
His father was Richard, mother Harriet, brother Henry, and sister Mary.
From Find A Grave:
New York Herald, March 31, 1889
-- concerning Hurricane at Apia, Samoa - the Trenton and Vandalia are a total loss - the Vandalia lost four officers and thirty-four other men, including: Lieutenant of Marines, Francis E. Sutton was appointed to the Naval Academy from New York in 1877. He was graduated No. 6 in a class of ninety-six, and after a cruise returned to the Academy for examination for promotion and passed No. 2. On his own application he was appointed Second Lieutenant of Marines, being the first graduate of Annapolis to enter the Marine Corps. He was promoted to be First Lieutenant, March 9, 1888. He was stationed at Mare Island, and had just been detailed to command the marine guard of the Mohican, but the Vandalia sailing suddenly for Samoa before the arrival of her marine officer Lt. Sutton took his place expecting to fall in with the Mohican on the cruise. His father is a resident of Rome, New York. At the Navy Dept. Lt. Sutton is regarded as having been one of the brightest and most intelligent officers of the Marine Corps and his loss is greatly deplored."
He is buried in New York. His father and brother were both physicians and surgeons in Rome, New York. His sister May was a teacher in the 1900 census.
Career
From the Naval History and Heritage Command:
Second Lieutenant, 1 July, 1883. First Lieutenant, 9 March, 1888. Lost in wreck of U.S.S. Vandalia, 16 March, 1889, at Apia, Samoa.
Francis is mentioned a few times in the memoir of George Barnett, Marine Corps Commandant.
The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.
The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.
The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.
July 1881
January 1882
January 1883
January 1884
February 1885
January 1886
February 1887
January 1888
January 1889
Related Articles
Cornelius Schoonmaker '59 was commanding officer of Vandalia and was also lost that day. James Carlin '68 survived the storm.
Francis is the only member of the Class of 1881 in Memorial Hall.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
