FREDERICK E. COLEY, MIDN, USN

From USNA Virtual Memorial Hall
Frederick Coley '82

Date of birth: 1862

Date of death: December 19, 1883

Age: ~21

Naval Academy Register

Frederick Edward Coley was admitted to the Naval Academy from New York on October 1, 1878 at age 16 years 8 months.

Naval Academy Photo Album

1882 Coley 1.jpg

Prior to the publication of the Lucky Bag in 1894, most portraits of officers and midshipmen of the Naval Academy were captured in yearly photo albums. The album for 1882 is available in the collections of the Naval Academy's Digital Collections.

Special thank you to historian Kathy Franz for identifying this resource and then extracting several dozen photographs for this site.

1882 Coley 1.jpg

Prior to the publication of the Lucky Bag in 1894, most portraits of officers and midshipmen of the Naval Academy were captured in yearly photo albums. The album for 1882 is available in the collections of the Naval Academy's Digital Collections.

Special thank you to historian Kathy Franz for identifying this resource and then extracting several dozen photographs for this site.

Loss

Frederick died "on board Store-ship Onward" on December 19, 1883 "from either typhoid or Panama Fever."

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Fredrick died on his first cruise at Callao, Peru. He was serving on the Pacific station flagship Hartford when he came down with typhoid fever. Captain Charles C. Carpenter and Rear Admiral A. K. Hughes had him transferred on December 11 to the Onward where he died eight days later.

In September 1878, Frederick passed a satisfactory examination and was designated a cadet engineer to the Naval Academy. At graduation, he was designated a “star” having obtained an average of 85 percent in his studies.

His father was Luther, a dry goods merchant at 146 Sands Street in Brooklyn. His mother was Jane “Jennie,” his brothers were Thomas and Algernon, and his sister was Louise. The family lived over the store. His father died in May 1891, and his mother in August 1900. They were married on September 3, 1861. His uncle Major Thomas Jones, surgeon of the Eighth Pennsylvania Reserves, was killed at the Battle of Spotsylvania in May 1864.

Late Friday night, February 9, 1877, Luther heard a noise in the backyard and saw five men jumping a wall coming toward the store. He sent Frederick for the police at the Second precinct station house in York Street, and then he startled the burglars with his pistol. He caught one Paul Hawley, and another boy was apprehended later. Paul had two jack knives, a cold chisel, lock pick, lady’s gold bracelet, and pawn tickets.

Memorial Hall Error

Illness is not a criteria for inclusion in Memorial Hall.


Class of 1882

Frederick is one of 4 members of the Class of 1882 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

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