LYMAN G. SPALDING, LT, USN

Lyman Spalding '66

Date of birth: January 1, 1845

Age: 36

Naval Academy Register

Lyman Greenleaf Spalding was admitted to the Naval Academy from Portsmouth, New Hampshire on September 25, 1862 at age 15 years 8 months.

Naval Academy Photo Album

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 1866 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.

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 1866 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

From "Dangers of Naval Life" by Arthur H. Dutton, former Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, in the January-June 1909 issue of "The Overland Monthly":

Lieutenant-Commander Benjamin Long Edes and Lieutenant Lyman G. Spalding were killed at Newport, R.I., August 29, 1881, by the explosion of a torpedo, due to mismanagement of an electric switch.

Career

From Find A Grave:

Lyman Greenleafe Spalding was the captain's clerk of the US Steamer "Augusta;" Commander Enoch Greenleafe Parrott (afterwards Rear Admiral), commanding, for about twelve months in the years 1861 and 1862. He took part in the capture of Port Royal, SC, by Rear Admiral DuPont, on November 7, 1861, and afterward served on the blockade of Charleston, SC.
Entered Naval Academy July 1862; graduated as Midshipman June 1866; out of the service five years; reappointed and commissioned as Master, June 28, 1871; 'Canonicus' (Ironclad), North Atlantic Station, 1871-2; 'Yantie' Asiatic Squadron, 1872-5 Commissioned Lieutenant, July 10 1875; sick leave 1876; 'Enterprise' special service surveying Amazon River, 1877; and the same vessel European Squadron 1878-80.

From the Naval History and Heritage Command:

Midshipman, 26 September, 1862. Graduated June, 1866. Resigned 16 June, 1866. Master, 28 June, 1871. Lieutenant, 10 July, 1875. Killed 29 August, 1881.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

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.