Hopley Yeaton (1739 – May 14, 1812) was the first officer commissioned (March 21, 1791) under the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

into the Revenue Marine (later known as the

Revenue Cutter Service ) , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= , anniversaries=4 August , decorations= , battle_honours= , battle_honours_label= , disbanded=28 January 1915 , flying_hours= , website= , commander1= , co ...

), one of the forerunners of the modern-day

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

.Evans, p 6King, p 8 The Coast Guard was created when

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

merged the Revenue Cutter Service with the U.S. Lifesaving Service in 1915. Born in

Somersworth, New Hampshire Somersworth is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,855 at the 2020 census. Somersworth has the smallest area and third-lowest population of New Hampshire's 13 cities. History Somersworth, originally ca ...

, Yeaton was a veteran of the

Continental Navy The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War and was founded October 13, 1775. The fleet cumulatively became relatively substantial through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron John Adams ...

and the commanding officer of the Revenue Marine cutter ''Scammel''. Yeaton probably brought along his slave, Senegal, during ''Scammel's'' patrols, as was this practice was permitted by the Treasury Department at this time. Yeaton fired three of his crew after their first few months of service. The men had been in "open rebellion" over issues of pay and daily food rations—particularly after they learned that their fellow sailors aboard USRC ''Massachusetts'' received more and varied foods each day than they did. Yeaton resigned his commission on September 11, 1809.Noble, p 81 He suffered from poor health and retired to a farm at

Eastport, Maine Eastport is a city and archipelago in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2020 census, making Eastport the least-populous city in Maine. The principal island is Moose Island, which is connected to the mainla ...

.King, p 43

Monuments

Captain Hopley Yeaton Memorial

The tomb of Hopley Yeaton lies on the grounds of the

U.S. Coast Guard Academy The United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) is a service academy of the United States Coast Guard in New London, Connecticut. Founded in 1876, it is the smallest of the five U.S. service academies and provides education to future Coast G ...

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

. He was originally buried in

Lubec, Maine Lubec ( ) is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. It is the easternmost municipality in the contiguous U.S. (see extreme points of the United States) and is the country's closest continental location to Africa. The town, with a p ...

, but in 1975 his burial site was threatened by modernization. The Corps of Cadets sailed the barque ''Eagle'' to Lubec, where his remains were exhumed and laid to rest at the Academy.

Hopley Yeaton Walk of History Plaque

On August 2, 2008, in a bid to help affirm

Grand Haven, Michigan Grand Haven is a city within the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2010 census, Grand Ha ...

, as "Coast Guard City USA", the Walk of History was revealed to the public at Coast Guard Station Grand Haven. The first point of history on the walk was the Hopley Yeaton Plaque, which was ceremonially unveiled by Vice Adm. Clifford Pearson and Andrew Yeaton, a direct descendant of Hopley Yeaton.

Citations

References

* No ISBN * No ISBN * *
Hopley Yeaton Genealogy

Coast Guard Monuments & Memorials

Captain Hopley Yeaton Memorial

Festival honors heritage in Walk of History

Yeaton biographical note
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeaton, Hopley 1739 births 1812 deaths Continental Navy officers United States Revenue Cutter Service officers People of colonial New Hampshire People from New Hampshire People from Lubec, Maine