Charles Henry Davis was born on January 16, 1807, in Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up and attended school in Boston, and he enrolled at Harvard College in 1821. He left two years later, and he received an appointment as a midshipman in the United States Navy on August 12, 1823. He served in the Pacific onboard the USS United States from 1827 until 1828, then in the Mediterranean on the USS Ontario from 1830 until 1833.

 

He was promoted to lieutenant in 1834. He married Harriet B. Mills on December 22, 1842, and they had at least six children: Constant, born around 1844; Charles, born around 1845; Frank, born around 1848; Anna, born around 1851; Evelyn, born around 1853; and Louisa, born around 1860. He took part in the United States Coast Survey from 1846 until 1849. In 1849, he became the first superintendent of the American Nautical Almanac Office. He remained there for the next six years. He was promoted to commander in 1854 and placed in command of the USS St. Mary’s. By 1860, he owned $6,000 of real estate.

 

In June 1861, Davis was appointed to the Blockade Strategy Board. He was promoted to captain in November 1861 and placed in command of the Western Gunboat Flotilla. He was promoted to commodore in June 1862 and then to rear admiral in February 1863, and he spent the rest of the war as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation in Washington, D.C.

 

Davis served as superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory from 1865 until 1867. He was placed in command of the South Atlantic Squadron in 1867. He returned home two years later and took a position on the Lighthouse Board. He died in the Washington, D.C., on February 18, 1877.

 

Image: Charles Henry Davis (courtesy Wikicommons)

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