Benjamin Stoddert

Benjamin Stoddert (1751 – December 13, 1813) was the first United States Secretary of the Navy from May 1, 1798 to March 31, 1801. Stoddert was born in Charles County, Maryland, in 1751, the son of Captain Thomas Stoddert. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, and then worked as a merchant. He served as a captain in the Pennsylvania cavalry and later as secretary to the Continental Board of War during the American Revolutionary War. During the war, he was severely injured in the Battle of Brandywine and was subsequently released from active military service. In 1781, he married Rebecca Lowndes, daughter of Christopher Lowndes, a Maryland merchant, and they had eight children. They resided at the home of his father-in-law,...