Lawrence Kearny – Sailor Diplomat

Known as “the sailor diplomat,” Lawrence Kearny was famous for fighting pirates in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, opening up trade with China, and freeing Hawaii from British rule.

Lawrence Kearny was born in 1789 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. His family’s American story began with his grandfather, Michael Kearny, who emigrated from Ireland to the American colonies in 1704. After settling in New Jersey, Michael married Sarah, the daughter of Lewis Morris, who served as Royal Governor of the colony. The next generation continued in Perth Amboy, where Michael’s son—also named Michael Kearny—was born. Michael Kearny (the younger) later married Elizabeth Lawrence, thus joining two prominent colonial families. During the American Revolution, Michael Kearny’s loyalty to the British Crown marked him as a Tory, leading to his imprisonment by the Provincial Congress of New Jersey. Upon his release, he contributed to the British effort by serving as a clerk for the British Army and later as an officer in the voluntary militia of Loyalists. As a result of his allegiance, Michael’s estate was confiscated, illustrating the profound personal costs of the war. Despite this setback, Michael and Elizabeth eventually returned to Perth Amboy, aided by land Elizabeth had inherited from her grandfather. There, they rebuilt their lives and raised a large family of eight sons, with Lawrence Kearny being their youngest. This lineage of resilience and adaptation set the stage for Lawrence’s own noteworthy life and career.

Lawrence Kearny’s maternal uncle was James Lawrence, famous for his dying words “Tell the men to fire faster and not to give up the ship, fight her till she sinks!” on board the U.S. frigate Chesapeake during the War of 1812. Lawrence Kearny entered the U.S. Navy in July 1807 as a midshipman. Kearny served aboard various vessels during the War of 1812 before obtaining his own command in 1813.

After the war, Kearny commanded the brig Enterprise in the Caribbean as part of Commander David Porter’s “Mosquito Fleet.” In 1821, he destroyed pirate Jean Lafitte’s stronghold at Galveston and captured pirates off southern Cuba.

The 1968 book 1,000 Years on Mound Key, attributing the story to history, describes an 1821 incident where the pirate Jose Gaspar near Boca Grande attacked a merchant ship, which dropped false sides revealing the gun ports of the American Naval ship, the Enterprise, commanded by Lt. Lawrence Kearny. The Lawrence Kearny Chapter, NSDAR, was founded in 1970, with early chapter bulletins giving the detail of Gaspar/Kearny legend and stating the chapter was named for the young lieutenant who displayed such professionalism and initiative. The Gaspar/Kearny story is not found in any naval records. The first written mention of Jose Gaspar was in a 1900 promotional brochure for the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway, part of Henry B. Plant’s railroad system that ran to Plant’s Boca Grande Hotel on Gasparilla Island. While the original reason for naming the Lawrence Kearny Chapter, NSDAR, may have been based on a legend, Kearny’s subsequent life proves him a worthy namesake for our chapter.

Kearny was promoted to master commandant in 1825 and sailed to the Mediterranean to protect American commerce. In 1840, Kearny was appointed commander of the East India Squadron and was dispatched to China to protect American commerce. His tactful and courteous treatment of Chinese officials initiated friendly relations between the United States and China and culminated in their first commercial treaty leading to the “Open Door” policy and earning Kearny the nickname “the sailor diplomat.”

While returning to the United States in 1843, Kearny stopped over in Hawaii and learned the British Admiral Lord had claimed sovereignty of the islands for England. When Kearny forcefully protested, the British commander of Pacific naval forces restored the island to King Kamehameha III.

Back home, Kearny fulfilled a number of shore assignments, including commandant of the Norfolk and the New York navy yards, and president of the midshipman examining board at the newly established Naval Academy at Annapolis.

Kearny retired from the U.S. Navy in 1861, but in 1867 Congress promoted him to commodore on the retired list. He died in Perth Amboy, in the same cottage where he was born, on November 29, 1868, one of the most effective sailor-diplomats in American history. The USS Kearny is named in his honor.

– Researched by Lawrence Kearney Chapter, NSDAR, member