The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-10-06
FROM SEAMAN
To Admiral.
Possesses -O-O-O-O-o-o-O-O-O-o-O-o

ms nrst duty as such was the command
OF the ordinances schooner Henry
James His lighting was not by any
means over, and before the close of the
war he participated in several more
sparp engagements, notably in the
ChoWan and Black Water rivers and
the battle and capture OF Fort Fisher
by the combined military and naval
forces. in January. 1865
AS a result of his fine war record
Farenholt was selected as one Of the
volunteer officers to be retained perma-
nently in the navy, and on March IL
1868, after passing an examination, he
was commissioned an ensign in the
regular establishment
From that time on he has passed Sue
cessively by strict seniority through
all the intermediate grades I'D TO and
inclusive of that of captain, which was
MS last rank on the active list He
reached the grade of rear admiral on
the day of his retirement by virtue Of
the law passed two years ago, which
permitted officers who served during
the civil war to retire with the rank
and pay of the next higher grade.
Rear admiral is the grade next above
captain.
FarenhOlt's naval career since the
civil war, however, has not always led
through flowery paths. He has ever
mad to contend with q certain preiu-
dice which exists in the navy against
officers who are not graduates of An
napolis. This prejudice has been par
ucularly marked in his case. owing to
The fact that he did not enter even the
oiunUeer service as an officer, but as
an enlisted man. The social gulf in
the navy between forward aad aft is
a vast one, and naval officers wish it
tn be kept impassa bic. The only bridge
they permit and even that reluctantly.
Is an Annapolis education separating.
the enlisted period from the commits
stoned At one time a certain number
OF enlisted naval apprentices were Civ
en- appointments to Annapolis, but the
practice was short-lived. OF the few
who graduated three are still on the
active ist-COmmander W. ?. Day.
Lieutenant Commander J. Z. Roller
and w. II. H Switzerland. Two are on
the retired list-Lieutenants T. G.. c.
SaIter and Samuel Sea bury. These.
with FarenhOlt and VIM. are the only
American naval officers who have ever
been enlisted men. All but FarenhOIt
and VIM graduated from Annapolis.
F&renholt alone has reached the high
est grade in the service.
While Rear Admiral Ammen was
chief Of the bureau of navigation dur
ing the seventies, FarenhOlt received
some fairly good details, but. as a gen.
eral thing, the berths he had drawn
were undesirable. He was not always
wanted as a shipmate by Annapolis
bred officers. for. aside from the preju-
dice against fOreCastle experience, his
foreign accent was very marked his
education was below the naval acad-
envy standard and his manners were
slow in acquiring the polish desired
Many officers, too. thought of numbers
of enlisted men of their own acCuaint-
ance whose herOisms had been quite as
great. if not greater. than Farenholt's
and their other qualifications for a
commission better.
Hence FarenhoIts personal friends in
the navy have been cOmparativelv
few His ships have usually been
storeships or something of the kind
which do not offer all the enjoyments
or advantages of the regular cruises.
FarenhOlts rather limited acouaint-
ance at first with ordnance and other
technical subjects also initiated to
some extent against his assiguni ent to
ships where he would be called upon
TO act as an instructor to others.
His first duty after the war was on
the small monitor Shawnee. and then
at the Boston navy yard. In 1866 he
was ordered to the stOreship Purveyor,
and in the one year 1867 to the receiv-
ing, ships New Hampshire and Ohio
and the StOreship Idaho. He was
banded about with very little cere-
mony. and only on two occasions COM
pleted a full cruise in one vessel. In
lS6S-IO he served on the AshUelOt in
Asiatic waters, and in the latter year
was attached to the Norfolk navy yard,
following in close order by duty on the
cruiser Shenandoah, the receiving ship
Relief. the flagship Minnesota. the
practice ship Supply and in 1876 back
again to the Norfolk nav yard. He
spent a year there, and then from 1877
TO 1879 nIQRnH of 10
naval inter depot at Maiden. Mass. He
made full three years cruise in the
'double-ender' gunbOat MOnOcacy in
Chinese waters from 1879 to 1882
Finally in 1882 he was assigned to
duty on the old steam frigate Wabash,
the same vessel upon which he saw his
first naval service as a seaman in the
stirring days two decades previously.
He remained on the old Wabash.
which had ended her active days and
been converted into a receiving ship
at Boston. until 1889. except for about
one year. when he was attached to the
steam slOOp-Of-war Swatara, on the
North Atlantic station.
Most of his later years have been
spent on the Pacific coast. He com
manded the gunbOat Pinta in Sitka.
Alaska. for a couple of years. and af-
terward served as lighthouse inspector
for the northwestern district with
4AeduQ quarters at portland. ore
His last sea service. which he COM
pleted shortly before his retirement.
was in command Of the double-turr
monitor MonadnOck. stationed in Ma
MIA bay. CuriOUsly enough, his first
and last duties an an officer in the
navy were as the commanding officer
of vessel-the schooner Henry James
in 1864, and the armorclad Monadnock.
IN 1901, and both vessels were in hos
tile waters, for the AIonadnoclc was
frequently under Filipino fire.
Admiral FarenhOlt is tall, well built
and with the blonde hair and blue
eyes of the typical Norseman- He is
socially inclined, and while a tight
house inspector made himself quite
popular with the people of Oregon and
Washington. He is known, too. in San
Francisco, having served on a court
martial at Mare island not very long
ago, prior TO his departure to assume
command of the Monadnock
He has son in the navy, Passed
Assistant Surgeon Ammen FarenhoIt&
named for his friend and benefact
the late Rear Admiral Ammeu.
Farenholt's life has been uniquS
volumes are summed up in the
quent sentence:
From seaman to rear .ad
He Baf1ed the
cleveland Plais