GARRIT V. DENNISTON, LT, USN

Garrit Denniston '46

Date of birth: 1825

Age: unknown

Loss

Garrit died on February 17, 1858 in Manhattan, New York of a "hemorrhage of stomach." He was from Albany. (Cause of death from death register located by historian Kathy Franz.) He is buried in New York.

Biography

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Garrit was born in Albany, New York, and died at the age of 32 at 105 Sullivan Street, Manhattan, New York, just eight blocks away from the Holland tunnel. His wife was Mary, and his children were Garrit, Visscher, Ellen, Susan, Mary, and Isaac who died very young. Garrit was named for his father who served as an Army paymaster from 1815-1821, was an attorney, and at times, a judge advocate general. Garrit’s wife died in 1859, Visscher in 1863, and his father and son Garrit both died in 1870. Garrit attended the Albany Academy as a teenager as did his sons Garrit and Visscher. Garrit’s grandfather Isaac married Nelly Visscher. His great-grandfather Hugh had the first hotel and tavern in Albany, New York, and in 1782 and 1783, George Washington stayed there.

Career

From the Naval History and Heritage Command:

Midshipman, 10 March, 1840. Passed Midshipman, 11 July, 1846. Master, 1 March, 1855. Lieutenant, 14 September, 1855. Died 17 February, 1858.

Quote

From the 1986 Naval Academy Course Catalogue:

I shall be very glad when the day comes that I can leave here, for I have to get up before daylight and study until late at night. You know studying never agreed with my constitution. Midshipman Garrit V. Denniston, Class of 1846

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.