Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury, 

 U. S. Navy (1806- 1873) 



An astronomer and hydrographer, Maury was appointed in 1842 

 0(ficer-in-Charge of the Depot of Charts and Instruments out of 

 which grew, a short time later, the U. S. Naval Observatory and 

 Hydrographic Office (the Hydrogiaphic Office was not es- 

 tablished as a separate institution until 1866). Until his 

 resignation in April 1861 Maury pubUshed many acclaimed 

 scientific works. He became world famous as "Pathfinder of the 

 Seas". Following his resignation at the outbreak of the Civil War, 

 he joined the Confederate Navy, attaining the rank of Commo- 

 dore. At the end of the war, following an unsuccessful attempt 

 to form a colony of Confederate expatriates in Mexico, he 

 accepted the professorship of meteorology at the Virginia 

 Military Institute. 



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