Hopley Yeaton

Who was Hopley Yeaton?

Hopley Yeaton was the first officer commissioned under the Constitution of the United States by George Washington into the Revenue Cutter Service which is the forerunner of the modern day United States Coast Guard. The Coast Guard was later created when the United States Congress merged the Revenue Cutter Service with the US Lifesaving Service in 1915.

Yeaton was a veteran of the Continental Navy and the commanding officer of the Revenue Service cutter USRC Scammel. Yeaton probably brought along his slave, Senegal, during the Scammel's patrols as was this practice was permitted by the Treasury Department at this time. Yeaton fired three of his crew after their first few months of service. The men had been in "open rebellion" over issues of pay and daily food rations—particularly after they learned that their fellow sailors on board the Massachusetts received more and varied foods each day than they did.