William Faxon (1822–1883) was ajournalist who served as chief clerk of theUnited States Navy from 1861 to 1866 and asUnited StatesAssistant Secretary of the Navy from 1866 until 1869.[1]
In 1857, Faxon formed a partnership withJoseph Roswell Hawley, Faxon & Hawley, which purchased theHartfordEvening Press, aRepublican newspaper founded byGideon Welles in 1856.[2] They soon invitedCharles Dudley Warner and Stephen A. Hubbard to join their newspaper.[2]
In 1861,President of the United StatesAbraham Lincoln appointedGideon Welles asUnited States Secretary of the Navy. Welles wanted to appoint Faxon as chief clerk of the Navy at this time, but the politically influentialFrancis Preston Blair and his sonMontgomery Blair pressured Lincoln to appointGustavus Fox instead.[3] As a compromise, the post ofAssistant Secretary of the Navy was created for Fox,[3] and Faxon joined theUnited States Department of the Navy as a clerk in March 1861, and then succeeded Fox as chief clerk on July 31, 1861.[4] As chief clerk of the Navy during theAmerican Civil War, Faxon was in charge of the records, correspondence, and personnel of the Office of the Secretary of the Navy and oversaw the finances of the Department of the Navy.[4] On June 1, 1866, Faxon succeeded Fox as Assistant Secretary of the Navy,[4] holding this office until 1869.[5]
Faxon died in 1883.
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| Preceded by | Assistant Secretary of the Navy June 1, 1866 – March 3, 1869 | Succeeded by |
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