Selim E. Woodworth

Selim E. Woodworth (November 27, 1815 – January 29, 1871) was a commander in the United States Navy, prominent San Francisco businessman, and member of the Woodworth political family.

Early years Woodworth was born in New York City, the second son of poet and dramatist Samuel Woodworth. He was a descendant of colonial settler Walter Woodworth. At age twelve he and his friend Tom Jacobs ran away to cross the continent, but relatives living north of the city apprehended them in the Catskills. In 1834, Woodworth and Jacobs sailed as captain's clerks on the ship Margaret Oakley, captained by Benjamin Morrell. Morrell explored islands in the Bismark Sea and established trading relations with previously uncontacted native inhabitants. Woodworth and Jacobs found an uninhabited atoll suitable for a new colony, a project they considered years later without ever making much progress. During Margaret Oakley'''s return, she wrecked while at anchor near a pirate trading colony in Madagascar, but there is suspicion that Morrell staged the wreck so he could sell the ship's cargo for personal gain. Woodworth eventually reached Mauritius and returned to New York after an absence of four years. Morrell, was now seen as piratical and on the run from authorities.

U.S. Navy career Although Woodworth was associated with the disastrous and piratical Margaret Oakley expedition, he was not held culpable and his father worked to have him enlisted into the Navy. Appointed a midshipman on June 16, 1838, Woodworth was ordered to join the Wilkes Exploring Expedition because of the Polynesian language ability he had acquired in the Pacific. Because his orders were misdirected, he arrived to find the expedition had already sailed. He was instead sent to the Mediterranean Sea for duty in the ship of the line . On August 3, he was detached for a three-month leave; he received an additional leave of three months to visit Milan, Italy, and on December 24 was ordered to join the , then fitting out at New York.

While serving on Falmouth, he learned of his father's death and returned to New York where he was assigned to the receiving ship . He served on and then entered the Philadelphia Naval School. On May 20, 1844, Woodworth was warranted a passed midshipman. After six months leave, he reported to the , a new sloop-of-war, and served on the coast of Africa, helping suppress the slave trade. He was transferred to , but detached on November 24, 1845, and granted a three-month leave.

In 1846, with the United States on the brink of war with Mexico, Woodworth was assigned to carry dispatches about the Navy's participation overland to the Pacific Squadron in Oregon. He set out with two companions from Independence, Missouri, on May 14 and arrived in Oregon 98 days later.

California pioneer

Woodworth reported to naval authorities at the mouth of the Columbia River, where he remained until January 18, 1847, when he left for San Francisco. There he volunteered for the rescue efforts on behalf of the Donner Party, a group of overland emigrants that was trapped and starving in the Sierra Nevada. He was put in command and on February 7 sailed for Sacramento with supplies. He trekked into the mountains with men and provisions, but he failed to meet the rescue parties that were hoping to rendezvous with him. Donner Party survivors and rescuers regarded him as "a braggart who had let them down".

Woodworth arrived back in San Francisco on April 1, 1847, and reported on board sloop-of-war at Monterey Bay, California, on May 17, 1847. On October 8, he requested a leave of absence in order to make a trip across the southern part of South America. He left Warren on February 16, 1848, to take command of the bark . From June 5, 1848, until 1850, naval registers carry him as attached to the Pacific Squadron; however, no record of him has ever been found.

In November 1849, a year before California became a state, Woodworth was elected to the legislature as a senator representing Monterey and immediately resigned his Navy commission.

Civil War service U.S. President Abraham Lincoln recommended Woodworth receive special thanks from Congress for his service in the war After the outbreak of the American Civil War, Woodworth returned to the east coast and reentered the Navy on September 10, 1861, as an acting lieutenant.

On January 1, 1863, he was given command of , a "tinclad," stern-wheel steamer. On January 24, Porter—now a Rear Admiral—recommended Woodworth for appointment to the regular Navy. Woodworth was commissioned a commander in April 1863, effective from July 16, 1862. After Glide was burned, he commanded the ram General Price from February 7, 1863, through August. After months of fighting up and down the Mississippi, Comdr. Woodworth was detached from General Price and sent to the Pacific where he took command of the bark on October 7, 1863. After bringing Narragansett around Cape Horn, he reached New York on March 18, 1865. , a double-ended gunboat, was his last command, which he assumed on November 30, 1865.

Lisette Woodworth testified in the state civil rights case Pleasant v. North Beach & Mission Railroad Company'' on behalf of Mary Ellen Pleasant, who had been refused service on a San Francisco streetcar in 1866. Pleasant, a Black abolitionist and entrepreneur, worked for the Woodworths earlier in the 1860s. The case outlawed segregation on public transportation in California.