Stephan Russell Mallory

Stephan Russell Mallory

Stephen Russell Mallory was born on the Island of Trinidad in 1813.  Having practiced law, Mallory was elected to the United States Senate from Florida in 1851 and re-elected again in 1857.  He resigned his seat in the Senate at the beginning of the Civil War and actively took part in the organization of the Southern Confederacy. 

Jefferson Davis appointed him Secretary of the Navy of the Confederate States on February 7th, 1861, a position he held until the end of the war.  Mallory single-handily was responsible for building up the Confederate Navy, including the authorization of the first Ironclad warships.  He accompanied Jefferson Davis in his flight from Richmond in April of 1865, finally being captured in La Grange, Georgia on May 20th, 1865. After the war Mallory returned to his law practice until his death on November 9th, 1873.  He is buried in Pensacola, Florida. Mallory photo from Civil War Photographs: Confederate and Federal Government Officials.

Stephen R. Mallory’s gravesite