He was born in Utica on August 6, 1794, and grew up in Whitesboro, New York.[1] He was the son of Arthur Breese (1770–1825) and his first wife, Catherine (néeLivingston) Breese (1775–1808).[1] Among his siblings was younger brother Sidney Breese, who later became a U.S. Senator from Illinois,[2] and sisters, Sarah Breese (wife of Bleeker Lansing and James Platt),[3] and Elizabeth Breese (wife of William Malcolm Sands)[4] as well as a half-sister, Sarah Ann (née Breese) Walker. Samuel Morse was a cousin.[5]
In 1848 he performed special duty on the lakes, and from 1853 until 1855, commanded the Norfolk Navy Yard. From 1856 until 1859 he was commander of the Mediterranean Squadron, and from 1859 until 1861 served as commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.[6]
Flag rank and retirement
On July 16, 1862, he was commissioned a Commodore and placed on the retired list, and on 3 September 1862, was one of the thirteen Commodores first selected to fill the list of Rear Admirals, when that rank was introduced into the United States Navy in 1862. Placed on the retired list, he was appointed lighthouse inspector in the same year. He was made Port Admiral at Philadelphia in 1869.[6]
Personal life
Breese was twice married, and had no children from either marriage. In about 1825, Breese married his first wife, Frances Hogan Stout (1806–1853), the daughter of Capt. Jacob Stout and Fanny (née Carpender) Stout.[1] Her elder brother was Charles Raintaux Stout.[7]
After the death of his first wife, he remarried on June 21, 1855, to his second wife, Emma Lovett (1819–1892), daughter of Thomas Sydney Lovett and Louisa (née Doubleday) Lovett. She survived him.[1]
^Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Pitman, Harold Minot; Forest, Louis Effingham De; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Mann, Conklin; Maynard, Arthur S. (1955). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. pp. 220–221. Retrieved July 17, 2019.