George C. Stouffer
American ship captain (1822–1873)
George Close Stouffer (April 22, 1822 – May 6, 1873) was an American ship captain. In July 1866, Stouffer was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Andrew Johnson for "gallant conduct" rescuing approximately 500 Americans (some of whom were U.S. Army soldiers) from the wreck of the steamship San Francisco.
Early life and family
George Close Stouffer was born on April 22, 1822, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was married to Margaret Stauffer and they had two children.
Career
In 1850, Stouffer became captain of the ship Antarctic based in New York. Stouffer was an approved officer in the merchant service, having received a commission from the American Shipmasters' Association. He was a longtime citizen of Baltimore. After service on the Antarctica, Stouffer commanded the ships Trimountain, Polar Star, and William Tapscott.
Rescue efforts
In ate December 1853, the steamship San Francisco encountered a storm off the Atlantic seaboard that rendered the ship disabled and in jeopardy of sinking. Over the course of the next week, Captain Stouffer and the Antarctic, along with two other ships, saved three-quarters of the passengers and crew onboard the San Francisco.
“George C. Stouffer” enters the record as american ship captain (1822–1873). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what George, Stouffer and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q132589410. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1822, 1873, 1866 and 1850.
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This entry incorporates text from “George C. Stouffer” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.