A Majestic Home for an Admiral

I’m sure the arrival of an admiral on the Upper East Side of Santa Barbara caused some waves in the neighborhood. He was Rear Admiral Albert Williamson Bacon, who had retired after a long and stellar history during his 42 years in the U.S. Navy. He began his career in the navy in 1861, when the U.S. Civil War broke out.

Bacon served as a paymaster and a naval storekeeper who managed inventories of supplies. He was on ships in the U.S., Brazil, France, and Asia. His last post was at the Navy Yard at Mare Island in Vallejo, California.

He was highly regarded by the men he served with. One of them wrote, “Rear Admiral Bacon was an officer of the highest professional attainments, of unusual resolution, of great pertinacity of purpose, and of the utmost sincerity of character. These traits were blended, both in official and personal life, with a dignity and a quiet humor that made him an unusually agreeable companion and endeared him to all with whom he came in contact. He was a man who read widely and had observed widely, and who had reflected upon what he had read and had seen in life…. The Navy has been blessed with a large number of officers possessing intelligence, ability, integrity, and personal charm — of this number Rear Admiral Bacon was one of the most eminent.”