The Fourth Stephen Decatur

Strawbery Banke Presents
HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH #197

A chip off the old block-and-tackle, Stephen Decatur IV of Kittery had big shoes to fill. Born in 1886, his Piscataqua roots went back to 1750 and a Revolutionary War ancestor. One famous relative, Stephen Decatur Jr., was a hero in the War of 1812 and died in a duel with another naval officer. (Continued below)

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The family name appeared on five US battleships and eleven American cities and communities. Despite getting into trouble while at Annapolis, Stephen IV served in World War I and became a naval historian. Although his initial attempt to restore Portsmouth’s South End as a national park failed in the 1930s, his efforts inspired the founding of Strawebry Banke in 1958. (Photo courtesy of Douglas Armsden)

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