Paulding, James Kirke

Paulding, James Kirke (pôl`dĭng), 1778–1860, American author and public official, Secretary of the Navy under Van Buren, b. near Millbrook, N.Y. He collaborated with Washington Irving and William Irving in producing the periodical Salmagundi. In addition, he wrote a number of satirical works, including John Bull in America (1825); some 70 tales and several novels, of which the most successful were Koningsmarke (1823) and The Dutchman's Fireside (1831); and a popular life of George Washington.

Bibliography

See his letters (ed. by R. M. Aderman, 1962).

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Paulding, James Kirke (1778–1860) writer, public official; born in Great Nine Partners (now Putnam County), N.Y. He had little formal schooling. He became a friend of Washington Irving, and moved to New York City (c. 1796) to live with Washington's brother, William Irving. He worked as a public official, and from 1807–08, he and Washington Irving collaborated on Salmagundi, a literary magazine. His public career included his appointment as secretary of the board of navy commissioners under President James Madison (1815–23); navy agent for New York for President James Monroe (1824–38); and secretary of the navy in President Martin Van Buren's cabinet (1838–41). He is best known for his popular and humorous essays, his burlesque of the British, as in John Bull in America (1825), and novels, such as Westward Ho! (1832). In 1846 he retired and settled near Hyde Park, N.Y.