Richard Fanning Loper
American shipbuilder
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Early life
Loper was born in Stonington, Connecticut. He sailed on coastal trips and became a master mariner at age 15. He captained the schooner Nancy Cobband was second mate on the sloop Hero exploration of Antarctica.
Business career
He settled in Philadelphia and established a packet ship business between that city and Hartford, Connecticut. He married Margaret Mercer Baird.[3]
Thomas Sidney Jesup corresponded with him in 1847 regarding proposal to build a ship.[4]
During the civil war, Loper wrote a detailed defense of his actions after reports and U.S. senate committee hearings that included accusations of profiteering off the government.[5]
Legacy
Theda Kenyon's novel The Skipper from Stonington (1947) is based on the life of Richard Fanning Loper.[6][7] The Library of Congress has a collection of his and his family's papers.[3]
