Paulding
JAMES KIRKE, an American author; born in Dutchess co., N. Y., Aug. 2, 1779. Self-educated, he early showed a tendency to literature, and, being a friend of Washington Irving, wrote a portion of "Salmagundi." During the War of 1812 he published the "Diverting History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan"; and in 1814, "The United States and England," a defense against articles in the "Quarterly Review." This gained him an appointment on the Board of Naval Commissioners.
He still continued to write minor satires and humorous sketches, and in 1831 published the very successful novel, "The Dutchman's Fireside," and in 1832 "Westward Ho!" "Life of Washington" (1835) and "Slavery in the United States" (1836), in which the institution is defended on social, economical, and physiological grounds. In 1837 Van Buren appointed him Secretary of the Navy. He died at Hyde Park, N. Y., April 6, 1860.