born Feb. 18, 1783, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.
died Oct. 1, 1848, Philadelphia
U.S. naval officer.
He entered the navy in 1800. During the War of 1812 , he served on the USS Wasp when it captured the British ship Frolic , and he commanded the USS Hornet in its victory over the Penguin . In 1817 he was sent to the Columbia River to claim the Oregon Territory for the U.S. As commodore of U.S. ships in East Asia, he negotiated the first treaty, a trade agreement, between the U.S. and China.