A very interesting fact about Samuel Barron, senior, who was later a senior officer in the Confederate States Navy, was that he was appointed a midshipman in the United States Navy at the age of 3, and promoted lieutenant at the age of 18. Barron was born in 1809, and his obituary, in the New York Times of February 28, 1888, titled "A 'MIDDY' AT THREE YEARS" states, in part, "Commodore Barron may be said to have been born in the United States Navy, for at the early age of 3 years he was appointed a midshipman by the Secretary of the Navy, and this appointment is the only one of the kind ever made in the United States Navy. At the age of 8 years he made his first cruise, being ordered to the Mediterranean Station, and from this time on until the breaking out of the late war he served almost continuiously, and rose to the rank of Past Captain, his last command being the frigate Wabash."