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Medal Name: Testimonial of National Gratitude
Struck for: Captain Creighton, Captain Low, Captain Stouffer
Approval: Act of Congress July 26th, 1866
OBVERSE
BY JOINT RESOLUTION OF CONGRESS TO THE RESCUERS OF THE PASSENGERS OFFICERS AND MEN OF STEAMSHIP SAN FRANCISCO WRECKED DEC. (December) 1853. TESTIMONIAL OF NATIONAL GRATITUDE FOR HIS GALLANT CONDUCT.
America, personified as a female, seated, and with the eagle, fasces, and shield at her left, crowns with a wreath of laurel a sailor, who is kneeling before her;
to the right, the United States capitol;
to the left, a ship at anchor.
REVERSE
Thirty-nine stars; a man and a woman on a raft at sea; a ship coming to their rescue.
Exergue: JULY 26 1866 - An anchor and a branch of laurel.
BACKGROUND
Resolutions of Congress Voting Medals to Captains Creighton, Low, and Stouffer
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled:
Section 1.
That the President of the United States be requested to procure three valuable gold medals with suitable devices, one to be presented to Captain Creighton, of the ship Three Bells, of Glasgow; one to Captain Low, of the bark Kilby, of Boston; and one to Captain Stouffer, of the ship Antar(c)tic, as testimonials of national gratitude for their gallant conduct in rescuing about five hundred Americans from the wreck of the steamship San Francisco; and that the cost of the same be paid for out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.
Section 2. And be it further resolved, That the sum of seven thousand five hundred dollars each is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to the above named captains respectively, as a reward of their humanity and heroism in the rescue of the survivors of the said wreck, and in case either of the said captains may have died, then the amount hereby appropriated shall be paid to thewidow of said deceased captain respectively; if no widow surviving, then to the respective child or children of such deceased captain; and in the event of there being no child or children of said deceased captain surviving, then the amount hereby appropriated shall be paid first, to the father, or if the father be not living, then to the mother of such deceased captain respectively.
Section 3. And be it further resolved, That there shall be paid to each mate of the three above-named vessels the sum of five hundred dollars, and to each man and boy the sum of one hundred dollars, and in case of the death of the respective mate or mates, or men or boys, that the said respective sums shall be paid in the same way and under the same conditions as the payment is to be made in case of the death of the respective captains.
Approved July 26th, 1866.
Source: The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 by J. F. Loubat, LL.D. (1878)