Governor Aiken, 1855
The governor of South Carolina from 1844 to 1846 and a member of Congress from 1851 to 1857.
Cutter History:
The Governor Aiken was a wooden-hulled schooner purchased by the Lighthouse Establishment in 1855. She was assigned to the 6th Lighthouse District at Charleston, South Carolina. She was condemned in 1858. Her hull was sold in September 1858 for $321.60 and her rigging and sails were sold for $375.88. She was captured by Confederate forces on 20 December 1860 but was found to be of little use and was possibly discarded.
There was also a revenue cutter William Aiken, named for the same individual that the tender Governor Aiken was, in service in Charleston at the time. These were two separate vessels.
SOURCES:
Donald Canney. U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790-1935. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1995.
U.S. Coast Guard. Record of Movements: Vessels of the United States Coast Guard: 1790 - December 31, 1933. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1934; 1989 (reprint).