USS Fessenden (DE-142)
She was named in honor of Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, born in Brome County, Quebec, Canada, 6 October 1866. He served as head chemist with Thomas Edison's East Orange, New Jersey, laboratories. In 1890 he began concentrating on electrical engineering, and through the next years made many important inventions and improvements in existing devices. His great contributions in the field of radio (particularly the invention of radio-telephony were of marked benefit not only to the Navy but to all seamen. He died 22 July 1932, at his home on Bermuda.
Samuel Fessenden
Fessenden was born in Fryeburg, Maine. His father was the Rev. William Fessenden, who graduated from Harvard College in 1768, and was the first minister of Fryeburg. He was also active politically, being elected more than once to the Massachusetts state legislature. (Maine was then part of Massachusetts.) The senior Fessenden also served as judge of probate. Samuel Fessenden's cousin Thomas Green Fessenden became a noted author and editor.