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.
Francis Fessenden
In January 1862, he assumed duties as a line officer in the Army of the Cumberland in Tennessee and was severely wounded at the April 1862 Battle of Shiloh. He became the colonel of the 25th Maine Infantry and commanded a brigade as part of the 22nd Army Corps in the defenses of Washington, D.C.. He was married that year to Ellen Winslow, a daughter of Edward Fox of Portland.