He has been recognized since the late 20th century as the first man of African-American descent to command a ship of the United States government.

[4] Following U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward's Alaska purchase of the vast region in 1867, Healy patrolled the 20,000 miles (32,000 km) of Alaskan coastline for more than 20 years, earning great respect from the natives and seafarers alike.

After commercial fishing had depleted the whale and seal populations, his assistance with the introduction of Siberian reindeer helped prevent starvation among the Alaskan Natives.

As such they were prohibited formal education in Georgia, and their father sent them north to be schooled, a common practice of wealthy white planters who had mixed-race children.

[6][8] Patrick Healy became a Jesuit and was the first African American to earn a PhD; he completed it at Saint-Sulpice Seminary in Paris.

After teaching in Quebec and Ontario, in 1903 Eliza was appointed abbess or mother superior of the convent and school of Villa Barlow in St. Albans, Vermont.

In 1855, he left that school for England, where he signed on as a cabin boy with the Jumna, an American East Indian clipper, eventually serving as an officer on merchant vessels.

[4][6][14] In 1864 during the American Civil War, Healy returned to his family in Boston, where he applied for a commission in the Revenue Cutter Service.

[15][Note 3] Under U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward, during the administration of President Andrew Johnson, the Alaska purchase was made on March 29, 1867.

[17] Healy was assigned to the newly commissioned USRC Reliance when it sailed around Cape Horn and arrived at Sitka, Alaska, on November 24, 1868.

[15] On January 8, 1872, he received orders to report aboard USRC Active home-ported in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he became familiar with the masters of whaling ships.

Renowned naturalist John Muir made one voyage with Healy as part of an ambitious government scientific program.

[16] In this command, he enforced liquor laws, protected seal and whale populations under treaty; delivered supplies, mail and medicines to remote villages; returned deserters to merchant ships, collected weather data, rendered medical assistance, conducted search and rescue, enforced federal laws, and accomplished exploration work.

[15] At this point in his career, Healy had earned a reputation as a person thoroughly familiar with Alaskan waters and as a commander who expected the most from his vessel and crew.

[24] In July 1889, Healy paid a courtesy call to the skipper of USRC Rush, Captain Leonard G. Shepard, in an intoxicated state, a serious breach of naval etiquette.

Shortly thereafter, Shepard became the Chief of the Revenue Cutter Bureau and he wrote Healy warning him that if he could not control his drinking, he could face loss of command.

[26] Healy replied stating that he "pledge[d] to you by all I hold most sacred that while I live never to touch intoxicants of any kind or description....One thing I will hate and that is to give up my command of the Bear.

[4] In his twenty years of service between San Francisco and Point Barrow, he acted as judge, doctor, and policeman to Alaskan natives, merchant seamen and whaling crews.

"[1] During visits to Siberia, across the Bering Sea from the Alaskan coast, Healy observed that the Chukchi people had domesticated caribou (reindeer), and used them for food, travel, and clothing.

To compensate for this and aid in transportation, working with Reverend Sheldon Jackson, a Presbyterian missionary and political leader in the territory, Healy helped introduce reindeer from Siberia to Alaska as a source of food, clothing and other necessities for the Native peoples.

[6][14] Over a century later, Healy's Coast Guard successors conduct missions reminiscent of his groundbreaking work: protecting the natural resources of the region, suppressing illegal trade, resupply of remote outposts, enforcement of the law, and search and rescue.