William Shaler

William Shaler (1773 – March 29, 1833) was an American government official who served as a diplomat and confidential agent in several foreign locations, including Algiers, Mexico and Cuba.

[3] Shaler was apprenticed to Phoenix, Ingraham & Nixen, a New York City mercantile firm, where he learned bookkeeping and other business skills.

Shaler learned to speak French, and commenced a period of dedicated self-study designed to make up for his lack of formal education.

In 1803 he was Captain of the Leila Bird when his crew and he were forced to fight their way out of San Diego Bay during an extended Pacific voyage because of a dispute with the local Spanish governor.

His efforts were considered to be ineffective, largely because he formed friendships with Jonathan Russell and Henry Clay, which made John Quincy Adams distrustful.

According to Shaler's friend and Vice-Consul, Richard J. Cleveland, so many people were dying so quickly that Cuban authorities abandoned the usual procedures for funerals and interments, opting for mass burials.