 Maria Wainwright, born March 14, 1856, in Washington, D.C., came from a family of several American statesmen — she was the great-great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin, the great-granddaughter of Treasury Secretary Alexander J. Dallas, the granddaughter of Texas legislator Richard Bache, Jr., a niece of Vice President George Mifflin Dallas, the daughter of naval officer Richard Wainwright, and the sister of Admiral Richard Wainwright.She died in 1925 in Jamestown, Rhode Island.After specializing in hydrographic duties for 11 years, he spent two years in the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) where he helped develop the Driggs-Schroeder rapid-fire gun in partnership with Navy Commander William H. Driggs.