In an unassuming colonial home on Main Street, there is a museum dedicated to a man who was a master navigator, a Revolutionary War privateer, and a diplomat who helped shape American history.

The John Kendrick Maritime Museum was once occupied by a controversial man who accomplished a lot, but left behind conflicting accounts of his deeds and misdeeds.

This month marks the 225th anniversary of Kendrick's voyage of trade and discovery around Cape Horn and into the Pacific. But the Kendrick controversy apparently prompted state officials to reconsider honoring Kendrick with a day named in his honor.

The state Legislature had issued a declaration naming October 1 "John Kendrick Day," but Governor Deval Patrick issued a separate declaration, instead calling the day "Columbia and Lady Washington Day," after the ships Captain John Kendrick set out in for his seven-year voyage.

One of the sticking points may have been Kendrick's brutal encounter with the Haida people of the Queen Charlotte Islands.

“It was a violent time, and he was part of that violence sometimes,” said Scott Ridley, who wrote the book “Morning of Fire” about Kendrick’s journey into the Pacific.

Nevertheless, Wareham celebrated its own John Kendrick Day at the Kendrick museum on Sunday, Sept. 30, with Selectman Alan Slavin reading the governor’s proclamation for Columbia and Lady Washington Day.

Slavin promised: “We’re going to continue to work on it” so the day may eventually be named for John Kendrick.

While Ridley admits that Kendrick "was no angel," he says the Haida were not without fault. "They were like the vikings of that area."

Ridley says that a group of Haida people stormed the ship, and at some point Kendrick jumped over the gangway and organized a counter attack. After successfully retaking the ship, Kendrick and his crew fired cannons in to the village.

Some also argue that to dedicate the day to Kendrick alone ignores the contributions of the other men who were part of the voyage.

"Like a lot of expeditions, there was another man who thought he should be in command," and Ridley says that in this case, that man was Robert Gray, captain of the Lady Washington.

Ridley says that Gray told the owners of the ships that Kendrick was misusing the ships somehow. The owners put a "business agent" on board to investigate this claim, and came up with nothing.

Despite the controversy, Kendrick is credited with opening the northwest for trade with the United States, and acquiring 1,000 square miles of land on what is now Vancouver Island — a dozen years before Lewis and Clark traveled there.

Kendrick was born in Harwich in 1740 and bought his house on Main Street in Wareham in 1778. He contributed money toward building the first public schoolhouse in Wareham. Like many boys in that time, he went to sea at age 12 or 13, and was on whaling missions by the time he was 20.

As a privateer during the Revolutionary War, Kendrick captured two British ships, which he gave to France. France had not yet allied with the colonies at this point, and it caused a row between the two countries when France accepted the ships.

Kendrick led the first American expedition into the Pacific, forming alliances with native people, and selling weapons to them along the way.  He also taught others how to navigate the dangerous journey.

Kendrick sailed directly into a conflict between Spain and Britain over who would control trade in the Pacific.

After the Revolutionary War, the United States was languishing in a post-war recession.  Kendrick was commissioned to captain two boats that were to sail around Cape Horn in South America, then to the Northwest, and on to China to trade pelts for silk and spices, then finally back to Boston.

According to Ridley, Kendrick managed to befriend a Spanish captain during his journey and convince him to take two British ships. This outraged Britain, and while Ridley draws no direct connection, war soon broke out between the Spanish and British.

John Kendrick was killed at sea by British cannon fire and never made it home to tell his story. Ridley thinks this has had a major impact on how Kendrick’s legacy is perceived.

“There’s been this cloud hanging over him for so long," Ridley explained. "If he had made it back, we’d have an epic story on the scale of Lewis and Clark.”