Scope and Contents Papers and correspondence of three generations of Samuel Barrons, all of whom were involved in naval affairs. Papers, 1793-1809, of Samuel Barron (1765-1810), commander of one of the Mediterranean squadrons sent to defeat Tripoli. Papers concern naval business and the War with Tripoli. Includes correspondence with his brother James Barron, Stephen Decatur, William Eaton (concerning his controversy with Tobias Lear over the Tripolitan peace settlement), Tobias Lear, Edward Preble, John...

Scope and Contents Correspondence and papers of Commodore James Barron relating to his career in the United States Navy, and especially relating to The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair in 1807 and to his duel with Stephen Decatur. Collection includes photocopies of patents issued to Barron for his inventions and a typescript of William Oliver Stevens' An Affair of Honor, a biography of Barron. Correspondents include John Adams, Jesse Duncan Elliott, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, Amos Kendall, Duff Green and Abel...

Scope and Contents The collection includes the correspondence, certificates, photographs, accounts, and journals of Rear Admiral Charles H. Bell. Naval journals cover Bell's service in the Mediterranean Sea from 1855-1858. The photographs are a mix of personal and souvenirs, which largely depict men and women from Peru. There is also material related to his role as executor for the estate of Samuel Swartwout. The collection also includes papers related to the Smith family, particularly Bell's executor and...

Scope and Contents Letters written to the Rev. Clement M. Butler, Rector of St. John's Church, Georgetown, Washington, D.C., relating to the deaths and funeral obsequies of victims of the explosion on board the "U.S.S. Princeton" on February 28, 1844. The "Princeton" was the first screw-steam warship in the United States Navy. The 1844 accident occurred on board when a defective gun burst during a shooting demonstration, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer and...

Scope and Contents

Map entitled "Entrance to the Chesapeake Bay" reduced from the surveys made by D.P. Adams. By E. Blunt. Note says copper plate engraving.

Scope and Contents

Papers (including accounts, reports and a general order) of Doctor James Cornick, fleet surgeon (on board the "Savannah" in the Pacific Squadron, United States Navy, concerning medical stores.

Content Description

The collection contains a log book, correspondence and biographical materials documenting the life of midshipman Gabriel Galt Williamson. Williamson served on the U.S.S. North Carolina, flagship of commodore John Rodgers in the Mediterranean. Biographical information including a timeline outlining the life of Williamson is also included in the collection.

Scope and Contents This collection contains the family papers of members of the Grigsby and Galt Families. Mary Blair Grigsby married William W. Galt in 1881.  The collection contains papers of various members of the Grigsby family, particulary Hugh Blair Grigsby who was a historian and Chancellor of The College of William and Mary and his son, Hugh Carrington Grigsby who lived his entire life at the family farm, Edgehill, in Charlotte County, Virginia. The collection also contains the personal...

Scope and Contents

Joel Holleman, Washington, to "Mr. President"  [Martin van Buren] recommending Holt Wilson for the position of purser in the U. S. Navy.  December 4, 1839.

Scope and Contents

Diary, 1849-1862, of John Dickinson Ingraham, a member of the United States Navy during the Civil War on the ship Narragansett. Includes information about Ingraham's experience on ships both before and during the Civil War. There are also drawings of animals in another hand at the end of the volume. There are also two letters, one written to Ingraham's father and one written to Ingraham's wife.

Content Description

Letters from Charles J. MacConnell (1837-1909) while serving on the USS Pensacola and Monogahela to his wife while touring the Peruvian Central Railway (1873-1874, 1877). Also includes a cabinet card depicting MacConnell and the rest of his Pensacola crew on deck off Valparaiso, Chile in 1873.

Scope and Contents

Francis J. Mallory to Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of the Navy, where he recommends the son of a friend for a naval warrant.  October 7, 1841.

Scope and Contents

Ledger, 1865-1869, of the Master Machinist's Office of the United States Navy in Norfolk, Va. Includes information about ship repairs, purchase of supplies, and other maintainence activities taken at around the Portsmouth and future Norfolk Naval Base.

Scope and Contents This collection details the history of the Offley Family from 1826 to 1916 through correspondences, diaries, photographs and personal effects. Its creators include multiple generations of Offleys and their associates. The papers provide insight into the daily life of the era as well as major geopolitical events such as the Greek War of Independence, the Spanish-American War, the Philippine-American War, the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, and World War I. Many of the Offleys served in the...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of an account of the USS Princeton disaster, handwritten by United States Congressman George Sykes and sent as a letter to his sister. The first-hand account describes the lead-up to the disaster, the explosion itself that killed six people, including the Secretary of State, President John Tyler's enslaved servant, and the father of Tyler's fiancée, and the aftermath and funeral.  Also included are Sykes' official invitation to the event that led to the disastor, and...