Series I. Correspondence (1838-1883)

The correspondence includes incoming and outgoing letters, a small amount of which is personal and the bulk from Fox's tenure as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Some of the originals were rearranged and annotated by Virginia Woodbury Fox. Her notes indicate that she destroyed those she believed to be too personal. Marie Bayless, librarian of the Naval History Society, may have typed the transcripts as part of the letters' editing by Col. Thompson. Also included are letters received by James Paulding, Assistant Secretary of the Navy before Fox. No explanation is given for their presence in the collection.

The early letters received (1838-1860) are mostly orders to report to ships for duty, and include Fox's recommendation as a midshipman, signed by John Quincy Adams when he served as a representative from Massachusetts after his presidency. Among those in 1861 is one from Abraham Lincoln. Fox's other correspondents include John Ericsson (see Series 16) and General Ulysses S. Grant. The Civil War-era letters document routine activities of the Navy: orders, reports of activities, discussion of policy, personnel, and maneuvers. The later letters include correspondence regarding Fox's donation to St. John's Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, of a credence table (to hold items required to celebrate Communion) made from the oak timbers of Admiral David Farragut's flagship Hartford.

Arrangement

Some of the correspondence was arranged by month within a year and some by last name of recipient within a year. The original order has been retained.