The collection consists of a manuscript and notebook detailing the outfitting of a 44-gun frigate, including required sails, furniture, medicines, and other supplies; and manuscripts of two biographies of Bainbridge. James Fenimore Cooper's biography was printed in his "Lives of distinguished American naval officers" in 1846, and in Graham's Magazine, in November, 1892. The Dearborn manuscript was the basis for James Barnes's edited version, "The life of William Bainbridge, esq. of the United States Navy, by H. A. S. Dearborn, 1816," published by Princeton University Press in 1931, and distributed to members of the Naval History Society in 1932.

The Cooper manuscript is available on microfilm.

Biographical Note

Born in 1774, Bainbridge commanded ships in the West Indies, capturing French privateers, and against the Barbary Powers in the Mediterranean. While commanding the 44-gun frigate Philadelphia, the ship foundered and he was captured and imprisoned in Tripoli for 19 months. After his release in 1805, Bainbridge made various naval and merchant marine voyages to India and Russia, returning to the United States as hostilities increased with England. As commander of Constitution, he captured the British frigate Java on December 29, 1812, during which engagement he was wounded twice. He subsequently had various commands and shore assignments and served as Naval Commissioner from 1824-1827 and from 1829-1831. His command of the Charlestown Navy Yard was curtailed by illness in November, 1832. He died in Philadelphia in 1833 and is buried in Christ Church there.

John Sanford Barnes was Bainbridge's grandson-in-law: his wife, Susan Bainbridge Hayes, was the daughter of Commodore Bainbridge's daughter, Sarah Bainbridge Hayes.

The collection includes correspondence to General Barnes, a memorial booklet printed at his death, photos of General Barnes in uniform, information from a researcher using the Collection, and a recent library relocation notice. The correspondence includes regimental orders, permission to raise troops, introductions to other officers, notes from family members of his soldiers, and reports submitted to him. The 1869 condolence materials include a copy of a letter from his son, John Sanford Barnes, to General H.C. Lee, thanking him on behalf of the Barnes family for Lee's condolences. The materials in this collection have been digitized and are available online to on-site researchers and to users affiliated with subscribing institutions via EBSCOhost.

Biographical Note

James Barnes was born in Boston in 1809. After graduating from West Point in 1829, with classmates including Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnson, he taught infantry tactics there and then served in the military garrison in Charleston Harbor. At the outbreak of the Civil War he raised the 18th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers and was appointed Colonel, later serving at the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, where he commanded a division and was wounded. He then was in command of the Union prisoner of war camp at Point Lookout, Maryland (see Series 37), for the remainder of the War. His last public service positions were as a commissioner of the Pacific Railroad and Superintendent of the Western Massachusetts Railroad. He died in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1869.

Related Materials at The New-York Historical Society

Two maps, a "Sketch of Military Reconnaissance" and "Map of the Rebel Intrenched Camp near Norfolk", were removed from this collection and placed with the Certificates (Y-1862 Barnes).

The collection includes Barnes' journals as a midshipman and later in his naval career, manuscripts on naval engagements, tactics, prizes for salvage operations during the Civil War blockades, correspondence and clippings, condolence notes to his widow, a family genealogy he prepared, organizational membership certificates and Army and Navy commissions issued to him and other family members, his handwritten list of the latter documents, and two scrapbooks documenting naval and family-related topics. The genealogy includes mention of a Sanford relative, Henrietta Emmerson, who was the owner of Dred Scott, the decision in whose case determined that African-Americans were not citizens and which negated the Missouri Compromise. Because Emmerson was a minor at the time, Scott's suit in 1857 was brought against her uncle, John Francis Alexander Sanford.

The 1908 printed Foreword to a collection of Barnes's letters to his wife includes details of his life and naval service; the letter collection is not included in the series.

Barnes's father General James Barnes's commissions are signed by Presidents Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, and Abraham Lincoln; his own by Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan; his father-in-law Thomas Hayes's by William Henry Harrison; and his uncle Henry Bainbridge's by James Monroe, James Polk, Andrew Jackson, and Millard Fillmore. His autobiography is handwritten and was privately produced; it is inscribed from Mrs. John Sanford Barnes to the Barnes's daughter Charlotte Adams Barnes (Mrs. Edward Shelton Martin), who presented it to the New-York Historical Society in 1961.

Portions of this collection relating to the Civil War have been digitized and are available to on-site researchers and to users affiliated with subscribing institutions via EBSCOhost.

Biographical Note

The son of General James Barnes (see Series 2), John S. Barnes was born at West Point, NY, in 1836. He entered the Naval Academy at Annapolis at age 14, serving after his graduation on Preble, and under Commodore Stewart on San Jacinto in Europe and the West Indies, and on Saratoga. He was aboard Arctic when it participated in the first survey for the original Atlantic cable in 1856. The following year, aged 21, he was appointed assistant professor of ethics at the Naval Academy, and after a subsequent year in private business he was appointed master of Jamestown. In 1858 he resigned his commission and attended law school in Albany, New York, practicing until 1861. During the Civil War, he served initially as navigator of Wabash, and later as commander of Dawn, Paul Jones, Lenape, and Bat. In 1863 he married Susan Bainbridge Hayes, granddaughter of Commodore William Bainbridge (see Series 1) and great-grandniece of Admiral John Barry (see Series 5). After the War, he served as commander of the Naval Academy's practice ships Marblehead and Savannah, as an instructor at the Academy, and wrote "Submarine Warfare": the first major work on the use of torpedoes.

From 1869 to 1880 he was in private business and began devoting time to collecting memorabilia of the Navy during the Revolution and War of 1812. He served as the first President of the Naval History Society and edited the first volume of its publications, "The Log Books of the Serapis, Alliance, and Ariel," before his death in 1911. His manuscript collections and library formed the basis of the Naval History Society's collections, and were donated to the Society in 1915, by his son Col. James Barnes (see Series 4).

The collection consists of Barnes's lecture notes and the program from his presentation "Through Central Africa from Coast to Coast;" a typescript outline with photographs on the subject of military tactics; a certificate of his membership in the U.S. Naval Institute; lyrics to "The Song of the Fighting Ship" published in "Ships and Sailors" by Frederick Stokes Co. in 1898; and various clippings, invitations, and postcards.

Biographical Note

The son of John Sanford Barnes (see Series 3), James Barnes (1866-1936) graduated from Princeton in 1891 and served in the Naval Reserve during the Spanish-American War. He was an editor for Scribner's Magazine, Harper's, Book Lovers Magazine, and on the staff of "The Photographic History of the Civil War," first published in 1910. At the outbreak of the Boer War he traveled to Africa as a newspaper correspondent, and early in 1914 conducted a photographic expedition there for the American Museum of Natural History. In 1917 he organized and headed the Princeton Aviation School and served in the aviation section of the Signal Officers Reserve Corps. He oversaw aerial photographic work at the front during the American involvement in World War I, returning to head the US School of Aerial Photography in Rochester, NY. The author of over 20 books of historical fiction, adventure, naval biography and history, he published his autobiography "From Then Till Now" in 1934, during his retirement in Princeton, NJ.

Barnes donated his father's collection of naval materials to the Naval History Society in 1915. He served as the Society's President from 1918 until his death, and on its Board of Managers. In 1931 he edited "The life of William Bainbridge, esq. of the United States navy," by H. A. S. Dearborn, 1816, based on manuscript materials in the collection (see Series 1), which was published by Princeton University Press and distributed to members of the Naval History Society in 1932.

The collection includes loose letters Commodore Barry received, letters from him collected and edited by John Sanford Barnes, Martin's extra-illustrated biography of Barry that includes letters, a manuscript of James Fenimore Cooper's Barry biography later published in Graham's Magazine, and a letter book of transcribed correspondence. Barnes's edition also includes newspaper clippings related to the finding of Barry's materials in his home in Philadelphia, and the Barnes family connection to Barry: John Sanford Barnes's wife Susan Bainbridge Hayes was Admiral Barry's grandniece. The typescript of Barry's will includes copies of correspondence to Barnes from a descendent, Sarah Smith Stafford (see Series 42), that provide genealogical information about the Barry family. Barry's book detailing naval signals includes some autograph letters tipped in.

The 1800-1802 correspondence is available on microfilm.

Biographical Note

1745: John Barry born County Wexford, Ireland

1760: Takes up residence in Philadelphia

1775: Ship Black Prince purchased by US government and renamed Alfred, becoming the first ship in the Continental navy. Aboard this, Lt. John Paul Jones raises the first American flag to receive foreign recognition.

1776: Takes command of Lexington. In April, captures tender to British man-of-war Liverpool and brings it to Philadelphia, in first American naval victory. In October, Congress establishes relative ranks for Continental Navy officers: Barry is listed seventh. In December, participates in the Trenton campaign and in the defense of Philadelphia.

1777: British take possession of Philadelphia; Barry sails the unfinished frigate Effingham up the Delaware River, where it is sunk to prevent its use by the British.

1778: Commended for gallantry after a 9 hour fight on Raleigh against the British in Penobscot Bay.

1780: Takes command of Alliance, during voyages on which he captures various privateers and merchant vessels.

1781: Wounded in an eventually victorious engagement against Britain's Atalanta. Refits Alliance and transports the Marquis de Lafayette to France.

1783: Last naval engagement of the Revolutionary War fought by Barry on Alliance against Britain's Sybil. After the War, petitions Congress on behalf of benefits for seamen equivalent to those of soldiers, and works to persuade Congress to adopt a new federal system to replace the Articles of Confederation.

1787-1789: Becomes master of merchant ship Asia, aboard which he makes a profitable journey to China.

1794: Congress creates U.S. Navy and Barry is appointed first on the list of captains. He superintends construction of United States.

1798-1801: United States serves as flagship of the West Indies Squadron during the Quasi-War with France. Captures various French vessels in the West Indies while providing security for American commercial interests. Under his command young naval officers, the so-called "Barry's boys," are trained who will come to prominence in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812.

1801-1802: Tests cannon for the U.S. government. Is selected to command the Mediterranean Squadron, but cannot serve due to illness.

1803: Dies 13 September at his country estate "Strawberry Hill" near Philadelphia.

Related Material at the New-York Historical Society

"A calendar of the John Barry Papers in the collections of the New-York Historical Society" was prepared in 1959 by Christopher McKee and is available in the repository. It lists, in date order, all materials in the Society's collections at that time, including item-level descriptions of documents in the Naval History Society's collections.

A 1783 letter from Thomas Russell to Barry can be found bound into N-YHS's third copy of the sermon "The duty of resignation under afflictions, illustrated and enforced from the example of Christ" by Jedidiah Morse (call phrase Y1796.Morse Duty).

The collection consists of a letter book of copies of letters to and from Charles Biddle (1787-1836), who was commissioned by President Andrew Jackson as an agent to seek information about a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama. Loose material in the volume also includes later newspaper clippings. Biddle is widely quoted as having dismissed the feasibility of a transisthmus canal, which was being considered at the time.

The volume is available on microfilm.

The collection consists of the account book from an 1828-1829 cruise detailing expenditures to outfit the ship as well as payments by 344 named crew members against their accounts for items including tobacco, sugar, buttons, soap and mess bills. Officers included Captain Hoffman, Lts. Charles S. McCauley and Alexander J.D. Browne, and Dr. John M. Imlay.

Historical Note

The sloop USS Boston was commissioned from the Boston Navy Yard in early 1826 under Master Commandant Beekman Verplanck Hoffman (1789-1834). Between 1826 and 1829, it protected American shipping near Brazil while that country and Argentina battled over possession of what is now Uruguay. Later it was deployed in the Mediterranean, the West Indies, Brazil, and reached Macao in 1842. After subsequent sojourns in Asia and Mexico, it was wrecked off the Bahamas in 1846 with no loss of life.

The collection includes 12 volumes of official and private correspondence from Admiral Chadwick between 1883 and 1889. Each volume is indexed by recipient's last name. Volume 11 includes the index to letters from November 12-25, which are included in the official book. Written in pencil on the back board joint of Volume 10 is "Comdr. Chadwick, Naval Attache U.S. Legation." His reprinted essays, addresses, and letters, dated 1896-1918, were numbered from 1 to 20 and had been sent to publisher Thomas Mosher of Portland, Maine, in October, 1918. Correspondence with his wife Cornelia J. Chadwick includes Mosher's estimate for publishing the materials in a collected volume. There is no other information in the collection about a published volume.

Biographical Note

Rear Admiral French Ensor Chadwick (1844-1919) graduated from Annapolis in 1864 and served that year aboard Marblehead. After serving from 1865 to 1872 on various vessels, he taught at the Naval Academy. In 1882 he gathered information in Europe for the Bureau of Navigation and became naval attache of the American legation in London. After commanding gunboat Yorktown for 3 years, in 1892 he was appointed Chief of the Naval Intelligence Service and in 1893 of the Naval Bureau of Equipment. He was among the officers appointed to investigate the destruction of Maine, which action precipitated the Spanish-American War in 1898. As chief of staff of the North Atlantic Fleet he served at the Battle of Santiago. In 1900, Admiral Chadwick was named President of the Naval War College at Newport and in 1903 as Commander in Chief of the South Atlantic Fleet. He retired from active service in 1906.

The collection consists of one volume detailing the attacks on Fort Sullivan (Charleston, SC) by British troops under Sir Henry Clinton and Sir Peter Parker, including transcribed letters between Clinton and Parker; and three engraved maps of the area and the battles.

Historical Note

British troops under the command of Sir Henry Clinton mounted attacks on Fort Sullivan (close to the later site of Fort Sumter) in Charleston harbor by both land and sea in June, 1776, believing its defenses to be incomplete. Britain's plan had been to subdue rebel forces in the southern colonies and muster more support from Tories after their previous defeat at Bunker Hill and continued challenges in the northern colonies. The attacks on Fort Sullivan were repulsed, however, culminating in the withdrawal of British troops and Clinton's return to New York City. The British did not launch subsequent assaults in the south until 1778, returning to Charleston only in May, 1780.

The collection includes Conyngham's diary from his incarceration by the British at Mill Prison; details of his claims against Congress for the payment of prizes for shipping captured by Surprize under his command; notes and manuscript drafts used in the publication of his papers by the Naval History Society in 1915 ("Letters and Papers relating to the Cruises of Gustavus Conyngham, a captain of the Continental Navy, 1777-1779," edited by Robert W. Neeser and printed by DeVinne Press, New York, as volume 6 of its publications); as well as original materials, some of which were used in the Society's volume. The latter are in the form of an unbound extra-illustrated volume amassed by John Sanford Barnes (see Series 3; see Series 11 for another extra-illustrated volume). Original documents mounted and described include Conyngham's 1777 commission in the Continental Navy, signed by John Hancock with interlinear notes by Benjamin Franklin, which had been thought lost and was rediscovered and purchased by Barnes in 1900; the brig Maria's commission signed by John Adams; an autograph letter signed by Alexander Hamilton; and numerous letters in Conyngham's hand.

Biographical Note

As commander of Surprize and Revenge, Gustavus Conyngham (1744-1819) was responsible for the capture of numerous British vessels, sale of whose cargo in friendly ports contributed to the financing of colonial forces. In 1779 he was captured by the British and incarcerated at Mill Prison, near Plymouth. Having had his commission confiscated, he later experienced difficulty in making claims to Congress for prize monies due to him. During the Quasi-War with France (1798-1800), he commanded Maria and later assisted in the defense of Philadelphia during the War of 1812.

The series consists of James Fenimore Cooper's "The history of the Navy of the United States," originally published in two volumes in 1839, extra-illustrated by John Sanford Barnes (see Series 3) into an eight-volume version with the addition of 427 portraits, 343 prints, 154 autograph letters signed, 32 maps, 23 broadsides, 10 signed documents, and 11 original water color sketches and portraits. It is accompanied by original and carbon typescripts of Barnes's lists of the extra illustrations, a manuscript notebook index of the additions, and a folder of photoreproductions.

Among the autographed letters included are those of John Barry (see Series 5), Cooper himself, John Hancock, Commodore Bainbridge (Series 1), Isaac Hull (Series 27), David Porter, and Commodore Perry (Series 36), all of whom are represented elsewhere in the Naval History Society Collection. The illustrations document all the major naval battles, ships, and persons mentioned in Cooper's work.

Historical Note

The practice of adding printed, manuscript, and visual materials as well as associated ephemera to previously published volumes probably began with James Granger's 1769 publication of "Biographical History of England," in which leaves were left blank specifically for the insertion of portraits by the purchaser. So-called extra-illustration reached its peak in the late 19th century as an organizational and collecting paradigm. An extra-illustrated volume very much reflects the collector and his or her interests, serving as a repository in the form of a cabinet of curiosities in which to display a wide range of associated, however remote, materials. Contemporary descriptions of extra-illustrated volumes often stress the volume of materials added as well as their quality, a significant expansion of the original being a virtue. Cooper's "History" provides a perfect setting for the physical manifestation of Barnes's lifelong interest in naval history and memorabilia, citing as it does every major naval engagement and personality. This work, when considered together with the Miscellaneous Manuscripts (Series 52), US Navy: Officer's autograph letters (Series 44), and John Paul Jones collections (Series 28), provides material evidence of Barnes's passion for collecting and its meticulous documentation.

Related Material at The New-York Historical Society

A bound version of the handwritten illustration list (originally from the Naval History Society Collection) titled "Catalogue of the extra illustrations, print, and manuscripts added by Captain James Sanford Barnes, U.S.N., to James Fenimore Cooper's History of the Navy of the United States, extending it to eight volumes" is available in the Reading Room. It lists the added materials, by page number, throughout the eight volumes and is indexed alphabetically by volume.

The collection consists of incoming and copies of outgoing correspondence in English and German, two private journals, and photoreproductions of materials used by the Naval History Society in the publication of "The Papers of Francis Gregory Dallas, U.S. Navy. Correspondence and Journal, 1837-1859," edited by Gardner W. Allen, 1917, and published as the eighth volume of the Society's publications.

Biographical Note

Francis Gregory Dallas (1824-1890) served aboard Columbia in the Mediterranean and coastal Brazil, and aboard various ships in the Gulf of Mexico during the Mexican War (1846-1848). In 1848 he attended the Naval School at Annapolis, but was dismissed from the Navy in 1848 for having engaged in a duel. In 1849 he began three years of service in the Navy of the German Confederation, including as first officer of the imperial steam corvette Royal Ernst. He returned to the United States in 1852 and from 1854 to 1857 was aboard Decatur in the Pacific Squadron, along the west coast of the United States for the protection of white settlers and then in Panama. Aboard Dale, along the African coast, he seized barque Orion on suspicion of being engaged in the slave trade, returning with it to New York in 1859. He was subsequently mentally disabled and was retired from active duty.

The collection consists of a preprinted log book from and a black and white photograph of Dictator. Some of the book's pages are filled in by hand. Many are pasted over with undated newspaper clippings reporting news, general knowledge, games, quotations, and other information. The clippings on some pages have been partially torn off and writing is visible underneath. The photograph is inscribed in pencil: "US Monitor Dictator, 1865/ E.D. Robie, Chief Engineer US Navy and Inspector of Construction of Hull and Machinery of the Dictator."

Historical Note

A single-turreted iron-clad monitor, Dictator was launched December 26, 1863, by Delamater Iron Works, New York, having been designed under contract with John Ericsson (see Series 16). It was commissioned November 11, 1864, under the command of J. Rodgers. As part of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, it cruised from December, 1864, until it was decommissioned at the League Island Navy Yard on September 5, 1865. It served in the North Atlantic Fleet in the 1870s and was sold in September of 1883.

The collection consists of a single volume documenting routine activities aboard US Flagship Wabash, on which Duer served as acting master's mate.

Historical Note

Originally commissioned in 1856, by 1862 Wabash was a permanent part of the Charleston blockade, operating out of Port Royal. That year, a landing party from it occupied St. Augustine, Florida; another manned a battery that bombarded Fort Pulaski, Georgia, forcing its surrender. Its howitzers supported land troops at the Battle of Pocotaglio, South Carolina, on October 22, 1862. Wabash later joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and saw duty in Spain and the Mediterranean after the Civil War before being decommissioned in 1912. The materials in this collection have been digitized and are available online to on-site researchers and to users affiliated with subscribing institutions via EBSCOhost.

The collection includes journals and diaries, some of which incorporate both written entries and pasted in clippings from the US Navy Journal. The 1862-1863 volume includes printed accounts of the battle between the Confederate steamship Virginia (originally Merrimack) and USS Monitor in 1862. The materials in this collection have been digitized and are available online to on-site researchers and to users affiliated with subscribing institutions via EBSCOhost.

Historical Note

Vessels in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron were responsible for preventing Confederate ships from supplying ships in Virginia and North Carolina, and for supporting Union troops. Those in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron operated between Cape Henry, North Carolina, and Key West, Florida.

Mystic assisted in the capture or destruction of four blockade runners off North Carolina in June-September 1862. In May 1863, it supported the Army during an expedition up the York River.

Mohawk joined the South Atlantic Blocking Squadron in June 1862, serving out of Port Royal from June, 1863, for the next year, until it underwent repairs in Philadelphia.

Both Philadelphia and John Adams served as flagships of the Squadron, the latter of the inner blockade off Morris Island (Charleston, NC).

Paul Jones had participated in attacks on Fort Wagner (Charleston, SC) in July 1863, returning to New York for repairs and rejoining the squadron in September. It continued coastal operations until August of that year and in 1865 joined the East Gulf Blockading Squadron.

Commissioned in January, 1865, Muscoota was at Norfolk, Virginia, in May, 1865, when it was ordered to Key West as part of an effort to prevent Confederate President Jefferson Davis escaping abroad. It remained in the Gulf of Mexico area at least until August, 1866, was decommissioned in 1869, and then sold as a merchant steamship.

The collection includes original correspondence to and copies from John Ericsson (the latter predominantly in the hand of his secretary, Samuel W. Taylor, and a few autograph) as well as telegrams, invoices, receipts, writings, clippings, articles, an account book, and a volume listing his articles on torpedo warfare. The materials were a gift in 1912 to the Naval History Society from Ericsson's biographer William Conant Church, and the correspondence is annotated and underlined throughout in various colors, perhaps by him as part of his research for "The Life of John Ericsson" (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1890). Undated materials appear to have been from Church's research and papers, and include separated and unidentified documents. The materials are mostly in English, with some in Swedish and German. Portions of this collection relating to the Civil War have been digitized and are available to on-site researchers and to users affiliated with subscribing institutions via EBSCOhost.

The collection documents many aspects of Ericsson's engineering interests and projects: the building and testing of ironclad warships to his specifications for the United States (USS Monitor, 1862) and other governments (Peru: May 1862; Greece: January 1869; Spain: May 1869; China: October 1880, spring 1883); the costs of construction through his extensive contact with Delamater and other ironworks and foundries as well as negotiations with Congress (1864-1865); applications and renewals of patents (1830s, 1840s, December 1864, July 1866); experiments with solar energy (1868, July 1872); design and testing of torpedo warships, including detailed expenses for Destroyer (January 1873, September 1874, April 1875, 1878-1882, January 1889) and reports on its trials (October 1883); as well as various complete lists of ironclads built to Ericsson's specifications (May 1866, December 1867, July 1877).

Highlights of the collection include copies of Ericsson's January 20, 1862, letter to Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus Vasa Fox (see Series 17), proposing the name Monitor for his ironclad vessel; and his January 30, 1873, letter to President Ulysses S. Grant explaining that the torpedo systems currently in use are inadequate for the country's defense.

An extensive collection of Ericsson's papers is housed at the Library of Congress.

Biographical Note

Born in Sweden in 1803, Ericsson emigrated first to England (1826) and then to the United States (1839). Having shown early promise as an engineer, and holding numerous patents for steam-powered engines, he designed the first screw-driven steamship to cross the Atlantic (Robert F. Stockton, 1839) and the first propeller-driven steam warship for the US Navy (USS Princeton, 1842). In 1861 he contracted with the Navy to build in 100 days an ironclad warship, Monitor, which successfully fought the Confederate ironclad Virginia (originally Merrimack) at Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862, before sinking off Cape Hatteras later that year. After the Civil War, he pursued his interests in torpedo-armed vessels, and in a variety of scientific and engineering subjects, including solar energy. He died in New York in 1889 and was interred in Sweden in 1890.

Related Materials at The New-York Historical Society

A chronological inventory of the papers of John Ericsson (from 1831 to July 1865 only) in the Naval History Society's collection was prepared in 1984 and is available in the repository.

The John Ericsson papers owned by the American Swedish Historical Foundation are available on microfilm.

The New-York Historical Society's Miscellaneous Manuscripts collection includes three autograph letters of John Ericsson's.

Portions of this collection relating to the Civil War have been digitized and are available to on-site researchers and to users affiliated with subscribing institutions via EBSCOhost.

The collection includes correspondence, personal papers and documents, financial records, speeches and writings, memorabilia and souvenirs, printed materials, and clippings of Gustavus Vasa Fox; correspondence of his wife Virginia Woodbury Fox; and correspondence and personal papers pertaining to other Woodbury and Fox family members.

Biographical Note

Gustavus Vasa Fox (1821-1883) read law with his future wife's uncle, Isaac O. Barnes, in 1837 and began his maritime career as a midshipman in 1838. He served in various naval and mercantile vessels before retiring in 1856 to manage the Bay State Woolen Mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts. His suggestions for the relief of Fort Sumter were not followed, but through connections to Abraham Lincoln via Postmaster Montgomery Blair (his wife's brother-in-law) he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy under Gideon Welles in 1861. He served in that position through the Civil War, functioning as de facto chief of naval operations. He championed the cause of ironclad fighting ships, supporting John Ericsson (see Series 16) in his bid to build Monitor. Fox is credited with improving the management of the Navy that made possible its wartime victories.

In 1866 he made the first transatlantic voyage in an ironclad (Miantonomoh) to deliver a congressional resolution to Tsar Alexander II, congratulating him on his escape from an assassination attempt. The ship made extensive stops in European ports en route. In 1867 he made an unsuccessful attempt to take over the Southwest Pacific railroad, the forerunner of the St. Louis-San Francisco railroad. In 1869 he began management of Middlesex Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, moving to Boston in 1874 from where he commuted to Lawrence to manage Washington Mills for the commission house of Mudge, Sawyer, and Co. He retired in 1878 and pursued interests that included documenting Columbus's first landfall in the new world, and the local history and topography of New Hampshire.

Arrangement

The materials are arranged in 10 subseries:

Subseries I. Correspondence

Subseries II. Personal papers and documents

Subseries III. Speeches and writings

Subseries IV. Financial records

Subseries V. Memorabilia, souvenirs, and visual materials

Subseries VI. Printed materials and clippings

Subseries VII. Virginia L. Woodbury Fox papers

Subseries VIII. Woodbury and Fox family papers

Subseries IX. Archival and filing records

Subseries X. Bound volumes

Each subseries is arranged chronologically unless otherwise described in its Scope and Content note. Many of the subseries were previously edited and arranged by Virginia Woodbury Fox and/or Colonel Robert Thompson in preparation for the latter's editing and publication of Fox's letters ("The Fox Papers, being the confidential correspondence of Gustavus V. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy during the Civil War," Vols. I and II, edited by Colonel Robert M. Thompson and Rear Admiral Richard Wainwright and printed by DeVinne Press, New York, as the ninth and tenth volumes of the Society's publications) in 1918 and 1919. In some subseries, pages were numbered in order in pencil; in others Mrs. Fox has included notes about materials that she destroyed, erased, or otherwise redacted.