Series 17. Gustavus Vasa Fox (1823-1919; bulk 1860-1889)
Scope and Content
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.
Subseries I. Correspondence (1838-1883)
Scope and Content
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.
Letters sent: Virginia Woodbury Fox, 1860 June 21 - 1861 October 16
Letters sent: Virginia Woodbury Fox, 1862
Letters sent: Virginia Woodbury Fox, 1863
Letters sent: Virginia Woodbury Fox, 1864-1865
Letters sent: Virginia Woodbury Fox, 1867-1873
Letters sent, 1861
Letters sent: A,B, 1862
Letters sent: C, 1862
Letters sent: D, 1862
Letters sent: E, 1862
Letters sent: F, 1862
Letters sent: G, 1862
Letters sent: H-K, 1862
Letters sent: L, 1862
Letters sent: M,O, 1862
Letters sent: P,R, 1862
Letters sent: S, 1862
Letters sent: T,U,W, 1862
Letters sent: typescripts, 1862 September - December
Letters sent, 1863 January
Letters sent, 1863 February
Letters sent, 1863 March
Letters sent, 1863 April
Letters sent, 1863 May
Letters sent, 1863 June
Letters sent, 1863 July
Letters sent, 1863 August
Letters sent, 1863 September
Letters sent, 1863 October
Letters sent, 1863 November - December
Letters sent: B, 1864
Letters sent: C-E, 1864
Letters sent: F-H, 1864
Letters sent: General Grant, 1864
Letters sent: J-M, 1864
Letters sent: O,P,R,S, 1864
Letters sent: W, 1864
Letters sent: A-C, 1865
Letters sent: E-G, 1865
Letters sent: H, J-M, 1865
Letters sent: P,R-T,V, 1865
Letters sent: W, 1865
Letters sent, 1866-1867
Letters sent, 1868
Letters received, 1838-1849
Letters received by James Kirk Paulding, Secretary of the Navy, 1840 - 1841
Letters received, 1850 - 1860
Letters received, 1861 January - April
Letters received, 1861 May - July
Letters received, 1861 August - October
Letters received, 1861 November
Letters received, 1861 December
Letters received: A,B, 1862
Letters received: C, 1862
Letters received: D,E, 1862
Letters received: Samuel Dupont, 1862
Letters received: John Ericsson, 1862
Letters received: John Ericsson, typescripts, 1862
Letters received: F, 1862
Letters received: G, 1862
Letters received: H-K, 1862
Letters received: L, 1862
Letters received: M, 1862
Letters received: N-P, 1862
Letters received: Porter, 1862
Letters received: R, 1862
Letters received: S, 1862
Letters received: Alban Stimers, 1862
Letters received: Alban Stimers, typescript, 1862
Letters received: T,U, 1862
Letters received: W, 1862
Letters received: B-H, typescript, 1862
Letters received: M-W, typescript, 1862
Letters received: A,B, 1863
Letters received: C, 1863
Letters received: D, 1863
Letters received: E, 1863
Letters received: FA - J.M. Forbes, 1863
Letters received: P. Forbes - Fulton, 1863
Letters received: Gi - Gr, 1863
Letters received: Gu, 1863
Letters received: H, 1863
Letters received: J-L, 1863
Letters received: M-O, 1863
Letters received: P, 1863
Letters received: R, 1863
Letters received: S, 1863
Letters received: T,U, 1863
Letters received: W, 1863
Letters received: A, 1864
Letters received: B, 1864
Letters received: C, 1864
Letters received: C.W. Copeland, 1864
Letters received: D, 1864
Letters received: E, 1864
Letters received: J.B. Eads, 1864
Letters received: John Ericsson, 1864
Letters received: F, 1864
Letters received: D.G. Farragut, 1864
Letters received: J.S. Fay, 1864
Letters received: J.M. Forbes, 1864
Letters received: R.B. Forbes, 1864
Letters received: G, 1864
Letters received: F.H Gregory, 1864
Letters received: J.W Grimes, 1864
Letters received: H-K, 1864
Letters received: T.A. Jenkins, 1864
Letters received: J.W. King, 1864
Letters received: L, 1864
Letters received: W.K. Latimer, 1864
Letters received: R.B. Loury, 1864
Letters received: M, 1864
Letters received: N,O, 1864
Letters received: P, 1864
Letters received: D.D. Porter, 1864
Letters received: Q,R, 1864
Letters received: S, 1864
Letters received: Alban Stimers, 1864
Letters received: C.K. Stribling, 1864
Letters received: T, 1864
Letters received: U,V, 1864
Letters received: W, 1864
Letters received: A. Wise, 1864
Letters received: A,B, 1865
Letters received: C, 1865
Letters received: D, 1865
Letters received: E, 1865
Letters received: F, 1865
Letters received: G, 1865
Letters received: H-K, 1865
Letters received: L, 1865
Letters received: M,N, 1865
Letters received: O, 1865
Letters received: P, 1865
Letters received: R, 1865
Letters received: S, 1865
Letters received: T, 1865
Letters received: U-Y, 1865
Letters received: A, 1866
Letters received: B, 1866
Letters received: C-F, 1866
Letters received: G-K, 1866
Letters received: L-R, 1866
Letters received: D.D. Porter, 1866
Letters received: S-T, 1866
Letters received: W-Y, 1866
Letters received: B-D, 1867
Letters received: E-G, 1867
Letters received: H-R, 1867
Letters received: S, 1867
Letters received: T-W, 1867
Letters received: A-D, 1868
Letters received: E-L, 1868
Letters received: M-Z, 1868
Letters received: A-L, 1869
Letters received: M-P, 1869
Letters received: R, 1869
Letters received: W-Y, 1869
Letters received, 1870
Letters received, 1871
Letters received, 1872
Letters received: St. John's Portsmouth - credence table donation, 1872
Letters received, 1873
Letters received, 1874
Letters received, 1875
Letters received, 1876
Letters received, 1877
Letters received, 1878
Letters received, 1879
Letters received, 1880
Letters received, 1881
Letters received, 1882
Letters received, 1883
Letters received, Undated
Architectural plans for Montgomery Meigs residence, Washington DC, 1869
Subseries II. Personal papers and documents (1838-1878)
Scope and Content
The subseries includes Fox's diaries, naval and civilian commissions and membership certificates, naval record of service, record of the sale of property, and other personal papers. His naval commissions are signed by Presidents Martin Van Buren (1838), John Tyler (1844), and Millard Fillmore (1851).
Diaries, 1866-1872
Diaries, 1873-1876 June 15
Diaries, 1876 June 16 - 1883
Naval commissions, 1838, 1844, 1851
Sale of property, Lawrence, Massachusetts, to Washington Mills Co., 1854-1864
Mt. Auburn Cemetery plot: Purchase, correspondence, 1855, 1871
Record of service in U.S. Navy, 1866, 1888, undated
U.S. tax return: draft version, 1869
Certificates of membership: New England Historical Society, Massachusetts Historical Society, 1875, 1876
Certificates of membership: New England Historic-Genealogic Society, Massachusetts Historical Society, 1875 January 6, 1883 February 8
Commission: Justice of the Peace, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1878
Subseries III. Speeches and writings (1861-1883)
Scope and Content
The materials up to 1862 document Fox's interests and activities including his plans for the reinforcement of Fort Sumter, and the value of steam battleships culminating in his support of Ericsson's design and construction of Monitor, as well as its battle with Virginia (originally Merrimack) at Hampton Roads in 1862. These papers appear to have been collected after the fact and include correspondence from John Ericsson and the draft of an unnamed publication on the subject. They are annotated by Virginia Woodbury Fox and document requests she received for information on the subject.
Papers dating after the Civil War document Fox's 1866 mission to the court of Tsar Alexander II, his attempt to purchase the Southwest Pacific Railroad, his 1883 publication "The first landfall of Columbus: Is there extant evidence enough to prove the first landing place of Columbus in the new world?", and his interest in the history and topology of New Hampshire. The draft of his Columbus article is in a secretary's hand and edited in pencil, probably by Fox, and also shows Virginia Woodbury Fox's annotations. Some of the notes are numbered in pencil in order from 1 to 204, with no explanation provided for these notations.
Plans for reinforcing Fort Sumter, 1861 March
Notes from British newspapers; writings on steamer specifications for U.S. Navy, 1862-1863
Monitor: Drafts, correspondence, 1862-1875
Monitor: Specifications, accounts of Hampton roads battle, Virginia Woodbury Fox notes, 1862-1895
Mission to Russia: letters and writings, 1866
Mission to Russia: Banquet menu, 1866 August
Mission to Russia: Speech at presentation of Congressional resolution to Tsar Alexander II, 1866 Aug 8
Mission to Russia: official dispatches, 1866-1867
Mission to Russia: Letters and writings, 1866-1867
Southwest Pacific Railroad: Correspondence, 1867
Southwest Pacific Railroad: Correspondence with Charles L. Woodbury, 1867-1870
Claims against Southwest Pacific Railroad, 1867-1873
Claims against Southwest Pacific Railroad, 1867-1873
Southwest Pacific Railroad: Correspondence, 1868-1869
Southwest Pacific Railroad: Correspondence, 1870, 1873, 1876
Southwest Pacific Railroad: Letters and writings, Undated
Atlantic and Pacific Railroad: Correspondence, statement, 1867, 1873
Notes on New Hampshire history, topography, place names, [1877]
"Facts about Carroll Kearsage Mountain, of New Hampshire. Read before the Appalachian Mountain Club, by G.V. Fox", [1877]
Speech at Philips Andover Academy centenary, 1878
Landing of Columbus: Notes and correspondence, 1880-1881
Landing of Columbus: Notes 1-107, 1881, undated
Landing of Columbus: Notes 108-294, 1881, undated
Landing of Columbus: Draft manuscripts, [1881]
Landing of Columbus: Acknowledgments from libraries and individuals, 1882-1883
Writings and notes, undated
Writings and notes, undated
Subseries IV. Financial records (1869-1893)
Scope and Content
The subseries includes receipted bills, accounts, cancelled checks, and a check register. They document the Foxes' household and personal expenses in Washington, Boston (where they lived at the Parker House), and Lowell, Massachusetts, as well as his 1866-1868 travels to Russia through many European cities. The 1874 receipts include expenses for settlement of the estate of his mother, Mrs. Olivia Fox.
Cancelled checks, 1869 November - 1872 November
Cancelled checks, 1872 November 4 - 1874 February 4
Cancelled checks, 1874 July - 1878 March
Check register, 1869 November 2 - 1872 November 4
Receipts, 1866-1868
Receipts: Boston and Lowell, 1874
Receipts: Boston, 1875
Receipts, 1876
Receipts: Boston, 1877
Receipts, 1878-1880
Receipts, 1881-1882
Receipts, 1883
Accounts with E.R. Mudge & Co., 1874-1877
Subseries V. Memorabilia, souvenirs, and visual materials (1823-1890)
Scope and Content
The subseries includes an autograph collection, souvenirs of social and cultural events, calling cards received at home while the Foxes lived in Washington, drawings, photographs, and the illustrated manuscript of a satirical account of life aboard a steam battleship. The autographed letters include some addressed to President Andrew Jackson and then referred to the Secretary of the Navy, and show signatures of author Washington Irving, President Martin Van Buren, and politicians Robert Livingston and Thurlow Weed. The invitations include those to Lincoln's second inauguration in March, 1865; dinners with visiting Russian officers; and a ceremony marking the raising of the American flag over Fort Sumter after its recapture in 1865. Among the undated cards announcing an "at home" is one for the White House from President and Mrs. Lincoln.
The drawings include some by Admiral David Porter, who is probably the author and illustrator of the satirical volume. The photographs include one of a woman, perhaps Virginia Woodbury Fox, alone, and with members of her family; as well as an unidentified older African-American woman.
Letters to and from distinguished men, 1823-1841, undated
Invitations, passes, cards, 1861-1878
Invitations, passes, cards, [1860s]
Satirical account of cut-off engines aboard U.S.S. Richmond and Pensacola: "The experiences of a poor devil with the concatenations of curtailing cut off or Uncle Sam paying dearly for his steam whistle - how our money goes", [1860s]
Drawings and caricatures: David D. Porter, 1862, 1883
Engraved signature copperplates, [1860s]
Photographs, [1860s], 1872
Drawings, cards, 1872, undated
Menu: Levi Woodbury 70th birthday, 1890 May 22
Pennant: 1st Louisiana Artillery, Undated
Invitation cards for Farragut celebration, Undated
Subseries VI. Printed materials and clippings (1850-1883)
Scope and Content
The subseries includes publications and other printed information as well as newspaper clippings on the Woodbury family, and on Fox's areas of interest and related to his writings. Some of the commercial printed materials appear to have been collected randomly. The scrapbook pages are leaves from other books onto which clippings have been glued. The document on "small Vessels in which I have been concerned" is anonymous but appears to be written by Robert Bennett Forbes, based on the ships listed. One document is in Chinese and may be the guest list for an event Fox attended.
Arrangement
The materials are arranged chronologically. The bundled clippings were originally stored separately; some of the other subject-related clippings were originally in other series and have been gathered together here. Some of the clippings were grouped by subject and others by time period; their original arrangement has been retained.
Woodbury family: Isaac O. Barnes oration, Montgomery Blair obituary, petition of Levi Woodbury heirs, 1850, 1882, 1883
Bonds: Florida Railroad Company, and others; Confederate currency, 1856-1863
Congressional publications, 1861, 1884
"Specifications and Plans: U.S. Iron-plated steam batteries", 1862 April
Information on Monitor, 1862-1868
Newspaper clippings, 1862-1880
Newspaper clippings, 1862-1880
"Sketch showing the position of the compass station in Delaware River...", 1864
Commercial printed materials, 1865, 1871, 1878, 1916, undated
Southwest Pacific Railroad: printed materials, 1866-1881
Southwest Pacific Railroad: clippings, 1867-1868
Atlantic and Pacific Railroad: printed materials, 1867-1876
Atlantic and Pacific Railroad clippings, 1868-1871
"Remarks of John Amory Lowell at the semi-centennial anniversary of the incorporation of Lowell, March 1, 1876", 1876 March 1
Stewart-Meissonier letters about paintings, 1876
"Hon. Montgomery Blair's letter on the presidency", 1876
Campaign materials: Tilden vs. Hayes, 1876
Bundled clippings, 1878-1883
Bundled clippings "Miscellaneous", 1879-1882
Bundled clippings, 1879-1883
Bundled clippings "Political", 1880-1881
Clippings scrapbook pages, 1878, undated
Bound clippings, 1880
"Census bulletin no. 302," "Forestry bulletin no. 23", 1880, 1883
Columbus Landing: Background, reviews, 1881, 1882, undated
G.V. Fox letter: Orphanage of St. John's Parish, 1883
Newspaper clippings, undated
"Notes in regard to the voyages of small vessels in which I have been concerned" [Robert Bennett Forbes?], Undated
Printed page in Chinese, undated
Statistical statement relating to South West Pacific Rail Road - Its lands, conditions and prospects, 1864 October 14
Plan for U.S. Steam battery, 1862
Subseries VII. Virginia L. Woodbury Fox papers (1850-1896)
Scope and Content
The subseries includes letters sent (both originals and drafts) and received by Virginia Woodbury Fox, with recipients including her husband and other family members, as well as officials of St. John's Church in Washington, DC. After her husband's death, she donated land on which the Church erected an orphanage, with a plaque commemorating Gustavus Vasa Fox. Notes in her hand indicate that she destroyed much of her correspondence to her husband. Among those letters saved, and specifically marked, is that of July 20, 1863, describing the Draft Riots in New York City. Other highlights include a note (c. 1862) from Mary Lincoln and a separated envelope from President Abraham Lincoln.
Biographical Note
Virginia Lafayette Woodbury (1821-1908) was the daughter of Levi and Elizabeth Clapp Woodbury. She married Gustavus Vasa Fox in 1855; they had no children. Her sister, Mary Elizabeth, married Montgomery Blair and their children included Montgomery Blair, who was the Foxes' heir.
Arrangement
Some of Virginia Woodbury Fox's letters to her husband are filed with his letters received in Subseries I. Correspondence. Others are included here with her family's papers: she appears to have retrieved them from her husband's papers and specifically organized them here herself.
Letters sent: family, 1850-1861
Letters sent: family, 1863-1865
Letters sent: Gustavus Vasa Fox, 1863-1864
Letters sent: family, 1870-1877, [1880s]
Letters sent: St. John's Church orphanage, Washington DC, 1885-1889
Letters sent, 1891-1897
Letters received, 1860-1875
Letters received, 1880-1888
Letters received: St. John's Church orphanage, Washington DC, [1880s]
Letters received, 1891-1896
Subseries VIII. Woodbury and Fox family papers (1832-1879)
Scope and Content
The subseries includes correspondence and personal papers of members of the Woodbury and Fox family, including Virginia Woodbury Fox's father Levi and uncle Isaac O. Barnes. Levi Woodbury's letters received include those signed by Presidents Andrew Jackson (1835) and James Buchanan (1847) and by Senator Thomas Hart Benton (1851). The letters received are originals; the letters sent are letterpress copies, some of which are difficult to read. Most of the Barnes letters were in alphabetical order, which has been retained; the 1850-1851 letters were originally in the Levi Woodbury correspondence and have been moved here with their original order retained.
Biographical Note
Levi Woodbury (1789-1851) served as Secretary of the Navy (1831-1834), Secretary of the Treasury (1834-1841), United States senator (1841-1845), and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1845-1851). The bulk of his and other Woodbury family papers are now in the Library of Congress. Levi Woodbury's sister Hannah (b. 1800) was married to Isaac O. Barnes (b. 1798). Gustavus Vasa Fox served as executor of Barnes's will. The materials give no indication of William Bowes Bradford's relation to the Woodbury family; G.W.M. Guild appears to have been a nephew of Fox's.
Levi Woodbury: Letters sent, 1832-1845
Levi Woodbury: Letters received, 1832-1851, undated
William Bowes Bradford: will, 1835
Isaac O. Barnes: Diary and memoranda, 1838
Isaac O. Barnes: Letters received, 1850, 1851
Isaac O. Barnes: Letters received, A-W, 1849-1856
Isaac O. Barnes: Estate-related correspondence, documents, 1863-1866
G.W. M. Guild: Navy application and recommendations, 1877-1879
Subseries IX. Archival and filing records (1862-1919)
Scope and Content
Some correspondence in Subseries I was originally folded and then bundled in stacks between wooden boards, probably for storage in pigeonholes within a desk or cabinet. On the boards was written the content and date range of the stacked documents. A few were retained with the collection and are included here. This subseries also includes Virginia Woodbury Fox's notes regarding decisions she made about her husband's papers.
Filing boards: Press copies of private letters, 1862 A-Z
Filing boards: G.V. Fox Unofficial, 1862 L-W
Filing boards, 1863 A-Z
Archives processing notes, 1902, 1919
Subseries X. Bound Volumes (1838-1919)
Scope and Content
The bound volumes include Fox's letters (many to his future wife's uncle and aunt, Isaac O. and Hannah Woodbury Barnes) and journals from cruises on various vessels, a scrapbook about him collected by Virginia Woodbury Fox, a scrapbook of clippings created by a Blair or Fox family member, household accounts and records of the Foxes' stock and property holdings, two letter books (one containing letter press and one carbon copies), a writing portfolio that was a gift from Levi Woodbury, a relief map of New Hampshire's White Mountains, and the edited editions of Fox's correspondence published by the Naval History Society.
Virginia Woodbury Fox's notes in Volume 1 indicate that she erased or deleted various sections that she deemed to be "too personal." Her note in her scrapbook documents its importance to her and to any future biographer of her husband.