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Start Over You searched for: Subjects Sailing ships. Remove constraint Subjects: Sailing ships. Subjects Sailors--United States. Remove constraint Subjects: Sailors--United States. Formats Letters (correspondence) Remove constraint Formats: Letters (correspondence)
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Collection

Edwin Osgood Carnes collection, 1850-1853

3 items

This collection contains a letter, journal, and sketchbook belonging to Midshipman Edwin Osgood Carnes, who sailed along the South American coast and to Japan with the United States Navy in the early 1850s. The letter, from a friend in San Francisco, California, describes the author's financial situation and recent employment history.

This collection contains a letter, a journal, and a sketchbook belonging to Midshipman Edwin Osgood Carnes, pertaining to his service in the United States Navy in the early 1850s.

The letter, signed "Bill H." and dated April 6, 1853, is three pages long and describes the author's financial situation and "real California life" in San Francisco. Bill mentioned his recent employment at a quartz mine and brickyard, and went into detail about his finances, offering Carnes the use of his bank account after the sailor's return to California.

The journal (71 pages), kept by Edwin Osgood Carnes between 1850 and 1851, chronicles his service on the USS Falmouth (January 4, 1850-May 24, 1850, pp.1-24) and on the United States Store Ship Fredonia (May 25, 1850-January 18, 1851, pp. 31-68); he also intended to keep a journal of his time on board the USS Porpoise, beginning in June 1853, but wrote no entries following the emph page (pp. 69-71). Carnes kept a daily chart of wind type, speed, and direction; weather conditions; and barometric readings, applying a personal set of abbreviations to the wind and weather. Entries from his time on the Fredonia also track the ship's daily latitude and longitude. The Falmouth, commanded by Thomas Petigree, left San Francisco on January 4, 1850, and traveled along the western coasts of the United States and Mexico, stopping at several islands along the way. Occasional notes record encounters with other ships, most frequently English or American vessels, and on one occasion the ship "Saluted the Mexican flag with 21 guns. It was returned" (March 4, 1850). Carnes was reassigned to the Fredonia on May 24, 1850; the ship sailed around Cape Horn to the Atlantic Ocean and north to Sandy Hook, New Jersey. During this journey, Carnes mentioned observing the national salutes celebrating the Chilean Independence Day (September 18, 1850) and lowering the Fredonia's flags to half-mast to honor deceased President Zachary Taylor (September 25, 1850). He included several illustrations of scenery, naval personnel, and the logo of the Porpoise for its 1853 surveying and exploring expedition.

The sketchbook contains 8 drawings, primarily in pencil, portraying several islands near Japan, a naval officer, and "a patent 'quick working,' 'time saving' steam sextant." For lists of illustrations in the journal and sketchbook, see "Additional Descriptive Data" below.

Collection

Henry Partridge letters, 1871-1880

14 items

This collection is made up of letters that Henry R. Partridge, a merchant ship captain, wrote to his wife Salista during voyages to Europe and the Caribbean in the 1870s. He commented on his loneliness, the loading and unloading of cargo, other crew members and vessels, and ports of call. One additional letter concerns Henry Partridge's suicide in 1880.

This collection is made up of 13 letters that Henry R. Partridge, a merchant ship captain, wrote to his wife Salista during voyages to Europe and the Caribbean on his brig Salista in the 1870s. One additional letter concerns Partridge's suicide in 1880.

Henry Partridge wrote to his wife between April 17, 1871, and September 15, 1879, while in port at Alicante, Spain (2 items); Naples, Italy (2 items); Marseille, France (1 item); Messina, Italy (2 items); Beirut, Lebanon (1 item); Gibraltar (2 items); Saguá la Grande, Cuba (1 item); Cádiz, Spain (1 item); and Bilbao, Spain (1 item). Partridge commented on recent sailing experiences; discussed cargo purchasing, loading, and unloading; noted food purchases; and reported on other crew members and other vessels. In his letter of January 21, 1872, Partridge told his wife about the Salista's steward, who had recently discovered that he was not the father of his favorite daughter. In another letter, Partridge told his wife of a man who had left in the company of two women after his family had returned home (July 1, 1873). Partridge occasionally wrote about food, salt shipping, and consignment agents; his letter of November 13, 1876, contains penmanship practice by his daughter Ada. Partridge frequently commented on his loneliness and desire to meet with his wife upon his returns to Boston and New York.

John Zittlosen, a commission merchant in New York City, wrote a letter to L. M. Partridge on January 27, 1880, concerning Henry Partridge's suicide by gunshot in Gibraltar. Zittlosen copied the text of a telegram he had received, shared his condolences, and requested that the recipient first inform Salista Partridge that her husband was sick, "so that the shock will not come to[o] hard on her at once."