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- Folded letter by US Navy Surgeon David Shelton Edwards
Folded letter by US Navy Surgeon David Shelton Edwards
Object Details
- Description
- The letter was sent unpaid and the Pensacola postmaster marked it in the upper right corner for 25 cents postage due at destination, the correct rate for a single sheet letter going a distance more than 400 miles.
- David Shelton Edward’s mention of "express mail" in his letter, and any others between 15 November 1836 and July 1839, was a reference to a special service established by the Post Office Department to provide the fastest service available for delivery of a letter over certain routes. The service was available for prepaid or unpaid letters. The cost of this "express mail" service was three times the normal rate: A single sheet letter from Edwards in Pensacola, Florida, to his wife would have cost 75 cents. The Great Mail route from the north to New Orleans, Louisiana, had express mail service. This route ran through Mobile, Alabama, which would have been the entry point for one of Edwards’ letters from Pensacola. The very high cost of this service is why Edwards advises that his wife should use express mail only for special occasions and not for her regular mail. One example of an express mail letter from Edwards to his wife in Brooklyn, New York, is illustrated in Florida Stampless Postal History, 1763-1861, on page 27.
- The July 28 portion of Edwards' letter comes from Pensacola, and the following day he addresses it from the US Frigate Constellation.
- Reflecting upon how much he misses his wife, Harriet, Edwards writes to her that he wants to build a home in Connecticut and wants her to come and visit him again in the autumn in Pensacola. Edwards relates a story about a misunderstanding between him and Mr. Ward, commander of the Navy Yard, regarding money. He continues with the customary latest news from around the station. He reflects on the "rank & ceremony" required to receive the wife of Captain Mix in their home and concludes that "A lady is not the less a lady for being the wife of a mechanic - and they are often better sincerer & more valuable friends than those in higher life." He gives her an update on a man, Calvert, whom she met while in Pensacola and whom they both strongly dislike. Edwards remarks on the large numbers of gamblers in town from Mobile and New Orleans and ends with his nightly activities: "Your other half here goes ashore an hour in the evening - takes an ice cream says how do you do to a few friends - and returns to think of his dear absent wife and friends at home."
- This letter is part of the correspondence of David Shelton Edwards between the years 1835 and 1848. The 48 letters from this period held by the National Postal Museum are primarily addressed to Edward's wife Harriet; in 1830, Edwards married Harriet Eliza Henry and they had two children, William and Harriet. They kept up a frequent correspondence when his naval service kept them separated. Between 1835 and 1848, Edwards served as a Surgeon at the hospital in the Pensacola Navy Yard, Florida; Fleet Surgeon to the West Indies Squadron; and Surgeon aboard many vessels engaged in the Mexican-American War. His naval career spanned from 1818 to 1861 and his last sea cruise ended in October of 1859 after which he retired to his family home in Connecticut except for a brief time spent at New Bedford, Massachusetts recruiting for the Union Navy during the Civil War. He died in Trumbull, Connecticut on March 18, 1874.
- Reference:
- Briggs, Deane R., editor. Florida Stampless Postal History, 1763-1861. North Miami, FL: David G. Phillips Pub. Co., c1999.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- July 28-29, 1837
- Object number
- 1978.0652.19
- Writer
- David Shelton Edwards, American, died 1874
- Type
- Covers & Associated Letters
- Medium
- paper; ink / handwritten
- Dimensions
- 39.1 x 32.1 cm (15 3/8 x 12 5/8 in.)
- Place of Destination
- Connecticut
- Place of Origin
- Florida
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Topic
- American Expansion (1800-1860)
- Covers & Letters
- Record ID
- npm_1978.0652.19
- Usage
- CC0
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