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- Folded letter to US Navy Surgeon David Shelton Edwards
Folded letter to US Navy Surgeon David Shelton Edwards
Object Details
- Description
- The letter was sent unpaid and marked in the circular date stamp of New York for postage due of 5 cents, the correct rate for a letter weighing less than 1/2 ounce going a distance less than 300 miles.
- The notation on the left side, front, is called a "docketing" notation. It identified the date and name of the letter writer without having to open the letter to see this information and was a common practice at the time used on letters that were retained in storage.
- While David Shelton Edwards was in New York, and his wife Mary at Sing-Sing, New York, he received this letter from his friend, Capt. James McIntosh. McIntosh tells Edwards mainly about US Navy ships being readied to sail and has offered his own services. He describes where he and his wife were residing in New York and asks that Edwards and his wife Harriet come and visit and pass the invitation along to any other old friends.
- 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.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- May 16, 1846
- Object number
- 1978.0652.38
- Recipient
- David Shelton Edwards, American, died 1874
- Type
- Covers & Associated Letters
- Medium
- paper; ink / handwritten
- Dimensions
- 40.3 x 31.8 cm (15 7/8 x 12 1/2 in.)
- Place of Destination
- New York
- Place of Origin
- New York
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Topic
- American Expansion (1800-1860)
- Covers & Letters
- Record ID
- npm_1978.0652.38
- Usage
- CC0
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