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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 written on 25 November 1848 and carried privately to New York City, where it was posted on 29 November. Perhaps it was carried as a favor by another naval officer going to New York City. The letter was sent unpaid from New York City to Sing Sing, New York and charged 5 cents postage due, shown in the red circular date stamp. This was the correct rate for a letter weighing less than 1/2 ounce going a distance less than 300 miles.
- This letter by David Shelton Edwards, writing from the Navy Yard at Norfolk, Virginia, begins as many of his letters to his wife Harriet do: with a description of the various people he has met while there and gives news of old friends. He explains that he does not plan to be there past January but wants to see her before then.
- 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
- November 25, 1848
- Object number
- 1978.0652.41
- Writer
- David Shelton Edwards, American, died 1874
- Type
- Covers & Associated Letters
- Medium
- paper; ink / handwritten
- Dimensions
- 39.1 x 24.8 cm (15 3/8 x 9 3/4 in.)
- Place of Destination
- New York
- Place of Origin
- Virginia
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Topic
- American Expansion (1800-1860)
- Covers & Letters
- Record ID
- npm_1978.0652.41
- Usage
- CC0
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