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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 10 cents postage was due at Sing Sing, New York. The rate is in the bottom of the Norfolk, Virginia postmark in red ink. This is the correct rate for a letter under 1/2 ounce going a distance greater than 300 miles.
- David Shelton Edwards has finally found the time to write his wife Harriet the long letter that he has intended since arriving in Norfolk, Virginia. He relays everything that he is doing there, including catching the flu. He details housing options available to him and their costs. He then tells of calling on several different people in Norfolk including the women at the Ladies' lounge who extended an invitation to come visit whenever he wanted. He finishes by detailing the route that Harriet should take from her home in New York to come visit him.
- 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 28-29, 1848
- Object number
- 1978.0652.42
- Writer
- David Shelton Edwards, American, died 1874
- Type
- Covers & Associated Letters
- Medium
- paper; ink / handwritten
- Dimensions
- 40.3 x 25.4 cm (15 7/8 x 10 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_1978.0652.42
- Usage
- CC0
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