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Catalog Data

Writer:
David Shelton Edwards, American, died 1874  Search this
Medium:
paper; ink / handwritten
Dimensions:
Height x Width: 12 5/8 × 15 3/4 in. (32.07 × 40.01 cm)
Type:
Covers & Associated Letters
Place of Origin:
Florida
Place of Destination:
New York
Date:
March 29-30, 1835
Description:
In 1835 the letter probably would have traveled overland or by steamboat to Mobile, Alabama, where it joined the Great Mail route north using combinations of horse, coach, steamboat and train. The notation "steamboat" may indicate that the letter went by steamboat to Mobile. The word "single" refers to the letter being only one sheet of paper requiring a single rate of 25 cents for traveling more than 400 miles. The absence of the word "Paid" indicates that the letter was sent unpaid and 25 cents was collected from the addressee. The notation "25th" (top center) probably indicates this is the sender's 25th letter. Frequent correspondents often numbered their letters to indicate to the recipient if any letters went missing or delayed.
David Shelton Edwards begins this letter with instructions for his wife Harriet in preparation for her trip from her home in New York to visit him at his station in Pensacola, Florida. He tells her to sell most of their furniture but lists several items that she should purchase and bring with her. He also suggests that she enlist Mrs. James Ward (the wife of a commander at the Navy Yard) as a traveling companion since Mr. Ward wants to see his wife badly but does not want her to come alone. In the latter part of the letter he tells Harriet about what he has been doing in his free time including evenings spent with Florida Governor John Eaton and his wife, as well as an evening with Captain Strong and his description and sketch of Strong's house in Pensacola.
David Shelton Edwards served as a doctor in the United States Navy from 1818 to 1861. He graduated from the Yale Medical School and soon after joined the navy as an Assistant Surgeon. He served in the 1820s aboard many different vessels that suppressed piracy in both the Caribbean and the Mediterranean following the Barbary Wars.
In 1830, Edwards married Harriet Eliza Henry and they had two children, William and Harriet. They kept up a frequent correspondence when his naval career kept them separated.
Between 1835 and 1848, he was appointed 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. These assignments kept him stationed in and around the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Washington DC Navy Yard for part of this period. His most notable service was with General Winfield Scott during his campaign in Mexico that culminated in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in which Mexico ceded much of what is now the Southwestern United States.
Edwards's 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. It is unclear when Harriet died or what happened to their children later in life.
Reference:
Langley, Harold D. A History of Medicine in the Early US Navy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995.
Lexter, Franklin Bowditch. Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the College History, vol. VI. September 1805-September 1815, 1912.
National Museum of American History, Naval History Archives. David Shelton Edwards Papers. Accession Number: 1978.0652
New York Public Library, Rare Books and Manuscripts Division. "David S. Edwards papers, 1818-1865."
Topic:
American Expansion (1800-1860)  Search this
Covers & Letters  Search this
Object number:
1978.0652.1
See more items in:
National Postal Museum Collection
Data Source:
National Postal Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8f758f080-09a3-4c63-835c-b2d5511f9036
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npm_1978.0652.1