Naval History and Heritage Command
The Navy Department Library
Passed Engineer Robert Salmond Talbot, USN
A Register of His Papers in the Navy Department Library
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Detailed Description of the Collection
Overview of the Collection |
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| Creator: | Robert Salmond Talbot, 1838-1911 | |
| Title: | Papers of Robert Salmond Talbot | |
| Dates: | 1859-1904 (1859-1957 inclusive) | |
| Quantity: | 1 Box (14 folders) | |
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Biographical Note
Robert SalmondTalbot entered the US Navy in 1861 as a third assistant engineer. During the Civil War he served on USS Chippewa, USS Unadilla, and USS Shawmut. He resigned from the Navy in 1868. He remained out of the service until the Spanish-American War began when he gave up his private business and again entered the Navy, serving in the capacity of past assistant engineer. He was serving on battleship USS Indiana when that ship participated in the Battle of Santiago. Other ships that Talbot served on during the Spanish-American War were USS Terror, USS Lancaster, and USS Marcellus. Talbot mustered out of the Navy on 28 December 1898.
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Scope and Contents
The bulk of the collection consists of official documents, orders and correspondence during Talbot's naval service in the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. Also in the collection are four letters written to his wife between June and July of 1898 while Talbot was stationed on USS Indiana. Additional correspondence concerns his retirement status after leaving the Navy in 1898.
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The collection is organized into thirteen folders arranged chronologically by subject and one folder containing oversized documents relating to Talbot's naval service during the Spanish-American War.
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Detailed Description of the Collection
| Folder | Contents |
| 1 | Family Genealogy, 1686-1957 Contains a family tree prepared by later relatives, as well as a family crest. |
| 2 | Personal Correspondence, 1859 A letter addressed to his uncle, Samuel Salmond. |
| 3 | Orders and Official Correspondence From the Civil War, 1860-1864 Arranged chronologically. Commission as Asistant Engineer, 7 Dec 1864, Map drawer #3 |
| 4 | Extracts From Logbook; USS Shawmut, 20 July 1865 Typewritten extract describing Chief Engineer R. S. Talbot's actions in removing percussion caps from enemy torpedoes and rescuing two men that had been blown overboard while trying to clear same. |
| 5 | Orders and Official Correspondence, 1866-1868 Arranged chronologically. |
| 6 | Orders and Official Correspondence From the Spanish-American War, 1898 Arranged chronologically. |
| 7 | Roster Book: Engineering Department of USS Terror, 28 May 1898 Roster book containing a list of men assigned to the ship's engineering department along with their ratings and pay rates. |
| 8 | Letters to Talbot's Wife, June-July 1898 Letters written before and just after the Battle of Santiago while Talbot was serving on board USS Indiana. |
| 9 | Photograph of the Officers of USS Marcellus, Brooklyn Navy Yard, 18 November 1898 Copy of photograph No. NH64843 showing Lieutenant Talbot front row, far right. |
| 10 | Claim for Prize Money Correspondence, 1898-1904 Arranged chronologically. |
| 11 | Invoice for Steam Engineering Stores, USS Marcellus, 3 January 1899 One original document as described above. |
| 12 | Correspondence Concerning Retirement Status, 1900-1904 Arranged chronologically. |
| 13 | Spanish-American War Campaign Medal Correspondence, 1903 Arranged chronologically. |
| 14 | Spanish-American War Commission and Honorable Discharge Original documents (oversized) as described above. |
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Restrictions on Access
Manuscripts are unavailable for loan and must be consulted in the library. Photocopying of manuscripts is generally prohibited, though the use of digital cameras by researchers to reproduce non-copyrighted materials is permitted. Permission to photocopy a limited number of pages may be granted by the reference staff, contingent upon the physical state of items. All photocopying of materials shall be done by the reference staff, or under their close supervision. The use of personal scanners by non-library staff personnel must be approved by the reference staff on a document-by-document basis (Reference: Naval History and Heritage Command Instruction [NAVHISTCENTINST] 5070.1C.).
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Related Collections
The original photograph (No. NH64843) of Lieutenant Talbot and the other officers of USS Marcellus taken at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 18 November 1898 is located in the Photographic Section, Naval History and Heritage Command.
See the collection of 20th Century Biographies for service records of Frank R. Talbot, Frank R. Talbot, Jr., and James Talbot.
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Preferred Citation
Cite as: Historical Manuscripts, Navy Department Library, Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, DC, Robert S. Talbot Papers.
Acquisition Information
The collection was acquired as a scrapbook donated to the Navy Department Library by the Naval Historical Foundation. The original donor is believed to have been a member of the Talbot family.
Processing Information
The scrapbook was disassembled for preservation purposes in the 1990s. Disassembled items were arranged and a finding aid written by Thomas Wildenberg in April, 2004.
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