The Navy Department Library
Virginia Historical Society
Richmond
Virginia Historical Society
428 N. Boulevard
P.O. Box 7311
Richmond, VA 23221-0311
Allmand Family
Papers, 1796-1891
Members of several generations of the Allmand family of Norfolk, Virginia, were involved in shipping and contracted with the U.S. Navy for shipbuilding supplies.
573 items
Bagby, Robert C.
Papers, 1893-1899
Robert Coleman Bagby attended the U.S. Naval Academy.
10 items
Bancroft, George
Papers, 1845
George Bancroft was Secretary of the Navy, 1845-1846.
1 item
Barron Family
Papers, 1830-1873
Correspondence, 1858-1873, of Samuel Barron (at Halifax, Nova Scotia and Warsaw, Virginia) with Imogen Wright Barron (concerning Andrew Johnson's amnesty proclamation and Francis Harrison Pierpont, governor of West Virginia), James Barron Hope (at Hampton and Norfolk, Virginia, concerning William Henry Thompson Barron, Stephen Russell Mallory, Garrett Jesse Pendergrast and the U.S. and Confederate navies), Mary Sinclair, Tazewell Taylor (at Norfolk, Virginia, concerning Garrett Jesse Pendergrast and land in Erie County, Pennsylvania) and William Conway Whittle (in Rosario, Argentina, following his service in the Confederate Navy).
6 items
Baylor, Warner L.
Papers, 1848-1894
Contains correspondence, 1848-1894, of Doctor Warner Lewis Baylor of Petersburg, Virginia, while serving as assistant surgeon at the Confederate States Hospital in Petersburg, and subsequently as a surgeon in the U.S. Navy.
1 volume
Blunt, Simon F.
Papers, 1833-1921
Correspondence and other papers of and about Simon Fraser Blunt while serving on board numerous ships including USS John Adams, USS Mississippi, USS Truxtun, and USS Vincennes. Topics covered include the U.S. War with Mexico, 1845-1848, and yellow fever suffered at that time; the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842; the wreck of the ship Winfield Scott off of the coast of California in 1853; the cabinet of President James Knox Polk; cannibalism on the Fiji Islands; dueling while serving in the Mediterranean Sea at Mahan, Minorca; and the Liberian colony of freed slaves and the African slave-trade. Principal family correspondents include Ellen Lloyd Key Blunt, Mary Donald Fraser Randolph Weldon Blunt, and Rosa McDonald Blunt Peete. Other key correspondents are William Henry Aspinwall, Ogden Hoffman, John Young Mason, and Charles Wilkes.
40 items
Brandywine, USS
Papers, 1825-1828
Logbook, including the log of USS Constitution.
1 volume
Brooks, William B.
Papers, 1862-1867
Contain the papers of William Benthall Brooks (of Portsmouth, Virginia), an engineer in the United States Navy. Include diaries concerning his Civil War service on board the U.S. steam sloop Brooklyn in Florida, Louisiana, and on the Mississippi River, and his experiences circumnavigating the world aboard the U.S. steam sloop Sacramento until it sank off the coast of India; correspondence; and newspaper clippings.
8 items
Chappell, John T.
Papers, 1865
Poem, 1865 January 4, written on board CSS Virginia.
1 item
Cocke Family
Papers, 1742-1976
245 items
Davis, Charles J. R.
Papers, 1903-1940
54 items
DeBree, John
Papers, 1856-1862
Include letter of Stephen Russell Mallory to John DeBree concerning his appointment as paymaster in the Confederate States Navy; letter of Mallory to DeBree concerning the posting of a security bond as paymaster; and a pass issued to DeBree by the Confederate States Provost Marshal's Office for the District of Norfolk allowing him to travel to Richmond, Virginia, to assume the post of head of the Naval Office of Provisions and Clothing.
Also, include letter of Charles W. Welsh to Alexander M. DeBree (of the U.S. Sloop Cyane) concerning his appointment as lieutenant in the United States Navy; and a letter of Stephen Russel Mallory to DeBree concerning his appointment as first lieutenant in the Confederate States Navy.
5 items
Dickins, Francis A.
Papers, 1848-1856
Include a list, 1841-1842, of claimants against Mexico; list of North Carolina soldiers in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812; list, 1856, of letters written to Revolutionary War claimants; list of Maryland soldiers killed at Camden, South Carolina, 16 August 1780; muster roll (copy), 1777-1780, of the officers of the 3rd Virginia Artillery Regiment; and the muster roll (copy), 1812-1814, of the 7th company of the Green Infantry Regiment of North Carolina Militia (bears seal of Wayne County, North Carolina).
6 items
Ellis, Thomas H.
Papers, 1907-1909
Diary concerning Ellis while on board USS Rhode Island sailing from New York to California and papers Include notes on drill instructions for naval artillery, 1908; permission for leave, 1909, issued by Joseph Wallace Oman to Ellis; and a U. S. Navy discharge, 1909 September 5, issued to Ellis (signed by Thomas Dillard Griffin and bears seal of USS Rhode Island).
4 items
Georgia, CSS
Records, 1863-1864
Logbook of CSS Georgia.
1 volume
Germantown, USS
Papers, 1857-1860
2 volumes
Gravatt, Charles
Papers, 1870-1899
Correspondence, 1870-1899, of Doctor Charles Urquhart Gravatt (while serving in the United States Navy in Annapolis, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Chelsea, Massachusetts; Key West, Florida.; Mare Island, California; New York, New York; Norfolk, Virginia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Washington, D.C.) with Lucy Jaqueline (Gravatt) Bowen (of Port Royal, Caroline County, Virginia), Albert Leary Gihon, Florence Camp (Marshall) Gravatt, Doctor John James Gravatt, H. H. Hall, Philo Norton McGriffin, and F. F. Marshall and the United States Navy Department.
108 items
Horner, Gustavus R. B.
Papers, 1837-1888
Surgeon Gustabus Richard Brown Horner was Navy Medical Director, 1871.
509 items
Ions Family
Papers, 1810-1963
500 items
Jones, Catesby ap Roger
Papers, 1856
Include letters written by Catesby ap Roger Jones (while on board the U.S. Frigate Merrimack at Lisbon, Portugal; Key West, Florida; Boston, Massachusetts; New York City, and Norfolk, Virginia) to John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren (of Washington, D.C.) concerning Robert B. Hitchcock, Pedro V, and Garrett Jesse Pendergrast; and a newspaper clipping concerning Pedro V and U.S. Frigate Merrimack.
9 items
Kennedy, John P.
Papers, 1813-1864
John Pendleton Kennedy was Secretary of the Navy, 1852-1853.
50 items
Kennon Family
Papers, 1813-1842
Collection consists primarily of correspondence documenting the friendship between members of the Mordecai family, merchants and educators in Virginia and North Carolina, and the Kennon family of Norfolk, Virginia Letters, 1815-1818, from Elizabeth Beverley (Munford) Kennon to Samuel Mordecai, a merchant based in Richmond, Virginia, discuss her son's naval career, courtship and marriage, events in Norfolk, and mutual acquaintances. Letters, 1829-1842, from her son, Beverley Kennon, to Mordecai's sister, Ellen Mordecai of Richmond and Petersburg, discuss Christianity and Judaism, his courtships and marriages, naval tours to Argentina and Brazil, and mutual acquaintances. There are also a few letters of other Mordecai and Kennon family members.
39 items
Lexington, USS
Papers, 1849-1850
Logbooks, November 14,1849 - July 17,1850, of the ship Lexington containing records of the vessel's round-trip voyage from New York City to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, under the command of John Kirkwood Mitchell.
2 volumes
Mallory Family
Papers, 1668-1930
The collection contains letters of Charles King Mallory, Jr., while serving on board CSS Chattahoochee in Florida, to his father; correspondence of Edmund Skinner Mallory with Charles King Mallory, John Skinner Mallory and other Mallory family members; correspondence and speeches of John Skinner Mallory, and invitations from William Howard Taft.
65 items
Mapp, John A.
Papers, 1936-1946
The collection primarily consists of correspondence, 1936-1945, of John Aydelotte Mapp and his wife, Mary Bell Mapp of Richmond, Virginia, especially while Mapp served in the United States Naval Reserve, Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Twenty-Seven, in the Pacific Theater of World War II, and his wife worked for the Thalhimers Department Store in Richmond. Topics covered include personal finances, the Mapp family, military life, Navy WAVES, rationing, the American Red Cross, College of William and Mary alumni, and life in Richmond. Also, includes scattered Mapp family correspondence and photographs, and materials concerning John A. Mapp's service with the United States Naval Reserve.
319 items
Mason, John Y.
Papers, 1818-1859
John Young Mason was Secretary of the Navy, 1844-1845 and 1846-1849.
2,140 items
Maui, USS
Records, 1918-1919
The logbooks deal principally with course changes, provision lists, duty rosters, and furloughs, transfers, discipline, and deaths of personnel, and contain lists of troops and wounded soldiers being transported. Kept primarily by Quartermaster William Anthony McCarthy, the logs cover the period from 13 April 1918 through 12 March 1919.
7 volumes
Maury Matthew F.
Papers, 1846-1873
Matthew Fontaine Maury was a Union and Confederate naval officer.
140 items
Minor Family
Papers, 1657-1942
The collection includes correspondence, a commonplace book, 1853-1866, diary, 1861-1862, and military records of Robert Dabney Minor while serving in the United States Navy (in Japan and at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.) and the Confederate States Navy (primarily at the Naval Ordnance Works in Richmond, Virginia, as a participant in the Battle of Hampton Roads, Virginia, between USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, and as ordnance officer of the James River Squadron), and while employed by the Tredegar Company in Richmond, Virginia, and the Dover Company Iron Mines in Chesterfield County, Virginia Also, includes family correspondence of his wife, Landonia (Randolph) Minor of "Linden," Fauquier County, Virginia, including letters of her brother, Robert Randolph, while serving with the 4th Virginia Cavalry Regiment (Black Horse Troop), Confederate States Army; and miscellaneous correspondence concerning the Confederate States Navy Department.
813 items
Mitchell, John K.
Papers, 1819-1887
This collection contains the correspondence and papers, 1819-1887, of John Kirkwood Mitchell. Included in the collection are correspondence, 1829-1861, of Mitchell, while serving in the United States Navy, with family and friends, concerning life in the Navy and a trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras; papers, 1862, regarding the courts of inquiry into the conduct of Mitchell and Mansfield Lovell at the Battle of New Orleans; an account book, 1862, kept by Mitchell while a prisoner of war at Fort Warren, Massachusetts; and, materials, 1864-1887, relating to his service as Commander, James River Squadron, Confederate States Navy.
89 items
Nash, Francis S.
Papers, 1878-1889
108 items
Navy League Club, Richmond
Records, 1943-1946
1,000 items
Page, Carter B.
Papers, 1812-1823
8 items
Page, Thomas J.
Papers, 1855-1913
Mainly the papers of Thomas Jefferson Page, born in Virginia but resided in Washington, D.C., Argentina, Liverpool, England, and Italy; who commanded several U.S. naval expeditions surveying the Rio de la Plata river system in South America culminating in the publication of La Plata, the Argentine Confederation, and Paraguay (New York, 1859); served in the Confederate Navy and after the Civil War never returned permanently to live in the U.S.; owned and managed a cattle and sheep plantation in Argentina; served the Argentine government beginning in 1870 in equipping its navy with armaments and supervising the building of its ships in Europe; and finally moved to Italy in 1884. Also, concern John Page of Argentina who was one of the sons of Thomas Jefferson Page, born in the U.S. but mainly served as an officer in the Argentine Navy and managed a plantation there.
67 items
Pegram, John C.
Papers, 1861-1866
Correspondence, 1861-1866, of John Combe Pegram (while at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, and serving in the United States Navy at Charleston, South Carolina) with Henry Haywood Bell (concerning Pegram's resignation from service in the U.S. Navy), George Smith Blake (concerning a leave of absence for Pegram), Joseph M. Bradford (concerning a U.S. Marine detail at Port Royal, South Carolina, in May 1864), Charles Henderson Craven (concerning the court martial and subsequent resignation from the U.S. Navy of W. O. Boyle), John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren (concerning a request that Pegram transfer from service on board USS South Carolina to serve on Dahlgren's staff), William W. Kennison (concerning Pegram's accounts with the U.S. Navy), his mother, Charlotte Amelie (Combe) Pegram (concerning John Pegram's desire to serve in the war in 1861, his joy over his father's decision to fight for the Union, and John Pegram's negative feelings toward northern abolitionists), his brother Robert Baker Pegram (concerning Confederate naval mines [bears drawing of a floating mine]), his brother William Baker Pegram, his father, William Benjamin Pegram (concerning secession, the possibility of foreign intervention on behalf of the Confederacy, patriotic sentiments, and naval operations in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, in 1863), and Gideon Welles (concerning orders for Pegram to serve at Port Royal, South Carolina, on board USS Housatonic). Found in the Pegram Family Papers.
22 items
Pegram, Robert B.
Papers, 1861-1862
Logbook of CSS Nashville, kept by Robert Baker Pegram, a Union and Confederate naval officer. Found in the Pegram, Johnson, and McIntosh families.
1 item
Perry, Matthew C.
Papers, 1848
1 item
Perry, USS
Papers, 1852
1 volume
Preston, William B.
Papers, 1840-1862
William Ballard Preston was Secretary of the Navy, 1849-1850.
418 items
Semmes, Raphael
Papers, 1818-1908
This collection contains materials, 1818-1908, relating to the Confederate naval service in England of Raphael Semmes. The correspondence, 1861-1873, of Frank W. Tremlett, chaplain on board Semmes's vessel, CSSAlabama, and his daughter, Louisa Tremlett, concerns military news and the general course of the Civil War. Papers, 1862-1875, of Raphael Semmes who served as Captain of Alabama consist of letters to Frank Tremlett regarding naval operations, various Union commanders, and visits to English arsenals. Other items in the collection include records concerning the raising of funds for a sword for Semmes, and newspaper clippings about Alabama, Semmes, the Confederacy in general, and English Southern sympathizers.
167 items
Sterrett, Isaac C.
Papers, 1862-1863
Diary of Isaac Sears Sterrett, CSN.
1 volume
St. Louis, USS
Records, 1843
Quarter bill, 1843, of USS St. Louis containing a list of sailors and their stations aboard the ship. Also, includes a quarter bill for USS North Carolina, USS Fairfield, and USS Brandywine.
1 volume
Talcott, Andrew
Papers, 1834-1848
Andrew Talcott, an Army officer, served on a board of naval officers and engineers which examined navy yards.
23 items
Taliaferro, Horace D.
Papers, 1843-1847
Horace Dade Taliaferro was a surgeon with the U.S. Navy.
10 items
Tennant, George W.
Papers, 1861-1864
Notebook of George W. Tennant concerning marine engineering during his service with the Confederate Navy.
1 volume
Vincennes, USS
Papers, 1843-1844
Regulation, billet, and order book, 1843-1844, of the ship Vincennes, kept by John Kirkwood Mitchell while serving in the U.S. Navy under Commander Franklin Buchanan.
1 volume
Ware, Thomas R.
Papers, 1842-1873
Concerns Thomas R. Ware as a purser in the United States Navy and merchant in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
67 items
Welles, Gideon
Papers, 1862
Gideon Welles was Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869.
1 item
Williams, Timothy
Papers, 1935-1945
Concern the service of Timothy Williams in the United States Navy during World War II.
17 items
Wise, Henry A.
Papers, 1819-1874
Senator Henry Alexander Wise was Chairman of the House Committee on Naval Affairs, 1842-1843.
255 items
Wise, John C.
Papers, 1865-1922
7 items
Worley, Marianne J. F.
Papers, 1944-1946
Marianne Jane Fricke Worley served in the WAVES during World War II.
22 items
Wyoming, USS
Records, 1859-1861
The collection contains a letterbook, logbook, and order book concerning the voyage of the Wyoming under command of John K. Mitchell, U.S. Navy, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Honolulu, Hawaii, with visits to the ports of Charleston, South Carolina; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Valparáiso, Chile; Callao, Peru; Panama City, Panama; and San Francisco, California.
3 volumes
