Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878
- Abstract:
- The papers of U.S. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles.
- Extent:
- 12.5 Linear Feet (12 boxes, 3 volumes)
- Language:
- The records are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Gideon Welles papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Letters, manuscripts (including Welles' 1846-1849 diaries), documents and ephemera covering Welles' career as a naval administrator: Chief of Bureau of Provision & Clothing for the Navy, 1846-1849; Secretary of the Navy, 1861-1869 (requests for appointments, purchase of government vessels by George D. Morgan); criticism of Welles's successor, George Maxwell Robeson, and Robeson's assistant David Dixon Porter. Naval operations during the Civil War, including blockades, letters of marque, and the capture of New Orleans in April, 1862; Welles' views on Reconstruction politics; Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson. Much of the correspondence is written to Welles' son, Edgar T. Welles.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Gideon Welles was Secretary of the Navy during the American Civil War.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchased from Stan V. Henkels (Philadelphia), 1924.
- Arrangement:
-
The collection is arranged chronologically. Several items are "oversize" and physically located in Box 10; some items are housed separately at the end of the collection.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) -- Sources
Diaries -- United States -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century
Military records -- United States -- 19th century
Personal papers -- United States -- 19th century
Professional papers -- United States -- 19th century - Names:
- United States. Navy Department -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875 - Places:
- New Orleans (La.) -- History -- Capture, 1862 -- Sources
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources
United States -- History, Naval -- To 1900 -- Sources
United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Sources
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
- Terms of access:
-
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Gideon Welles papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108, US
- Contact:
- (626) 405-2191