Enoch G. Parrott correspondence

Title: Enoch G. Parrott correspondence

Dates: 1846-1848

Collection Number: SFH 210

Creator/Collector: Parrott, Enoch G. (Enoch Greenleafe), 1815-1879

Extent: 2 folders

Repository: San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco History Center

Abstract: Letters of a Navy lieutenant to his sister and mother during the Mexican War.

Language of Material: English

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[Identification of item]. Enoch G. Parrott correspondence. Collection Number: SFH 210. San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco History Center

unknown

Enoch Greenleafe Parrott was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Nov. 27, 1815 and entered Navy service in 1831; he was made lieutenant in 1841. He was attached to the frigate Congress in the Mexican War, and was in the naval force accompanying John C. Fremont's march from Monterey to Los Angeles, taking an active part in the capture of Guaymas and Mazatlan. After his service during the Civil War, as a commander, he rose in the ranks until attaining the position of rear-admiral in 1873. He was commandant of the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo 1871-1872. Parrott retired in 1874. Never married, he spent winters in New York City, and died there May 10, 1879, with burial in Portsmouth.

Collection comprises six letters (with some cross-writing) written by Lieut. Enoch G. Parrott to his mother, Susan Parker Parrott (Mrs. E. G. Parrott) and sister Susan Parker Parrott (Mrs. Lyman D. Spalding) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire between April 3, 1846 and June 1848. Typewritten transcriptions accompany these. Parrott, U. S. Frigate Congress, Callao, to Sister, April 3, 1846: Possibly his first letter to her after leaving home, describes rough voyage and leaving Rio de Janeiro January 14. The vessel passed the Falkland islands and arrived at Valparaiso, leaving March 18 and going on to Callao, Peru, the prison of which is described in some detail; mentions visit to Lima, the dress of the native people, and impressions of Callao. Parrott, Honolulu, Sandwich islands, to Sister, July 2, 1846: Parrott write of his health and has remained in Honolulu while the Congress sails to Monterey. Parrott mentions the ship Brooklyn taking mails; this is the vessel carrying roughly 240 Mormon emigrants from New York to San Francisco. He gives an account of various squadron vessels’ movements. Parrott, Honolulu, to Mother, September 29, 1846: This is written on the brig Euphemia, bound for California. “I expect fun in California.” Parrott, U.S. Ship Congress, San Francisco, to Sister, June 27, 1847: The Congress arrives in San Francisco on June 19; Parrott mentions name ‘Yerba Buena’ being replaced by ‘San Francisco;’ population exploding; a tent city, with town lot values increasing exponentially; the use of Spanish language; Parrott claims that the Navy conquered California; notes control of the territory by American “governors” and the departures of Kearney, Fremont, Stockton and Biddle. Parrott, U.S. Frigate Congress, San Francisco, July 21, 1847: Gives news of movements of Stockton, vessels and captains, and new captain La Vallette joining the ship; anticipates the taking of Mazatlán and Acapulco; again mentions re-naming Yerba Buena, and “a few ‘horse thief’ Indian depredations.” Parrott, Mazatlán, to Mother, June 1848: “We are still in garrison expecting the peace.” Mentions movements of vessels and news of war and "trouble in Oregon with the Indians.” He looks forward to going home in the near future. This letter makes no mention of the recent gold discovery at Sutter’s mill, Coloma. For a complete account of Parrott's voyage, see Deck and Port; or, Incidents of a Cruise in the United States Frigate Congress to California by Rev. Walter Colton (New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1850.)