Woodworth (Selim Edwin) Papers, 1834-1947

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Title:
Selim Edwin Woodworth papers
Dates:
1834-1947
Creators:
Woodworth, Selim Edwin, 1815-1871
Abstract:
A collection of personal and naval papers belonging to Commodore Selim Edwin Woodworth I and Lieutenant Selim Edwin Woodworth II.
Extent:
7.5 Linear Feet (6 boxes)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Selim Edwin Woodworth papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

A collection of approximately 1,600 items from 1834 to 1947, which consists of letters, manuscripts, documents, 28 photographs and three scrapbooks related to the life, family and career of Selim Edwin Woodworth (1815-1871). Subject matter includes Woodworth's service at sea: a journal kept aboard the ship "Margaret Oakley" from New York to the South Pacific from 1834 to 1835, the log of the ship "Ohio" in the Mediterranean from 1838 to 1839, and naval orders from the Civil War period. There are also San Francisco business papers of Selim and his brother, Frederick A. Woodworth and mining papers for the Blue Wing Quartz Mine in Calaveras County, California from 1860 to 1864. The collection also contains material related to his son Selim Edwin Woodworth (1857-1900) who rose to lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. There are commissions, orders from 1871 to 1899, and a journal of a voyage to Mexico and Peru from 1878 to 1879. There are a few letters from Selim Edwin Woodworth's father, the poet Samuel Woodworth.

Biographical / historical:

Selim Edwin Woodworth (1815-1871) was a United States naval officer and the son of poet Samuel Woodworth; he led the rescue of the Donner Party shortly after his arrival in San Francisco in the winter of 1847. Woodworth was elected to the California State Senate, representing Monterey, in 1849; he then became president of the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance in 1851, and re-entered the Navy to serve as an officer in the United States fleet on the Mississippi River during the Civil War. He died in San Francisco in 1871. His son Selim Edwin Woodworth (1857-1900) graduated with honors from the Naval Academy in 1877; he resigned with the rank of lieutenant in 1891. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, he volunteered his services and was assigned to the collier Nero, which was convoyed to the Philippines by the United States monitor Monadnock. The younger Woodworth, suffering from ill-health, secured passage on the German ship Luxor, bound for New York. He never arrived as his heart began to trouble him and he was sent ashore at Valparaiso, Chile, for treatment; the attack proved fatal, and he died there on August 8, 1900.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Selim Edwin Woodworth III, July 1955.
Processing information:

Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1960. In 2021, Gayle Richardson created the finding aid derived from a legacy summary report.

Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series: 1. Family and business papers; 2. Correspondence; 3. Naval papers; 4. Elide Island expedition, manuscripts, mining papers; 5. Photographs; 6. Scrapbooks and miscellaneous.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Gayle Richardson
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-05-27 14:58:11 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

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]. Selim Edwin Woodworth papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Website