Selim Edwin Woodworth Papers: Finding Aid mssWoodworth
Gayle Richardson
The Huntington Library
January 2021
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Selim Edwin Woodworth papers
Creator:
Woodworth, Selim Edwin,
1815-1871
Identifier/Call Number: mssWoodworth
Physical Description:
7.5 Linear Feet
(6 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1834-1947
Abstract: A collection of personal and naval
papers belonging to Commodore Selim Edwin Woodworth I and Lieutenant Selim Edwin Woodworth
II.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
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necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Selim Edwin Woodworth papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Selim Edwin Woodworth III, July 1955.
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.
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.
Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1960. In 2021, Gayle Richardson created the
finding aid derived from a legacy summary report.
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.
Former call number: mssWoodworth papers.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Businessmen -- California -- San Francisco
Mines and mineral resources -- California -- Calaveras
County
Vigilance committees -- California -- San Francisco -- History --
Sources
Letters (correspondence) -- United States
Manuscripts (documents) -- United States
Photographs -- United States
Scrapbooks -- United States
Woodworth, Frederick
Augustus, 1818-1865
Woodworth, Samuel,
1784-1842
Woodworth, Selim Edwin, 1857-1900
Woodworth (Family)
United States. Navy --
History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
United States. Navy --
History -- 19th century
United States. Navy --
Officers
United States. Navy -- Sea
life -- Personal narratives -- 19th century
Ohio (Ship)
San Francisco Committee of
Vigilance of 1851
Blue Wing Quartz Mine
Margaret Oakley (Ship)
Box 1
Family and business papers 1834-1947
Box 2
Correspondence 1855-1887
Box 3
Naval papers 1836-1866
Box 4
Elide Island expedition, manuscripts, mining papers, naval papers 1834-1898
Box 5
Photographs
Box 6
Scrapbooks and miscellaneous