Guide to the George Clayton Foulk Papers, [ca. 1876-1889]
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Note
History --Military History History --History, Asia --History, Japan History --History, Asia --History, Korea Geographical (by Place) --Asia --Japan Geographical (by Place) --Asia --Korea
Guide to the George Clayton Foulk Papers, [ca. 1876-1889]
Collection number: BANC MSS Z-Z 148
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Contact Information:
- Processed by:
- The Bancroft Library staff
- Encoded by:
- Xiuzhi Zhou
© 1996 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Collection Summary
Collection Title: George Clayton Foulk Papers,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1876-1889
Collection Number: BANC MSS Z-Z 148
Creator:
Foulk, George Clayton, 1856-1893
Extent:
Number of items: 460 items in 2 boxes
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Personal and official papers, chiefly as Naval Agent and Charge d'Affaires, U.S. Legation, Korea, and as representative, American
Trading Company, in Japan. Includes a copy of a letter from President Chester A. Arthur.
A diary, 1884, of travel in Korea, miscellaneous records for his U.S. Navy service, photographs and a few printed items, included.
Also, a small group of correspondence of Harold J. Noble with member of the Foulk family, 1927-1928.
Languages Represented:
English
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which
must also be obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], George Clayton Foulk papers, BANC MSS Z-Z 148, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Biographical Sketch
George Clayton Foulke, born in Marietta, Pennsylvania, in 1856, was graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1876
and served for two years in the Far East. Following a trip across Siberia in 1882, he accepted a post at the Naval Library
in Washington, D.C. In 1884 he was appointed Naval Attache to the American Legation in Korea, and with the resignation of
the minister in 1885 he became chief United States representative at the court of the Korean king. Although he was invited
to become the personal advisor to that monarch, Foulke resigned his commission in 1887 and with his Japanese wife took up
residence at Kyoto. The two years 1888-1890 were spent in the employ of the American Trading Company at Yokohama, following
which he accepted a position as professor of mathematics at Doshisha College, Kyoto, where he remained until his death, in
1893.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of Foulke's personal and official papers, chiefly as Naval Agent and Charge d'Affaires, U.S. Legation,
Korea, and as representative, American Trading Company in Japan. It includes miscellaneous records for his U.S. Navy service,
including official Navy orders and pay orders; a diary of travel in Korea in 1884; photographs of Foulke, his wife, and Japanese
friends; and miscellaneous manuscript and printed items. It also includes a small group of correspondence of Harold J. Noble
with members of the Foulke family.
The collection was acquired by Harold J. Noble in Korea during the years 1926-1929, and was presented to the Library, along
with the Noble Papers, by Mrs. Noble in 1956.
The Foulke Papers have been arranged in two boxes, as follows:
item 1
American Geographical Society, New York
item 2
American Trading Company (New York)
3 letters from Yokohama and Shanghai offices,
1888
item 6
Harrington, Parnell Frederick
item 7
Holme, Ringer and Company, Nagasaki
item 10
U.S. Navy Department, Washington, D.C.
8 letters, signed by: W. B. Chandler, D. B. Harmony, J. G. Walker, Theo B. M. Mason, 1883-1887
item 11
U.S. Treasury Department, Washington, D.C.
item 1
U.S. Navy Pay Office, Baltimore, Maryland
item 2
U.S. Navy Pay Office, New York
item 3
U.S. Navy Pay Office, Philadelphia
item 4
U.S. Navy Yard Pay Office, Washington, D.C.
item 5
U.S. Treasury Department, Washington D.C.
U.S. Navy Vouchers and Reports
item 1
Efficiency Reports on Foulke
item 2
Calling cards, souvenirs, invitations
Noble Correspondence.
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence between Harold J. Noble and members of Foulke's family
Box 2
v. 1.
Journeys in Korea by Foulke; a diary, 1884
v. 2. Photographs of Foulke, Mrs. Foulke, and Japanese friends.
Physical Description: 21 items.
Note
Note: On September 3, 1986, only six photographs were found in Volume 2 and MSS Division has no record of transferring them
out.
item 1
A Chapter of Mission History in Modern Japan compiled by James H. Pettee, Okayama, Japan [1895?]
item 3
Miscellaneous news articles.
item 4
Sample of hand-made paper.
Outgoing letters from Foulke, George Clayton, 1856-1893
Letters to various persons, 1878-1889.
Additional Note
Letter, 1878, to Admiral T. H. Patterson, reports on Chinese naval vessels at the Pagoda Anchorage, Min River; letter, 1881,
to the Secretary of the Navy, suggests return of three Navy officers (himself included) from Yokohama via Siberia and Europe,
and value of their report to the Navy; letter, Nov. 20, 1888, to Baron Takasaki Goraku, reports on the Union Iron Works, San
Francisco.
American Geographical Society, New York.
Arthur, Chester Alan, Pres. U.S., 1830-1886
Baird, Spencer Fullerton, 1823-1888.
Letter, 1883, (1)
Additional Note
Written as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Bayard, Thomas Francis, 1828-1898
Letter, 1887, (1)
Additional Note
Written as Secretary of State.
Harrington, Purnell Frederick, 1844-1937
Holme, Ringer and Company, Nagasaki
Sampson, William Thomas, 1840-1902
Soley, James Russell, 1850-1911
Letters, 1882-1883, (3)
Additional Note
Written as Librarian, U.S. Navy Department.
Letters, 1883-1887, (8)
Additional Note
Signed by W. E. Chandler, Secretary, and David B. Harmony, Acting Secretary, of the Navy; and by J. G. Walker, Chief, Bureau
of Navigation, and others. Also, pay orders from various Naval Pay Offices, travel vouchers, efficiency reports and duty details,
1876-1889.
Letters, 1888-1889, (4)
Additional Note
Also, pay vouchers, 1875-1889.
