Folded letter by US Navy Surgeon David Shelton Edwards

Object Details

Writer

David Shelton Edwards, American, died 1874

Description

In 1835 the letter probably would have traveled overland or by steamboat to Mobile, Alabama, where it joined the Great Mail route north using combinations of horse, coach, steamboat and train. Although hastily written in the upper right corner, the postage due was only 25 cents, which indicates this was a single sheet of paper. The rate for a single letter (one sheet of paper) traveling more than 400 miles was 25 cents. The absence of the word "Paid" indicates that the letter was sent unpaid and 25 cents was collected from the addressee.

In response to news that his wife Harriet hurt her knee, David Shelton Edwards spends a great deal of time detailing how she should care for it. He tells her that she should not worry about spending more money on a better room in the house in which she is staying. Edwards expresses how much he misses her and how he visited the mocking bird he bought for her (see also the letter from May 10). He relates the story of Mr. Whitaker who killed his wife after suspecting she was having an affair with his business partner. He tells of musicians that played in Pensacola and again gives her a list of items to bring with her when she comes to visit him in Florida. He concludes by telling her of the garden he is growing there and expressing, again, how much he wants to see her.

During the 1830s Pensacola was rapidly developing around the Navy Yard, today's Naval Air Station and home of the Blue Angels Naval demonstration team. Social activity centered on the Yard and frequent balls and other events were held for the men stationed there. Sailors that lived on shore, such as Edwards, worked hard to create their own sense of home in what was a strange and often threatening area. Edwards did this through the cultivation of a garden and furnishing of his home there, of which he sends extensive descriptions in letters to his wife living so far away.

This letter is part of the correspondence of David Shelton Edwards between the years 1835 and 1848. The 48 letters from this period held by the National Postal Museum are primarily addressed to Edward's wife Harriet; in 1830, Edwards married Harriet Eliza Henry and they had two children, William and Harriet. They kept up a frequent correspondence when his naval service kept them separated. Between 1835 and 1848, Edwards served as a Surgeon at the hospital in the Pensacola Navy Yard, Florida; Fleet Surgeon to the West Indies Squadron; and Surgeon aboard many vessels engaged in the Mexican-American War. His naval career spanned from 1818 to 1861 and his last sea cruise ended in October of 1859 after which he retired to his family home in Connecticut except for a brief time spent at New Bedford, Massachusetts recruiting for the Union Navy during the Civil War. He died in Trumbull, Connecticut on March 18, 1874.

Reference:

Dibble, Ernest F. "Antebellum Pensacola and the Military Presence." The Pensacola Series Commemorating the American Revolution Bicentennial, v. III (1974).

Johnston, Mary B."A Brief History of Public Health in Escambia County" State of Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Epidemiology. 1958.

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. "U.S. Naval Air Station, Early Navy Hospital Wall, Pensacola, Escambia County, FL." Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record. Call Number: HABS FLA,17-PENSA,73-.

Naval Air Station Pensacola. Department of the Navy. http://www.naspensacola.navy.mil/index.cfm/fa/home.home

Pearce, George F. The US Navy in Pensacola: From Sailing Ships to Naval Aviation (1825-1930). Pensacola: University Presses of West Florida, 1980.

Pensacola Historical Society. www.pensacolahistory.org.

May 15-21, 1835

Object number

1978.0652.4

Type

Covers & Associated Letters

Medium

paper; ink / handwritten

Dimensions

Height x Width: 10 × 15 3/4 in. (25.4 × 40.01 cm)

Place of Origin

Florida

Place of Destination

New York

See more items in

National Postal Museum Collection

National Postal Museum

Topic

American Expansion (1800-1860)

Covers & Letters

Record ID

npm_1978.0652.4

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm87b2b1196-dc4f-457b-bc02-f31cd70f92e5