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Welles (Gideon) Papers
mssWE  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Biographical Note
  • Arrangement
  • Scope and Content

  • Contributing Institution: The Huntington Library
    Title: Gideon Welles papers
    Creator: Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878
    Identifier/Call Number: mssWE
    Physical Description: 12.5 Linear Feet (12 boxes, 3 volumes)
    Date (inclusive): 1846-1902
    Date (bulk): 1861-1870
    Abstract: The papers of U.S. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles.
    Language of Material: The records are in English.

    Access

    Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

    Publication Rights

    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], Gideon Welles papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Acquisition Information

    Purchased from Stan V. Henkels (Philadelphia), 1924.

    Biographical Note

    Gideon Welles was Secretary of the Navy during the American Civil War.

    Arrangement

    The collection is arranged chronologically. Several items are "oversize" and physically located in Box 10; some items are housed separately at the end of the collection.

    Scope and Content

    Letters, manuscripts (including Welles' 1846-1849 diaries), documents and ephemera covering Welles' career as a naval administrator: Chief of Bureau of Provision & Clothing for the Navy, 1846-1849; Secretary of the Navy, 1861-1869 (requests for appointments, purchase of government vessels by George D. Morgan); criticism of Welles's successor, George Maxwell Robeson, and Robeson's assistant David Dixon Porter. Naval operations during the Civil War, including blockades, letters of marque, and the capture of New Orleans in April, 1862; Welles' views on Reconstruction politics; Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson. Much of the correspondence is written to Welles' son, Edgar T. Welles.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) -- Sources
    New Orleans (La.) -- History -- Capture, 1862 -- Sources
    United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources
    United States -- History, Naval -- To 1900 -- Sources
    United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Sources
    Diaries -- United States -- 19th century
    Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century
    Military records -- United States -- 19th century
    Personal papers -- United States -- 19th century
    Professional papers -- United States -- 19th century
    Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875
    United States. Navy Department -- History -- 19th century -- Sources