Richard Dale
A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress
Prepared by Karen Linn Femia
Manuscript Division,
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
1998
Contact information:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division,
2007
Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007038
Title: Papers of Richard Dale
Span Dates: 1778-1918
Bulk Dates: (bulk 1778-1830) ID No.: MSS56952 Creator:
Dale, Richard,
1756-1826 Extent: 7 items;
1 container plus 1 oversize;
0.6 linear feet;
1 microfilm reel
Language: Collection material in
English
Repository:
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress,
Washington, D.C. Abstract: Naval officer; served
with the British navy from 1776 to 1777 when he joined the Continental Navy,
serving as first lieutenant to John Paul Jones on the Bonhomme Richard.
Correspondence, commissions, mathematics notebook, and journal/logbook
(1787-1789) kept on a voyage aboard a merchant ship to Canton, China, and to
New Guinea. Includes letterbook (1801-1802) of Dale's outgoing correspondence
while in command of the U.S. frigate President in
the Mediterranean during the Tripolitan War.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person
or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed
alphabetically therein.
Names: Dale, Richard,
1756-1826
Bainbridge, William, 1774-1833--Correspondence Jones,
John Paul, 1747-1792--Correspondence Kennedy,
John Pendleton, 1795-1870--Correspondence Read,
George C. (George Campbell), 1787-1862--Correspondence Smith,
Robert, 1757-1842--Correspondence Stoddert,
Benjamin, 1751-1813--Correspondence Bon Homme
Richard (Ship) Great
Britain. Navy--Officers President
(Frigate) United States. Continental Navy--Officers United States. Navy--History United States. Navy--Officers
Subjects: Merchant ships--United
States Voyages and
travels Guangzhou
(China)--Description and travel Mediterranean Sea New
Guinea--Description and travel United
States--History--Tripolitan War, 1801-1805--Naval operations United States--History,
Naval
Occupations: Naval
officers Naval officers,
British
Provenance:The papers of Richard Dale, British and American naval
officer, were deposited in the Library of Congress in 1976 by the Naval History
Division. The 1801 letter written by Dale to Eaton was purchased by the Library
in 1917.
Copyright Status:The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Richard Dale is
governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Microfilm:A microfilm on one reel was made of the 1787-1789 ship's journal.
Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning availablity
for purchase or interlibrary loan.
Preferred Citation:Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, Richard Dale Papers, Manuscript
Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Richard Dale (1756-1826) span the years 1778 to 1918 with the bulk
of the material dating from the 1770s to the 1820s. The papers consist of
correspondence, commissions, a mathematics notebook kept while Dale was in Mill
Prison, Plymouth, England, a journal/log of a voyage aboard a merchant ship to
Canton, China, and New Guinea, 1787-1789 (available on microfilm), and a
license and an appointment paper of two of Dale's descendants.
Dale was born in 1756 near Norfolk, Virginia. He served with the
British Navy, 1776-1777, but joined the colonial cause in 1777. He served as
John Paul Jones's first lieutenant on the BonHomme Richard in the battle with
HMS Serapis. In 1801, Dale was sent to the Mediterranean to blockade Tripoli
with a five-ship fleet at the outbreak of the Tripolitan War. He died in
Philadelphia in 1826. One of the letterbooks contains copies of Dale's outgoing
letters while in command of the United States frigate President in Tripoli,
1801-1802. Some of his correspondence during the Tripolitan War are in the
other letterbook (letters numbered 19, 24, 25, 33, 40, 42). This letterbook
includes letters written to Dale, many letters to Rear Admiral George Campbell
Read (1787-1862), Dale's son-in-law, and letters to several others. The letters
were placed in alphabetical order by name of correspondent, placed in a bound
volume with a number assigned to each letter. The letters are from various
naval officers and secretaries of the navy, including William Bainbridge, John
Paul Jones, and Secretaries of the Navy John P. Kennedy, Robert Smith, and
Benjamin Stoddert. Commissions and appointment papers are signed by John Adams,
Millard Fillmore, John Hancock, George Washington, and Daniel Webster.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Container |
Contents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BOX 1
|
Commissions and appointment papers,
1779-1785, 1851
|
|
BOX 1
|
Journal,
1787-1789
See Oversize |
|
BOX 1
|
Letter, Dale to William Eaton,
1801
|
|
BOX 1
|
Letterbooks |
|
BOX 1
|
Copies of outgoing
correspondence,
1801-1802
|
|
BOX 1
|
Letters to Dale and George C.
Read, et al.,
1780-1845
|
|
BOX 1
|
License to Edward C. Dale to serve
as mate on steam vessels,
1918
|
|
BOX 1
|
Mathematics notebook,
1778
|
|
BOX OV 1
|
Journal,
1787-1789
|
|
Available on microfilm. Shelf no. 20,499 |
|