Theodore Gordon Ellyson
A Register of His Papers in The Naval Historical Foundation
Collection in the Library of Congress
Prepared by Melinda K. Friend
Manuscript Division,
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
2007
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.ms007043
Title: Papers of Theodore Gordon
Ellyson
Span Dates: 1912-1951
Bulk Dates: (bulk 1913-1920) ID No.: MSS81309 Creator:
Ellyson, Theodore Gordon,
1885-1928 Extent: 1,050
items;
3 containers;
1.2 linear feet
Language: Collection material in
English
Repository:
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress,
Washington, D.C. Abstract: U.S. naval officer and
pioneer aviator. Biographical information and correspondence chiefly between
Ellyson and his wife, Helen Mildred Lewis Glenn Ellyson, describing his naval
sea duty and naval aviation.
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.
Personal Names Ellison
family. Ellyson, Helen Mildred Lewis Glenn. Ellyson,
Theodore Gordon, 1885-1928.
Organizations United
States. Navy--Aviation. United
States. Navy--Officers.
Subjects Adriatic
question. Naval aviation--United
States.
Locations Adriatic
Sea--History, Naval. Caribbean
Area--History, Naval. Dalmatia
(Croatia)--Boundaries. Haiti--History. Hispaniola--History. Italy--Boundaries--Yugoslavia. Odesa
(Ukraine)--History. Sevastopolʹ
(Ukraine)--History. Soviet
Union--History--Revolution, 1917-1921--Evacuation of civilians. Yugoslavia--Boundaries--Italy.
Occupations Aviators. Naval
officers.
Provenance:The papers of Theodore Gordon Ellyson, the first United States naval
aviator, were deposited in the Library of Congress by the Naval Historical
Foundation in 1991 and converted to a gift in 1998.
Processing History:The papers of Theodore Gordon Ellyson were arranged and described in
1992. The register was revised in 2007.
Copyright Status:The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Theodore Gordon
Ellyson is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17,
U.S.C.).
Preferred Citation:Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, Theodore Gordon Ellyson Papers, Naval
Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.
Date |
Event |
1885, Feb. 27 |
Born, Richmond, Va. |
1901 |
Appointed United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. |
1905 |
Graduated United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. |
1910 |
Ordered to Los Angeles, Calif., to take flight lessons offered
to the navy by Glenn Curtiss
|
1911 |
Helped Curtiss design hydroplanes and land planes First passenger to go aloft in a hydroplane Passenger on the first flight of the A-1 aircraft and later
made two solo flights, Hammondsport, N.Y. Made first night flight by a naval airman Piloted first aircraft successfully launched from a wire
cable, Hammondsport, N.Y.
|
1912 |
Piloted first aircraft successfully launched from a
catapult, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. Married Helen Mildred Lewis Glenn
|
1913 |
Detached from naval aviation |
1913-1916 |
Served aboard the South Carolina
(battleship)
|
1914 |
Designated Naval Aviator Number One |
1916-1918 |
Instructor, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.,
serving aboard the Wyoming (battleship) and
Kansas (battleship)
|
1918 |
Received Naval Aviator Number One certificate Received first pair of gold wings given to a pilot Duty at Submarine Chaser Base, New London, Conn. Duty with Submarine Chaser Squadron, United States Naval
Base Twenty-seven, Plymouth, England (later received Navy Cross for developing
submarine chasing tactics doctrine)
|
1919 |
Commander, Crew Number Fourteen, Nucleus (ship) Commander, Zeppelin
(steamer)
|
1919-1920 |
Commander, J. Fred Talbot
(destroyer)
|
1920 |
Commander, successively Little
(destroyer) and Brooks (ship)
|
1921 |
Executive officer, Naval Air Station, Hampton Roads,
Va.
|
1921-1922 |
Head, Plans Division, Bureau of Aeronautics, Washington, D.C.
|
1922-1925 |
Aviation member, United States Naval Mission to Brazil
assisting in the reorganization of the Brazilian navy
|
1925 |
Returned to Bureau of Aeronautics, Washington, D.C. |
1926 |
Executive officer, Wright
(airship tender) Duty in connection with fitting out the
Lexington, the navy's second aircraft
carrier
|
1926-1928 |
Executive officer, Lexington
(aircraft carrier)
|
1928, Feb. 27 |
Killed in airplane crash over the lower Chesapeake Bay while
flying from Norfolk, Va., to Annapolis, Md.
|
1928, Mar. 10 |
Declared dead by United States Navy |
1928, Apr. 11 |
Body washed ashore at Willoughby Spit near Hampton Roads,
Va.
|
The papers of Theodore Gordon "Spuds" Ellyson (1885-1928) span the
years 1912-1951, with the bulk of the collection concentrated in the years
1913-1920. Encompassing biographical information and correspondence, the
collection covers the period during which Ellyson was completing required sea
duty. Letters from Ellyson to his wife, Helen Mildred Lewis (Glenn) Ellyson,
comprise the largest portion of the collection.
The Biographical file includes a typed, four-page biography of
Ellyson, 1951, apparently written as a tribute, as well as a photograph of the
certificate presented to him in 1918, dated 1 January 1914, which designated
him Naval Aviator Number One. Contained also in this series are a 1915
certificate for stock in the Army and Navy Cooperative Company and a wedding
announcement for his marriage to Helen Mildred Lewis Glenn in 1912.
Helen Ellyson's correspondence contains letters of condolence written
to her after her husband's death in 1928, a block of letters received from
various family members between 1912 and 1928, and a group of letters written to
her mother, Mrs. John T. Glenn, between 1915 and 1924. The latter
correspondence reflects Helen's life as a naval officer's wife.
Ellyson's letters to his wife span the years 1912-1928 and are
arranged in chronological order. His correspondence discussed his love for her
and their children, Helen and Mildred, whom he called "Mutt" and "Midget," his
longing to be home, and the family's constant financial problems. Ellyson also
described his daily routine, the endless drills, problems with superiors, his
duties and obligations as an officer, his feelings about aviation, naval
scuttlebutt, foreign ports, people encountered, and entertainment aboard ship
and ashore.
Ellyson's earliest letter to his wife in the collection dates from
December 1912 when he was still attached to naval aviation in Washington, D.C.
His letter of 28 December showed his chagrin that Lawrence Sperry was sent to
San Diego, California, to work on automatic stabilizers for airplanes
originally developed by the navy. In subsequent letters, Ellyson continued to
discuss flying and inspecting airplanes, but for some reason he had lost his
enthusiasm by 26 March 1913: "I have decided to quit flying for good and all,
that is never to get in a machine again for any reason. Things have come to
such a pass here that I had to decide, either to go to Annapolis and take
charge of the camp or quit for good." He detached from naval aviation on 21
April 1913.
From May 1913 until June 1916, while Ellyson served aboard the
battleship South Carolina, his letters reflected
his participation in "gunboat duty" (the coercive tactic of placing ships off
the coast of a country to effect political stability and prevent intervention
by foreign powers) in the Caribbean at Tampico and Veracruz (Veracruz Llave),
Mexico, and Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, during the Banana Wars. In
Mexico, problems had arisen between the United States and the government of
Gen. Victoriano Huerta. Haiti, on the other hand, was experiencing civil unrest
as violence raged between the factions of its two presidential aspirants,
Joseph Theodore and Oreste Zamor. In Ellyson's letter of 12 July 1914, he
revealed confidential information about the United States government's plan to
intervene in Haiti and Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic). Only seven letters,
from April to December, represent the correspondence for 1915.
Ellyson spent June 1918 until March 1919 at United States Naval Base
Twenty-seven in Plymouth, England, in charge of submarine chasers. Because of
wartime censorship during World War I, he commented only briefly in his letters
about his duties and wrote mostly about the British way of life and the various
forms of entertainment in which he participated. This group of letters provides
insight into the life and social obligations of a naval officer.
Correspondence from July 1919 through May 1920 reflects Ellyson's
command of the J. Fred Talbot in the area of the
Adriatic Sea. Topics discussed during these months include the Dalmatian
boundary dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia; the seizure of Fiume (Rijeka),
Dalmatia, by seven thousand Italians under Gabriele D'Annunzio; the American
rout of the Italians from Trau (Trogir), Dalmatia; and the evacuation of
Americans from Odessa and Sevastopol, Russia, during the Russian civil war.
Although the bulk of Ellyson's letters end on 5 August 1920, his last
letter to his wife was written while aboard the Lexington on 17 February 1928, ten days before his
death. Miscellaneous correspondence to and from Ellyson's family members covers
the years 1912-1923.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material and
therein alphabetically.
Container |
Contents |
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BOX 1
|
Biographical file |
|
BOX 1
|
Biography,
1951
|
|
BOX 1
|
Certificate as first naval
aviator (photograph),
1914
|
|
BOX 1
|
Certificate for stock in the Army
and Navy Cooperative Co.,
1915
|
|
BOX 1
|
Wedding announcement,
1912
|
|
BOX 1
|
Correspondence |
|
BOX 1
|
Ellyson, Helen |
|
BOX 1
|
Condolence letters,
1928
|
|
BOX 1
|
From family members,
1912-1920, 1928
|
|
BOX 1
|
To Glenn, Mrs. John T.,
1915-1924
|
|
BOX 1
|
Ellyson, Theodore
Gordon
|
|
BOX 1
|
From family members,
1912-1914
|
|
BOX 1
|
To |
|
BOX 1
|
Ellyson, Helen |
|
BOX 1
|
Dec. 1912-Apr. 1914
|
|
(5
folders)
|
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BOX 2
|
May 1914-Mar. 1919
|
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(9
folders)
|
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BOX 3
|
July 1919-Aug. 1920
|
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(4
folders)
|
|
BOX 3
|
Feb. 1928
|
|
BOX 3
|
Other family members,
1913-1923
|
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