The David D. Porter
Family
A Register of Its Papers in the Library of
Congress
Prepared by Allen E. Kitchens
Revised by Margaret McAleer
![http://lcweb2.loc.gov/xmlcommon/lcseal.jpg](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090114212630im_/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/xmlcommon/lcseal.jpg)
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
1997
Contact information:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division,
2000
Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms000015
Latest revision: 2004-11-17
Title: Papers of the David D.
Porter Family
Span Dates: 1799-1899
ID No.: MSS36574 Creator:
Porter, David D. (David
Dixon), 1813-1891
Extent:
7,000
items;
33 containers plus 1
oversize;
10 linear
feet
Language: Collection material in English
Repository:
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress,
Washington, D.C.
Abstract: Naval officer.
Correspondence, journals, logbooks, orders, reports, memoranda, family papers,
drafts of articles, memoirs, poems, short stories, and other literary writings,
sketches, photographs, and printed matter documenting David D. Porter's naval
career. Includes material on his years as a midshipman, his service in the
Mexican War, trips to the Mediterranean to secure camels for use by the U.S.
Army, Civil War service, superintendency of the United States Naval Academy,
mission to Santo Domingo concerning the lease of Samaná Bay in the
Dominican Republic, and his career as an advisor to the Navy Dept. (1870-1891)
and chairman of the U.S. Navy Board of Inspection (1877-1891).
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: Porter,
David D. (David Dixon), 1813-1891 Boutelle,
Charles A., b. 1839--Correspondence Farragut,
David Glasgow, 1801-1870--Correspondence Fox,
Gustavus Vasa, 1821-1883--Correspondence Hamilton,
Paul, 1762-1816--Correspondence Heap,
Gwinn Harris--Correspondence Poinsett,
Joel Roberts, 1779-1851--Correspondence Porter,
Evelina Anderson, 1790-1871--Correspondence Porter
family Robeson,
George M. (George Maxwell), 1829-1897--Correspondence Rodgers,
John, 1812-1882--Correspondence Sherman,
William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891--Correspondence Shields,
Thomas, d. 1827--Correspondence Southard,
Samuel L. (Samuel Lewis), 1787-1842--Correspondence Welles,
Gideon, 1802-1878--Correspondence Wolcott,
Oliver, 1760-1833--Correspondence Mexico.
Armada United
States. Army--History--19th century United
States. Navy--Foreign service--Puerto Rico United
States. Navy--Foreign service--West Indies United
States. Navy--History--19th century United
States. Navy. Board of Inspection United
States. Navy Dept. Enterprize
(Schooner : 1799-1811) Essex
(Frigate) United
States Naval Academy Porter, David, 1780-1843.
Papers of David Porter
Subjects: Camels Mexican War,
1846-1848--Naval operations, American Pirates--Caribbean
Area Diplomatic and consular
service, American--Algeria Diplomatic and consular
service, American--Turkey Algeria--Foreign
relations--United States Dominican
Republic--Foreign relations--United States Fajardo
(P.R.)--History Mediterranean
Region--Description and travel Samaná Bay
(Dominican Republic) Santo Domingo (Dominican
Republic)--History Turkey--Foreign
relations--United States United States--Foreign
relations--Algeria United States--Foreign
relations--Dominican Republic United States--Foreign
relations--Turkey United
States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Naval operations
Occupation: Naval officers
Provenance:The family papers of David Dixon Porter (1813-1891), naval officer
and author, were purchased by the Library of Congress from various sources
between 1901 and 1934. Other material was given by the New York Public Library
in 1903 and by Mrs. Oscar H. Rogers in 1934.
Processing History:The papers of the David Dixon Porter family were arranged and
described in 1963. This register was revised in 1997.
Transfers:Some maps have been transferred to the Library's Geography and Map
Division where they are identified as part of these papers.
Copyright Status:The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of the David D.
Porter family 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, David D. Porter Family Papers,
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
David Porter
Date |
Event |
1780, Feb. 1 |
Born,
Boston, Mass.
|
1798 |
Appointed midshipman,
United States Navy
Duty,
Constellation
(frigate)
|
1799 |
Duty,
Experiment
(schooner)
|
1801 |
Duty,
Enterprize
(schooner)
|
1803 |
Duty,
Philadelphia
(ship)
|
1803-1805 |
Prisoner of war,
Tripoli
|
1808 |
Married
Evelina Anderson
|
1808-1810 |
Commandant, naval station,
New Orleans, La.
|
1811-1814 |
Commanded
Essex
(frigate)
|
1812 |
Promoted to captain |
1815 |
Published
Journal of a Cruise Made to the Pacific Ocean
(Philadelphia: Bradford and Inskeep. 2 vols. in 1)
|
1815-1823 |
Commissioner,
United States Navy Board
|
1823-1825 |
Commander-in-chief,
West Indian squadron
|
1825 |
Published
An Exposition of the Facts and Circumstances Which
Justified the Expedition to Foxardo (Washington: Davis and Force. 107
pp.)
|
1826 |
Resigned,
United States Navy
|
1826-1829 |
Commander-in-chief,
Mexican navy
|
1830 |
Appointed consul general,
Algiers, Algeria
|
1831 |
Appointed chargé d'affaires,
Turkey
|
1835 |
Published
Constantinople and Its Environs (New York:
Harper and Brothers. 2 vols.)
|
1839 |
Appointed
United States minister,
Turkey
|
1843, Mar. 3 |
Died,
Pera, Turkey
|
David D. Porter
Date |
Event |
1813, June 8 |
Born,
Chester, Pa.
|
1827 |
Appointed midshipman,
Mexican navy
|
1829 |
Appointed midshipman,
United States Navy
|
1839 |
Married
George Ann Patterson
|
1842 |
Duty,
Congress
(frigate)
|
1847 |
Duty,
Spitfire (side-wheel
steamer)
|
1849 |
Commanded
Panama (mail
steamer)
|
1850-1853 |
Commanded
Georgia (mail
steamer)
|
1855 |
Commanded
Supply
(storeship)
|
1857-1860 |
Duty, navy yard,
Portsmouth, N.H.
|
1861 |
Commanded
Powhatan (side-wheel
steamer)
|
1863 |
Commanded
Mississippi squadron
Promoted to rear admiral
|
1864 |
Commanded
North Atlantic blockading squadron
|
1865-1869 |
Superintendent,
United States Naval Academy,
Annapolis, Md.
|
1866 |
Promoted to vice admiral |
1866-1867 |
Diplomatic mission,
Santo Domingo
|
1870 |
Promoted to admiral |
1875 |
Published
Memoir of Commodore David Porter (Albany, N.Y.:
J. Munsell. 427 pp.)
|
1877-1891 |
Chairman,
Naval Board of Inspection
|
1885 |
Published
The Adventures of Harry Marline (New York: D.
Appleton. 378 pp.)
Published
Allan Dare and Robert le Diable (New York: D.
Appleton. 357 pp.)
Published
Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War (New
York: D. Appleton. 357 pp.)
|
1886 |
Published
The Naval History of the Civil War (New York:
Sherman Publishing Co. 843 pp.)
|
1889 |
Published
Arthur Merton (New York: D. Appleton. 328
pp.)
|
1891, Feb. 13 |
Died,
Washington, D.C.
|
The papers of the
David Dixon Porter family span the years 1799-1899.
The collection documents the naval careers of Porter and his father,
David Porter, which combined encompassed most of
the nineteenth century. The papers contain correspondence, letterbooks,
journals, logbooks, orders, reports, photographs and sketches, maps, financial
records, and printed matter. They are arranged in four series:
Family Papers,
David Porter
Papers,
David D. Porter
Papers, and
Oversize.
The
Family Papers
series, the bulk of which is mounted in bound volumes, includes the papers of
David D. Porter; his father, David Porter; and his mother,
Evelina Anderson Porter. Correspondence and
related material dating from 1799 to 1843 largely pertain to David Porter,
including his command of the
Enterprize (schooner)
from 1805 to 1806, the
Essex (frigate)
during the War of 1812, and the
West Indian squadron employed in suppressing
piracy in the
Caribbean between 1823 and 1825. Porter's numerous
letters to
Samuel Hambleton between 1808 and 1824 provide a
particularly detailed chronicle of his activities during that period. Events
relating to Porter's seizure of the town of
Fajardo, Puerto Rico, in 1825, as well as his
subsequent court martial, his resignation from the
American navy, and his command of
Mexico's navy are discussed in his correspondence
between 1825 and 1829. Letters to his wife and children recount his diplomatic
service in
Algeria and
Turkey from 1830 to 1843.
The
David Porter
Papers series consists of letterbooks, a logbook from the
Enterprize,
and
unbound correspondence documenting Porter's naval service, especially his early
career and the
Fajardo incident. A letter from Porter to
Oliver Wolcott in 1798 and several letters dated
1824 concerning the
West Indian squadron were transferred from the
Manuscript Division's Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection.
Prominent correspondents in this series and in the
Family Papers
include
Paul Hamilton,
Joel Roberts Poinsett,
John Rodgers (1773-1838),
Thomas Shields, and
Samuel L. Southard. Further information on
Porter's command of the
Mexican navy is available in transcribed documents
in the miscellany subgrouping in the
David D. Porter
Papers series.
The bulk of the collection pertains to
David D.
Porter. Correspondence and related material includes Porter's letters to
his mother recounting his apprentice and journeyman years in the
navy. Later correspondence provides information on
his service during the Mexican and Civil wars and on his chairmanship of the
Naval Board of Inspection. A group of
correspondence, photographs, and sketches identified as memorials includes
letters written by Porter to
Gwinn Harris Heap between 1856 and 1863 which
provide detailed and often humorous accounts of his activities during that
period. Photographs and watercolor sketches of steamships and several
photographs of Porter are also included among the memorials. The
Family Papers
series contains many of Porter's writings, including a large number of poems
and short stories.
Porter's Civil War service is documented through correspondence,
reports, writings, financial records, photographs, and sketches and bound
journals and letterbooks located in the
David D. Porter
Papers series. Letters to Porter provide information on many aspects of
the Union's naval strategy, while Porter's own account of the war is contained
in a journal compiled shortly after the war as well as in his unpublished
memoir, reports, and other writings. Correspondence, reports, and miscellaneous
writings from the 1870s and 1880s while Porter served as an advisor to the
secretary of the navy and chairman of the
Naval Board of Inspection record his thoughts on
the need for naval reform. Prominent correspondents include
Charles A. Boutelle,
David Glasgow Farragut,
Gustavus Vasa Fox,
George M. Robeson,
William T. Sherman, and
Gideon Welles.
The collection is arranged in four series:
Container |
Series |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BOX 1-14
|
|
|
Correspondence, reports, memoranda, orders, maps, writings,
photographs, sketches, and printed matter chiefly pertaining to David Porter;
his wife, Evelina Anderson Porter; and their son, David D. Porter.
|
|
Organized in three groupings: correspondence and related material,
writings, and memorials. Correspondence and memorials are arranged
chronologically; writings are sorted alphabetically.
|
|
BOX 15-16
|
|
|
Correspondence, letterbooks, and a ship's logbook supplementing
material relating to David Porter in the
Family
Papers series.
|
|
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and chronologically
therein.
|
|
BOX 17-33
|
|
|
Correspondence, letterbooks, journals, reports, speeches and
writings, financial records, certificates, patents, scrapbook, photographs and
sketches, newspaper clippings, and other printed matter augmenting material
pertaining to David D. Porter in the
Family
Papers series.
|
|
Arranged alphabetically by type of material. |
|
BOX OV 1
|
|
|
Oversize material consisting of correspondence, certificates, an
engraving, sketches, and patents.
|
|
Organized and described according to the series, containers, and
folders from which the items were removed.
|
Container |
Contents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BOX 1-14
|
Family Papers,
1799-1899,
n.d.
|
|
Correspondence, reports, memoranda, orders, maps, writings,
photographs, sketches, and printed matter chiefly pertaining to David Porter;
his wife, Evelina Anderson Porter; and their son, David D. Porter.
|
|
Organized in three groupings: correspondence and related material,
writings, and memorials. Correspondence and memorials are arranged
chronologically; writings are sorted alphabetically.
|
|
BOX 1
|
Correspondence and related
material
|
|
|
1799-1810 |
|
BOX 2
|
1810-1823 |
|
BOX 3
|
1823-1826 |
|
BOX 4
|
1826-1829 |
|
BOX 5
|
1829-1842 |
|
BOX 6
|
1842-1864 |
|
BOX 7
|
1864-1888 |
|
BOX 8
|
1890-1899, n.d. |
|
BOX 9
|
Writings
See also Containers 32-33, Fiction
|
|
|
A-C |
|
BOX 10
|
D-E |
|
BOX 11
|
F-O |
|
BOX 12
|
P-R |
|
BOX 13
|
S-W |
|
BOX 14
|
Memorials, 1814-1866
See also Oversize
|
|
BOX 15-16
|
David Porter Papers,
1798-1839
|
|
Correspondence, letterbooks, and a ship's logbook supplementing
material relating to David Porter in the
Family
Papers series.
|
|
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and chronologically
therein.
|
|
BOX 15
|
General correspondence
and related material, 1798-1830
See also Oversize
|
|
BOX 16
|
Letterbooks |
|
|
1805-1808, correspondence and
orders
|
|
|
1807-1808, general
correspondence
|
|
|
1838-1839, correspondence re
pension claim
|
|
|
Logbook, Enterprize (schooner), 1805-1806
|
|
BOX 17-33
|
David D. Porter Papers,
1823-1897,
n.d.
|
|
Correspondence, letterbooks, journals, reports, speeches and
writings, financial records, certificates, patents, scrapbook, photographs and
sketches, newspaper clippings, and other printed matter augmenting material
pertaining to David D. Porter in the
Family
Papers series.
|
|
Arranged alphabetically by type of material. |
|
BOX 17
|
General
correspondence
|
|
|
1852-1863 |
|
BOX 18
|
1864-1873 |
|
BOX 19
|
1874-1884 |
|
BOX 20
|
1885-1897, n.d. |
|
BOX 21
|
Journals |
|
|
1846 |
|
BOX 22
|
1860-1865 |
|
BOX 23
|
Letterbooks,
1869-1880
|
|
|
Miscellany |
|
|
Appointments,
1852-1874
|
|
|
Certificates, 1847, 1891
See Oversize
|
|
BOX 24
|
Financial records and legal
documents
|
|
BOX 25
|
George Washington centennial
celebrations
|
|
|
Naval documents,
1847-1868, n.d.
See also Container 33, Naval and military
topics
|
|
|
Newspaper clippings |
|
|
Patents and stocks
See also Oversize
|
|
|
Photographs and
sketches
See also Oversize
|
|
BOX 26
|
Printed matter |
|
|
Scrapbook |
|
|
Transcripts concerning David
Porter's command of the Mexican navy and land grant claims,
1823-1879
|
|
BOX 27
|
Reports |
|
|
1846-1877 |
|
BOX 28
|
1878-1888, n.d. |
|
|
Speeches and writings |
|
|
Articles, n.d. |
|
BOX 29
|
Books |
|
|
Memoir |
|
(16
folders)
|
BOX 30
|
(15
folders)
|
BOX 31
|
(14
folders)
|
BOX 32
|
(6
folders)
|
|
|
The Naval History of the Civil War
|
|
|
Fiction
See also Containers 9-13, Writings
|
|
(9
folders)
|
BOX 33
|
(2
folders)
|
|
|
Miscellaneous |
|
|
"An Ancient City,"
n.d.
|
|
|
Biographical, 1884,
n.d.
|
|
|
Cuba, n.d. |
|
|
"Grammar of the
Iliad," 1875
|
|
|
Naval and military
topics, 1852-1889, n.d.
|
|
(4 folders)
See also Container 25, Naval documents
|
|
|
Unidentified, 1875,
n.d.
|
|
|
Speeches, 1870 |
|
BOX OV 1
|
Oversize,
1810-1891,
n.d.
|
|
Oversize material consisting of correspondence, certificates, an
engraving, sketches, and patents.
|
|
Organized and described according to the series, containers, and
folders from which the items were removed.
|
|
BOX OV 1
|
Family Papers |
|
|
Memorials, 1863-1866
(Container
14)
|
|
|
David Porter Papers |
|
|
General
correspondence and related material, 1810
(Container
15)
|
|
|
David D. Porter
Papers
|
|
|
Certificates, 1847,
1891 (Container 23)
|
|
|
Patents and stocks,
1881, n.d.
(Container
25)
|
|
|
Photographs and
sketches, n.d.
(Container
25)
|
|