Folded letter by US Navy Surgeon David Shelton Edwards
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To indicate that a steamboat was the source of the letter entering the U.S. mail system, the New Orleans clerk struck the handstamp \"STEAM.\" Perhaps it was carried by Captain McKenzie of the Mississippi steamboat referred to at the start of the letter."}, {"label": "Description", "content": "The letter was sent unpaid and marked at New Orleans with the large handstamp \"10\" to show that postage was due at Sing Sing, New York, for 10 cents, the rate for a letter under 1/2 ounce weight going a distance more than 300 miles."}, {"label": "Description", "content": "David Shelton Edwards, writing aboard the ship Arcole, does not know what the detailed plans for the ship's voyage are but he tells his wife Harriet as much as he does know. He believes that if they stay in the Gulf of Mexico much longer he will be promoted again to Fleet Surgeon. He explains that he plans to write to Harriet twice a month and that she should address her letters to him: \"US Navy, Marine Department, Squadron, Vera Cruz.\" He closes with the hearsay that \"the war will be renewed\" if the treaty is not ratified by May 5th, but does not specify which war or which treaty. He is likely referring to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican-American War when it was ratified by the United States on March 10, 1848 and Mexico on May 19, 1848."}, {"label": "Description", "content": "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."}], "name": [{"label": "Writer", "content": "David Shelton Edwards, American, died 1874"}], "topic": [{"label": "Topic", "content": "American Expansion (1800-1860)"}, {"label": "Topic", "content": "Covers & Letters"}], "place": [{"label": "Place of Origin", "content": "Louisiana"}, {"label": "Place of Destination", "content": "New York"}], "physicalDescription": [{"label": "Medium", "content": "paper; ink / handwritten"}, {"label": "Dimensions", "content": "40.3 x 25.4 cm (15 7/8 x 10 in.)"}], "dataSource": [{"label": "Data Source", "content": "National Postal Museum"}], "objectType": [{"label": "Type", "content": "Covers & Associated Letters"}]}}, "url": "edanmdm:npm_1978.0652.44", "hash": "e6e42a370f01c0a72c207438a43d095ad57513e0", "docSignature": "bb4ba6e48efb4a1f5895ef7ceddbad9c", "timestamp": 1663786505, "lastTimeUpdated": 1657961588, "title": "Folded letter by US Navy Surgeon David Shelton Edwards"}