Folded letter by US Navy Surgeon David Shelton Edwards
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David Shelton Edwards explains to his wife Harriet, presumably in response to a request from her for a larger allowance, that she should have plenty of money for their needs, \"if the milliners and confectioners do not get a hold of you.\" He also remarks in apparent response to Harriet's concern that he is not very affectionate towards their children that, \"I think the less we have of it [affection] the better,\" and claims that too much affection will spoil them . He explains that as parents they, \"must look more to their permanent good than the gratification of present feelings\u00e2\u0080\u00a6 I have sometimes been shocked to see persons hug and kiss their children - while they were administering to them poisonous painted confectionary.\""}, {"label": "Description", "content": "He finishes with a series of short comments on the state of their affairs and tells Harriet she should decide whether she will come to Pensacola, Florida to visit him. He asks her to look for official documentation of an injury to his hand sustained many years earlier. He concludes by summarizing a letter he received from his brother in St. James' parish."}, {"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."}, {"label": "Description", "content": "Reference:"}, {"label": "Description", "content": "National Museum of American History, Naval History Archives. David Shelton Edwards Papers. Accession Number: 1978.0652."}, {"label": "Description", "content": "New York Public Library, Rare Books and Manuscripts Division. \"David S. Edwards papers, 1818-1865.\""}], "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": "Florida"}, {"label": "Place of Destination", "content": "New York"}], "physicalDescription": [{"label": "Medium", "content": "paper; ink / handwritten"}, {"label": "Dimensions", "content": "39.4 x 31.8 cm (15 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.)"}], "dataSource": [{"label": "Data Source", "content": "National Postal Museum"}], "objectType": [{"label": "Type", "content": "Covers & Associated Letters"}]}}, "url": "edanmdm:npm_1978.0652.24", "hash": "3395e62bb87cd366e4c832a5cf57b796af022b8a", "docSignature": "39d136ad185383cccc51e66016a4cc6c", "timestamp": 1663786505, "lastTimeUpdated": 1657961588, "title": "Folded letter by US Navy Surgeon David Shelton Edwards"}