John M. Brooke Papers, . 1859-1898

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John M. Brooke Papers, ., 1859-1898

John M. Brooke Papers, . 1859-1898

http://www2.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/b/Brooke,John_M.html

John Mercer Brooke was a United States and Confederate naval officer, scientist, inventor, and professor at Virginia Military Institute. The collection contains letters, 1861-1863, from Brooke to his wife; letters, 1896 and 1898, from Barton H. Wise to Brooke; Brooke's diary, 1859-1860, at Yokohama, Japan; and his nautical log and personal diary, February-March 1860, kept while he sailed to California on a Japanese ship, the Kanrin Maru, which was on a diplomatic mission to the United States. Letters from Brooke to his wife, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Seldon Garnett Brooke, concern his daughter's illness and other family matters; letters from Barton H. Wise ask whether Brooke consulted Commodore James Barron's when Brooke helped Mallory develop the Merrimac. The diary Brooke kept in Yokohama reports his work and social activities, and describes Yokohama and the Japanese people with whom Brooke had contact. The diary Brooke kept on board the Japanese ship records position and winds, events on shipboard, physical descriptions of Japanese officers, necessary Japanese phrases, observations on discipline and organization of the Japanese crew, and comments on the ship's history and equipment. Model of an Ironclad

12

eng,

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection