Papers of Charles Bolivar Sterling, 1847, Aug.-Sep.

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Papers of Charles Bolivar Sterling, 1847, Aug.-Sep.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/228740653

Sundry autobiographical and daily notes that Sterling jotted (on the back of muster rolls and returns), in August and September 1847, whiling away time onboard of the Preble. Three manuscripts (HM 66241, HM 66244, and HM 66245) describe the minutia of the life onboard of the Preble (including an account of a duel). The remaining two are devoted to the recollections of the author's childhood, chiefly the time he spent at his uncle's plantation in Sterlington, his school years at Lafayette Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and his travels through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Kentucky. One of the autobiographical manuscripts (HM 66243) is a collection of anecdotes and reminiscences, including a story of two Irishmen whom his uncle had hired to dig a ditch; a short story titled "The First Night of Marriage, or the Happy Return: A Domestic Narrative," and "Early recollections" about his life in Louisiana, (including accounts of the plantations slaves), and the school. The second miscellany (HM 66242) contains Sterling's attempts at humorous prose, presumably autobiographical: short stories "A Ghostly Night," "That Boy Jo and the Art of Catfiring [sic]: Sportsmanlike Habit," two Irish anecdotes "Keeping the Pledge" and "It's all the Priest's Fault," and a letter to "Dear Samuel" dated "Sept. 14, 1847" and subtitled "Melancholy recollections."

5 pieces, 132 pages, written on the back of muster roll and return forms.

Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens

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SNAC Resource ID: 7088428

Related Entities

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Preble (Sloop of war)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s79pgb (corporateBody)

Sterling, Charles Bolivar, 1825-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bp15p7 (person)

Charles Bolivar Sterling was born in Ouachita, Louisiana in 1825. In the mid 1830s, his family moved to Kentuky where he attended the Lafayette Seminary in Louisville. While a child, Sterling spent lots of time at "Sterlington," the plantation owned by his uncle John T. Sterling (in what is now Sterlington, Louisiana). In 1843 he joined the U.S. Navy and served on the ships Ontario and Nonesuch; during the Mexican War he served on the the sloop-of-war Preble with the Pacific Squadron. He left th...

United States. Navy

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68m0zj8 (corporateBody)

Built and launched at New York Navy Yard; commissioned Nov. 12, 1944; scraped in 1993. Served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. From the description of USS Bon Homme Richard (CV/CVA-31) photograph collection 1944-1971. (The Mariners' Museum Library). WorldCat record id: 41657866 The federal government decided in 1941 to send Supply Corps personnel to Harvard Business School for training in the business of equipping the Navy. This was effected by a transfer...