Papers of Edward Brinley, Jr., 1823-1925 (bulk 1840-1856)

ArchivalResource

Brinley, Edward, Jr. Papers of Edward Brinley, Jr., 1823-1925 (bulk 1840-1856)

Papers of Edward Brinley, Jr., 1823-1925 (bulk 1840-1856)

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/669192447

The collection contains 69 letters (primarily between members of the Brinley family and Edward Brinley, Jr.), 18 documents (largely relating the career of Edward Brinley, Jr.), a journal kept by Brinley on board the USS North Carolina, Oct. 1840-May. 1841, and the U.S.S. Delaware from Dec. 1843-Mar. 1844, and a portable wooden writing desk owned by Brinley. The early correspondence deals with Edward's childhood and education, his first naval appointment aboard the U.S.S. North Carolina including details about the various ports-of-call. His letters of the 1844-1845 period deal with his service on the U.S.S. Falmouth in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean during the prelude to the U.S.-Mexican War. Edward's letters of the 1846-1850 period deal with his service aboard the U.S.S. Preble during its cruise of the Pacific. Brinley's comments on the economic, ecological, and political phenomenon of the Pacific throughout these letters. The California gold rush, U.S. economic colonialism in present-day Hawaii, U.S. whaling in the Pacific, and the Chinese Opium trade are among the issues extensively discussed. His letters of 1856 were written during his service on the USS Potomac in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. They include discussions of the "filibusterer" William Walker's short-lived takeover of Nicaragua. The letters of Francis W. Brinley, Edward, Jr.'s most frequent correspondent, are dominated by family news and fatherly advice regarding the merits of hard work and respect for authority. Francis's letters do contain some interesting portraits of quotidian life as a businessman in Perth Amboy, NJ, however. The two letters of Thomas Brinley paint a dismal picture of his failed attempt at making a fortune in 1850s California. The remainder of the correspondence relates primarily to the everyday affairs of the Brinley family. The manuscripts and documents section contains primarily Federal and New Jersey government documents relating to the military and civil service of Edward Brinley, Jr., as well as various documents relating to Andrewetta Brinley's widow's pension. The journal of Edward Brinley, Jr. (HM 74073) contains details of nautical weather, crew discipline, and ship maintenance aboard the U.S.S. North Carolina during its stay in New York Harbor. The journal of the U.S.S. Delaware contained therein details the same during that vessel's cruise of the Mediterranean and trans-Atlantic journey back to Norfolk, VA. The back of the folio has a chart relating to nautical navigation. The final folder in the collection contains two documents included with the collection at the time of accession - one a family tree of the family of Francis W. Brinley (of unknown provenance) and an excerpt from the catalog of Michael Brown Rare Books that contains transcriptions of large sections of the letters of Edward Brinley, Jr. The collection also includes the portable wooden writing desk of Edward Brinley, Jr., which contains writing and nautical instruments, as well as a newspaper clipping which details how to make a homemade barometer.

91 items.

Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens