Diaries and photographs, 1872-1873 and undated.

ArchivalResource

Offley, Holmes E., 1839-1919. Diaries and photographs, 1872-1873 and undated.

Diaries and photographs, 1872-1873 and undated.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/83288240

Collection comprises two diaries (1872-1873) and photographs (1873 and undated). Though short, daily diary entries typically cover a wide range of regular topics, including weather conditions; domestic events, such as family visits, vacations, and medical illnesses, as well as the hiring and firing of staff; and social engagements, such as church attendance, business trips, and evening entertainments, e.g., "... Mannix came over & I went with him to the Theatre Comique more to see the Indians than the performances" (1872 Sept. 5). In addition, Offley details daily household and other expenditures; then totals the expenses for each month in tables at the end of each volume. Within each diary's back matter he also outlines other information, including the Tallapoosa railway's running times, cities, and mileage (1872), and the savings bonds purchased for his children (1873). Diary entries become more sporadic beginning in August 1873. Offley also comments on his work in nearly every entry, especially the impact Secretary of the Navy George M. Robeson's presence or absence has on it; and he writes with increasing length on the topic over the two years: "The Secretary, after delay'g attent'n to his work for a month, sent a basketfull of papers to K. St this P.M. How many will be returned? Can I be responsible for records and papers treated in this manner[?] (1873 March 15). After a fire in the Navy Department offices on 15 July 1873, he is relieved to "Find my papers safe, I think, but very much scattered." Offley occasionally mentions other political matters, including local and national elections; the deaths of important political and military figures; and government investigations, especially one focusing on the Navy Department in March 1872. He also observes activities associated with Grant's second inauguration. Photographs in the collection include a cartes de visite (circa 1873) of Offley's wife, Mary Cleland Nelson Offley. There are also 5 color photographs (undated, probably late-20th century) that reproduce photographic portraits originally taken during the 19th century. Their subjects include Holmes Offley; his mother, Catharine Van Rensselaer Heaton Offley; and the Offley children, Cleland Nelson, Katherine Heaton, and John Marbury. In addition, there are five other color photographs (undated, but probably late-20th century) with present-day images of family residences and their church, St. John's Episcopal.

13 items (.5 lin. ft.)

Duke University Libraries, Duke University Library; Perkins Library