Folded letter by US Navy Surgeon David Shelton Edwards

The letter was sent unpaid to Huntington, Long Island, New York, and marked at Washington, DC post office for 18 3/4 cents postage due at destination. This was the correct rate for a single sheet letter going a distance of 150-400 miles.

This letter largely regards the settling of the estate of a friend or family member. David Shelton Edwards does not identify the deceased but explains his planned actions on the part of his dependents, Henry and James, and how he is planning to settle their debts. He finishes this letter to his wife Harriet Eliza with more updates regarding their house and instructions for the family's money.

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.

Reference:

National Museum of American History, Naval History Archives. David Shelton Edwards Papers. Accession Number: 1978.0652.

New York Public Library, Rare Books and Manuscripts Division. "David S. Edwards papers, 1818-1865."

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