Summary
Overview
Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
One Washington Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA
Abstract
Consists of correspondence, diaries (1864, 1870, 1887), photographs, documents, memorabilia, and printed matter of U.S. Naval officer Roswell H. Lamson.
Description
Description
The collection consists of Lamson's correspondence, diaries (1864, 1870, 1887), photographs, documents, memorabilia, and printed matter. The bulk of the collection is comprised of correspondence between Lamson and his wife, Kate Buckingham Lamson; letters to him by his mother, cousins, father, J. Lamson (in Oregon), and grandfather, Roswell Hawks; and copies in letterbooks of letters he wrote to them. Much of this correspondence covers the years he was a lieutenant and, later, captain during the Civil War (1861-1865) serving on several ships including the Wabash, Stepping Stones, and Gettysburg, and contains descriptions of military operations and naval encounters with the Confederate forces. There is also a notebook of naval terms with definitions and explanations kept by Lamson while a midshipman at Annapolis.
Collection Creator
Biography
Roswell H. Lamson was a member of the United States Naval Academy Class of 1862. Lamson remained in the Navy until 1866, serving on several ships including the Wabash, Stepping Stones, and Gettysburg, which Lamson commanded.
Collection History
Acquisition
Gift of Donald Shea in 1973.
Custodial History
The papers were given to Princeton ca. 1973 by Donald Shea, Roswell Lamson's great grandson. According to Prof. James M. McPherson, the Lamson papers passed through the family to Donald Shea's maternal aunt, Helen Renaud Hutchinson. She was the daugher of Helen Lamson Renaud, Roswell Lamson's fourth child (born March 24, 1880), and the only one who had children, one of whom was Jeanne Renaud Shea, Donald Shea's mother. Helen Renaud Hutchinson gave the papers to Donald Shea who later donated them to Princeton University Library. Neither Donald Shea nor anyone else in his family, going back to Roswell Lamson himself, had any connection with Princeton.
Processing Information
Folder inventory prepared by Fadzilah Yahaya GS in 2011.
Access and Use
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Preferred Citation
Roswell H. Lamson Papers; 1845-1894, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
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