TABLE OF CONTENTS
Descriptive Summary of the Collection
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Inventory of the Jesse Sherwood Papers, 1862-1931
Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Alison Hinderliter, 2007. ©2007. |
Descriptive Summary of the Collection |
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| Creator | Sherwood, Jesse, 1843-1912 |
| Title | Jesse Sherwood Papers |
| Dates | 1862-1931 |
| Extent | 1.1 linear feet (1 box and 1 oversize box) |
| Abstract | Logs and mementos of Jesse Sherwood of Missouri and Chicago, who served as a surgeon’s steward during the Civil War on the gunboat USS Somerset. Includes 3 medals, his resignation letter, pension documents and information on the fate of the Somerset. Also, a folio album with photographs of Sherwood and his family, a carte de visite and a daguerreotype. |
| Language | Materials are in English. |
| Repository | Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections |
| Collection Call Number | Vault Case MS 10037 |
| Collection Stack Location | Vault 35 3; Vault 47 5 |
Administrative Information
Cite As
Jesse Sherwood Papers, The Newberry Library, Chicago.
Provenance
Purchase, 2006.
Processed by
Virginia Hay Smith, 2007.
Access
The Jesse Sherwood Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 5 folders at a time maximum (Priority II).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Jesse Sherwood Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
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Biography of Jesse Sherwood
Chicago businessman and Civil War veteran.
Jesse Sherwood was born in Milford, Delaware, moved to Missouri, and during the Civil War went east and enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1862. He was then eighteen years old. He served aboard the gunboat USS Somerset as a surgeon’s steward under a Lieutenant Commander English. Sherwood was in service for twenty-seven months, participating in many eventful naval episodes of the war, mostly off the coast of Florida.
After being discharged in 1864, Sherwood returned to Edina, Missouri and married Isabelle Flagler of La Grange, later running a combination drug and grocery store. In 1878 he moved to Quincy, Illinois, and then to Chicago, where he becoming a live stock commission merchant of cattle at the Union Stock Yards.
Sherwood always had a deep interest in civic affairs and served in many official capacities throughout his life, including serving for three years on the Chicago Board of Education and as a one-time president of the National Stock Yards. He was a member of the George A. Meade Post, G.A.R., the Farragut Naval Association and several hunting clubs. In Chicago there is a public school named in his honor, which is across the street from Sherwood Park, one of seven neighborhood playgrounds created by Chicago’s Special Park Commission in 1914.
Jesse Sherwood died in 1912.
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Scope and Content of the Collection
Logs and mementos of Jesse Sherwood of Missouri and Chicago, who served as a surgeon’s steward during the Civil War on the gunboat USS Somerset, mostly off the coast of Florida. Contains details of war experiences off Florida and Cuba, including attacking and capturing a Southern ship, shelling towns, taking possession of encampments and helping onboard refugees and fleeing slaves. Also, personal comments on daily life on shipboard, of his pleasure in eating, drinking and smoking cigars, and of often going ashore on hunting and fishing expeditions.
Includes three medals, his resignation letter, pension documents and information on the fate of the Somerset. Also, some biographical sketches and a folio album of photographs of Sherwood and his family, a carte de visite and a daguerreotype of an unidentified woman.
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Arrangement
Arranged by type of material.
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Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Newberry Library's public catalog. Researchers desiring additional materials on a particular topic should search the catalog using these headings.
Names
- Flegler family
- Sherwood family
- Sherwood, Jesse, 1842-1912
- Somerset (Gunboat)
Subjects
- Florida -- Description and travel
- Gunboats -- History --19th century -- Sources
- Logbooks -- 1851-1900
- Manuscripts, American
- Photographs -- 1851-1900
- Transportation, Military -- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Naval operations
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
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Container List |
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| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Log kept aboard the USS Somerset, Jan. 1, 1863-May 18, 1864, with added accounts and records kept in 1862 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Transcription of log of the USS Somerset, Jan. 1, 1863-May 18, 1864 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Copy of log kept aboard the USS Somerset, April 11, 1862- March 20, 1863, "with a few remarks previous to Sailing", April 1-10, 1862 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Resignation latter, May, 1864 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Medals (3) | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Biographical sketches, undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Pension documents, 1911-1928 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Article regarding a talk of Sherwood's to the George A. Meade Post of the G.A.R. | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Material relating to the USS Somerset | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Carte de visite and daguerreotype, both unidentified | |||||||||
| 2 | 11 | Photograph album | |||||||||