This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; this finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.
Size | 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 140 items) |
Abstract | Henry A. Phelon (born 1831) was a United States naval officer and merchant. The collection includes letters primarily from Henry A. Phelon to his fiancee, Josephine Brand, containing descriptions of Civil War naval activity off the coast of Virginia and North Carolina, while he served as executive officer on the Victoria and the Commodore Perry, commanded the gunboat Shawsheen, served as executive officer of the Atlanta, and, in July 1864, took command of the Monticello in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron under Rear Adm. Samuel P. Lee, in whose squadron he later commanded the Daylight. Included are letters, 1880-1906, to Phelon from Thomas J. Woodward of New Orleans, La., discussing their shared wartime experiences and postwar lives; and correspondence with Katharine Abell Cushing of Fredonia, N.Y., daughter of Commodore William Barker Cushing, asking Phelon's help with a biography of her father. Also included is biographical data about Phelon and some data concerning the pension Josephine Brand Phelon received after his death. |
Creator | Phelon, Henry A., b. 1831. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: SHC Staff
Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007
Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, May 2009
This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.
Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Henry A. Phelon (born 1831) was a United States naval officer and merchant. Pelon was born in Nantucket, Mass., and moved to West Springfield, Mass., in 1841 with his parents Mary Ann Folger Phelon and Henry Phelon. He became a sailor in 1848 and thereafter served on whaling ships and in the merchant service, eventually obtaining the rank of captain. During the Civil War he volunteer for service with the United States Navy and in February 1862 received a commission as acting master. He served as executive officer on the Victoria and the Commodore Perry, commanded the gunboat Shawsheen, served as executive officer of the Atlanta, and in July 1864 took command of the Monticello, in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron under Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee, in whose squadron he later commanded the Daylight. After the war Phelon returned to West Springfield where he was a merchant and postmaster. He was married on 13 June 1865 to Josephine Brand, daughter of C. C. Brand of Norwich, Conn. In 1876 he was appointed to a position in the customs house at Boston, Mass. He died sometime after 1900.
Back to TopThe collection includes letters primarily from Henry A. Phelon to his fiancee, Josephine Brand, containing descriptions of Civil War naval activity off the coast of Virginia and North Carolina. Included are letters, 1880-1906, to Phelon from Thomas J. Woodward of New Orleans, discussing their shared wartime experiences and postwar lives; and correspondence with Katharine Abell Cushing of Fredonia, N.Y., daughter of Commodore William Barker Cushing, asking Phelon's help with a biography of her father. Also included is biographical data about Phelon and some data concerning the pension Josephine Brand Phelon received after his death.
Back to TopFolder 1a |
Original finding aid |
Folder 1 |
1861-1862 |
Folder 2-3
Folder 2Folder 3 |
1863 |
Folder 4-5
Folder 4Folder 5 |
1864 |
Folder 6 |
1865 |
Folder 7 |
1870-1906 |
Folder 8 |
Undated letters |
Miscellaneous |