Scope and Content Note
The collection of the United States Coast Guard Historian’s Office spans the years 1746-1951, with the bulk of the material dating from 1800-1900. The papers contain a merchant’s account books, an autograph collection, production material for a book, government publications, and printed matter.
The collection contains three account books. Two were kept by Ebenezer Smith, a general merchant, between 1797 and 1840 and the other, dated 1746-1748, was kept by an unidentified tailor.
A collection of autographs compiled by William Ferguson Morgan consists of clipped signatures and letters. Included are American presidents James Buchanan, Grover A. Cleveland, Millard Fillmore, Ulysses S. Grant, Herbert Hoover, James Monroe, James K. Polk, and Martin Van Buren. Also represented are leading figures in politics, business, the military, and the arts. Of note is a letter dated 1846 from Henry Clay regarding the death of his son.
The books section contains a draft, typescript, and galley proof of Our Coast Guard Academy written by Riley Hughes in 1943. The government publications are primarily reports from the secretary of the treasury. Printed matter includes a 1909 presidential inaugural souvenir booklet. The collection also contains a 1928 photograph of the first geodetic West Coast survey ship and a photograph of a compressed air plant in Preston, Connecticut, taken in 1906.