Scope and Content Note
The papers of the Adee family span the years 1824-1966 and consist of awards, catalogs, correspondence, journals, a medical degree, newspaper clippings, poetry, speeches, and writings. The papers are chiefly those of Augustus Alvey Adee (1802-1844), United States Navy surgeon, and his sons David Graham Adee (1837-1901), author and lawyer, and Alvey A. Adee (1842-1924), assistant secretary of state and chief of the Diplomatic Bureau, Department of State.
Material of Augustus Alvey Adee includes correspondence to his wife, Amelia Kinnaird (Graham) Adee, written primarily while he was serving as fleet surgeon on the Potomac (frigate) along the coast of South America, 1840-1841; journals while he was a surgeon on the Vincennes (Sloop of war) during a cruise in the Pacific, 1835-1838; notes on the Adee family of Scotland; marriage and baptism records of the Adee and Graham families; and catalogs of Adee's book and seashell collections.
The David Graham Adee material consists mostly of published writings and poetry and also includes material relating to the Civil War service of Major General George Lucas Hartsuff and his brother, Albert Hartsuff, assistant surgeon in the Union army.
Papers of Alvey A. Adee include correspondence and newspaper clippings concerning his diplomatic career, a journal of an extensive bicycling trip he made throughout Europe in 1867, and manuscript copies of his writings and poetry. Also in the collection are a book of poems and notes on the Adee and Stansbury families by Lucy A. K. Adee and a master's thesis written by George S. Hunsberger on the diplomatic career of Alvey A. Adee, with references to the Boxer Rebellion.