Scope and Content Note
The papers of Frederick Rodgers (1842-1917) span the period 1852-1920, with the bulk of material dated 1860-1905. The collection reflects a life steeped in naval history and is arranged in six series: Family Correspondence ; Special Correspondence ; General Correspondence ; Miscellany ; Journals, Notebooks, and Diaries ; and Oversize .
Frederick Rodgers was born into a military family living at Sion Hill, an estate in Havre de Grace, Maryland. His paternal grandfather, Commodore John Rodgers (1772-1837), began his service in the navy battling privateers and advanced to the highest rank then available in the navy after distinguished service in the Tripolitan Wars in North Africa and the War of 1812 with Britain. His twenty years of administrative service on the Board of Navy Commissioners established standards for naval vessels and equipment. Frederick Rodgers's maternal grandfather, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry (1794-1858), was distinguished in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War and is best known for his Asian expeditions, 1852-1854, which opened trade and diplomatic relations with Japan. His father, Robert Smith Rodgers, a civil engineer, served in the Union Army during the Civil War, while his uncles, John Rodgers (1812-1882) and Henry Rodgers, followed their father into service in the navy, as did numerous Rodgers cousins. His uncle by marriage, Montgomery C. Meigs, was quartermaster general of the Union Army during the Civil War.
The Family Correspondence is principally between Rodgers and his parents, wife, and son with occasional letters from extended family members. Early correspondence concerns his education at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and service during the Civil War. His subsequent naval assignments are touched upon lightly. Other matters concern the settlement of the family estate, Sion Hill, after the death of his mother, Sarah Perry Rodgers.
The Special Correspondence series includes copies of selected letters including one from his uncle John Rodgers and one from Theodore Roosevelt as assistant secretary of the navy.
The General Correspondence series principally concerns naval matters. Orders and reports document Rodgers's naval career, along with correspondence from naval, diplomatic, and maritime associates. Some items are written in Spanish, French, and one in a language of Polynesia reflecting Rodgers's assignments in the South Pacific and along the Pacific coast of South America in the 1870s. Items in the 1880s and 1890s concern the condition and management of New York harbor and New York Naval Shipyard, and lighthouses and other ports along the Atlantic coast. Other items from 1897-1898 document Rodgers's service on the Naval Examining and Retiring Board and as senior member of the Board of Inspection and Survey to appraise naval vessels for service in the lead-up to and during the Spanish-American War. The series includes several letters from Theodore Roosevelt as assistant secretary and acting secretary of the navy.
Reports on all aspects of naval operations were received by Rodgers as president of the navy's Board of Inspection and Survey, 1899-1901, with the purpose of identifying improvements and efficiencies, including inspections of German submarines. Folders for 1900 include a few letters from former navy associate and first civilian governor of Puerto Rico, Charles H. Allen. Correspondence during the Spanish-American War, 1898, and the Philippine-American War, 1899-1902, is routine. Correspondence, 1901-1903, from attorneys apprise Rodgers on his lawsuit regarding the pay for certain rear admirals, a case that was argued before the Supreme Court in 1902 as Frederick Rodgers v. United States. A letter in 1903 from the Japanese statesman Count Kentaro Kaneko refers to the impending Russo-Japanese War. Following his mandatory retirement from the navy in 1903, Rodgers was appointed president of a naval board to improve the New York Naval Shipyard and numerous reports and recommendations, 1904-1906, are included in the series.
The General Correspondence series also reflects Rodgers's business interests and involvement in social clubs. Items from 1906 concern the division of the Sion Hill estate of his mother, Sarah Perry Rodgers, in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Correspondence dated 1911-1918 is principally addressed to Sarah Fall Rodgers, wife of Frederick Rodgers, who managed family affairs after her husband's debilitation by illness.
A file of writings in the Miscellany series includes speeches and reports by Rodgers on naval matters. It also includes staff reports on the round-the-world cruise of the USS New York (cruiser) flagship, 1901-1902, when Rodgers assumed command of the Asiatic Station, with another narrative describing his audience with Cixi, Empress dowager of China in June 1902 and conditions in Beijing following the Boxer Rebellion.
The series of Journals, Notebooks, and Diaries provides detailed records of Rodgers's service at sea. His youthful diaries and notebooks include incidental notes on family life and school exercises. His naval journals, 1862-1901, include orders, lists of crew and duties, and notes on navigational and meteorological observations. The watch, quarter, and station bills are administrative records of regulations and personnel with lists of duties and stations for the crew. The letterbooks include copies of correspondence sent by Rodgers on administrative matters. Professional notes are Rodgers's gleanings on principles of naval command such as tactics and warfare, seamanship, international law, military law, regulations on drills and navigational lights and signals, and notes on armaments and ordnance, especially torpedoes, as well as management and care of boilers. The remarks books contain observations on sea and weather conditions and other nautical data. Night orders and morning orders record navigational instructions. His journals emphasize navigational and meteorological observations and include notes on arrivals and departures, drills, salutes, signals, disciplinary actions, conditions at ports, status of equipment and ordnance, provisions for water and other daily shipboard matters with occasional reference to diplomatic activities.