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Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2009
Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms008115
Letterbook and Journals, 1825-1828 | |||||||||||||
General Correspondence, 1802-1904 | |||||||||||||
Miscellany, 1817-1835 | |||||||||||||
Addition, 1772-1927 | |||||||||||||
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.
The papers of Daniel Todd Patterson, naval officer, were deposited in the Library of Congress in 1951 by the Naval Historical Foundation and converted to a gift in 1998. Additional deposits received between 1952 and 1989 were also converted to a gift in 1998.
The papers of Daniel Todd Patterson were arranged and described in 1970. The collection was expanded and revised in 1997, and the finding aid was revised in 2009.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Daniel Todd Patterson is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of Daniel Todd Patterson are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Daniel Todd Patterson Papers, Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Date | Event |
| 1786, Mar. 6 | Born, Long Island, N. Y. |
| 1800 | Appointed midshipman Duty on board Delaware (ship), West India Squadron |
| 1803 | Duty on board Constellation (frigate) |
| 1806 | Duty at New Orleans, La., Naval Station |
| 1807 | Married George-Ann Pollock |
| 1813 | Commanded New Orleans, La., Naval Station |
| 1814 | Defeated Jean Laffite and Gulf Buccaneers at Barataria Bay, La., and engaged British barges at Lake Borgne, La. |
| 1815 | Promoted to captain |
| 1824 | Appointed fleet captain and commander of Constitution (frigate), Mediterranean Squadron |
| 1828 | Appointed navy commissioner |
| 1832-1836 | Commanded Mediterranean Squadron |
| 1836-1839 | Commandant, Washington, D. C., Navy Yard |
| 1839, Aug. 25 | Died, Washington, D. C. |
The papers of Daniel Todd Patterson (1786-1839) span the years 1772-1927, with the bulk of the material dated between 1825 and 1835. The collection consists of correspondence, journals, a letterbook, notebooks, reports, photographs, and printed matter. An addition to the papers in 1995 includes correspondence, a list of officers, photographs and a portrait drawing, and wills. The collection primarily concerns Patterson's duties in the Mediterranean Squadron, as fleet captain and commander of the Constitution (frigate), 1824-1828, and as commander of the squadron, 1832-1836.
The letterbook and journals document various aspects of Patterson's squadron's strategic and diplomatic mission in the Mediterranean. The letterbook contains copies of letters concerning piracy from Joseph Pulis, American consul in Malta, and David Offley, United States consul in Smyrna, Turkey. While commander of the squadron from 1832 to 1836, Patterson received letters from David Porter, United States chargé d'affaires in Turkey, and from Edward Livingston, United States minister to France. Livingston's letters document his negotiation with the French Chamber of Deputies for the payment of claims by American citizens for losses during the Napoleonic wars.
The letterbook, journals, and correspondence reveal much about the routines and daily problems of squadron command. Included among the correspondence are orders dated 13 October 1826 prescribing the observance of funeral honors for Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Two volumes listing offenses and punishments on board the Constitution and a significant portion of the correspondence in the Addition pertain to disciplinary problems and provide glimpses into the experience of ordinary seamen in naval service during this period.
Material predating Patterson's Mediterranean service includes three letters from Patterson to his brother-in-law, Robert E. Griffin, two written while Patterson was serving on the Constellation (frigate) in 1802 and in 1803 and the third while Patterson was a prisoner in Tripoli during the Tripolitan War in 1803.
Prominent among Patterson's correspondents are William W. Bleecker, Landon N. Carter, William M. Crane, Charles H. Jackson, John H. Jarvis, George Minor, Charles Morris, Joseph J. Nicholson, John B. Nicolson, Hiram Paulding, Matthew C. Perry, Richard S. Pinckney, George C. Read, John Rodgers, Samuel L. Southard, and Richard Thomas.
This collection is arranged in four series:
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