COLLECTION GUIDES

1729-1926; bulk: 1729-1884

Guide to the Collection

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Representative digitized documents from this collection:


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection consists of the papers of naval officer and author George H. Preble, including personal and professional correspondence, ships' logs, literary and historical writings, genealogical material, diaries, scrapbooks, expense accounts, and other papers, primarily related to his naval career from 1835-1878.

Biographical Information

Timeline

25 Feb. 1816
George Henry Preble born in Portland, Me. to Enoch (1763-1842) and Sally (Cross) Preble (1777-1848).
10 Oct. 1835
Appointed midshipman in the U.S. Navy.
1836-1840
Cruised the Mediterranean and Caribbean.
Jan. 1841
Attended Philadelphia naval school.
Aug.-Oct. 1841
Explored the Florida coast, including a canoe expedition through the Everglades.
1843
Appointed acting master, U.S. ship St. Louis.
1844
Commanded the first American armed landing force in Canton, China.
18 Nov. 1845
Married Susan Zabiah Cox (1820-1875) of Portland, Me.
1846-1847
Served in the schooner Petrel during the Mexican War in the blockade service.
5 Feb. 1848
Promoted to lieutenant.
1849-1852
Served on coast survey duty and cruised the Gulf of Mexico on the Saratoga.
1851
Shipped out on board the St. Louis bound for England and the World's Fair; ship transported some of the American exhibits to the fair.
1853-1856
Accompanied Matthew Perry's mission to Japan in the ship Macedonian; commanded a steamer operating against Chinese pirates; prepared surveys and sailing directions for the Wusong River leading to Shanghai.
Sep. 1856
Stationed in Portland, Me. as the inspector of lighthouses.
1857-1858
Stationed in Boston (Charlestown) Navy Yard.
1858-1861
Executive officer of the Narragansett in the Pacific.
1861
Received his first regular command of the steam gunboat Katahdin; joined Admiral David Farragut (1801-1870) in the Gulf; was the fourth ship to pass the forts below New Orleans and was actively engaged in operations up to Vicksburg.
16 July 1862
Promoted to commander.
4 Sep. 1862
Allowed Confederate cruiser Oreto to break through the blockade of Mobile Bay; dismissed from service.
1863
Restored to rank of commander in the U.S. Navy; sent to Lisbon, Portugal; cruised the Azores, Canary Islands, and Gibraltar.
Nov. 1864
Ordered to the U.S. southeast coast blockade; found opportunity for distinction as the commander of the fleet brigade, which in November and December operated with the army preparing for Sherman's approach to the sea.
Aug. 1865
Commanded the ship State of Georgia; protected commercial interests at Panama.
Oct. 1865-July 1868
Served at the Boston (Charlestown) Navy Yard.
Mar. 1867
Commissioned captain.
1868
Served in the Pacific as chief of staff for Admiral Thomas Craven.
1871
Promoted to commodore.*
1872
Published Our Flag: Origin and Progress of the Flag of the United States of America, with an Introductory Account of the Symbols, Standards, Banners and Flags of Ancient and Modern Nations (Albany, N.Y.: Joel Munsell, 1872).
1874
*Made commodore with a commission dating from 1871.
1876
Promoted to rear-admiral; commanded the South Pacific Squadron.
1878
Retired from the U.S. Navy to Boston, Mass., where he spent his time writing.
1883
Published A Chronological History of the Origin and Development of Steam Navigation, 1543-1882 (Philadelphia: L. R. Hamersly & Co., 1883).
1 Mar. 1885
Died in Boston.

Preble Family Biographical Sketches

Benjamin Preble (1650s-1732), father of Jedidiah Preble, great-grandfather of George Henry Preble.

Brigadier-General Jedidiah Preble (1707-1784), grandfather of George Henry Preble.

Martha Preble (1714-1753), first wife of Jedidiah Preble.

Mehitable (Bangs) Preble (1728-1805), second wife of Jedidiah Preble, grandmother of George Henry Preble.

Commodore Edward Preble (1761-1807), fourth child of Jedidiah and Mehitable Preble, uncle of George Henry Preble.

Captain Enoch Preble (1763-1842), fifth child of Jedidiah and Mehitable Preble, father of George Henry Preble.

Statira Preble (1767-1796), sixth child of Jedidiah and Mehitable Preble, aunt of George Henry Preble.

Henry Preble (1770-1825), seventh child of Jedidiah and Mehitable Preble, U.S. consul at Palermo, uncle of George Henry Preble.

Eben Preble (1802-1848), first child of Capt. Enoch Preble, brother of George Henry Preble.

Adeline Preble (1805-1883), second child of Capt. Enoch Preble, sister of George Henry Preble, wife of John Cox.

Ellen Bangs Preble (1808-1867), third child of Capt. Enoch Preble, sister of George Henry Preble.

Susan Zabiah (Cox) Preble (1820-1875), wife of George Henry Preble. Susan and George Henry Preble had four children, two girls and two boys: Henry Oxnard Preble (1847-1871), Susan Zabiah Preble (1850-1927), Mildred Preble (1857-1857), and George Henry Rittenhouse Preble (1859-1912).

Collection Description

The papers of Rear-Admiral George Henry Preble, U.S.N., consist of personal and professional correspondence, ships' logs, literary and historical writings, genealogical material, diaries, scrapbooks, expense accounts, and other papers, primarily related to his naval career from 1835-1878. Subjects include Preble's appointments in the Mediterranean; the south of Florida, including an expedition through the Everglades; the Boston (Charlestown) Navy Yard; China; Japan; Portugal; and many other locations. Preble's diaries cover a voyage to the World's Fair in the U.S. frigate St. Lawrence (1851); a cruise to China and Japan as part of Matthew Perry's mission to open Japanese ports (1853-1856); and a naval voyage (1863-1868). During the Civil War, Preble served at the Battle of New Orleans (1862) and as a blockader against Confederate raiders. The collection contains a significant amount of material related to the escape of the Confederate cruiser Oreto in 1862, for which Preble was initially censured. Also included is correspondence related to Preble's writings on the Charlestown Navy Yard, ships and shipping, the U.S. flag, and Preble family history, as well as copies of his various publications.

Among the family members represented in the collection are Preble's grandmother Mehitable (Bangs) Preble, uncle Commodore Edward Preble, father Captain Enoch Preble, sisters Adeline and Ellen Bangs Preble, and wife Susan (Cox) Preble. Family papers include correspondence, legal documents, and a diary of Enoch Preble.

Acquisition Information

The bulk of this collection was donated to the MHS by Susie Z. Preble in January 1919, October 1925, and October 1926. The final addition to the collection, a commemorative pamphlet entitled Our Banner (1843), was contributed by the New England Historic Genealogical Society in 1965.

Other Formats

George Henry Preble's diary of his cruise to China and Japan (Cased Vol. 2) has been published as The Opening of Japan: A Diary of Discovery in the Far East, 1853-1856 (Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1962). Also available on microfilm (P-498, 1 reel) and as digital facsimiles in the MHS library (DF-006).

Digital facsimiles of this diary and of Preble's ships' logs, Vol. I and II (Cased Vols. 5 and 6), are available on China, America and the Pacific, a publication of Adam Matthew Digital, Inc. This resource can be accessed onsite at the MHS library and at other subscribing libraries.

Detailed Description of the Collection

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I. Loose papers, 1732-1926

Close I. Loose papers, 1732-1926

II. Bound volumes, 1729-1885Digital Content

Close II. Bound volumes, 1729-1885Digital Content

Preferred Citation

George Henry Preble papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Preble, Adeline, 1805-
Preble, Ellen Bangs, 1808-1867.
Preble, Enoch, 1763-1842.
Preble family--Genealogy.
Preble, Susan Zabiah Cox.

Organizations:

Charlestown Navy Yard (Mass.).
Oreto (Commerce raider).
St. Lawrence (U.S. frigate).
United States. Navy--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
United States. Navy--Officers.

Subjects:

Authors, American.
Family history--1850-1899.
Family history--1900-1949.
Flags--United States--History.
Historians--United States.
Literary manuscripts.
New Orleans (La.)--History--Capture, 1862.
Poetry.
Privateering--United States--History.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Naval operations.

Materials Removed from the Collection

Photographs

The following photographs from this collection have been removed to the George Henry Preble family photographs (Photo. Coll. 182):

Cabinet card of Charles S. Preble, surgeon general, by C. E. Peterson, Carson City, Nev., 3 May 1884

Cabinet card of Mrs. Charles S. Preble by Elite Photographic Studio, San Francisco, Calif., 1884

Cabinet card of Dinah Preble (b. 23 Mar. 1869) by R. Wolstenholme, Blackpool, England, 13 Aug. 1883

Paper print of George Henry Preble, rear-admiral, U.S.N., 1879

Carte de visite of Philip Preble (b. 2 Aug. 1865) by R. Wolstenholme, Blackpool, England

Carte de visite of Thomas Preble (b. 16 Mar. 1863) by R. Wolstenholme, Blackpool, England, 27 Aug. 1883

Carte de visite of William Henry Preble (b. 23 May 1857) by R. Wolstenholme, Blackburn, England, Nov. 1883

Cabinet card of Benjamin Trefethen (b. 1790), 18 Oct. 1882

Gelatin silver print of the launching of the U.S.S. Preble, Bath Iron Works, Bath, Me., 8 Mar. 1920

Gelatin silver print of an unidentified woman holding a bouquet of roses at the launching of the U.S.S. Preble, Bath Iron Works, Bath, Me., 8 Mar. 1920

Carte de visite of a drawing of a Chinese junk (ship)

Museum Objects

The following items from this collection have been removed to the MHS artifacts collection:

Grosgrain ribbon for a sailor's hat, U.S.S. Preble

Commodore Edward Preble's flintlock pistols and two "Before Tripoli" medals

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