Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in a Sailor's Journal #5219-z, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Purchased from Michael Brown Rare Books of Philadelphia, Pa., in June 2005 (Acc. 100099).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Elise Allison, July 2005

Encoded by: Elise Allison, July 2005

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Diaries.
• Hatteras, Cape (N.C.)--Description and travel.
• Hurricanes--Florida--Florida Keys.
• Hurricanes--Florida--History.
• Key West (Fla.)--Description and travel.
• Memphis (Ship).
• Mississippi River--Description and travel.
• Plantations--Southern States.
• Sailors--United States--Diaries.

The writer was a sailor on the Memphis during its passage from New York to New Orleans between 30 March and 24 April 1847.

The collection consists of a journal kept by a sailor on the Memphis during its passage from New York to New Orleans between 30 March and 24 April 1847. The journal provides a daily record of the weather conditions at sea, the speed and position of the ship, the wildlife sighted around the ship, and other vessels encountered during the voyage. The sailor mentioned passing Cape Hatteras, Cape Florida, and Key West, and he discussed the wrecking business in the Florida Keys and the damage that a hurricane had inflicted on Key West the previous year. He also mentioned news of the Mexican War received from other ships. After an uneventful journey across the Gulf of Mexico, he described the plantations that the ship passed on its way up the Mississippi River.