Collection MS 18 - Private journal of an American naval officer

Identity area

Reference code

AU PMB MS 18

Title

Private journal of an American naval officer

Date(s)

  • 1848 - 1875 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

1 reel; 35mm microfilm

Context area

Name of creator

(8 May 1848 - 15 Oct 1899)

Biographical history

Lieutenant (later Lieutenant Commander) Theodorus Bailey Myers Mason was founder and first head of the United States Office of Naval Intelligence, with the post of Chief Intelligence Officer (prior to it being designated as Director of Naval Intelligence in 1911). From a distinguished New York family, he was son of Theodorus Bailey Myers, a lawyer and a Colonel in the United States Army during the Civil War. He took his name Mason from his maternal grandfather who had no heirs. Graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1868, before travelling extensively with the US Navy. Married to Edmonia Taylor Phelps in 1875. Mason retired in 1894 and died 1899 in New York State.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Mason was born in New York City on May 8, 1848. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1864 and passed the examination for lieutenant on April 2, 1872. On September 1, 1872, he sailed from Philadelphia in the U.S.S. Omaha on a cruise to the Pacific. In Valparaiso, Chile, on February 14, 1873, he transferred to the U.S.S. Pensacola, a surveying vessel. In that ship, he visited other South American ports and arrived in Hawaii on February 13, 1875. After seven months in Hawaiian waters, he returned to the United States.

The journal gives a day-by-day account of Mason's cruise onboard the Omaha and Pensacola, prefaced by an outline of his previous career.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

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Available for reference

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Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

The Library, University of Hawaii, Honolulu

Existence and location of copies

Access this title at PMB Member Libraries or by contacting the Bureau directly: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/pambu/accessing.php

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Description control area

Description identifier

ms18

Institution identifier

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Dates of creation revision deletion

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Accession area