Guide to the Ingraham family papers, 1830-1864, circa 1935-1954


Naval War College (U.S.). Naval Historical Collection
686 Cushing Road
Newport, RI 02841-1207
Tel: 401-841-2435
email: nhc@usnwc.edu
Website: https://usnwcarchives.org/

Published in 2018

Collection Overview

Title: Ingraham family papers
Date range: 1830-1864, circa 1935-1954
Creator: Ingraham family
Extent: .75 linear feet (1 archival box)
Abstract: The Ingraham family first immigrated to the United States in the seventeenth century from Great Britain, with many settling in South Carolina where they became a seafaring family with strong connections to both the U.S. Navy and the Navy of the Confederate States. This collection includes ships’ logs and reminiscences maintained by members of the Ingraham family while on board serving in either the U.S. Navy of the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War.
Language of materials: English
Repository: Naval War College (U.S.). Naval Historical Collection
Collection number: MSC-353

Scope & content

This collection consists of three previously unknown manuscripts of historical significance along with a seventeenth century family bible. The first volume, which was wrapped in sailcloth, is a journal maintained by sailor Ferdinand Piper (1812-1844) while on board the U.S. Dolphin patrolling the south Atlantic and then on the U.S. Guerriere from 1830-1831. The second volume entitled, “Journal of a Cruise at Sea in the US Ship Plymouth by W. B. Hall, US Navy,” details the Plymouth’s cruise from Boston to St. John’s with a port of call in Newport. This manuscript also contains drawings, geometric and navigational problems (most likely while Wilburn Briggs Hall was studying at the U.S. Naval Academy) and a draft letter dated 6 June 1864 written by Hall while on board the CSS Virginia. In this letter, Hall requests to command one of the gunboats in the Confederate fleet during the Civil War. The last volume includes a rare firsthand account kept by Lieutenant John H. Ingraham, CSN about his service on the CSS Georgia, a Confederate raider that operated in South Atlantic waters, in 1863. John H. Ingraham wrote this “Summary of the Cruise of the C.S. Ship ‘Georgia’ in 1863” at an unknown date.

These reminiscences were later backed with linen and bound into volume along with mounted photographs of John H. Ingraham, his wife, and other officers that were also assigned to the Georgia; and newspaper clippings and letters from the 1930s-1950s about this volume. Also found within this collection is a family bible printed in an unidentifiable Eastern European language.

Access Points

Subject Names Subject Topics Document Types

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in chronological order.

Biographical note

Members of the Ingraham family first immigrated to the United States in the seventeenth century from Great Britain. Many of the Ingrahams settled in South Carolina and became a seafaring family with strong connections to both the United States Navy and the Navy of the Confederate States.

One of the most renowned Ingrahams, was an U.S. Navy Captain and later a Confederate Navy Captain, Nathaniel Duncan Ingraham (1802-1891) of Charleston, South Carolina. In 1812, Ingraham entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman and served continuously until the outbreak of the Civil War. While serving for the U.S. Navy, Ingraham received a gold medal from Congress in 1853 for his role in freeing Martin Kosta, a Hungarian refugee who had declared his intentions of becoming an American citizen, but was kidnapped by Austrians and help hostage on board the Austrian brig, Hussar. In 1855, he was promoted to captain and was appointed the chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography, a position he held until 1860 when then assigned to command the sloop USS Richmond in the Mediterranean.

After learning that his home state of South Carolina had seceded from the Union, Ingraham returned from the Mediterranean in January 1861, resigned his U.S. Navy commission, and joined the Confederate Navy as a captain in March 1861. His first Confederate assignment was as commandant of the Warrington Navy Yard in Pensacola, Florida and in November 1861, he was assigned the command of the naval station in Charleston. While in Charleston, he oversaw the construction of the Confederate ironclad, Palmetto State, later commanding the ship when it and the Chicora attached Union blockaders in Charleston harbor. Relieved of sea command in March 1863 due to his age, Ingraham remained in charge of Confederate Navy shore installations until Charleston fell to Union forces in 1865.

Following the war, Captain Ingraham remained in Charleston and died there on October 16, 1891. To recognize his achievements and his memory, the U.S. Navy has since commissioned four ships in his honor, the most recent of which, the USS Ingraham (FFG-61), was just decommissioned in 2015.

Besides Captain Nathaniel D. Ingraham, other members of the Ingraham family aligned with the Confederacy during the Civil War including his son-in-law, Wilburn Briggs Hall (1838-1912) and relative, John H. Ingraham, who served as a lieutenant on the CSS Georgia. Wilburn B. Hall, also from South Carolina, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1859 alongside Alfred T. Mahan. He was first assigned to the USS Constellation and later resigned his commission with the U.S. Navy in March 1861 to join the Confederate Navy. Halle next saw action in the Battle of Port Royal in November 1861 and was active in several blockade missions throughout the course of the war. In 1865, he joined the Confederate army and was in Charleston until it was evacuated, later surrendering with General Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina. Also during the war, probably around 1864, Lieutenant Hall served as a commander of midshipmen for the Confederate States Naval Academy in Richmond, Virginia. Hall’s career after the Civil War included working as an engineer in Egypt with the United States Army, serving as a U.S. consul, and establishing a school of instruction in Baltimore for cadet engineers preparing to apply to naval and military academies.

Once the Civil War was over, the Ingrahams signed oaths of allegiance to the United States and to this day the Ingraham family continues to see its members attend the U.S. Naval Academy and proudly serve in the U.S. Navy.

Access & Use

Access to the collection: Access is open to all researchers, unless otherwise specified.
Use of the materials: Material in this collection is in the public domain, unless otherwise noted.
Preferred citation: Author, “Title,” Page or Date. Ingraham family papers, MSC 353, Box number, Folder number. Naval Historical Collection, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I.
Contact information: Naval War College (U.S.). Naval Historical Collection
686 Cushing Road
Newport, RI 02841-1207
Tel: 401-841-2435
email: nhc@usnwc.edu
Website: https://usnwcarchives.org/

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION  
Acquisition: Gift of Duncan N. and Jeanne Ingraham of Portsmouth, RI, December 2016 (Ms.Ac.2016.7).
Accruals: No further accruals are expected.
Processing information: This collection was processed according to current archival standards in January 2017 by Elizabeth Delmage.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID  
Author: Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Delmage.
Encoding: Finding aid encoded by Stacie M. Parillo, 2018 March.
Descriptive rules: Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS).

Additional Information

Related material: Duncan N. Ingraham papers, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina. Ingraham, Duncan N., “Journal of a cruise in the U.S. Steam Sloop Richmond,” 1860 Sep 27-1861 Jun 28. Diaries, Journals and Ships’ Logs, MSS 0097, Item 041. Special Collections, University of Delaware Library.
Separated material: The following two volumes were separated from this collection to be included in the Naval Historical Collection’s Rare Books: Gladding, Gilbert R. Information respecting the great Ingraham estate in the kingdom of Great Britain, Henry L. Tillinghast, Providence, RI, 1859. Scharf, J. Thomas. History of the Confederate States Navy from its organization to the surrender of its last vessel, W. H. Shepard & Co., Atlanta, GA, 1887.
Bibliography:
  • Tucker, Spencer C., ed. The Civil War Naval Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA., 2011.
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    Inventory

    Box 2 Family bible
    		 1600-1699
    Box 1, Folder 1 Journal of U.S. Dolphin (schooner) and U.S. Guerriere (frigate)
    		 1830 Jul 27-1931 Dec 24
    Box 1, Folder 2 Journal of U.S. Plymouth (ship)
    		1856 Jun 24- 22 Sep, 1964 Jun 6
    Box 1, Folder 3 A Summary of the Cruise of the C.S. Ship Georgia in 1863
    		 circa 1935-1954, undated