Robert T. Barry journals : manuscript.

Brazil ; Argentina ; Uruguay, 1844 April 18-1852 January 8.

2 volumes ; 21 cm

English

Purchased from Kevin Jackson on the Chandler White and Philena Pennell Smith Acquisitions Fund, 2015.

This material is open for research.

Robert T. Barry was born in Pennsylvania circa 1816. Barry entered service in the United States Navy at the rank of Assistant Surgeon on March 26, 1834, and rose to the rank of Surgeon on February 25, 1844. He lived in Maine and New Hampshire, circa 1850-1851, and worked as a surgeon at the Portsmouth Navy Yard.

Autograph manuscript maritime journal kept by Robert T. Barry, United States Navy Ship Surgeon. The journal records a sea voyage aboard the USS Boston as it arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and traveled to Montevideo, Uruguay, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, from April 18, 1844 to October 31, 1845. Barry describes life aboard the Boston, other ships' arrivals and departures, the current political situation including the blockade of Montevideo and other aspects of Uruguay's Great War, his social life as he attends events and visits residents ashore, and the local flora and fauna. The first volume concludes with an entry on November 5th, 1844. The second volume begins with additional descriptions of events of October 31-November 5, 1844, and then continues with entries made during the voyage until October 31, 1845. Following this, there are leaves containing copied poems, medicinal and culinary recipes, references to medical texts, and two final diary entries of January 7th and 8th, 1852 describing weather conditions at the Portsmouth Navy Yard. The second half of the second volume is blank. Accompanied by three small newspaper clippings, a sheet of pink blotting paper, two letters and three envelopes addressed to Barry, and a small ink sketch of an ornament. The letters discuss Barry's convalescence from an unidentified illness, and offer condolences on the death of a family member.

September 30, 2020

Robert T. Barry Journals. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Robert T. Barry Journals. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Ship physicians United States 19th century.