Scope and content Papers consist mainly of letters, some written over a period of time in diary form, from Wood to his wife, Phebe, son Oliver, and daughter Sarah in Auburn, Cayuga County, New York. Letters concern his journey (January-February 1865) by steamer from New York City to Mexico via Havana, his consular duties, his unofficial business drawing up affidavits and other legal documents for private individuals, his living arrangements, the manners and customs of the people of Matamoros, the social...

Scope and content

Correspondence and diaries relating to Shoemaker's service as a petty officer in the Marine Corps, attached to the U.S.S. Saranac on the Pacific Station during the Civil War; includes information on the French intervention in Mexico. Papers also relate to abolition, and Shoemaker's interpretation of public opinion on matters of politics and expansion.