William H. Meyers diary
Refine your results
Collection information
Data sources:
Abstract
William H. Meyers (b. 1815), a native of Philadelphia, sailed on merchant vessels, worked at the U.S. Naval Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and served as a gunner in the U.S. Navy. Meyers' illustrated diary (17 Oct. 1838-4 Mar. 1839) records his voyages from: Philadelphia to Baltimore and Cuba (with visits to Xibara and Santiago de Cuba) on the schooner Ajax; Santiago de Cuba to Nassau, Bahamas, as master of the brig Lucy; and Nassau to New York as a passenger on the brig Victress, noting his later return to Philadelphia. The diary, which functions as a ship's log for the Lucy, includes accounts of his visit to a Cuban plantation and his illness from yellow fever, and poetic tributes to women encountered in his travels. Watercolor drawings (one in ink wash) illustrate ships at sea, localities visited, entertainments, shipboard activities and illness at sea.
Dates / Origin
Date created: 1838