Manuscripts
The log book and shipboard journal, kept by First Lieutenant William M. Hunter on board the USS Franklin, begins on August 15, 1821 while the ship was in New York harbor waiting to set sail and ends August 26, 1824, shortly before the ship's return to New York. The log book includes all the usual information including daily entries listing the course of the ship, the ship's position, weather conditions, water remains, sick reports, and interactions with other ships. Hunter also comments often on the schooner Dolphin and its captain, David Conner, as it was accompanying the Franklin on its journey. It also includes several lengthy entries by Hunter detailing ports of call such as: Arica and Valparaíso, Chile; Callao, Peru; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and the Juan Fernández Islands. In these entries he talks about the activities of the crew, meeting local dignitaries, and even mentions Captain Stewart's wife Delia who was also on the voyage. Hunter also comments upon various aspects of the wars of independence against Spain including ships of the Chilean Navy returning from an engagement with Royalists and an attack on Arica, an "undefended town," by a Peruvian ship. The log book also includes 11 sketches by Hunter of various cities and places in South America and a larger chart of Cumberland Bay, also by Hunter, which is folded up and in the log book. The Watch, Quarter and Station bill for the USS Franklin is dated May 1824.
mssHM 70856-70857
