Collection Title: Francis J. Painter Papers
Collection Number: Ms. Coll. 172
Dates of Collection: 1863-1869
Box Numbers: 3 boxes, 86 folders, 1.2 linear feet
Repository: Chester County Historical Society, West Chester, PA 19380
Language: English
Project Archivist: Margaret Miles Baillie
Francis J. Painter was born on January 11, 1841, in West Chester as the fourth son of Samuel and Anne Vickers Painter. The Painters had nine sons and Francis was brother to Uriah. Their home was on the corner of Chestnut and High streets.
Francis, or Frank as he was known, was appointed Acting Assistant Paymaster with the US Navy on February 17, 1863, and was initially assigned to the gunboat Owasco. He saw action off the coast of North Carolina and then was ordered to service on the USS Estrella in the blockade of Texas and New Orleans. After the close of the war, he served on the USS Tuscarora and the USS Jamestown where he sailed to various ports in South America and to Alaska as part of the Asian Pacific Fleet.
On July 23, 1866, he was made Assistant Paymaster and eventually was brevetted Lieutenant Commander by an act of Congress. He retired from service in 1869 as a result of disabilities sustained from yellow fever and pneumonia. The yellow fever occurred in May 1863 when on the Estrella. He contracted pneumonia in 1869 when serving on the USS Jamestown.
After his naval service, he traveled and spent five years in Europe. He continued his travels for the remainder of his life. He was in Atlantic City at the time of his death on June 4, 1910, and his body was returned to West Chester were he was interred with other family members at Oaklands Cemetery. Fellow members of McCall Post No. 31 G.A.R. attended his funeral.
The collection spans the years from 1863 to 1869. The collection consists of correspondence, papers, and records related to his work on the USS Estrella, USS Tuscarora, and the USS Jamestown.
Manuscripts in the collection are arranged chronologically according to each ship’s name. Correspondence in the collection is mainly business correspondence.
– CCHC clippings files
– CCHC Ms. Coll. 124 Painter Family papers 1837 to 1922 which includes his letters to his family while serving in the Navy.
– CCHC Ms. Coll. 148Uriah H. Painter (West Chester Opera House) Business Papers 1869-1903. Francis ran the opera house for his brother.
– CCHC Photo Archives – cabinet cards.
Box 1 – USS Estrella: Correspondence and Ship’s Records 1863 – 1864
Folder 1 – Correspondence, New Orleans, June 27, 1865. Regarding confiscated cotton.
Folder 2 – Correspondence, New Orleans, September 21, 1865. Regarding money from cotton.
Folder 3 – Correspondence, New Orleans, April 13, 1866 (?); June 30, 1866. Regarding money from the sale of cotton and Paymaster Simmons.
Folder 4 – Clothing Issued, October 1863.
Folder 5 – Clothing Issued, November 1863.
Folder 6 – Clothing Issued, January 1864.
Folder 7 – Clothing Issued, March 1864.
Folder 8 – Clothing Issued, n.d.
Folder 9 – Requisition Small Stores, January 1863.
Folder 10 – Requisition Small Stores, September 1863.
Folder 11 – Requisition Small Stores, October 1863.
Folder 12 – Small Stores, Servants and Contraband, September 1863.
Folder 13 – Requisition Small Stores, December 1863.
Folder 14 – Requisition Small Stores, February 1864.
Folder 15 – Requisition Small Stores, March 1864.
Folder 16 – Requisition Small Stores, May 1864.
Folder 17 – Requisition Small Stores, June – July 1864.
Folder 18 – Requisition Small Stores, n.d.
Folder 19 – Requisitions Miscellaneous, 1864.
Folder 20 – Board of Survey, 1864.
Folder 21 – Receipts, 1863.
Folder 22 – Receipts, n.d.
Folder 23 – Payroll, n.d.
Folder 24 – Quarterly Return Small Stores, 1863-1864.
Folder 25 – Quarterly Return Provisions, 1863.
Folder 26 – Quarterly Return Clothing, 1863.
Box 2 – USS Tuscarora: Correspondence and Ship’s Records 1864 – 1866
Folder 27 – Correspondence, 1864.
Folder 28 – Correspondence, January – May 1865.
Folder 29 – Correspondence, June – December 1865.
Folder 30 – Correspondence, January – March 1866.
Folder 31 – Correspondence, April – June 1866.
Folder 32 – Correspondence, July – December 1866.
Folder 33 – Correspondence, 1867.
Folder 34 – Correspondence, other 1867.
Folder 35 – Correspondence, n.d.
Folder 36 – List of Bounty, n.d.
Folder 37 – List of Officers, 1867.
Folder 38 – Board of Surveys, 1867.
Folder 39 – Receipts, 1865.
Folder 40 – Receipts, 1866.
Folder 41 – Receipts, 1867.
Folder 42 – Receipts, n.d.
Folder 43 – Cash vouchers for traveling expenses.
Folder 44 – Account of Sale and Exchange, 1865.
Folder 45 – Account of Sale and Exchange, January – April 1866.
Folder 46 – Account of Sale and Exchange (w envelope), June – December 1866.
Folder 47 – Receipts for Accounts of Sale and Exchange 1865-1866.
Folder 48 – Quarterly Returns, Clothing, 1865.
Folder 49 – Quarterly Reports, 1866.
Folder 50 – Quarterly Returns, Small Stores, 1865.
Folder 51 – Provisions, 1865.
Folder 52 – Provisions, 1867.
Folder 53 – Quarterly Returns, Provisions 1865-1866.
Folder 54 – Draft of Final Return of Provisions, n.d.
Folder 55 – Reconciling Statement, 1865-1867.
Folder 56 – Final Return of Small Stores: Blank Form.
Box 3 – USS Jamestown: Correspondence and Ship’s Records 1866 – 1869
Folder 57 – Correspondence, 1867.
Folder 58 – Correspondence, 1868.
Folder 59 – Correspondence, April – December 1868.
Folder 60 – Board of Survey, 1867.
Folder 61 – Board of Survey, 1868.
Folder 62 – Orders to issue rations, 1868.
Folder 63 – Orders to issue passage, 1868.
Folder 64 – Receipt, 1867.
Folder 65 – Receipts, 1868.
Folder 66 – Invoices, July – October 1867.
Folder 67 – Invoices, November 1867.
Folder 68 – Invoices, December 1867.
Folder 69 – Invoices, January-February 1868.
Folder 70 – Invoices, March-May 1868.
Folder 71 – Invoices, June – August 1868.
Folder 72 – Statements, 1867.
Folder 73 – Statements, March-April 1868.
Folder 74 – Statements, May 1868.
Folder 75 – Statements, June 1868.
Folder 76 – Statements, July 1869.
Folder 77 – Quarterly Return, Clothing, 1868.
Folder 78 – Final Returns, Small Stores, 1868.
Folder 79 – Final Returns, Provisions, 1868.
Folder 80 – Final Returns, Clothing, 1868.
Folder 81 – Final Returns, August 1868.
Folder 82 – Final Returns, Correspondence about the 1868 Final Returns, 1869.
Folder 83 – Return of Hospital Property (USS Idaho), 1867-1868.
Folder 84 – Ledger, USS Tuscarora, 1866-1867.
Folder 85 – Ledger, USS Jamestown, 1867-1868.
Folder 86 – Ledger, USS Jamestown, 1867-1868.
225 N. High Street, West Chester, PA 19380 | 610-692-4800
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