Aaron S. Oberly papers
Collection
0282-MDHC
This collection includes 6 letters written to and by U.S. Navy Assistant Surgeon Aaron S. Oberly. The majority are "love letters" from Oberly to his future wife, Anna M. (Maria A.) Woodford while he was in Baltimore. In 1863, he served aboard the Union gunboat Kineo and in 1865, the steamer Santiago de Cuba.
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0.25 Linear Feet
The Aaron S. Oberly papers consist of six letters dating from 1863 and 1865. Five are "love letters" from Oberly to his future wife, Anna M. (Maria A.) Woodford. Among the details he provides, including his affection for Maria, are those of his health, the weather conditions, a train ride from New Haven, CT, to Baltimore, hotels he stayed in, and conditions of the ships and sailors.
Aaron S. Oberly was born in April 1837 in Pennsylvania and died in 1918 in Avon, CT. In 1860, he was a medical student at what is now the Yale School of Medicine and lived in New Haven with the Woodford family. In July 1861, he entered the U.S. Navy as an assistant surgeon. From 1861 to 1863 he served on the Kineo, a navy gunboat that fought Confederate forces along the Mississippi River. In August 1863 the Kineo sailed from New Orleans to Baltimore with two other Union gunboats, the Itasca and the Winona. In 1865, Oberly served on the Santiago de Cuba, a side-wheel steamer that stopped in Norfolk, VA and later Baltimore.
In 1866, Oberly married Anna Maria (Maria A.) Woodford (1844-1941) of New Haven, CT. They had two daughters.
The collection is organized into one series.
The materials have been placed in acid-free folders and stored in an acid-free box.
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives