Major, S. I. M. (Samuel Ira Monger) (1877-1952) Papers, 1826-1952
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: S. I. M. (Samuel Ira Monger) Major, 1877-1952 Papers, 1826-1952
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Curator of Special Collections.
Size of Collection: 7 cubic feet
Location Number: Mss./A/M234
Scope and Content Note
The Major Papers include correspondence and other material related to S. I. M. Major, III’s life and career in the United States Navy. Correspondence, primarily from friends and family to Major, reveals the everyday life of an American naval officer in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. Notable correspondents include future admiral and Chief of Staff to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, William D. Leahy, and James Wheldon Johnson, the first African-American Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The collection also contains correspondence and other items related to other members of the Major family, including Major’s father, S. I. M. Major, Jr., who was Kentucky State Printer, as well as the mayor of Frankfort, Kentucky, circa 1878-1880. Other topics of interest include items related to the Beauchamp-Sharp tragedy of 1826, and Major’s involvement in the office of the U.S. Ambassador to France in 1914.
Any photographs have been transferred to the Scott-Major Family photo archives, and a number of miscellaneous postcards were transferred to the Filson’s postcard collection.
Biographical Note
Born in Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1877, S. I. M. Major, III, attended the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, from 1895-1899. His stay at the college was temporarily interrupted in April 1898, when he and the rest of his class were ordered to active service to fight in the Spanish-American War. During the war, Major participated in the blockade of Santiago de Cuba, as well as the battle of Santiago on July 2, 1898. After a tour along the coast of South America, in 1901, Major participated in the Filipino-American War, off the coast of Cavite, Philippines. In 1912, Major commanded railroad operations during the U.S. occupation of Nicaragua, and in 1914, served as the Naval attaché to the U.S. Ambassador to France. Later, he also held a post as at the Naval Experiment Station in New London, Connecticut, where the U.S. submarine fleet was born. He retired from the navy in 1924, after reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and lived the rest of his life in Kentucky. He was married in 1932, and died in Versailles, Kentucky in 1952.
Folder List
Folder 1: Correspondence, 1879-1891
Folder 2: Correspondence, 1895-1898
Folder 3: Correspondence, January-March, 1899
Folder 4: Correspondence, April-May, 1899
Folder 5: Correspondence, July-December, 1899
Folder 6: Correspondence, 1900
Folder 7: Correspondence, Undated (circa 1900)
Folder 8: Correspondence, 1901
Folder 9: Correspondence, 1902
Folder 10: Correspondence, 1903
Folder 11: Correspondence, Undated (circa 1903)
Folder 12: Correspondence, January-August, 1904
Folder 13: Correspondence, September-December, 1904
Folder 14: Correspondence, Undated (circa 1904)
Folder 15: Bundled Correspondence, 1904-1905
Folder 16: Bundled Correspondence, 1904-1906
Folder 17: Correspondence, January-February, 1905
Folder 18: Correspondence, March-April, 1905
Folder 19: Correspondence, May, 1905
Folder 20: Correspondence, June, 1905
Folder 21: Correspondence, July-August, 1905
Folder 22: Correspondence, September-October, 1905
Folder 23: Correspondence, November-December, 1905
Folder 24: Correspondence, January-March, 1906
Folder 25: Correspondence, April-June, 1906
Folder 26: Correspondence, July-August, 1906
Folder 27: Correspondence, September-December, 1906
Folder 28: Correspondence, 1907
Folder 29: Correspondence, March-June, 1908
Folder 30: Correspondence, July-December, 1908
Folder 31: Bundled Correspondence, 1908-1909
Folder 32: Correspondence, January-June, 1909
Folder 33: Correspondence, July-December, 1909
Folder 34: Correspondence, Undated (circa 1909)
Folder 35: Correspondence, January, 1910
Folder 36: Correspondence, February, 1910
Folder 37: Correspondence, March-April, 1910
Folder 38: Correspondence, May, 1910
Folder 39: Correspondence, June, 1910
Folder 40: Correspondence, July-August
Folder 41: Correspondence, September-October, 1910
Folder 42: Correspondence, November-December, 1910
Folder 43: Correspondence, January-February, 1911
Folder 44: Correspondence, March-August, 1911
Folder 45: Correspondence, September-December, 1911
Folder 46: Bundled Correspondence, 1911-1912
Folder 47: Bundled Correspondence, 1911-1912
Folder 48: Bundled Correspondence, 1911-1912
Folder 49: Bundled Correspondence (“Family Letters”), 1911-1913
Folder 50: Bundled Correspondence (“Family Letters”), 1911-1913 (cont.)
Folder 51: Bundled Correspondence, 1911-1913
Folder 52: Correspondence, January-June, 1912
Folder 53: Correspondence, July-September, 1912
Folder 54: Correspondence, October-December, 1912
Folder 55: Correspondence, January-February, 1913
Folder 56: Correspondence, March-April, 1913
Folder 57: Correspondence, May-June, 1913
Folder 58: Correspondence, July-August, 1913
Folder 59: Correspondence, September-December, 1913
Folder 60: Bundled Correspondence, 1913
Folder 61: Bundled Correspondence, 1913-1914
Folder 62: Correspondence, Undated (circa 1913)
Folder 63: Correspondence, January-May, 1914
Folder 64: Correspondence, June-July, 1914
Folder 65: Correspondence, August-December, 1914
Folder 66: Correspondence, Undated (circa 1914)
Folder 67: Correspondence, January-February, 1915
Folder 68: Correspondence, March-April, 1915
Folder 69: Correspondence, May-June, 1915
Folder 70: Correspondence, July-August, 1915
Folder 71: Correspondence, September-October, 1915
Folder 72: Correspondence, November-December, 1915
Folder 73: Correspondence, Undated (circa 1915)
Folder 74: Correspondence, January-February, 1916
Folder 75: Correspondence, March-April, 1916
Folder 76: Correspondence, May-June, 1916
Folder 77: Correspondence, July-August, 1916
Folder 78: Correspondence, September-October 1916
Folder 79: Correspondence, November, 1916
Folder 80: Correspondence, December, 1916
Folder 81: Bundled Correspondence, 1916-1921
Folder 82: Correspondence, Undated (circa 1916)
Folder 83: Correspondence, January-February, 1917
Folder 84: Correspondence, March-December, 1917
Folder 85: Correspondence, 1918
Folder 86: Correspondence, January-June, 1919
Folder 87: Correspondence, July-December, 1919
Folder 88: Correspondence, Undated (circa 1919)
Folder 89: Correspondence, 1920
Folder 90: Correspondence, January-June, 1921
Folder 91: Correspondence, July-December, 1921
Folder 92: Correspondence, 1922
Folder 93: Correspondence, 1923
Folder 94: Correspondence, Undated (circa 1923)
Folder 95: Bundled Correspondence, 1924-1927
Folder 96: Bundled Correspondence, January-March, 1925
Folder 97: Bundled Correspondence, April-June, 1925
Folder 98: Bundled Correspondence, 1927-29
Folder 99: Correspondence, 1928-29
Folder 100: Correspondence, 1930
Folder 101: Correspondence, 1931-1932
Folder 102: Bundled Correspondence, 1932
Folder 103: Correspondence, 1937-1945
Folder 104: Correspondence, 1952
Folder 105: Correspondence from family, Undated
Folder 106: Correspondence from others, Undated, A-R
Folder 107: Correspondence from others, Undated, S-Z, Unsigned
Folder 108: Wedding Invitations, 1911
Folder 109: Wedding Invitations, 1911
Folder 110: Wedding Invitations, 1912
Folder 111: Wedding Invitations, 1912-1913
Folder 112: Invitations, Cards, etc., Undated
Folder 113: Invitations, Cards, etc., Undated
Folder 114: Invitations, Cards, etc., Undated
Folder 115: Invitations, Cards, etc., Undated
Folder 116: Postcards, Undated
Folder 117: Genealogy
Folder 118: Beauchamp Poem, 1826
Folder 119: Obituaries
Folder 120: Miscellaneous, 1884-1952
Folder 121: Gradebook, 1891
Folder 122: Dance Cards, 1907-1910
Folder 123: Kentucky Historical Society, 1940-1949
Folder 124: Funeral Material, 1952
Folder 125: Assorted Calling Cards
Folder 126: Ephemera, Asia
Folder 127: Ephemera, France
Folder 128: Ephemera, Kentucky
Folder 129: Ephemera, Naval
Folder 130: Miscellaneous, Undated
Folder 131: S.I.M. Major, II, Correspondence, 1858-1877
Folder 132: S.I.M. Major, II, Business Papers, 1857-1881
Folder 133: S.I.M. Major, II, Report Cards, 1840-1841
Folder 134: S.I.M. Major, II, Report Cards, 1842-1844
Folder 135: S.I.M. Major, II, Latin Text, 1840
Folder 136: S.I.M. Major, II, Steamboat & Rail Tickets, 1858-1886
Folder 137: S.I.M. Major, II, Miscellaneous
Folder 138: Correspondence of Various Relatives, 1822-1939
Folder 139: P.U. Major, Miscellaneous
Oversize Folders
Folder 140: Map of Montevideo, Uruguay (oversize)
Folder 141: Japanese Posters (oversize)
Folder 142: S.I.M. Major, II, Documents (oversize)
Folder 143: S.I.M. Major, III, Diplomatic Papers, Russia & France, 1914 (oversize)
Folder 144: S.I.M. Major, III, Naval College Graduation Certificates, 1899
Subject Headings
Alcoholism
Beauchamp, Jereboam O., 1802-1826
China – History – Revolution, 1911-1912
Christian Science
Drug abuse
Education – Kentucky
Japan – Social life and customs
Johnson, James Weldon, 1871-1938
Leahy, William D., 1875-1959
Major, S.I.M. (Samuel Ira Monger), 1877-1952
Manila Bay (Philippines) — Description and travel
Pyramids – Egypt
Railroads – Kentucky
Sailors – Relations with women
Steamboats – Kentucky
Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930
Temperance
Tobacco
United States – Social life and customs
United States Naval Academy
United States. Navy – Military life
