Civil War-Era Sea Chest Donated to LSU
Around Campus
By Ernie Ballard Photo by Eddy Perez
Shipping log books dating back to 1850; diaries from pre- and post-Civil War America; newspaper clippings; and personal items such as photographs, eye glasses, a pocket watch, and engraved silverware are just a few of the treasures Department of Geography & Anthropology faculty have discovered in a recent gift to the University – a sea chest belonging to the Lord family.
The sea chest last belonged to the late Evelyn Lord Pruitt, long-time friend, donor to the Department of Geography & Anthropology, and sponsor of the Coastal Studies Institute. The chest’s original owner was likely Pruitt’s grandfather, William A. Lord, who commanded ships that sailed to China, India, Europe, and around Cape Horn. “Evelyn had told me many times that she got her love for the sea from listening to her grandfather’s stories,” said Boyd Professor Emeritus H. Jesse Walker. “He obviously left the chest to his granddaughters … she had it as a keepsake of her grandfather.” Pruitt died in 2000, and the chest was stored by family friends. Walker received the chest from those friends in early January, and he, along with other faculty members unveiled its contents. LSU faculty members are working to Boyd Professor Emeritus H. Jesse Walker examines contents of a Civil War-era sea chest. catalog and research the contents, which “LSU faculty members date from the 1850s through the mid-1900s. The diaries and shipping logs have already begun to provide insight and context to life during that period. In just thumbing are working to catalog through the texts, faculty have found entries discussing the guano trade in Peru and and research the contents, even a mention of Napoleon. The ship’s logs include those from the vessel the Emily Farnum, which has a unique which date from the 1850s tie to LSU. On Oct. 3, 1862, the Emily Farnum, captained by Nathan Parker Simes, was through the mid-1900s.” captured and released by the Confederate Raider the Alabama. The Alabama’s captain was Raphael Semmes, who following the Civil War became a professor of philosophy and literature at LSU, and the street running in front of the LSU Student Union is named after Semmes. The Emily Farnum became one of the only American ships boarded by Semmes not to be destroyed. Walker said the next steps will be to bring in students to help catalog the contents and to find someone to help transcribe the texts. Historians and other professors will be brought in to analyze the contents, and eventually the chest and its treasures could be put on display in an exhibit. Pruitt contributed more than $900,000 to the University to be used “to educate women in the field of geography.” Thanks to her contributions, the Evelyn L. Pruitt Lecture Series was established and, thus far, 10 women scholars have been brought to campus to lecture and work with students. In 1983, LSU conferred the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters upon Pruitt. Ernie Ballard is director of Media Relations in the Office of Communications & University Relations.
46 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2013