President Millard Fillmore Appoints a Naval Surgeon

30/12/1852. After he was graduated from Rutgers College, James Jeffray Brownlee studied medicine, and then entered the naval service of the United States after passing a term of months in practical work at the New-York Hospital. When the Civil War broke out, Dr. Brownlee joined his ship and left a brilliant record as a surgeon and an efficient officer. He was with the USS Connecticut during her most successful cruises, and found himself in possession of a considerable fortune at the close of the war, when, in poor health, he resigned his commission, and retired to private life.Document signed, picturing patriotic and nautical scenes and Neptune, Washington, December 30, 1852, appointing James Jeffray Brownlee “a surgeon in the Navy from the 19th of October, 1852.” (Inventory #: 29285)