Midway Island Scenes & Memories, 1903-1918

Published May 23, 2024 by

Jonathan Dembo

Filed under:

East Carolina Manuscript Collection

Pictured are a fragment of a letter Rear Admiral Albert Parker Niblack wrote to his wife on their 15^th wedding anniversary, 24 November 1918, and 6 photographs of Midway Island that he enclosed with the letter. The letter and photographs have both personal and historical interest.

The letter is missing an address and date but internal evidence establishes when, where, and to whom he addressed it:

“. . . I put a postscript to my letter of last night saying that Hassy & [Hodofor?] both say the talk is that we go to Brest [France] in November etc. Today is our anniversary and in two months it will be 15 happy happy years, sweetheart.[1] I got a bunch of ship mail today & Pemberton writes me he is going to marry a girl of 28. I enclose her photo, & the newspaper clipping. He is in command of the Submarine base at San Pedro, California. It is a good thing as he is 58 and she will help him along. . . .

I enclose a set of photographs of Midway that I got today from a Mr. Peltz in Honolulu as a present. They show the re-forestation of Midway. You remember how hard I [worked?] to get trees out there. There was only a little grass. Now look at it. No one believed trees would grow. It is amazing.

I had a very busy day and it is now 11 o’clock. Good Night Sweet heart. I have lots to do to put away tomorrow.

Affectionately, Albert”[2]

When Admiral Niblack wrote the letter, he was stationed at Gibraltar and had been separated from his wife since April 1917, when the U. S. entered World War I. At first, he commanded Division 1 of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet aboard the battleship Alabama. Later, he commandeddron 2, Patrol Force. In November 1917, he was transferred to Gibraltar. From Gibraltar, Niblack commanded more than 40 U. S. American warships in the Mediterranean Sea until the end of 1919. He wrote a book about the experience, entitled “Putting Cargoes Through: The U. S. Navy at Gibraltar During the First World War, 1917-1919.” John B. Hattendorf edited and wrote an introduction (Gibraltar: Calpe Press, 2018).[3]

The occasion of his anniversary, his separation from his wife, and the arrival of the Midway photographs seem to have struck an emotional chord in the lonely Admiral. He thought back to 1903, when many of these same circumstances applied. In 1903, the 44-year-old Lt. Niblack was attached to the naval station at Honolulu, Hawaii and frequently duty called him to visit the other Hawaiian Islands and as far west as Midway. He spent many months away from his home and bride. It was at this time that Niblack noted the virtual absence of vegetation on Midway and began strenuous efforts to get plants to grow on the low coral atoll. His efforts seem to have been so well-known that 15 years later Mr. Pelz, of Honolulu, sent him the photographs to show the progress made. As the photographs sent to him by Mr. Pelz of Honolulu show, by 1918, vegetation had spread to cover much of the island. Also seen are the buildings and personnel on the island. Photograph #1, annotated by “W.S.G.” on the back of the print, lists the buildings:

“C. P. Cable Co’s [Commercial Pacific Cable Company] temporary buildings showing positions of new buildings (new office in photo) now under construction.

Old buildings reading from left to right are: Store-room, oil house, store room & Doctor’s quarters, Mess building, Chinese quarters, Supt’s quarters & two of staff, office, one of staffs shack & on the hill shack were [where] Mr. Morse of the Geodetic Survey lived & took his observation, below hill was house & to the extreme right new office building going up. ‘W.S.G.’”

Letter from Rear Admiral Albert Parker Niblack to his wife on their 15th wedding anniversary. Albert Parker Niblack Collection (#1080). East Carolina Manuscript Collection.

Photograph of Midway Island. Albert Parker Niblack Collection (#1080). East Carolina Manuscript Collection.

Back of photograph of Midway Island. Albert Parker Niblack Collection (#1080). East Carolina Manuscript Collection.

Photograph of Midway Island. Albert Parker Niblack Collection (#1080). East Carolina Manuscript Collection.

Sources:

[1] Albert and Mary Niblack married on 24 November 1903. Their 15^th anniversary would be 24 November 1918. See: Albert Parker Niblack Pamphlet (1924) #1080.5.a

[2] Transcript of a fragment of Albert Parker Niblack’s letter to his wife, Mary, ca. 24 November 1918, enclosing photographs of Midway Island. 1 p. #1080.3.d.1.1-2

[3] Reviewed by McCartney, I. (2019). Putting Cargoes Through: The US Navy at Gibraltar during the First World War 1917–1919: by A. P. Niblack and J. B. Hattendorf (eds), Calpe Press, 2018, (pb), 119 pages, illustrations, index, ISBN 9781919665108. The Mariner’s Mirror, 105(3), 373–374. https://doi.org/10.1080/00253359.2019.1630143