This index to the Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Foochow, China, 1849-1906, collection provides the dates each reel covers. Government Information MAY NOT hold all of these reels. The record in the library catalog describes the extent of our holdings. For help, or to make an appointment to view a reel, email rad@colorado.edu
On the 10 rolls of this microcopy are reproduced 10 volumes that consist, for the most part, of despatches addressed to the Department of State by United States consular officials at Foochow, China, between July 14, 1849, and June 12, 1906. These despatches, with their enclosures, are arranged, with few exceptions, in chronological order. The contents of the despatches are registered on the first roll of the microcopy and also on Rolls 19-32 of Microcopy 17, State Department Registers of Correspondence.
During the period covered by these volumes Foochow was classified as a consulate by the Department of State. A large number of the despatches are covering letters for enclosures of a routine nature forwarded by consular officials to the Department of State, such as tables of consular fees received, trade statistics, and other data collected in the ordinary course of consular duty. In accordance with departmental policy adopted in 1870, however, most statistical enclosures were removed from their covering letters and distributed among other records of the Department of State or sent to other departments of the Government.
In addition there are, occasionally, fairly detailed dispatches covering a wide range of subjects. Included among these are reports of wrecks of American vessels; piracy; antiforeign and antimissionary disturbances, including the Huashan-Kutien Massacre of 1895; the French expedition against Foochow in 1884; and Chinese reactions to their exclusion from the United States.
The spreadsheet attached below contains a reel-by-reel description of the complete collection.