He Was the First U.S. Naval Officer to Offer his Services to the South

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KELL, John McIntosh (1823-1900) Executive Officer of the Confederate cruisers Alabama and Sumter. After entering the United States Navy at the age of 17, he served in the Mexican War and in 1853 on Perry's expedition to Japan. Upon Georgia's secession from the Union, Kell was the first U.S. Naval officer to offer his services to the South. Autograph Letter Signed, “Jno. Kell ” 2p. quarto, Steamer La Grande, Alabama River, November 14, 1860, with cover addressed to Mrs. Jno. M. Kitt, in Macon, Georgia, it reads in part: “...we have hada very pleasant trip down the river, although by no means so pleasant a boat as the Bulah, in which we went up...” More on his trip and family. VG. Rare.

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