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Re: Joseph Goldborough Bruff (1800-1889)
Jason Atkinson
Jul 10, 2019 9:31 AM
Dear Mr. Wells,
Thank you for posting you request on History Hub!
We searched the series titled Applications and Recommendations for Positions in the Washington, DC, Offices, 1830 - 1910 in the General Records of the Department of the Treasury (Record Group 56) and located a file for a J.G. Bruff. It did not include illustrations or other artwork. For access to and/or copies of this file, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov.
Also, we located a reference to Joseph G. Bruff doing design work related to the Revenue Marine in a letter from him dated December 20, 1886 and published in the Congressional Record. We also located an article by the Library of Congress on Joseph Goldsborough Bruff that gives a biography of him, to include his work for the government, and describes some of the holdings in the Library of Congress and the National Archives related to him. The article does not mention any drawings related to the Revenue Marine in the custody of either institution, however there is a small possibility that we have additional illustrations by him which are not described in the article. Please contact the National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures (RDSS) via email at stillpix@nara.gov. We recommend that you also contact the United States Coast Guard Historian’s Office and the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Reading Division.
For other depictions of the personnel of the Revenue Cutter Service which may provide an insight into the uniforms of the period, see the record series Portraits of Commissioned Officers of the Revenue- Cutter Service, ca. 1840 - ca. 1915 in the Records of the U.S. Coast Guard (Record Group 26). Also in Record Group 26 is the record series Photographic Exhibits Related to Agency History and Events which documents the time period 1890 - 1988. Both of these series are in the custody of RDSS.
We hope this information is helpful. Best of luck with your research!