Folio notebook ca. 32,5x20 cm (12 ¾ x 7 ¾ in). 47 lined laid paper leaves. With 87 mounted gelatin silver photos of various size, including 14 larger images, from ca. 12,5x20 cm (4 ¾ x 7 ¾ in) to ca. 8x19,5 cm (3 x 7 ¾ in). The rest of the photos are from ca. 10x15 cm (3 ¾ x 5 ¾ in) to ca. 5,5x8 cm (2 ¼ x 3 in). With one mounted cyanotype ca. 4,5x10 cm (1 ¾ x 3 ¾ in). All but three photos with period ink captions in English on the mounts, some also dated in ink (some captions relate to several images). The compiler’s period ink inscription with his name and rank on the first leaf. With a mounted paper leaf with printed letterhead of the “United States Customs Service, Siassi, P.I.;” the leaf is ca. 16x26,5 cm (6 ¼ x 10 ½ in); contains hand-written verse with New Year’s wishes, by one “Tan Swee Hong.” With a mounted newspaper clipping with Fee’s article, dated “Jan. 3 – 1901.” Period brown cloth notebook, neatly rebacked with brown morocco. Period paper label on the front board with the compiler’s ink inscription “D.E. Fee, Dept. Col. of Customs, Siassi, P.I.” Boards rubbed and partly scratched, mounts slightly waved, brittle, with occasional tears on extremities, a few photos mildly faded or with mild silvering, but overall a very good notebook with important interesting photos.

Historically significant collection of unique gelatin silver snapshot photos, taken by a 24-year-old American Dart Fee when serving as a deputy collector of customs on the Siasi Island (Sulu Archipelago, Southwestern Philippines) during the Philippine-American War (1899-1902). At the time, the island was a part of the Muslim Sultanate of Sulu (1457-1915), which fell under the jurisdiction of the Spanish Philippines in 1876 and was ceded to the United States after Spain’s defeat in the Spanish-American War (April-December 1898). According to the Kiram-Bates Treaty of August 1899, the U.S. established sovereignty over the Sultanate and its dependencies, which led to the independence movement and subsequent Moro Rebellion (1902-1913). The Sultanate became a part of the Moro Province of the American-administered Philippines, but the resistance of the local population against the American and later independent Filipino government continued into the 20th century.

Over fifty-five photos from the notebook illustrate Fee’s service on the Siasi Island in 1900-1901, as well as his official visits to the nearby Jolo Island, the administrative centre of the Sulu Sultanate.

Fourteen large photos include several views of the Siasi island, i.e.: American military Camp Gregg (views of the road and the entrance gate, a scene with the line of American soldiers at the fortification wall); general view with the “Lapac Island in the distance” and the “ditch gang in camp near the springs;” a view “from my back window;” native “badger” village built on the stilts in a bay; native cemetery with “Haji Hosman and Morro graves;” hospital and “old Spanish church;” “our cook Charles and his family,” &c. Very interesting is the scene with “Sultan & his party on the wall. First American Flag at Siassi, P.I. 23 Inf. [in the foreground].” Two photos portray Captain Samuel Seay, military governor of the island – while “surveying the water ditch” and talking with “two Spanish officers.” Another image portrays “Lieut. Norwood, Noyes, Dr. Fenney, D.E. Fee, Lieut. Goodale” while standing next to the dock tower on the Siasi pier. Large images of the Jolo Island show “light house and dock” and “Capt. Saye” in Jolo Park

The smaller photos include three scenes with American soldiers from a “sand gang” working on a water ditch, views of the Siasi dock tower (with a painted sign “Siassi” and two armed American soldiers), Camp Gregg (“cook house and walk to the hospital”), “the Commissary Building, the Flag at half-mast” (evidently, to honour the death of President McKinley on September 14, 1901), local market (with a visible sign “Mercado”), Market Road, Tiana Stret; a series of five images documenting a public punishment for “stealing rifles;” three photos of the interior of Fee’s living quarters in the Custom House, scenes with American soldiers posing with the local children, having lunch or “the only drink in Siassi – cocoanut milk,” playing “the national game” [baseball]; a group portrait of “school children & teacher,” native “Mrs. Wee Ah and bridal party,” &c.

The notebook contains two important portraits of Sultan Jamalul Kiram II (1868-1936) and the high-ranking officials of the Sultanate of Sulu. The group portrait of Sultan, Samuel Seay and their staff has eight people identified in the caption (“Dr. Fenney, Lieut. Merry, Lieut. Norwood, D.E. Fee, Capt. Samuel Seay, Haji Housman – chief police, Sultan of Jolo, Haji Butu – Sect. of War”); the second photo portrays “Haji Hosman, Dato [tribal chief] Puego and his followers.”

There is also a mounted leaf of paper with the printed letterhead of the “United States Customs Service, Siassi, P.I.” The leaf contains handwritten New Year’s wishes, signed by one “Tan Swee Hong” – possibly Fee’s subordinate.

The notebook also contains twenty-eight photos, taken by Fee during his voyage to the Siasi Island on board the Occidental & Oriental Company’s steamship “Doric.” The images show the ship (general view, the deck), Nagasaki harbour (a “Japanese war vessel,” “Mrs. P.M. & T.Q. Ashburn’s private launch ‘Nagasaki’”), Kobe, Shanghai (the Bund), “Doric’s” Captain, Fee’s travel companions, including “Mr. Smith, Pres. Hong Kong Shanghai Bank,” and “Mr. Moore, Chinese Consul arrested at Kobe during China-Japan War.” The voyage section closes with a mounted newspaper clipping with Fee’s article, titled “Perilous trip” and describing a stormy sailing from Manila to the Sulu Archipelago. The same page houses a photo of Fee’s brother-in-law, Major Thomas Q. Ashburn, “33 Infantry, Military Governor, Abra Province, Bangued, 1900.”

Overall an important unique, first-hand visual account of the first years of American rule in the Sulu Archipelago.

“At the breaking of the Spanish-American war Fee joined the First Regiment, and when mustered out was appointed to the position of Assistant Collector of Customs at Manila. This appointment was secured through the efforts of his brother-in-law, Lieutenant Ashburn, now on the staff of General McArthur, at Ft. Sheridan. Some time since he was transferred to the station at Siassi and had quite an experience while making the voyage there in a transport. The weather was unusually bad and it took 13 days to make the journey, which under favorable circumstances should have been made in much less time. Fee’s home is at New Richmond, Ohio. He is an athlete of some note and was one of the best players on the crack Oxford, Ohio, football team a few years ago. He is a graduate of the Miami University and at one time studied law” (Coming Home; From Philippines is Former Palace Hotel Clerk Fee// The Cincinnati Enquirer. December 1, 1901, p. 12). During the voyage to the Philippines in February 1900, Fee was “accompanied by his sister, Mrs. Percy M. Ashburn, wife of Dr. P. M. Ashburn, who is in charge of the general hospital on Cebu Island, and Mrs. Thomas Q. Ashburn, whose husband is a Major in the Thirty-third Infantry” (Off for the Philippines// The Cincinnati Post. January 26, 1900, p. 1).

In the 1930s, Fee served as the Pacific Coast general agent of the Federal Barge Lines in Los Angeles (Shipping News and Activities at Los Angeles Harbour//The Los Angeles Times, January 26, 1935, p. 15). He then lived in Maysville, Kentucky, where he worked as a secretary of the Maysville school board (D.E. Fee Dies// The Lexington Leader. November 7, 1938, p. 3).