Table of Contents

Historical Note

Scope and Content Note

Information for Researchers

Related Materials

Separations List

Administrative Information

Description

Added Entries

Inventory of the Howland Family Papers

In the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library

Historical Note

Members of the Howland family were chiefly involved with mercantile activities and the whaling industries at New Bedford, Massachusetts, between 1797-1890. George Howland Sr. (1781-1852) began his career in the office of William Rotch Jr. (1759-1850), in 1797 and established his own firm by 1813. He also served as president of the Bedford Commercial Bank from 1816 to 1851 and operated a real estate business in Union Springs, New York, managed by two of his sons, Charles Wing Howland (1817-1896), and Robert Bowne Howland (1826-1916), and a son-in-law, William Henry Chase (1805-1877). Two other sons, George Howland Jr. (1806-1892), and Matthew Howland (1814-1884), were partners in George Howland & Sons and continued the firm after the father's death in 1852.

Susan Howland (1791-1872), who married George Howland Sr. in 1810, was a preacher of prominence in the Society of Friends who made two religious missions to Great Britain in 1848-1849 and 1856-1859. During these trips she visited and held religious services with virtually every Friends family in Great Britain.

Her brother, Edward Wing Howland (1804-1879), was engaged in the whaling industry with his brother, Cornelius Howland (1802-1865), and his nephew, George Barney (1821-1883), in which they served as agents and outfitters of numerous vessels.

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Scope and Content Note

Papers in this collection reflect the activities of members of the Howland family of New Bedford, Mass., between 1797-1890. The firm of George Howland & Sons was established by George Howland Sr. and was continued by his sons, George Jr. and Matthew after their father's death. The Howlands were primarily agents for merchant and whaling vessels. Their financial records include journals, ledgers, and cash books, dating 1797-1863, containing information regarding business dealings with John Howland Jr. (1782-1852), James Howland II (1783-1861), William Rotch Jr., the Weweantit Iron Company of Wareham, Mass., and Grinnell, Minturn, & Company of New York and its predecessors. These volumes also reflect business interests with various vessels such as George (Brig), Robert Barclay (Brig), and Elizabeth (Ship) as well as those vessels represented in the ship's papers series for the company. These volumes also contain estate records for George Howland Sr. Other financial records include invoices; accounts for ship repairs and refitting; a protest for monies owed; bills of lading and of exchange; and bills and receipts, 1818-1890. Ship's papers, 1805-1877, contain crew accounts; outfitting books; Sea Letters; protests; bills of exchange and lading; and bills and receipts. These papers represent numerous vessels including Ann Alexander (Ship), which was sunk by a whale; George Howland (Ship), which was captured by Spanish pirates off Ecuador; and Golconda (Ship), which was captured by the Confederate gunboat Florida. There are also journals concerning the guano industry at Howland Island and other matters, 1850-1874.

Also included in this collection are personal papers of George Howland Sr. and his wife, Susan Howland Howland, as well as those of other family members. The elder Howland's papers consist of incoming correspondence, 1813-1852, which includes a letter from Joshua Stanley which discusses the slave trade in North Carolina in 1846. Other papers include deeds and other legal documents, 1805-1844; and a subscription for fencing Friends Meeting House yard, 1826. Susan Howland Howland's papers consist of incoming and outgoing correspondence, 1839-1869; draft of her will, ca. 1870; travel journals, 1820-1849; "scrapbooks" including her meditations and aspirations kept on a regular basis, 1848-1869; religious meditations and scripture texts, 1841-1868; a memorial to her husband, 1852 and lists, calling cards, and clippings, ca. 1848-1868; chiefly concern religious matters.

Also represented by personal correspondence in this collection are Matthew Howland, Charles Wing Howland, Robert Bowne Howland, and Susan's sister, Lydia Howland Congdon (1793-1877). Papers for Edward Wing Howland contain ship's papers consisting of Whalemen’s Shipping Papers, customs and consular records, and bills and receipts, 1846-1871, for such vessels as Cornelius Howland (Ship) and Onward (Ship).

Materials in the Howland collection are arranged into sub-groups representing the business records and personal papers of family members. Records of George Howland & Sons comprise Sub-group 1. Sub-groups 2-8, containing papers relating to individual Howlands, are arranged chronologically by each person’s date of birth. All incoming correspondence is arranged first by year, then by the writer. Other papers, organized into series by type of document, are arranged in chronological order except for the ship's papers, which are grouped alphabetically by name of vessel. Published works which may serve as a guide to the persons represented in this collection include The Howland Heirs, by William M. Emery (1919), and A Brief Genealogical And Biographical History Of Arthur, Henry And John Howland..., by Franklyn Howland (1885).

Arrangement of Collection

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Information for Researchers

Access to the Collection

Unrestricted. Consult librarian for an appointment.

Preferred Citation

New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library Mss 7 [sub-group, series, sub-series, folder/volume as appropriate], [item]

Copyright Notice

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 United States Code 552a) governs the use of materials that document private individuals, groups, and corporations.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a reproduction if the document does not infringe the privacy rights of an individual, group, or corporation. These specified conditions of authorized use include:

If the researcher later uses a copy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," the researcher is personally liable for copyright. privacy, or publicity infringement and agrees to indemnify the New Bedford Whaling Museum from any legal action as a result of the error. Permission to obtain a photographic, xerographic, digital, or other copy of a document does not indicate permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, sell, distribute, or prepare derivative works from the document without permission from the copyright holder and from any private individual, group, or corporation shown or otherwise recorded.

Permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, prepare derivative works from, sell, or otherwise distribute the item must be obtained separately in writing from the holder of the original copyright (or if the creator is dead, from his/her heirs) as well as from any individual(s), groups, or corporations whose name, image, recorded words, or private information (e.g. employment information) may be reproduced in the source material. The holder of the original copyright is not necessarily the New Bedford Whaling Museum. The New Bedford Whaling Museum is not legally liable for copyright, privacy, or publicity infringement when materials are wrongfully used after being provided to researchers for "fair use."

This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if fulfillment of the order is judged in violation of copyright or federal or state privacy law. This institution also places restrictions on the use of cameras, photocopiers, and scanners in the research room.

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Related Materials

Related Manuscript Collections

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Separations List

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Administrative Information

Provenance

The majority of the material in this collection was donated to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society by Waldo and Llewellyn Howland in 1973. Additional materials were donated to the Society by Frank M. Taylor on 26 September 1950 and the estate of William H. Tripp on 2 April 1960. Additional materials were donated by Llewellyn Howland III on 24 March 1987.

Processing Information

Processed by: Judith Downey, additional material added on 25 October 1990, ca. 1982

Encoded by: Kermit Dewey, 8 June 2011; box list amended by Mark Procknik, 01 July 2011

Funds for processing this collection were provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Description

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Added Entries

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Vessel Names

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