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Historical Note

Scope and Content Note

Information for Researchers

Administrative Information

Description

Subject Headings

Inventory of the Smith Family Papers

In the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library

Historical Note

Peleg Smith (1700-1778) was a Dartmouth, Massachusetts, farmer who served as town selectman from 1753-1754 and also acted as clerk for the Dartmouth Monthly Meeting of Friends, about 1727-1759. He married Mary Howland (d. 1776) in 1721 and had eight children, including John (b. 1725), Anne Smith Russell (b. 1733), and Peleg Jr. (b. 1730). Peleg Smith's brother, Humphrey Smith (1705-1777), also was active in town politics and the Dartmouth Monthly Meeting, while his cousins, Thomas (b. 1740) and Benjamin (b. 1729) Smith, were Dartmouth merchants. Peleg Smith Jr. was a shipmaster involved in the coastwise trade who principally dealt with merchants in North Carolina. He also outfitted at least two of his vessels for whaling cruises off Nantucket, Mass. He had four children, Lowry (b. 1763), Elihu (b. 1768), John (b. 1770), and Christopher (b. 1772).

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Scope and Content Note

Materials in this collection primarily reflect the business and religious activities of the members of the Smith family of Dartmouth, Mass., between 1677-1823. The bulk of the material concentrates on Peleg Smith and Peleg Smith Jr. Of primary importance in the elder Smith's papers are records which he collected, generated, or received while serving as clerk of the Dartmouth Monthly Meeting of Friends. This material, dating from 1677-1768, includes incoming and outgoing correspondence and related documents concerning the Friends' refusal to serve in the Massachusetts militia during the French and Indian War. Peleg Smith's other papers consist of incoming and outgoing personal and business correspondence, 1739-1778, reflecting his duties as selectman; legal documents, 1727-1778, including estate records and several warrants against Smith; financial records, 1723-1775; and memoranda and miscellany, 1741-ca. 1750.

The papers of Peleg Smith Jr. reflect his activities as a shipmaster and consist of incoming and outgoing business and personal correspondence, 1758-ca. 1807; legal documents, 1761-1790; financial records, 1760-1803, including ship's papers for such vessels as the Patience (Sloop) and Polly (Sloop); and memoranda, 1762-1773. Also represented by correspondence, legal documents, and financial records dating from 1750-1829, are Humphrey Smith, John Smith, Benjamin Smith, Anne Smith Russell, Thomas Smith, Lowry Smith, Elihu Smith, and Christopher Smith. A final sub-group of this collection contains correspondence, legal documents and fragmentary account records, ca. 1750-1823, believed to have belonged to Smith family members.

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 27 [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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Administrative Information

Provenance

Materials in this collection were given to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society by Mrs. J.E. Bradford in October 1933.

Processing Information

Processed by: Barbara E. Austen, ca. 1982

Encoded by: Kermit Dewey, 14 August 2011; box list appended by Mark Procknik, 8 March 2012

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

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Description

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Subject Headings

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Vessel Names

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