Biography of William Henry Tripp
William Henry Tripp (1880-1959) was the Curator of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society and the Bourne Whaling Musuem in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Mr. Tripp was also a recognized authority and lecturer on the American whaling industry, and gained prominence as an author, historian and amateur photographer.
Restrictions
Restrictions on Access
Available for use in the Manuscripts Division
Restrictions on Use
Various copying restriction apply. Guidelines are available from the Manuscripts Division.
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the G. W. Blunt White Library. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Persons:
Potter, Edward F.
Potter, William, II.
Winsor, Zenas
Places:
New Bedford (Mass.)–History
Subjects:
Shipmasters
Whaling
Whaling masters
Document Types:
Account books
Logbooks
Occupations:
Historians–Massachusetts–New Bedford
Administrative Information
Coll. 58, Manuscripts Collection, G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc.
Indexes
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
| Papers; 1813-1959 | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Papers of H. Percy Ashley, including letters, manuscript drafts, and newspaper clippings.; 1933-1944 (17 pieces) | |||||||||||
| 2 | Papers of Edward F. Potter and William Potter II, including letters, bills of lading, and receipts from New Bedford, Mass.; 1841-1879 (28 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Account books for the ketch COMMERCE; 1856-1857 (2 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Misc. papers mostly bills and receipts pertaining to numerous vessels; 1834-1901 (32 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Receipts pertaining to the Schooner WILLIAM B. GRABER; 1916 (9 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Papers for the expenses pertaining to the sickness and death of Zenas Winsor, master of the ship VIKING, for the account with Morgan Stone & Co.; in addition to letters; 1855-1860 (14 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Imprints of the American Shipmasters Association rules; 1874 and 1878 (2 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Misc. brochures including catalogs; 1838-1852 (13 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Papers concerning the Brig MARY CELESTE; undated (10 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Correspondence of William H.Tripp; 1923-1959 (55 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Extracts from manuscripts Ship NEPTUNE, and 1853, Ship ARCTIC; 1820 (2 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 12 | Indenture Joseph Antone to Jerimiah Mayhew; plus 2 silhouettes of Paul Cuffee; 1813 Feb 22 (3 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Manuscript of Horace Clinton Johnson, relating experiences on board the Ship TRIUMPHANT, Henry Libby, master, in addition to Johnson’s discharge from that vessel; undated, 1878 Oct 2 (41 pages, 2 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Manifest for the ship SCOTLAND, Humphrey W. Seabury, master, taken on board at sea in the northern Atlantic Ocean, bound for the port of New Bedford, Mass.; 1860 Nov 28 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Misc. clippings mostly concerning the CHARLES W. MORGAN and Mystic Seaport.; 1939-1959 (64 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 16 | Consulate papers for the Barks GRATITUDE and ELIZABETH SWIFT; 1865 and 1868 (2 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 17 | Transcriptions by Amos Milton Masser, for Zenas Winsor, on board the ships VIKING and MONSOON; 1856-1860 (4 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 18 | Papers of the firm of Taber Read & Co., New Bedford, Mass., shipping agents, including letters, seamen’s contracts, whaling contracts, passage receipts, and clippings.; 1871-1874 (41 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 19 | Statement pertaining to the disaster of the Ship NATCHEZ of New Bedford, Mass., Bellows, master, signed by 14 members of the crew.; 1857 Dec 8 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 20 | Misc. papers including letters, receipts and instructions.; 1840-1932 (36 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Cargo manifest and notes, concerning the Ship MONONGAHELA built at Philadelphia in 1828, and lost on an Arctic whaling voyage in 1853; undated (2 pieces) | |||||||||||
| 2 | Museum notebook kept by William H. Tripp; undated (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Genealogy notebook kept by William H. Tripp; undated (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Notes relating to numerous whaling vessels; undated (58 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Notes relating to genealogy data; undated (19 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Shipping Articles for the Ship VIKING of New York, N.Y., Zenas Winsor, master, bound for San Francisco, California; 1857 Dec 8 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Genealogy data of Rev. Charles Thurber, Chaplain of the Seaman’s Bethel, New Bedford, Mass., d. 1956 (27 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Papers of the whaling schooner A.M. NICHOLSON of New Bedford, Mass., Benjamin D. Cleveland, master; 1920, (7 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Accounts of the schooner CLARA A. PHINNEY of Easthampton, Mass.; 1890-1910 (10 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Papers of the whaling schooner WILLIAM A. GRABER, Hy. Mandly, master.; 1916-1919 (13 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Papers of Thomas W. Williams, master of the ship FLORIDA, and the bark JIREH SWIFT (burned by the SHENANDOAH on June 22, 1865; 1858-1865 (9 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 12 | Letter of Humphrey M Seabury, pertaining to his brother Jason, who was a crewman on board the missing whaler MONONGAHELA; 1856 May 6 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Letter from Ebenezer Wade of Havana, Cuba, to Parker Borden of Bristol, Rhode Island, pertaining to market conditions; 1834 Oct 11 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Poetry and songs; 1933 (4 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Typescript copy from issue of Whalemen’s Shipping List concerning the murder of Captain Norris of the whaling Ship SHARON (Fairhaven, Massachusetts); 1845 Mar 4 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 16 | Account book of crewmen outfitted by Cook & Snow; 1836-1852 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 17 | Insurance policy issued to Warren Gifford for catchings on board the Bark NAPOLEON; 1871 Jun 17 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 18 | Bill of Sale of Henry A. Gifford et al, of Fairhaven, Mass. conveying the Brig DAISY to Benjamin D. Cleveland, of New Bedford, Mass; 1913 Sep 19 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 19 | Bill of lading for plug tobacco shipped on board the whaling Bark EUGENIA of New Bedford, Mass., John Steen, master.; 1865 Jun 5 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 20 | Bills of exchange drawn against Swift & Allen, agents of New Bedford, Mass., for supplies furnished the Bark FANNY of the same port, Daniel B. Nye Jr., master; 1853-1855 (3 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 21 | Whalemen’s Shipping Paper for the bark OSPRAY of New Bedford, Mass., James M. Herrick, master; 1880 Mar 2 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 22 | Contract to build a ship, by Reuben Fish of Fairhaven, Mass., for Edward Robinson of New Bedford, Mass.; 1854 (?) (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 23 | Broadside announcing the sailing of the clipper bark ALASKA, B. Cogan, master, on April 25, from San Francisco, California to the gold fields at Kotzebue Sound, Alaska; 1898 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 24 | Memorial to the Bark WANDERER; 1925 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 25 | Notes on the Bark WANDERER by William H. Tripp; 1924 (25 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 26 | Notes relative to the career of the Bark WANDERER; undated (25 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 27 | Business cards of commission agents and merchants; undated (4 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 28 | Tribute to Frank Wood; 1933 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 29 | Partial listing of New Bedford, Mass. and San Francisco, California whalers; 1851-1883 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 30 | Advertisements for ships plans; undated (2 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 31 | Constitution of the Vineyard Mining Company; 1850s (?) (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 32 | Partial listing of stone fleet; 1861 | ||||||||||||
| 33 | Letters to William H. Tripp from Col. E.H.R. Green; 1930 (3 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 34 | Letter proposing Swift & Allen purchase the bark KENSINGTON for $15,000; 1850 May 25 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 35 | Agreement by Frederick J. Howland, master of the Bark NYE of Dartmouth, Mass., to relinquish his share of future “catchings”, due to illness; 1857 Sep 8 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 36 | Account of sperm whales taken by the bark PAMELIA; 1859-1860 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| 37 | Account of survey and sale of the bark LANCER, Benjamin D. Cleveland, master, to a Russian subject in Vladivostok; 1890 (1 piece) | ||||||||||||
| Newspaper clippings; 1830-1858 | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | Newspaper clippings; 1830s | |||||||||||
| 2 | Newspaper clippings; 1840s | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Newspaper clippings; 1850s | ||||||||||||
| 4 | “Pacific Commercial Advertiser” vol. III, no.34; 1859 Feb 17 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Newspaper clippings; 1860s | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Newspaper clippings; 1870s | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Newspaper clippings; 1880s | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Newspaper clippings; 1890s | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Newspaper clippings; 1900s | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Newspaper clippings; 1910s | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Newspaper clippings; 1920s | ||||||||||||
| 12 | Newspaper clippings; 1930 | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Newspaper clippings; 1932 | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Newspaper clippings; 1933 | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Newspaper clippings; 1934 | ||||||||||||
| 16 | Newspaper clippings; 1935 | ||||||||||||
| 17 | Newspaper clippings; 1936 | ||||||||||||
| 18 | Newspaper clippings; 1937 | ||||||||||||
| 19 | Newspaper clippings; 1938 | ||||||||||||
| 20 | Newspaper clippings; 1939 | ||||||||||||
| 21 | Newspaper clippings; 1940 | ||||||||||||
| 22 | Newspaper clippings; 1941 | ||||||||||||
| 23 | Newspaper clippings; 1942 | ||||||||||||
| 24 | Newspaper clippings; 1943 | ||||||||||||
| 25 | Newspaper clippings; 1944 | ||||||||||||
| 26 | Newspaper clippings; 1945 | ||||||||||||
| 27 | Newspaper clippings; 1946 | ||||||||||||
| 28 | Newspaper clippings; 1947 | ||||||||||||
| 29 | Newspaper clippings; 1948 | ||||||||||||
| 30 | Newspaper clippings; 1949 | ||||||||||||
| 31 | Newspaper clippings; 1950 | ||||||||||||
| 32 | Newspaper clippings; 1951 | ||||||||||||
| 33 | Newspaper clippings; 1952 | ||||||||||||
| 34 | Newspaper clippings; 1953 | ||||||||||||
| 35 | Newspaper clippings; 1954 | ||||||||||||
| 36 | Newspaper clippings; 1955 | ||||||||||||
| 37 | Newspaper clippings; 1956 | ||||||||||||
| 38 | Newspaper clippings; 1957 | ||||||||||||
| 39 | Newspaper clippings; 1958 | ||||||||||||
| 40 | Newspaper clippings; undated | ||||||||||||
| Volumes; 1832-1919 | |||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Journal kept on board the steamer VANDERBILT of New York, N.Y.; 1858 May 20-Jun 19 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Ships accounts for ship ROBERT EDWARDS in account with Jarvis Wood, master; 1858 Mar-1861 Nov | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Journal kept on board bark NYE of New Bedford, Mass., Daniel Baker, Master; 1851-1854 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Miscellaneous whaling account book; 1883-1887 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Abstract of whaling voyages perhaps kept by William H. Tripp of New Bedford, Mass.; 1832-1905 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Personal notebook recording experiences of Capt. Edmund Gardner; 1919 Nov 7 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Partial log kept on board ship GANGES of Nantucket, Mass. Thomas Coffin, master; 1849 Sep 12-Dec 23 | ||||||||||||