Biography of Morgan Barney
Morgan Barney was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, September 25, 1878. He was the son of George and Juliet A. M. Barney of New Bedford and related to the Barney’s who came from Nantucket to New Bedford in the early 1800’s to carry on the whaling industry in the latter city. He was also related to the Howland family who were prominent merchants in New Bedford.
He spent the summers of his youth designing, building and racing small sail boats. He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating in 1900 with a major in Naval Architecture. He went to New York, working first for the naval architect, H.C. Wintringham, and then opened his own office where he developed designs for many large motor yachts. He also designed several cruising sailboats.
During World War I, he worked in New Bedford on the conversion of oil barges to oil tankers, and on designs of vessels and weapons to combat the German submarine menace.
In later life he lived in Greenwich and Stamford, Connecticut, owning and chartering several small sail boats, and managing the rental of various pieces of real estate that he, his wife and his sister owned. He had many friends; belonged to the New Bedford Yacht Club and the Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich; and was one of the founders of the New York Technology Club as well as being an active MIT alumnus.
He was very close to his sister, Ann Barney Sharp with whom he spent his last days. At the time of his death, on June 22, 1943 in Stamford, Connecticut, he left his wife, Nora Stanton Barney, a daughter, Rhoda, and a son John “Peter”.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of two boxes: the first box holds nine diaries and an account book; the second box consists of builder’s agreements, primarily for yachts and boats designed by Morgan Barney, plus some school notebooks belonging to his son, John “Peter” Barney and other miscellaneous papers.
The diaries cover distinctly different periods in Morgan Barney’s life, and because of this, give a somewhat disjointed picture, but they do show that he was a talented yacht designer, a vociferous reader of all types of subject matter from the classics to the latest technology, and a complicated personality who shifted from moments of inventive ideas and enthusiasms to times of deepest depression.
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:
Barney, George
Barney, John Peter
Merrill, Edward
Sharp, Ann Barney
Subjects:
Boatbuilding
Cerebrovascular disease
Whale oil
Whaling–Massachusetts–New Bedford
Yachts–Designs and plans
Document Types:
Diaries
Diplomas
Specifications
Occupations:
Naval architects–Connecticut–Stamford
Yacht designers–Connecticut–Stamford
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Administrative Information
Coll. 207, 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.
| Volumes; 1899-1943 | |||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Diary, Morgan Barney; 1899 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Diary, Morgan Barney; 1890 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Diary/Notebook, Morgan Barney and others; 1911-1912 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Diary, Peter Barney; 1936 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Diary, Peter Barney; 1938 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Diary, Morgan Barney; 1940 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Diary, Morgan Barney; 1941 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Diary, Morgan Barney; 1942 | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Diary, Morgan Barney/Ann Barney Sharp (sister); 1943 | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Account Book, containing invoices of whale oil and sperm candles etc., primarily by Edward Merrill of New Bedford. Also records of expenses and receipts of rentals of houses owned by Morgan Barney; 1909-1912 | ||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous papers, builders agreements and notebooks; 1900-1943 | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Builders agreements, primarily for yachts and boats designed by Morgan Barney, New York N.Y.; ca. 1900-1910 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Builders Agreements, etc., as described above; ca. 1900-1910 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Builders Agreements, etc., as described above; ca. 1900-1910 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Builders Agreements, etc., as described above; ca. 1900-1910 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Miscellaneous correspondence; ca. 1920-1940 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | “Circular of Information for Employees”, Cox & Stevens, Inc.; 1942 Jul 7 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Miscellaneous papers; ca. 1920-1940 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | School notebooks and assignment book, John Barney; 1941 | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Notebook, “Activities at Cox & Stevens”; 1942 Mar-1943 Feb | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Surveying & Navigation calculations, J. Barney; 1941 | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Steam Engine Calculations, Morgan Barney; ca. 1920 | ||||||||||||