Collection of William H. Tripp

Manuscripts Collection 58

Overview of the Collection

Repository: G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport
Creator: Tripp, William Henry, 1880-1959
Title: Collection of William H. Tripp
Dates: 1802-1959
Extent: ca. 1107 items
Abstract: This collection was assembled by William H. Tripp of New Bedford, Massachusetts and pertains primarily to the subject of whaling. It includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, account books, logbooks, and other miscellaneous manuscript items and memorabilia. Persons represented include H. Percy Ashley, and shipmasters Edward F. Potter, William Potter II, and Zenas Winsor.
Identification: Coll. 58

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.

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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.

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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

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Coll. 58, Manuscripts Collection, G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc.

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Indexes

Index to Personal and Corporate Names

Andrews, Henry G. 1/20
Andros, R.S.S. 1/20
Armington, George W. 1/10
Ashley, H. Percy 1/1
Baker, J.C. 1/18
Banigan, Sharon S. 1/10
Barnes, W.M. 1/18
Baxter, ? 2/24
Bennett, Ron 1/10
Bierstadt, Albert 1/10
Bliss, Whiting & Parker 1/18
Borden, Parker 2/13
Britain, Brinton 1/10
Brother, Jemima Ann 1/18
Brown, Henry Alis 1/18
Browning, Edna 1/10
Bryant, Seth 1/18
Bullard, Jack 1/10
Carmichael, Michael 1/10
Clark, Francis E. 1/10
Clark, Shubael 1/10
Cleveland, Jacob L. 1/10
Coffin, ? 1/1
Coleman, Zenas M. 1/10
Collins, Mary 1/20
Collins, Michael A.S. 1/20
Cook, Albert 2/2
Costa, ? 1/10
Crosby, Everett U. 1/10
Culver, Chris 1/10
Cutler, Carl C. 1/1
Delano, Andrew 1/6
Dodge & Olcutt 1/20
Dunbar, Joseph 1/10
E.P. Dutton & Co. 1/10
Earle, Silvia 1/10
Eastwood, Enos 1/18
Eckstine, Harry 1/1
Edwards, A.T. 1/10
Eldridge, Barzillai 1/2
Esling, George J. 1/6
Evans, Elliot 1/10
Fisher, Charles W. 1/18
Fisher, Thomas N. 1/20
Fraser, A.A. 1/34
Freeman, E.H. 1/18
Fuller, Read & Co. 1/18
Gibson, William 2/12
Gifford, Lucy B. 1/10
Gifford, Ray 1/10
Gould, ? 1/2
Grant, ? 1/1
Green, Edward Howland Robinson 2/33
H. Hackfeld & Co. 1/20
Hamilton, George 1/20
Hancox, J.B. 1/18
Hathaway, Thomas S. 1/20
Hayden, Luther P. 1/18
Healy, Sumner 1/1
Heath, Sarah A. 2/12
Howland, Walter F. 1/10
Hussey, George 1/6
Hussey, H. 1/6
J. & W.R.R. Wing 1/20
J. Morisen & Co. 1/18
J.C. Merrill & Co. 1/20
James Andrews & Son 1/20
Jenkins, ? 1/1
Johnson, Anna R. 1/20
Johnson, Horace C. 1/20
Joy, Moses 1/1
Kaiser, Thomas F. 1/10
Karr, Jimmy 1/1
Lawrence & Co. 1/18
Lockwood, Dunbar 1/10
Lopes, Samuel 1/10
Macedo, Manuel P.S. 1/10
Macey & J. Barton 1/10
MacMillan Co. 1/10
Macullar, Williams & Parker 1/18
Macy, Will 1/1
Maloney, Paul R. 1/10
Mann, Dorothea Lawrence 1/10
Manter, Cyrus 1/20
Manter, William G. 1/20
Martin, H. 1/18
Mayo, Samuel 1/20
McCall, ? 1/1
McCann, ? 1/1
Miner, Beal & Co. 1/18
Mitchell, West 1/20
Mott, Robert 1/1
Nawsett, Isaac 1/18
Norris, John 1/20
Nye, James 1/20
Nye, Joshua 1/20
O’Brien, Brian 1/10
O’Connor, Jack 1/1
Osborn, Samuel (Jr.) 1/10
Pardee, James W. 1/10
Parker, John Avery 1/10
Parker, Sarah 1/10
Peabody Museum 1/1
Potter, Alden 1/10
Potter, W.R. 1/18
Providence Public Library 1/10
Reynolds, John S. 1/10
Rice, Cornelius 1/18
Rich, David 1/20
Rich, Thomas 1/20
Roberg, G.A. 1/20
Rogers, Stephen 1/1
Ross, T.F. 1/18
Rowlands, Pike & Co. 1/18
Russell & Co. 1/6
Satterly, Herbert 1/1
Savage, Alma 1/10
Savoie, Gladys Reynolds 1/10
Sawyer, William P. 1/10
Seabury, Humphrey N. 1/20, 2/12
Seabury, Jason 2/12
Sears, Joseph H. 1/18
Selleck, George 1/10
Sherman, Stuart C. 1/10
Sherman, Wilbur G. 1/20
Silva, Anthony 1/10
Silva, Joseph 1/10
Silvia, Antone K. 1/20
Smith, George F. 1/20
Smith, James L. 1/18
Stacker, David 1/20
Stackpole, Edouard A. 1/10
Sweetser, Peter W. 1/10
Swift & Allen 1/20, 2/34
Swift, Dean H. 1/10
Taber, Read & Co. 1/18
Thomas Knowles & Co. 1/20
Tilton, Allen 1/20
Union Medical Marine Insurance Co. 1/20
Vincent, R.H. 1/18
Wade, Ebenezer 2/13
Whaley, James A. 1/10
Wheeler, John 1/20
Whiting, William 1/10
Wilbur, Allen 1/10
Wilcox, P.S. 1/20
Williams, Max 1/1
Wilson, B.J. 1/18
Wilson, H. 1/18
Winsor, Zenas 1/6
Wood, Frank 1/1
Wood, J.C. 1/20
Woolff, William 1/18

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Index to Vessel Names

ADELINE GIBBS (Bark) 1/10
ALICE KNOWLES (Bark) 1/10
ANDREW HICKS (Bark) 1/20
BETSY (Brig) 1/10
BREWER (Ship) 1/6
CALABRIA (Brig) 1/10
CHARELS W. MORGAN (Bark) 1/1
CHARLES SHEARER (Schooner) 1/18
CHEROKEE (Bark) 1/10
CLARMONT 1/1
CLEONE (Bark) 2/34
COMMERCE (Bark) 1/20
CORINTHIAN (Ship) 1/10
CORIOLANUS (Ship) 1/20
DANIEL WOOD (Bark) 1/20
ELIZA ADAMS (Ship) 1/10
EMBLEM (Bark) 1/6
EMILY MORGAN (Ship) 1/10
EMPEROR (Ship) 1/20
EUNICE H. ADAMS (Brig) 1/10
EUROPA (Ship) 1/20
GEORGE & SUSAN (Ship) 1/18
GEORGE WARREN (Bark) 1/6
GLOBE (Bark) 1/6
GOLCONDA (Bark) 1/10
GRABER 1/1
GRAND TURK (Brig) 1/20
HELEN SNOW (Bark) 1/20
HORATIO (Ship) 1/10
HUNTER (Bark) 1/10
HUNTSWELL (Ship) 1/20
JAMES ARNOLD (Ship) 1/20
JANET (Bark) 1/20
JIREH PERRY (Ship) 1/20
JULIAN (Ship) 1/10
KENSINGTON (Bark) 2/34
LEONIDAS (Brig) 1/10
LOAN (Ship) 1/20
MATHEW LUCE (Bark) 1/10
MATTAPOISETT (Bark) 1/10
MINERVA (Bark) 1/20
MONONGAHELA (Ship) 2/12
MONSOON (Ship) 1/20
MORNING STAR (Bark) 1/10
NIGER (Ship) 1/10
OCTAVIA (Ship) 1/20
OREGON (Bark) 1/6
PLATINA (Bark) 1/10
PRISCILLA (Steamer) 1/1
REVENUS (Ship) 1/6
ROSA BAKER (Brigantine) 1/10
ROSCIUS (Ship) 1/10
SAVANNAH (Steamship) 1/1
SEAFOX 1/18
SHENANDOAH (C.S.S.) 1/10
SILAS RICHARDS (Bark) 1/20
SMALLWOOD (Bark) 1/6
ST. GEORGE (Ship) 1/18
SUNNY SOUTH (Ship) 1/6
SURF (Brig) 1/6
TAMERLANE (Bark) 1/10
TIMOR (Ship) 1/6
TRIDEN (Ship) 1/10
VICTOR (Bark) 1/6
VIKING (Ship) 1/6
VIOLA (Whaling ship) 1/1
W. J. TREAT (Brig) 1/6
WANDERER (Bark) 1/10

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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

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