Records of Goodwin & Coues

Manuscripts Collection 220

Overview of the Records

Repository: G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport
Creator: Goodwin & Coues (Portsmouth, N.H.)
Title: Records of Goodwin & Coues
Dates: 1839-1849
Extent: ca. 465 pieces
Abstract: Papers chiefly relating to the ships MARY & SUSAN, WOODSIDE, FANEUIL HALL, and CATO, managed by the firm. Includes 75 letters pertaining to the sale of cargo of the ship MARY & SUSAN; cash disbursements, invoices, and customs papers of the four vessels for voyages to Calcutta, Apalachicola, Liverpool, and New Orleans; and ca. 65 balance sheets itemizing debits and credits of voyages to Calcutta. Other persons represented include ship master William F. Parrott, supercargo, William H. Goodwin, and shipping agent William Whitney, of Boston, Mass.
Identification: Coll. 220

Biography of Ichabod Goodwin

Ichabod Goodwin was born in 1794 in South Berwick, Maine. After attending Berwick Academy, Goodwin moved to Portsmouth and at the age of 14 began his business training under Samuel Lord, a prominent Portsmouth merchant and ship owner. In 1817 Goodwin was sent to sea as supercargo aboard the ship ELIZABETH WILSON out of Portsmouth. He later served aboard the same vessel as 2nd mate, 1st mate, and in 1819 as Captain. 1821 Goodwin was Master of the ship HITTY and in 1824 he was part-owner of the ship MARION as well as Master for her maiden voyage in 1825. Goodwin’s last command was in 1832 aboard the ship SARAH PARKER which was named for his wife and of which he was also part-owner.

Goodwin was deeply involved in the shipping and shp building industries of Portsmouth. He was partial owner of many vessels, including INDIA (1833), SUSANNA CUMMING (1834), HINDOO (1835), JOHN CUMMING (1836), ISAAC NEWTON (1836), GOODWIN (1840), GLENDOVEER (1841), KATE HUNTER (1846), HOPE GOODWIN (1851), DASHING WAVE (1853), MORNING GLORY (1854), and ANNA DECATUR (1856). In 1852 Goodwin was appointed agent of the ship NIGHTINGALE to clear up a difficult financial situation, and at the same time he also acted as the owner’s agent in supervising construction of the ship RED ROVER.

As an importer, Goodwin dealt extensively in salt, shipping an average of 14,000 bushels between 1826 and 1836. Sometime during this period Goodwin joined with Samuel E. Coues, also of Portsmouth, to form the mercantile firm of Goodwin & Coues. It is this firm that most likely owned the ships MARY & SUSAN (1839-1844), WOODSIDE (1845-1847), FANEUIL HALL (1846-1849), CATO (1847-1849), COLUMBUS, and BARRINGTON, having a considerable business interest at any rate. Coues was also heavily involved in shipping out of Portsmouth and was part-owner of several vessels, including PERSEVERANCE, MARION, ANN PARRY, SARAH PARKER, INDIA, SUSANNA CUMMING, HINDOO, ISAAC NEWTON, GOODWIN, and GLENDOVEER. Goodwin & Coues enlisted the services of William H. Goodwin, possibly a relative, as Supercargo for several voyages, and William F. Parrott served as Master on some vessels as well as a business partner for others. William Whitney, of Boston, appears to have acted as Shipping Agent for many of these voyages.

The extent of Goodwin’s business association was immense and he was involved in a majority of the prominent enterprises in Portsmouth of the time. In 1832 he founded and organized the Portsmouth Whaling Company and was listed as President in 1839. In 1850 he was President of the Portsmouth Steam Factory, a 6-story Textile Mill containing 21,000 spindles and 450 looms. 2,500,000 yards of cloth were produced every year and the factory employed 380 people. Goodwin was also involved in the extension of the steam railway, serving as President of the Eastern Railroad in New Hampshire for twenty years, and as President of the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth Railroad until after 1871. His Presidencies and Directorships included several banks, utilities, and benevolent societies.

Ichabod Goodwin also had a significant political career, serving as a member of the New Hampshire legislature from 1838 to 1856, and as a member of New Hampshire’s Constitutional Convention in 1850 and 1876. Goodwin was elected Governor of the State of New Hampshire in 1859 and was re-elected in 1860, serving until June 5, 1861. Goodwin died in 1882 at the age of 87.

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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:

Coues, Samuel Elliott, 1797-1867
Goodwin, Ichabod, 1794-1882
Goodwin, William H.
Parrott, William F.
Whitney, William

Corporate Bodies (Including Vessels):

Cato (Ship)
Faneuil Hall (Ship)
Mary & Susan (Ship : 1839-1844)
Woodside (Ship)

Places:

Apalachicola (Fla.)–Commerce
Calcutta (India)–Commerce
Liverpool (England)–Commerce
New Orleans (La.)–Commerce

Subjects:

Commercial agents–Massachusetts–Boston
International trade
Shipmasters–New Hampshire–Portsmouth
Shipping–New Hampshire–Portsmouth
Supercargos–New Hampshire–Portsmouth
Voyages and travels

Document Types:

Invoices

Occupations:

Merchants–New Hampshire–Portsmouth
Shipowners–New Hampshire–Portsmouth

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Coll. 220, Manuscripts Collection, G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc.

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Indexes

Index to Personal and Corporate Names

NOTE: The fraction(s) indicate the Box and Folder numbers where that particular reference can be found. For example, the researcher will find information about A. & C. Cunningham in Box 1, Folder 3 of the collection.
A. & C. Cunningham 1/3
A. Walker & Co. 2/2
A.A. Lawrence & Co. 2/1
Adams, James 2/2
American Powder Co. 1/9, 2/1, 2/2
Anderson, Charles 1/6
Andrews & Co. 1/9
Annable, Geoge 1/1, 1/2, 1/5, 1/7, 1/8, 1/9, 1/10, 1/11, 1/12
Arnold, S.S. 2/3
Asa Laurence & Co. 1/3
Augustus Whitlock & Co. 1/8
B.F. Field & Co. 2/2
Babcock, Samuel H. 1/4, 1/10
Badger & Bailey 1/7
Baker, Jacob 1/7
Baldwin, Charles 1/2
Ball, Ebenezer 1/4
Bangs, Benjamin 1/9
Baring Bros. & Co. 1/6
Barrett & Brother 1/9
Bates, J.C. 1/11
Berry, J.H. 1/1
Birley, Corrie & Co. 2/1
Blackstone Woolen Co. 1/11
Blake, Joshua 2/2
Blanchard, Benjamin G. 1/3
Boston Insurance Co. 1/1
Bottomly, Thomas 1/4, 1/11
Boylen, Daniel 1/6
Boylston Fire & Marine Insurance Co. 2/2
Brackett, Rufus 2/1, 2/2
Bretistorf, Henry 1/1, 1/4, 1/5, 1/8
Bridge, John 2/3
Brown & Goys 1/1
Brown Bros. & Co. 2/3
Brown, Bushey & Co. 2/3
Brown, Eldridge 1/9
Brown, Elisha 1/6
Brown, George 1/6
Brown, Shipley & Co. 1/6, 2/1, 2/2, 2/4
Bruce, George 1/6
Bullard, Lee & Co. 2/2
Burgin & Hartshorn 1/11
C. Henshaw & Co. 2/1
C. Valentine & Co. 1/5
C.&N. Thayer 2/2
C.F. King & Co. 2/1
C.P. Talbot & Co. 2/2, 2/3
Carey & Hart 1/4
Carkin, John 1/9
Caswell, Jacob 1/3
Chandler, Howard & Co. 2/2
Charles Wilkins & Co. 2/2, 2/3
Childs, S. 1/4
Chipman, Walter C. 2/2, 2/3
Clifton, John 1/10
Clifton, Jonathan 1/4, 1/11
Conkling, E.F. 1/7
Convers & Co. 2/2
Crenshaw, W.W. 1/8
Crosby, Hoyt, & Co. 1/1
Croston, George 1/6
Cunningham, C.L. 2/1
Curtis, Caleb 1/1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4
Curtis, Thomas B. 1/2, 2/3
D.B. Wood & Co. 1/5, 1/6, 1/8, 2/4
D.D. Badger 1/7
Dadman Mfg. Co. 1/11
Darton, William 1/3
Deblois, J.A. 2/4
Dennie & Boardman 2/1
Deshon, Daniel 1/2
Dow, George W. 2/1
Dowley, L.A. 2/1
Dudley Woolen Mfg. Co. 1/10
Edward Denny & Co. 1/9, 2/1
Edward Lamb & Bros. 2/3
Elisha Preston & Co. 1/10
Everall, Edward 1/6
F. Faulkner & Son 1/4
F. Skinner & Co. 1/9
F.C. & A.L. Rowe 2/3
F.S. Newhall & Co. 2/2
Fairfield, Lincoln & Co. 1/7
Fairfield, Wiggin & Co. 1/8
Fay, W.C. 2/1
Field & Co. 2/4
Field & Conners 2/3
Fishley, Benjamin 1/5
Fletcher & Appleton 1/9
Fletcher, Alexander & Co. 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 2/1
Foster & Nickerson 2/3
Foster, Charles W. 1/1
Foster, Eben 1/8
Fowle & Austin 1/5
Franklin Insurance Co. 1/1
Frothingham, S. 1/1
G.&J. Laurie 2/4
Gardiner, Sarah 1/6
Gardner, Samuel 1/1, 1/4
George Thacher & Co. 2/2
Gilbert & Sons 2/2
Goddard, Nathaniel 1/9
Goddard, William W. 2/1
Goodrich, John 1/4
Goodrich, William 1/5
Goodwin, Sarah Parker 2/4
Goodwin, William H. 1/2
Gould, S. 1/4
Gould, Warren 1/9, 1/10
Grace, Joseph 1/5, 1/6, 1/7
Green, George 1/5
Green, Joseph 1/1
Griffith, Goodman C. 2/4
H. Waring & Son 1/4
Hall, H.T. 2/4
Hall, Timothy 2/2
Hallet, B. 2/2
Hamilton & Co. 2/4
Harrod, Darling & Co. 1/7
Hartwell, Kidder & Carman 1/7
Hatch, Albert R. 2/4
Hays, William A. 1/1
Hayward & Hamilton 2/1
Henry, John 2/3
Henshaw, Charles 2/1
Henshaw, Ward & Co. 1/9
Hoffman, Charles 1/10
Hope Mills Co. 1/12
Isaac D. Parsons & Co. 1/2
Isaac Harris & Co. 1/3, 1/5
Isaac Low Co. 1/2
J. Lynn & Co. 2/3
J.A. Maya & Co. 1/1
James Weld & Co. 1/3
Jenkins, Horatio 1/5
John A. Merritt & Co. 1/7
John Brock & Sons 2/3
John E. Thayer & Co. 1/2
John Knowlton & Co. 1/1
John Lehman & Son 1/3
Jones, R.P. 1/6
Jones, William 1/10
Joseph P. Glover & Co. 2/3
Kennedy & Tillinghast 1/9
Kidder, D.T. 1/4
L. Switt & Co. 2/2
Lehman & Son 1/12
Leicester Mfg. Co. 1/12
Leigh & Blanchard 1/4
Lenning & Co. 1/10
Levy & Mackay 1/9
Loflin & Smith 1/11
Lombard, Nathaniel 1/3
Loomis, Swift & Masters Co. 2/3
Loomises, Hazard & Co. 1/9, 1/11
Martin, Charles F. 2/3
Masters, Swift & Co. 1/9
Mercantile Marine Insurance Co. 2/2
Merchants Insurance Co. 1/1
Miller, William P. 1/9
Milton Mills Mfg. Co. 1/10
Morse, B.E. 2/1
Mosley, Poor & Co. 2/3
Neal, William 1/4
Neptune Insurance Co. 1/1, 2/2
New England Insurance Co. 1/1
Nicholas Lenning & Co. 1/9
Nowell, James 1/5
Noyes, Powers & Estes 1/9, 1/10
Nutter, William 1/4
Oliver, John 1/5
Otsego Print Works 1/11
P.N. Griffin & co. 2/2
Palmes, Whitney & Co. 1/7
Parker, Wilder & Parker 1/11
Parrott, William F. 1/1, 1/4, 1/8, 1/9, 1/10, 1/11, 1/12, 2/1, 2/2, 2/3
Parson, J.D. 2/4
Pascoe, Grenfell & Sons 1/6
Payne, Cornelius B. 1/2, 1/4, 1/11
Pearce, L.L. 1/11
Penhallow, Y.M. 1/1
Pickering, Isaac 1/4
Pierpoint, J.H. 1/4
Pitt, Charles F. 2/3
Plumer, Washington 2/3
Pope & Aspinwall 1/9
Pratt, E.F. 1/10
Proctor, Abel 2/3
Quincy, Josiah (Jr.) 1/11
R.C. Clark & Co. 1/3
Raynes, ? 1/11, 1/12
Raynes, Lupton & Co. 1/6
Reed & Cutter 2/1
Revere Copper Co. 1/8
Reynolds & Waitt 2/2
Rice, William 1/6
Richardson & Whitney 1/1, 1/2
Robert G. Shaw & Co. 1/9
Ryan, Thomas 1/2
Samuel F. Morse & Co. 1/11
Schiffer, Samuel 1/6
Seymore, Forsyth & Co. 2/2, 2/3
Seymour & Wood 1/9
Sherman & Stark 1/8
Small & McGill 1/7
Smith, John M. 2/1
Smith, Simon 1/1
Spooner & Sons 2/1
Spooner, William B. 2/3
Spreckelsen & Wies 1/7
Stanley, Reed & Co. 1/1, 1/3, 1/9
Stearns, H.L. 2/1, 2/3
Stevens, Trott & Co. 2/2
Stone & Simpson 2/1, 2/3
Stone, H.L. 1/7
Swett, T.H. 1/3
Talbot, C.P. 1/4
Tarleton, James N. 1/5
Taylor & Merrill 1/8
Tenney & Rice 1/6, 1/7
Tewksbury & Adams 1/7
Tewksbury, A.R. 1/5
Thomas B. Wales & Co. 2/3
Thomas Whiteridge & Co. 1/7, 1/8
Thorndike, James P. 2/1, 2/2, 2/3
Tisdale, James (Jr.) 2/3
Titcomb, E. 1/4
Tucker, Cooper & Co. 2/1
Tucker, William 1/9, 2/3
Twombly & Samson 2/3
Van Woert & Fraser 1/9
Vose, A.B. 1/11
W. Frost & Co. 1/7
W. Stearns & Co. 1/4
Ward & Root 2/3
Ware, Charles 1/6
Washington Insurance Co. 1/1
Weeks, ? 1/11
Weeks, N.G. 1/7, 1/18
Wendell, Jacob 1/7, 1/11, 1/12
Whipple, Oliver M. 1/1, 1/9, 1/10, 1/11, 2/1
Whitlock, William 1/8
Whitney Mills 1/10
Whitney, Frederick 1/9
Whitney, R. 1/1
Whitney, William 1/1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/8, 2/1
Wilkins, G.W. 1/5
William H. Robertson & Co. 1/9
William H. Stark & Co. 1/5
William Halsey & Co. 1/9, 2/1
William Underwood & Co. 2/2
Williams, A. 2/3
Williams, John D. 1/9
Willliams, Robert 2/2
Wilmer & Cannell 1/11
Wood, Johnston & Burnett 1/2
Yeaton & Gerrish 1/4

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Index to Vessel Names

NOTE: The fraction(S) indicate the Box and Folder numbers where that particular reference can be found. For example, the researcher will find information about the schooner ALLIGATOR in Box 1, Folder 8 of the collection.
ALLIGATOR (Schooner) 1/8
ANN B. HOLMES (Sloop) 1/8
BARRINGTO (Bark) 1/2, 1/4, 1/10, 2/4
CALEDONIA 1/10
CARTHAGE (Ship) 1/10, 1/11, 1/12
CATO (Ship) 1/9, 2/3
CLEMENTINE (Schooner) 1/6
COLUMBIA (Steamer) 1/11
COLUMBUS (Ship) 2/4
DAMARISCOTTA (Bark) 2/3
FANEUIL HALL (Ship) 2/2
FANNY (Steamer) 1/6
FARWELL (Ship) 1/12
FORMOSA (Ship) 1/6
FREDERICK WARREN (Bark) 1/9
GENEVA (Ship) 2/2
GOODWIN (Ship) 1/10, 2/4
GREAT WESTERN 1/9
HOWARD 1/10
J.D. FISH (Lighter) 1/8
JACOB BELL (Steamer) 1/8
LYDIA 1/11
MARION (Ship) 1/11
MARY & SUSAN (Ship) 1/1, 1/10, 1/11, 1/12
MARY (Schooner) 1/6
MERCHANT (Schooner) 1/9, 1/11
NANTASKET 1/10
R. BARKER (Ship) 1/8
ROBERT PARKER 1/5
RUSSIA (Brig) 1/11
SEMINOLE (Schooner) 1/6
SHERIDAN (Packet) 1/6
SOUTHERNER (Sloop) 1/8
ST. MARKS (Schooner) 1/6
TAROLINTA (Ship) 1/8
VESTOCK (Bark) 1/11
WOODSIDE (Ship) 2/1

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Detailed Description of the Records

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

 

Shipping papers for ship MARY & SUSAN; 1839-1844
Box Folder
1 1 Shipping papers, 4th Calcutta voyage; 1839-1841
2 Shipping papers and letters, 5th Calcutta voyage; 1840-1842
3 Shipping papers, 5th Calcutta voyage; 1840-1841
4 Shipping papers (William Whitney), 5th Calcutta voyage; 1840-1844
5 Shipping papers and letters; 1842 Nov-1843 Jun
6 Shipping papers and letters; 1843 Mar-Jun
7 Shipping papers and letters; 1843 Jul-Dec
8 Shipping papers and letters; 1844 Jan-Jun
Outgoing letters from Ship MARY & SUSAN; 1840-1843
Box Folder
1 9 Outgoing letters, William Whitney; 1840
10 Outgoing letters, William Whitney; 1841
11 Outgoing letters, William Whitney; 1842
12 Outgoing letters, William Whitney; 1843
Shipping papers for Ships WOODSIDE, CATO, and FANEUIL HALL; 1845-1849
Box Folder
2 1 Shipping papers, ship WOODSIDE; 1844-1847
2 Shipping papers, ship FANEUIL HALL; 1846-1849
3 Shipping papers, ship CATO; 1847-1849
4 Miscellaneous papers; 1843-1849

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