Biography of Harrison Loring
Harrison Loring (1822-1907) was born in Duxbury, MA. In 1847 he built a machine/boiler shop in South Boston, and ten years later purchased some land along the water. There he established the City Point Works, one of the first shipyards in the United States devoted to the construction of iron steamships, engines, and boilers.
The merchant ships MASSACHUSETTS, SOUTH CAROLINA, MERRIMAC, MISSISSIPPI, and DE MOLAY, were all built at the City Point Works. During the Civil War, Loring constructed several vessels for the Navy, including the WINNIPEC, HURON, and the Monitors CANONICUS and NAHANT. He also built the engines and machinery for the U.S. sloop HARTFORD.
Harrison Loring also ran steamers to the West Indies, and at one time owned a Boston/Halifax steamship line. For a time he was President of the Boston Towboat Company.
In the 1890s Loring built four U.S. Lightships, three sea-going tugboats, and a cruiser for the Navy (U.S.S. MARBLEHEAD). It was at this time that he was forced by financial problems to turn the yard over to a group of three assignees – one of them being his son, Harrison Jr. – in order to complete these government contracts for the benefit of his creditors. The plant was eventually sold at auction in 1894.
In 1904, Bay Farm Co., a dairy farm and family estate at Island Creek, MA was incorporated and managed by Harrison Loring Jr. Beggining in 1902, the family, especially sons Harrison Jr., Atherton, and Robert, were involved with claims against the Navy totaling over $170,000, for money owned in the construction of the CANONICUS in 1863. By 1910, after years of testimony and legal investigation, the case had still not been resolved.
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:
Loring family
Loring family–Homes and haunts
Loring, Harrison
Corporate Bodies (Including Vessels):
Bay Farm Co. (Island Creek, Mass.)
Canonicus (Monitor)
City Point Works
Marblehead (Cruiser)
United States. Navy
Places:
Duxbury (Mass.)–History
South Boston (Boston, Mass.)
United States–History–Civil War, 1861-1865–Claims
United States–History–Civil War, 1861-1865–Naval operations
Subjects:
Dairy farms–Massachusetts–Island Creek
Marine engines
Shipbuilding industry–Massachusetts–Boston
Shipyards–Massachusetts–Boston
Tugboats
Document Types:
Account books
Ledgers
Letterpress copies
Payrolls
Petitions
Occupations:
Industrialists–Massachusetts–Boston
Administrative Information
Coll. 226, 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.
| General Business and family papers; 1889-1910 | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Agreement/contract for construction of boilers, engines, and auxiliary machinery, by N. F. Palmer Jr & Co., cruiser # 1 (U.S.S. MARBLEHEAD); 1889 Nov 16 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Copies of outgoing letters, Harrison Loring to U. S. Navy re. construction of U.S.S. MARBLEHEAD; 1890 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Documents regarding the sale of Loring Shipyard property; 1891 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Correspondence and papers, primarily re. construction of Cruiser MARBLEHEAD for the U.S. Navy; 1891 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Correspondence and papers, primarily re. construction of Cruiser MARBLEHEAD for the U.S. Navy; 1892 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Correspondence, papers and documents, primarily re. construction of Cruiser MARBLEHEAD for the U.S. Navy; 1893 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Correspondence and papers, re. construction of Cruiser MARBLEHEAD for the U.S. Navy; 1894 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Papers re. Harrison Loring estate; 1895-1897 | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Loring family papers re. Bay Farm property; 1904 | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Loring family papers re. Bay Farm property; 1905 | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Loring family papers re. Bay Farm property; 1906 | ||||||||||||
| 12 | Loring family, general correspondence; 1909 | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Loring family, general correspondence; 1910 | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Loring family, deeds and miscellaneous documents; ca. 1842-1870, 1903 | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Loring Shipbuilding history, clippings, notes, etc. | ||||||||||||
| 16 | unidentified material; undated | ||||||||||||
| Papers and correspondence regarding Harrison Loring’s Monitor CANONICUS claim against the U.S.; 1910-1910 | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Papers re. CANONICUS claims; 1901-1902 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Papers re. CANONICUS claims; 1903 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Papers re. CANONICUS claims; 1904 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Papers re. CANONICUS claims; 1905 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Papers re. CANONICUS claims; 1906 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Papers re. CANONICUS claims; 1907-1908 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Papers re. CANONICUS claims; 1909 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Papers re. CANONICUS claims; 1910 | ||||||||||||
| Printed transcripts, testimony and petitions regarding CANONICUS claims agains the U.S.; ca. 1902-1907 | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | Joint report, Capt. C. R. Roelker, U.S.N., and J. J. Woodward, U.S.N. in U.S. Court of Claims; ca. 1903 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Additional copy of joint report by Roelker and Woodward re. CANONICUS claims; ca. 1903 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Typescript copies of semimonthly reports on progress of work on CANONICUS (2 vols.); 1862 Oct 30-1864 Mar 3 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Notes and information re. testimony in CANONICUS case; ca. 1902-1903 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Petition, Harrison Loring vs. United States, re. CANONICUS claims (2 vols.); filed 1902 Jun 11 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Printed testimony and deposition re. CANONICUS claims; ca. 1903 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Printed deposition, report and related evidence re. CANONICUS claims (4 vols.); ca. 1904 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Printed “Evidence for Defendants” re. CANONICUS claims; 1905 | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Petition, Congressional no. 10878, re. CANONICUS claims (2 copies); filed 1906 Dec 5 | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Defendant’s evidence, Edward Bliss vs. the U.S.; ca. 1907 | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Defendant’s evidence, Edward Bliss vs. the U.S.; ca. 1893 | ||||||||||||
| Volumes; ca. 1874-1894 | |||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Journal ‘B’; 1874 Jan 31-1890 Jun | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Journal; 1884 Apr 8-1886 Aug 31 | ||||||||||||
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| 3 | Journal; 1886 Sep 1-1888 Aug 31 | ||||||||||||
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| 4 | Journal; 1888 Sep 1-1891 Jan 22 | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Journal; 1891 Jan 27-1892 May 19 | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 6 | Ledger; 1884 Oct-1886 Nov | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 7 | Ledger; ca. 1884-1890 | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 8 | Order book; 1884 May-1891 | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 9 | Payroll; 1890 Jul 8-1891 Dec 9 | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 10 | Time; 1891 Jan-Aug | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 11 | Labor accounts; 1890 Nov-1892 Aug | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 12 | Account book; ca. 1893 | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 13 | Account book; 1893-1894 | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 14 | Records (of estimates) re. Cruiser # 11; 1890 Oct-1892 Nov | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 15 | Labor accounts; Cruiser #11; 1892 Jan-Aug | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 16 | Press copy book of accounts for Cruiser # 11 and 3 steam tugs for U.S.N.; ca. 1893-1894 | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 17 | Journal, assignees of H. Loring; 1891 Oct 31-1894 May 8 | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 18 | Invoices, assignees of H. Loring; 1892 Jan-1893 May | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 19 | Certificate book, $100, 00 unissued stock cerificates for Harrison Loring City Point Works, of Boston; ca. 1892 | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 20 | Letter presscopy book; ca. 1878-1880 | ||||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||||
| 21 | Letter presscopy book; ca. 1890-1893 | ||||||||||||