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Clifford Crowninshield Papers, 1750-1811

 Collection
Identifier: MSS 97

Scope and Content Note

The Clifford Crowninshield (1762-1809) papers are comprised of the business and personal papers of Clifford Crowninshield and his family from 1692-1861. The bulk of the material concerns the shipping activities of Clifford Crowninshield from 1795-1800. The collection is divided into two series.

SERIES I. Family Papers are almost entirely comprised of papers from the estates of Clifford's father and grandparents.

SERIES II. Clifford Crowninshield Papers are comprised of ships papers, correspondence, letterbooks, account books, estate papers, and legal papers associated with this successful Salem merchant and ship master. A day book (1784-1789) mostly concerns personal matters but also holds some accounts for Clifford Crowninshield's (1699-1776) estates.

Clifford Crowninshield's (1762-1809) estate papers include correspondence with executors James Devereux and John Moriarty and deeds that also concern the estates of Crowninshield's forebears. Ships papers dated after 1809 (see Appendix I) relate to spoliation claims settled posthumously and therefore should be consulted in relation to Crowninshield's estate.

Dates

  • Creation: 1750-1811

Creator

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research use.

Biographical Sketch

Clifford Crowninshield (1762-1809) was the son of John and Mary (Ives) Crowninshield, grandson of Clifford Crowninshield (1699-1776), and great-grandson of John Casper Richter von Kronensheldt (1644-1711). Crowninshield was a successful Salem merchant and ship master who built the house later occupied first by Captain James Devereux and then William D. Waters. Crowninshield married Eliza Fisher, the daughter of Reverend Nathaniel Fisher of the Episcopal Church. He died in June of 1809, leaving no children.

Extent

1.25 linear feet (2 boxes; 1 volume)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The Clifford Crowninshield (1762-1809) papers are comprised of the business and personal papers of Salem merchant and ship master, Clifford Crowninshield, and his family from 1692-1861.

Series List

SERIES I. Family Papers

SERIES II. Clifford Crowninshield Papers

Physical Location

Phillips Library Stacks

Provenance

This collection is an integration and reorganization of six account books, one box, and miscellaneous folders of manuscripts. The letterbook, ledgers, and 1784-1789 and 1802-1809 day books were a 1917 gift of William C. Waters. One box of manuscripts removed from the Waters Family Papers I was probably a gift from William C. Waters.

Related Collections

Clifford Crowninshield Papers, 1692-1861, MH 17

Crowninshield Family Papers, 1697-1909, MSS 4, MH 15

Processing Information

Collection processed by Prudence K. Backman, March 1983. Updated by Catherine Robertson, June 2014.

Subject

Title
CLIFFORD CROWNINSHIELD PAPERS, 1750-1811
Author
Processed by: Prudence K. Backman; Updated by: Catherine Robertson; machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan.
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Sponsor
Processing and conservation of this collection was funded in part by grants from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Repository Details

Part of the Phillips Library Repository

Contact:
Peabody Essex Museum
306 Newburyport Turnpike
Rowley MA 01969 USA