Hodges Family Papers, 1657-1874, undated
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Not requestable
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of the shipping, business, and personal papers of Gamaliel Hodges and his sons, John and Joseph Hodges, of Salem, Massachusetts, as well as papers for Richard Manning. It contains shipping papers, account books, deeds, legal documents, deeds, prices current, and correspondence. The creators bundled their papers together and many of the folders reflect the creator's original organization. It has been organized into four series.
Series I. Gamaliel Hodges (1766-1850) Papers contains his business and personal papers as well as Union Wharf records, Union Street Building Corporation records, and some insurance company records. Each subseries is arranged chronologically. Subseries A. Ships' Papers contains bills of lading, protests, invoices, accounts, letters of instruction, seamen's agreements, insurance policies, impost bonds, bills paid and correspondence for the ships that Gamaliel owned, sailed on, or shipped goods on. They are arranged alphabetically by ship name, then chronologically. Subseries B. Financial Records contains bills paid, accounts, mortgages, deeds, stock certificates, bank books, account books, and notes payable. Business receipts are mixed in with personal receipts; if a ship name was listed on a receipt, it was filed with that ship's papers. Personal receipts include those for shoes, schooling for his children, taxes, food, water use, home repair, medical attention, pew taxes, and more. Subseries C. Union Wharf Records contains deeds, accounts, bills paid and legal documents for the Union Wharf in Salem. Subseries D. Other includes correspondence, insurance company records, estate records for various people, Union Street Building Corporation records, hand-drawn maps of wharves and a neighborhood in Salem, and a copy of his will.
Series II. John (1802-1882) and Joseph (1789-1863) Hodges Papers consists of business records, financial papers, and some personal papers. This series combines the papers that each brother created as ship captain mixed together with their records as merchants in business together. Subseries A. Ships' Papers contains bills of lading, protests, invoices, accounts, letters of instruction, seamen's agreements, insurance policies, impost bonds, bills paid, and correspondence for the ships that John or Joseph owned, sailed on, or shipped goods on. They are arranged alphabetically by ship name, then chronologically. Subseries B. Correspondence contains mostly letters received with some correspondence between the two brothers. Subseries C. Prices Current/Correspondence contains prices current for ports all around the world in alphabetical order. Many of the prices current include letters from various merchants. Subseries D. Financial Records consists of accounts current, bills paid, notes payable, blank checks, and stocks, Subseries E. Other contains some early work books from John and Joseph Hodges, a petition regarding land on Union Wharf, a seaman certificate for a black sailor, and a track of voyages.
Series III. Richard Manning (1731-1811) Papers consists of personal papers and records created while he was Justice of the Peace. Subseries A. Personal Papers includes some papers of Manning's time as a ship captain, a deed, notes payable, and his estate papers. Subseries B. Justice of the Peace Papers contains papers that were created before Manning became a Justice of the Peace; these must have been passed down to him. Many of them were signed by John Higginson, Registrar in Essex County at the time. This subseries also contains legal papers, deeds, wills, financial documents, and estate papers.
Series IV. Other Family Members consists of accounts, receipts, work books, estate papers, and other documents belonging to family members related to Gamaliel Hodges. It also contains two folders of papers from people outside of the family and two folders where the author cannot be identified. This series is arranged chronologically.
Dates
- Creation: 1657-1874, undated
Creator
- Hodges family (Family)
Restrictions on Access
This collection is open for research use.
Biographical Sketches
Gamaliel Hodges was born on August 15, 1766, in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of John (1723/4-1799) and Mary (Manning) (1725-1773) Hodges. He was one of eleven children. His father was a sea captain as were several of his six brothers. Hodges took to the sea at an early age and soon rose to command of several vessels. He mastered the Argonaut (Ship), the Eliza (Bark), the Neptune (Schooner), and the Polly and Betsey (Brigantine). He owned the Ceres (Brig) and was part owner of the Betsey (Ship) and Washington (Schooner). His early partnership (1798-1804) with Ichabod Nichols (1749-1839) and Benjamin Hodges (1754-1800) involved overseas trade. Their vessel, the Active, carried goods between Salem and Surinam, Madras, India, and the Dutch East Indies. In 1806 he and Jonathan Neal (1759-1837) formed a partnership as merchants importing and exporting commodities, sending goods aboard the schooner Jason and the brig Edwin to Marseilles in trade for brandy and textiles. In 1817 Hodges and Neal sent their vessel, the former British brig Ceres (captured in the War of 1812), with Joseph Hodges (1789-1863) as supercargo to the Dutch East Indies to purchase coffee, sugar, pepper, and cotton. Hodges was later successful as a merchant with a store on Union Wharf in Salem.
Gamaliel married Sarah Williams (1767-1850), daughter of William and Abigail (Browne) Williams in 1788. They had eight children: Joseph (1789-1863); Gamaliel (1792-1795); Richard Manning (1794-1878); Gamaliel (1797-1816); Elizabeth Stone (1799-1801); Sarah (1801-1825); John (1802-1882); and Margaret Manning (1805-1887). The Hodges lived on Essex Street in Salem. Sarah died on October 10, 1850 and Gamaliel on December 25 of the same year.
Joseph Hodges was born on October 16, 1789, in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of Gamaliel and Sarah (Williams) Hodges. He was a ship master in his younger days, but retired early from active business. He married Elizabeth Chipman in 1819. They had five children. He died accidentally on February 16, 1863.
John Hodges was born on December 11, 1802, in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of Gamaliel and Sarah (Williams) Hodges. He was a mariner and his first voyage, made when he was only 16, was to Sumatra as a supercargo, in a vessel commanded by his brother Joseph. On his second voyage he sailed as first mate and after that as captain, but he never went to sea after his marriage. He married Mary Osgood Deland (born 1808) in 1833 and they had eight children. He retired early from active business because of a slight lameness. He was elected as a member of the Salem Marine Society and the East India Marine Society. He died on April 29, 1882 in Danvers.
Richard Manning was born on August 2, 1731 in Salem, Massachusetts, to Benjamin (1696-1768) and Hannah (Lambert) (1696-1771) Manning. He became a sea captain, making voyages to China, but after retiring from the sailing life, he became a justice of the peace and money lender in Salem, where he was generally known as "Squire." His sister, Mary Manning (1725-1773) married Captain John Hodges (1723/4-1799), which probably explains why his papers are in this collection. He died unmarried on January 8, 1811.
Extent
19 linear feet (27 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection consists of the shipping, business, and personal papers of Gamaliel Hodges and his sons, John and Joseph Hodges, of Salem, Massachusetts, as well as papers for Richard Manning.
Series List
SERIES I. Gamaliel Hodges (1766-1850) Papers
- A. Ships' Papers
- B. Financial Records
- C. Union Wharf
- D. Other
- A. Ships' Papers
- B. Correspondence
- C. Prices Current
- D. Financial
- E. Other
- A. Personal Papers
- B. Justice of the Peace Papers
Physical Location
Phillips Library Stacks
Provenance
This bulk of material was donated to the Peabody Museum by Nathaniel D. C. Hodges, son of John Hodges and grandson of Gamaliel Hodges on October 23, 1923 (acc #7295). Another box of documents was donated to the Essex Institute by Nathaniel D. C. Hodges in April 1925. An account book of Gamaliel Hodges' dated 1821-1832 was donated to the Essex Institute by Marion U. Chapman on July 8, 1925. One box of Hodges family papers was donated by Mrs. Edward Law of Haverford, PA (formerly Fam. Mss. 447). The nine hand-drawn charts tracking the 1817 voyage of the brig Ceres were purchased in 2009 (acc #2009.018). A day book of Jacob Manning (1758-1798) was removed and cataloged separately (MSS 1793). The scrapbook containing Washington (Schooner) papers from 1804-1806 (formerly cataloged as Log 1697) was dismantled and incorporated into this collection.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Tamara Gaydos, February 2017.
Subject
- Hodges, Gamaliel, 1766-1850 (Person)
- Hodges, John, 1802-1882 (Person)
- Hodges, Joseph, 1789-1863 (Person)
- Manning, Richard, 1731-1811 (Person)
- Boardman, Francis, 1748-1792 (Person)
- Browne, Abigail, 1711-1781 (Person)
- Cummings, Asa, 1790-1856 (Person)
- Fogg, Sylvester P. (Person)
- Higginson, John, 1720-1774 (Person)
- Hodges, Benjamin, 1754-1800 (Person)
- Hodges, John, 1723 or 1724-1799 (Person)
- Hodges, Gamaliel, 1685-1765 (Person)
- Hodges, Gamaliel, 1797-1816 (Person)
- Hodges, George, -1709 (Person)
- Hodges, George, 1765-1827 (Person)
- Hodges, Hannah, 1755-1814 (Person)
- Hodges, John, 1841-1864 (Person)
- Hodges, Jonathan, 1764-1837 (Person)
- Hodges, Joseph, 1759-1778 (Person)
- Hodges, Margaret M., 1805- (Person)
- Hodges, N. D. C. (Nathaniel Dana Carlile), 1852-1927 (Person)
- Hodges, Richard, 1762-1787 (Person)
- Knight, Nathaniel, 1764- (Person)
- Manning, Benjamin, 1696-1768 (Person)
- Manning, Hannah, 1696-1771 (Person)
- Manning, Hannah, 1739-1817 (Person)
- Manning, Margaret, 1734-1813 (Person)
- Neal, Jonathan, 1759-1837 (Person)
- Nichols, Ichabod, 1749-1839 (Person)
- Pingree, David, 1795-1863 (Person)
- Purbeck, William (Person)
- Rea, Archelaus (Person)
- Read, Robert (Person)
- Skerry, William (Person)
- Smith, Edward (Person)
- Townsend, Penn, 1772-1846 (Person)
- Williams, Abigail, 1745-1812 (Person)
- Williams, William, 1742-1781 (Person)
- Winn, Francis A. (Person)
- Baker & Hodges (Organization)
- Baring Brothers & Co. (Organization)
- Neal & Hodges (Organization)
- Salem Turnpike and Chelsea Bridge Corporation (Organization)
- Salem Union Street Corporation (Organization)
- Active (Schooner) (Organization)
- Admittance (Ship) (Organization)
- Amazon (Brig) (Organization)
- America (Ship) (Organization)
- Astria (Ship) (Organization)
- Betsy (Brig) (Organization)
- Betsy (Ship) (Organization)
- Brutus (Ship) (Organization)
- Catharine (Schooner) (Organization)
- Ceres (Brig) (Organization)
- Cherokee (Brig) (Organization)
- Cincinnatus (Ship) (Organization)
- Dolphin (Schooner) (Organization)
- Eagle (Brig) (Organization)
- Edwin (Brigantine) (Organization)
- Eliza (Bark) (Organization)
- Eliza (Schooner) (Organization)
- Eunice (Brig) (Organization)
- Franklin (Schooner) (Organization)
- Friendship (Brig) (Organization)
- Fox (Schooner) (Organization)
- George (Brig) (Organization)
- Hannah (Schooner) (Organization)
- Happy Couple (Schooner) (Organization)
- Hazard (Schooner) (Organization)
- Hewes (Ship) (Organization)
- Hypsia & Jane (Brig) (Organization)
- Jason (Brigantine) (Organization)
- Jason (Schooner) (Organization)
- John (Ship) (Organization)
- John Quincy Adams (Schooner) (Organization)
- Lively (Schooner) (Organization)
- Malabar (Ship) (Organization)
- Marblehead (Bark) (Organization)
- Mercury (Schooner) (Organization)
- Messenger (Schooner) (Organization)
- Neptune (Schooner) (Organization)
- Nymph (Schooner) (Organization)
- Olinda (Brig) (Organization)
- Olive Branch (Schooner) (Organization)
- Perserverance (Schooner) (Organization)
- Plant (Brig) (Organization)
- Polly (Schooner) (Organization)
- Polly & Betsey (Vessel) (Organization)
- Reaper (Bark) (Organization)
- Richard (Bark) (Organization)
- Rockingham (Brig) (Organization)
- Roscius (Brig) (Organization)
- Salem (Brigantine) (Organization)
- Salem (Schooner) (Organization)
- Sally (Brigantine) (Organization)
- Sally (Schooner) (Organization)
- Scion (Brig) (Organization)
- Serano (Brig) (Organization)
- Susan (Ship) (Organization)
- Tabitha (Schooner) (Organization)
- Tuscany (Ship) (Organization)
- Union (Brig) (Organization)
- Union (Ship) (Organization)
- Washington (Schooner) (Organization)
- Wellcome Return (Brig) (Organization)
- Title
- HODGES FAMILY PAPERS, 1657--1874, undated
- Author
- Processed by: Tamara Gaydos; machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Phillips Library Repository