Joshua Burnham Papers, 1758-1817, undated
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Not requestable
Scope and Content Note
The Joshua Burnham Papers document the business of this Ipswich, Massachusetts, ship captain and include some papers of his immediate family. The collection is divided into three series.
Series I. Ships' Papers is arranged alphabetically by vessel, including both fishing and shipping papers. Of interest is a journal of work performed aboard the sloop Robinwood. See Appendix I for a list of ships which have papers in the collection.
The volumes in Series II. Shipping Account Books record Joshua's trading activities with the local merchants in Virginia and Maryland and often include unofficial cargo manifests. Volume 2 also contains a journal from the 1782 voyage of the sloop Phoenix and Volume 3 includes a page of a journal from the schooner Swan.
Series III. Business and Family Papers contains correspondence, legal, and financial papers relating to Joshua's shipping and business affairs. These papers include merchant correspondence, bonds and deeds, miscellaneous shipping accounts, receipts for rent paid on the School Farm, and estate accounts. The family papers (B2 F4) contain shipping correspondence of Mark Burnham (1738-1791), Joshua's brother, and personal correspondence and financial papers of Joshua's wife Eunice, and their children Caleb, Joshua, Susan (Sukey), and Betsey.
Dates
- Creation: 1758-1817, undated
Creator
- Burnham, Joshua, 1736-1791 (Person)
Restrictions on Access
This collection is open for research use.
Biographical Sketch
Joshua Burnham was born on November 28, 1736 in Ipswich, Massachusetts. He was a ship master who specialized in trade with Virginia and the West Indies. From 1761 to 1790, Joshua mastered at least twelve vessels for such important merchants as Ezekiel Woodward Jr., Daniel Rogers, and John Choate. (See Appendix II for a list of ships on which Burnham served as master with the dates served.) Joshua also served as a trade agent, bartering for goods with small local merchants in Virginia and Maryland.
In 1762, he married Eunice (1738-1801) and they had five children: Lucy (b. 1763); Betsey (b. 1765); Joshua (1768-1816), Susan (b. 1770); and Caleb (1773-1794). Joshua and his brother, Mark, both died on June 9, 1791. In Ipswich Vital Statistics, under deaths, there is the following entry: "lately arrived sick from the W. Indies" under Joshua's name; no entry was found for Mark.
Extent
1 linear foot (2 boxes; 7 volumes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Joshua Burnham Papers document the business of this Ipswich, Massachusetts, ship captain and include some papers of his immediate family.
Series List
SERIES I. Ships' Papers
SERIES II. Shipping Account Books
SERIES III. Business and Family Papers
Physical Location
Phillips Library Stacks
Provenance
This material was purchased by the Essex Institute in 1925.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Sylvia B. Kennick, January 1985. Updated by Tamara Gaydos, January 2016.
Subject
- Burnham, Betsey, b. 1776 (Person)
- Burnham, Caleb, b. 1771 (Person)
- Burnham, Eunice (Person)
- Burnham, Joshua, b. 1763 (Person)
- Burnham, Mark, b. 1738 (Person)
- Burnham, Sukey, b. 1779 (Person)
- Choate, John (Person)
- Rogers, Daniel (Person)
- Woodward, Ezekiel (Person)
- Abigail (Schooner) (Organization)
- Betsey (Schooner) (Organization)
- Charles (Schooner) (Organization)
- Dolphin (Schooner) (Organization)
- Endeavor (Schooner) (Organization)
- Gloucester (Sloop) (Organization)
- Good Fortune (Sloop) (Organization)
- Lively (Schooner) (Organization)
- Neptune (Schooner) (Organization)
- Phoenix (Sloop) (Organization)
- Polly (Schooner) (Organization)
- Robinwood (Sloop) (Organization)
- Ruby (Schooner) (Organization)
- Swan (Schooner) (Organization)
- Title
- JOSHUA BURNHAM PAPERS, 1758-1817, undated
- Author
- Processed by: Sylvia B. Kennick; Updated by: Tamara Gaydos; machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- Processing and conservation of the collection were funded by a grant from the national Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the Phillips Library Repository