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Franklin S. Phelps & Company Records, 1853-1888, undated

 Collection
Identifier: MH 186

Scope and Content Note

The Franklin S. Phelps and Company Records document the business of this Boston-based insurance agency. It dealt mostly, but not exclusively with marine insurance. The collection contains correspondence and ships' papers and is divided into two series. There are three folders of personal papers.

Series I. Correspondence contains letters arranged by correspondent (insurance companies, shipping companies, ship brokers, bankers, attorneys, and individuals) and then chronologically. Most of the correspondence is letters received, with a few outgoing letters from Franklin S. Phelps as well. It also includes telegrams.

Series II. Ships' Papers includes affidavits, statements, reports, bills, depositions, protests, disbursements for repairs, and correspondence.

Series III. Personal Papers contains personal letters to Phelps and letters to Phelps' wife, "Meggie."

Scope and Contents

Phillips Library Stacks

Dates

  • Creation: 1853-1888, undated

Creator

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research use.

Historical/Biographical Sketch

Franklin S. Phelps and Company was a Boston, Massachusetts, based insurance agency with an office on State Street. The owner and agent, Franklin S. Phelps, was born in Fort Covington, New York, on September 15, 1833, to James and Rebecca (Willard) Phelps. In 1863, he married Mary Elizabeth Richardson (born 1829) and they lived in Lynn, Massachusetts. They had three sons: John Franklin (born 1864), John Samuel (born 1866), and Willard Schetky (born 1868). Franklin died on March 5, 1898 in Lynn.

Extent

3.75 linear feet (6 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The Franklin S. Phelps and Company Records document the business of this Boston-based insurance agency.

Series List

SERIES I. Correspondence

SERIES II. Ships' Papers

SERIES III. Personal Papers

Provenance

This material was donated by the estate of John and James Phelps in 1948 (acc #11,920).

Bibliography and Related Collections

Vinton, John Adams. The Richardson Memorial, Comprising a Full History and Genealogy of the Posterity of the Three Brothers, Ezekiel, Samuel, and Thomas Richardson, Who Came from England, and United with Others in the Foundation of Woburn, Massachusetts, in the Year 1641, of John Richardson, of Medfield, 1679, of Amos Richardson, of Boston, 1640, of Edward and William Richardson, of Newbury, 1643, with Notices of Richardsons in England and Elsewhere .. Portland, Me.: Printed for the Subscribers by B. Thurston, 1876.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Application book of the Franklin S. Phelps Insurance Agency, 1867-1872, MSS 1634.1

Insurance book of the Franklin S. Phelps Insurance Agency, 1856-1875, MSS 1634.2

Records of the Franklin S. Phelps Insurance Agency, 1867-1868, MSS 1634.3

Account book of the Franklin S. Phelps Insurance Agency, 1871-1872, MSS 1634.4

Account book of the Franklin S. Phelps Insurance Agency, 1858-1867, MSS 1634.5

Account book of the Franklin S. Phelps Insurance Agency, 1867-1875, MSS 1634.6

Processing Information

Collection processed by Tamara Gaydos, November 2016.

Subject

Title
FRANKLIN S. PHELPS & COMPANY RECORDS, 1853-1888
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

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