Dudley Leavitt Pickman Papers, 1721-1938, 1967, 1985, 1990
-
Not requestable
Scope and Content Note
The bulk of the Dudley Leavitt Pickman Papers reflects the business and personal activities of Dudley Leavitt Pickman (1779-1846), a wealthy businessman and legislator. The collection also contains business and personal papers of other family members. The collection is divided into three series.
Series I. Business Papers contains correspondence, legal, and financial papers reflecting Dudley's business and domestic concerns. Dudley served as trustee of Simon Forrester's estate (see 2 envelopes in Family Manuscripts) along with Nathaniel Bowditch and Leverett Saltonstall. Of special note are the Letter of Marque for the ship Endeavor (1815), his appointment as Justice of the Peace, and an amendment to his will.
Series II. Personal Papers contain diaries of daily activities from 1805-1818.
Series III. Relatives' Papers contain correspondence, legal, and financial papers of various Pickman family members. Of special note are the naturalization papers of Benjamin Pickman from 1787, the correspondence to Benjamin Pickman's wife, and a journal of Edward M. Pickman's trip to Spain in 1915.
Dates
- Creation: 1721-1938, 1967, 1985, 1990
Creator
- Pickman, Dudley Leavitt, 1779-1846 (Person)
Restrictions on Access
This collection is open for research use.
Biographical Sketch
Dudley Leavitt Pickman (1779-1846) was born in Salem, Massachusetts. After finishing his formal schooling in his teens, he went to work at the Salem Custom House. He worked a few years as a clerk and in 1799 John Crowninshield offered him the opportunity to serve as supercargo (business agent) on the ship Belisaurius to Madras, India. He then sailed again in 1801 in the Anna to Sumatra and in 1802 in the ketch Three Sisters to Havre-de-Grace. In 1803 he sailed as supercargo of the Derby to Calcutta. With the profits from these voyages, Pickman retired from the sea in his late twenties to devote himself to business. He was a founder of Pickman, Stone, and Silsbee. He invested in companies that developed land and water power for manufacturing in Lowell, Lawrence, and Manchester, Massachusetts. He served as director of several corporations, including the New Market Manufacturing Company, a cotton mill. He was elected several times to the Massachusetts legislature, representing Salem in the House of Representatives and Essex County in the Senate. He served as secretary to the Salem East India Marine Society from 1810 to 1812 and as president from 1817 to 1820. He married Catherine Sanders (1784-1823) in 1810 and they had three children, Catherine Sanders Pickman (1811-1901), Elizabeth Leavitt Pickman (1814-1853), and William Dudley Pickman (1819-1898). When he died in 1846, he was the richest man in Salem, with an estate worth $1.2 million.
Extent
3 Linear feet (6 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The bulk of the Dudley Leavitt Pickman Papers reflects the business and personal activities of Dudley Leavitt Pickman (1779-1846), a wealthy businessman and legislator.
Series List
SERIES I. Business Papers
SERIES II. Personal Papers
SERIES III. Relatives' Papers
Physical Location
Phillips Library Stacks
Provenance
This material was a gift of the Pickman family (acc #2005.012) on September 15, 2005.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Tamara Gaydos, July 2007.
Subject
- Pickman, Dudley Leavitt, 1779-1846 (Person)
- Pickman, Benjamin, 1707 or 1708-1773 (Person)
- Pickman, Edward Motley, b.1886 (Person)
- Pickman, Love Rawlins, 1709-1786 (Person)
- Pickman, William Dudley, 1819-1890 (Person)
- Forrester, Simon, 1784-1817 (Person)
- Smith, Jabez (Person)
- Sanders, Catharine, 1784-1823 (Person)
- Bowditch, Nathaniel, 1773-1838 (Person)
- Saltonstall, Leverett, 1783-1845 (Person)
- Motley, Ellen Rodman (Person)
- Dodge, Pickering (Person)
- Grafton, Lucy, 1811-1901 (Person)
- Pickman, Nelly (Person)
- Dow, George Francis, 1868-1936 (Person)
- Endeavor (Ship) (Organization)
- Nashua Manufacturing Company (Organization)
- Stone, Silsbee, and Pickman (Organization)
- Title
- DUDLEY LEAVITT PICKMAN PAPERS, 1721-1938, 1967, 1985, 1990
- 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