Chaplin Conway Papers, 1848-1854
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Not requestable
Scope and Content Note
The Chaplin Conway Papers contain fifty-three letters, written by Chaplin to his second wife, Sarah, during his long sea voyages to South America as shipmaster. The only exceptions are the earliest letter of the collection, written to Chaplin from his brother John, expressing sympathy on the death of his first wife (Folder 1), and two letters from Sarah, Chaplin's second wife, to her husband on board ship. The letters are arranged in chronological order. Each letter is folded to be a self-envelope, addressed on the outside, and many are stamped with a postal or shipping rate. Each letter indicates the date and Chaplin's location at the time of writing. Because of the necessity of waiting for a carrier for the letters, many of them are written in the form of journals, and include entries for many days.
The letters provide interesting details of the Salem-Brazil trade, giving the names of ships used in the trade, tracking the trade routes of Chaplin's vessels from one Brazilian port to another in search of favorable trading conditions, and delivering and receiving consignments. There are frequent references to the cargoes carried, both to and from Brazil, with rubber and hides among the important imports into Salem. Only a few comments by Chaplin relate to the political and social events of the time: He hopes "Old Zack" (Taylor) will be elected president. At one point he has taken on a crew member that he believes to be a runaway slave. There are a few brief comments on the population and nature of certain Brazilian ports.
Dates
- Creation: 1848-1854
Creator
- Conway, Chaplin, 1797-1872 (Person)
Restrictions on Access
This collection is open for research use.
Biographical Sketch
Chaplin Conway was born in 1797, possibly in North Cumberland, Virginia, to Ann and Chaplin Conway. He is known to have had at least one brother, John, who lived in Baltimore, Maryland, during the years covered by this collection of letters.
Chaplin Conway married Sarah Crowe of Baltimore. The date of the marriage is not known. Two children of the marriage, Henry Chaplin Conway and Sarah Caroline Conway, both died in childhood. Sarah, Chaplin's wife, died of "dropsy" on December 30, 1847, at the age of 53.
By April of 1848, Chaplin was betrothed to Sarah Smith Phelps of Salem. They were married on June 22, 1848. There were no children born of Conway's second marriage.
Chaplin Conway was employed as a shipmaster, engaged in the maritime trade between Salem, Massachusetts and Brazil during the 1840s and 1850s. He died in Salem on April 28, 1872, at the age of 75. At some time thereafter, his wife, Sarah Phelps Conway, moved to Chicago, where she died in 1902, at the age of 87.
Extent
1 box (0.5 linear feet)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Chaplin Conway Papers contain fifty-three letters, written by Chaplin to his second wife, Sarah, during his long sea voyages to South America as shipmaster.
Physical Location
Phillips Library Stacks
Provenance
This material was donated by John C. Meleney on March 30, 2000 (Acc 2000.006).
Processing Information
Collection processed by Frances Malamy, August 2000.
Subject
- Title
- CHAPLIN CONWAY PAPERS, 1848-1854
- Author
- Processed by: Frances Malamy; machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Phillips Library Repository