John Davenport Papers, 1791-1838, undated
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Not requestable
Scope and Content Note
The John Davenport papers provide an overview of the shipping activities of John Davenport (1776-1817), a Newburyport ship owner and shipping merchant. The paucity of records in this collection does not truly reflect the thriving business which he conducted with coastwise United States ports, the West Indies, and Europe. The papers also contain deeds generated by John's stepmother's family, the Greenleafs.
The ships' papers, arranged alphabetically by vessel, contain papers of ships owned by John or on which he consigned cargo (see Appendix I for a listing). Of interest is an inventory of Captain William Hunt's belongings on the brig Sally, made upon his death at sea in 1811. The shipping papers include outfitting and cargo bills as well as accounts of miscellaneous ships. The correspondence contains letters from merchants and John's partner, Joseph P. Russell, and correspondence regarding general financial business.
The family papers contain Newburyport real estate deeds from the family of John's stepmother, Catherine (Greenleaf) Davenport and a letter regarding the shipping activities of his father, Anthony Davenport (1752-1836).
Dates
- Creation: 1791-1838, undated
Creator
- Davenport, John, 1776-1817 (Person)
Restrictions on Access
The mold damaged documents in box 1, folder 11, are restricted due to their fragile condition. Photocopies of these items have been integrated into the main body of the collection.
Biographical Sketch
John Davenport was born in May 1776 to Anthony (1752-1836) and Elizabeth Davenport in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Anthony was involved in shipping and merchant activities, and his son followed in his footsteps. He became a ship owner and shipping merchant, conducting a thriving business with coastwise United States ports, the West Indies, and Europe. Davenport died in 1817 in Newburyport.
Extent
0.5 linear feet (1 box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The John Davenport papers provide an overview of the shipping activities of John Davenport (1776-1817), a Newburyport, Massachusetts, ship owner and shipping merchant.
Physical Location
Phillips Library Stacks
Provenance
The John Davenport papers are a reorganization of manuscripts culled from three boxes of Davenport and Wood papers. The collection is from an unknown source. Removed was one folder of papers belonging to Joseph R. Russell, Davenport's brother-in-law (see Separation Sheet).
Processing Information
Collection processed by Sylvia B. Kennick, January 1985. Updated by Catherine Robertson, March 2015.
Subject
- Davenport, Anthony, 1752-1836 (Person)
- Russell, Joseph (Person)
- Greenleaf family (Family)
- Hunt, William, d. 1811 (Person)
- Diamond (Sloop) (Organization)
- Essex (Schooner) (Organization)
- Ruby (Brig) (Organization)
- Sally (Brig) (Organization)
- Sally (Schooner) (Organization)
- Swift (Brig) (Organization)
- Title
- JOHN DAVENPORT PAPERS, 1791-1838, undated
- Author
- Processed by: Sylvia B. Kennick; Updated by: Catherine Robertson; machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- Processing and conservation of this collection was funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the Phillips Library Repository