Series 51. Logbooks: Commercial vessels (1799-1865, undated)
Scope and Content
The series consists of 20 volumes of logbooks from six sail or steam commercial vessels on routine cruises, and 15 cod-fishing vessels from York, Maine, on their annual journeys to the Bay of Fundy and St. Lawrence River fishing grounds.
America's 1799-1800 logbook was probably kept by Michael Hayes (nephew of John Barry, and relative of John Sanford Barnes's wife; see Series 3, Series 5) on a voyage from Philadelphia to China via Lisbon.
Mary also sailed the China route, from Philadelphia to Canton via Batavia under Christian Christianson, master, between May 14, 1832 and April 4, 1833. Camilla, under James T. Watkins, master, made port in Rio de Janeiro, Cowes (Isle of Wight), and Antwerp before ending its cruise in Tarragona, Spain, from October 6, 1834 to March 1, 1835. The volume concludes with various non-voyage-related writings: "The Marriage Vow" on wifely fidelity, as well as detailed descriptions of female anatomy and various gynecological disorders. It turns over to an "Inventory of my Effects" dated Philadelphia, 1832, which lists debts incurred and monies due, as well as merchandise, stocks, and money held; a penciled draft of a letter to a loved one; and several poems.
SS Republic cruised from New York to San Francisco via Rio, and America in 1863 from New York to Panama.
The Governor Clinton log was a gift of Caspar Goodrich's daughter, Mrs. C.T. Davis, on the same date with other materials now collected in Series 21. This typed, corrected transcript documents a voyage from Peru to New York on which Caspar Goodrich's grandfather James W. Goodrich sailed under Captain L.B. Griswold, who was accused of drunkenness and other misbehaviors.
The fishing ships' logbooks are preprinted volumes that include regulations for the registration of vessels and their catches, and are filled in by hand to document the voyages, conditions, and amount of fish caught.
Related Materials at New-York Historical Society
Series 21, Subseries IV. James Griswold journal transcripts, includes additional information about James Griswold, from the Goodrich donation.