Table of Contents

Historical Note

Scope and Content Note

Information for Researchers

Separations List

Administrative Information

Description

Subject Headings

Inventory of the Knowles Family Business Records

In the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library

Historical Note

Thomas Knowles (1803-1877), was born in Eastham, Massachusetts, and moved to New Bedford, Mass., in the late 1820s. He established himself as a trader and was joined by his brother, John Pepper Knowles (1805-1896), in 1835 in a partnership known as T. & J. P. Knowles. As part of their mercantile activities, the brothers engaged several local residents, chiefly women, to make clothing through the piece-work system. In 1844, a cousin and former clerk for T. & J. P. Knowles, Joseph M. Knowles (1819-1876), became a partner in the firm, which changed its name to Thomas Knowles & Company. This organization sold groceries, provisions, and dry goods; continued to commission piece-work sewing of mattresses and pillows; and also acted as agents for numerous whaling vessels, including the Edward (Bark), Falcon (Ship/Bark), Hecla (Bark), Minerva 2d (Ship/Bark), Tamerlane (Ship/Bark), and Wave (Bark). By 1867, John Pepper Knowles II (1835-1902), and a son of Thomas Knowles, Thomas Henry Knowles (1837-1909), were full partners in the firm. Thomas Knowles & Company continued to exist until 1894, although the junior partners in the firm began to pursue independent commercial ventures as well after the deaths of two of the elder Knowles' in 1876 and 1877.

Other Knowles family members who were merchants and businessmen in New Bedford and vicinity during the nineteenth century include John Pepper Knowles Jr. (1830-1891), a brother of Joseph Knowles. He began his career as a clerk for Thomas Knowles & Company in 1852, and by 1859, had established his own business as a wholesale grocer. Like his cousins, he also became an agent for several whaling vessels.

Charles Sumner Knowles (1850-1911), another son of Thomas Knowles, was a manufacturer of wax and rubber in New Bedford and Boston, Mass. Several New Bedford city directories as well as a Knowles family genealogy state that he was also involved in electrical engineering.

Return to the Table of Contents

Scope and Content Note

Most of the records in this collection concern the business affairs of Thomas Knowles & Company of New Bedford, Mass. These materials, which are organized in Sub-group 2 of the inventory, primarily consist of the ship's papers for twelve whalers for which the company acted as agents from 1844-1889. Of particular note among these records are letters to and from captains, crew members and their families, as well as business associates; agent/owner accounts, which contain detailed information about the outfitting, overall expenses, and profits of individual whaling ventures; and crew papers, including Whalemen's Shipping Papers, crew lists, settlements, certificates of discharge, agreements and other legal documents, and receipts. Other ship's papers in this collection consist of consular records, chiefly protests, claims, and bills concerning damage to vessels and loss of cargoes; custom records, including certificates of clearance and manifests; insurance policies on vessels, outfits, and catches; bills of exchange and lading; bills and receipts relating to costs of outfitting, repairing and recruiting vessels during a voyage; and memoranda concerning supplies and catches. Ship's papers are most numerous for the Falcon (Ship/Bark), 1849-1889; Minerva 2d (Ship/Bark), 1844-1874; Tamerlane (Ship/Bark), 1850-1880; and the Wave (Bark), 1850-1888. Records for the Minerva, 2d, reflect that vessel's Involvement in the 1871 Arctic Disaster. Those papers for another Knowles' vessel, the Isabella(Bark), include materials relating to the capture of the bark by the Shenandoah during the Civil War. These records have been arranged under the names of individual vessels, first by voyage dates, then according to the types of documents which relate to each voyage. A final series in Sub-group 2, contains bills and receipts of Thomas Knowles & Company which do not seem to concern whaling ventures.

This collection also contains records of T. & J. P. Knowles, organized as Sub-group 1, and papers relating to individual Knowles family members, which have been arranged in series in Sub-group 3, according to each person's date of birth. Records of T. & J. P. Knowles consist of piece-work sewing accounts, 1832-1839, giving the names and wages of numerous workers; bills and receipts, 1835-1845, and an 1839 insurance policy. Papers of Thomas Knowles, 1825-1842, contain bills and receipts concerning his business activities prior to forming a partnership with his brother, as well as personal tax receipts. John Pepper Knowles' papers, 1842-1846, and those of Joseph Knowles, 1842-1852, consist of tax receipts which relate to their personal activities. John Pepper Knowles II is represented by agent/owner accounts and other ship's papers for the barks Avola, 1874, and John and Winthrop, 1876-ca. 1877. Thomas Henry Knowles' papers reflect his duties as treasurer of the New Bedford Tanning Company (later called the New Bedford Tannery) from 1863-1871. These materials include stock records, cash accounts, trial balances, and bills and receipts. Finally, papers for Charles Sumner Knowles consist of an account book relating to his activities as a wax manufacturer in New Bedford, Mass., from 1892-1897.

Researchers should note that the Old Dartmouth Historical Society manuscript collection also contains twenty-seven log books compiled during voyages of Knowles' vessels between the years 1845 and 1888. These volumes, which have been transferred to the log book collection, are described in the separations list concluding this inventory.

A published work which may serve as a guide to the persons represented by papers and records in this collection is Decendants Of Richard Knowles. . . , By Virginia Knowles Hufbauer, 1974.

Arrangement of Collection

Return to the Table of Contents

Information for Researchers

Access to Collections

Unrestricted. Consult librarian for an appointment.

Preferred Citation

New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library Mss 55, [sub-group, series, sub-series, folder/volume as appropriate], [item]

Copyright Notice

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 United States Code 552a) governs the use of materials that document private individuals, groups, and corporations.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a reproduction if the document does not infringe the privacy rights of an individual, group, or corporation. These specified conditions of authorized use include:

If the researcher later uses a copy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," the researcher is personally liable for copyright, privacy, or publicity infringement and agrees to indemnify the New Bedford Whaling Museum from any legal action as a result of the error. Permission to obtain a photographic, xerographic, digital, or other copy of a document does not indicate permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, sell, distribute, or prepare derivative works from the document without permission from the copyright holder and from any private individual, group, or corporation shown or otherwise recorded.

Permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, prepare derivative works from, sell, or otherwise distribute the item must be obtained separately in writing from the holder of the original copyright (or if the creator is dead, from his/her heirs) as well as from any individual(s), groups, or corporations whose name, image, recorded words, or private information (e.g. employment information) may be reproduced in the source material. The holder of the original copyright is not necessarily the New Bedford Whaling Museum. The New Bedford Whaling Museum is not legally liable for copyright, privacy, or publicity infringement when materials are wrongfully used after being provided to researchers for "fair use."

This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if fulfillment of the order is judged in violation of copyright or federal or state privacy law. This institution also places restrictions on the use of cameras, photocopiers, and scanners in the research room.

Return to the Table of Contents

Separations List

Return to the Table of Contents

Administrative Information

Provenance

The major portion of the records in this collection were donated to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society by the estate of Andrew Snow Jr. on 17 March 1919. Other records were given to the Society by Mrs. Walter S. Wheeler on 28 February 1946 and July 1961; Charles R. Phillips Sr. on 30 April 1965; George B., James T., and William S. Knowles on 8 March 1973; and Sylvia H. Knowles on 3 April 1973. The records of the barksEdward and John Carver were donated by Mrs. Micheal Knauer on 21 November 1983.

Processing Information

Processed by: Judith Downey with assistance from Margaret Brightman, Barbara Groves, Henry Kette1, and Henry Sherman, ca. 1982

Encoded by: Kermit Dewey, 24 March 2012

Funds for processing this collection were provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Return to the Table of Contents

Description

Return to the Table of Contents

Subject Headings

Return to the Table of Contents

Vessel Names

Return to the Table of Contents