Table of Contents

Historical Note

Scope and Content Note

Information for Researchers

Administrative Information

Description

Subject Headings

Inventory of the Charles R. Tucker & Company Records

In the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library

Historical Note

Charles Russell Tucker was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1809. He began working in the counting room of Isaac Howland Jr. & Company, merchants and whaling agents of New Bedford in 1830. By 1836, Tucker was acting as an independent agent and established a partnership with Edward D. Mandell (1821-1897) known as Charles R. Tucker & Company in 1844. This firm acted as agent for such whaling vessels as the Benjamin Tucker (Ship), Canton (Ship/Bark), Nye (Bark), and St. Peter (Bark) until Tucker's death in 1876. At that time, his son, John Fry Tucker (1839-1886), inherited the business and kept Mandell as a partner, calling the firm John F. Tucker & Company. They acted as agent for such vessels as the Bark Bertha and the Ship California.

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Scope and Content Note

The bulk of this collection reflects the business activities of Charles R. Tucker & Company and its successor, John F. Tucker & Company, active at New Bedford, Massachusetts between the years 1836 and 1886. This material encompasses ship's papers of eighteen vessels for which both firms acted as agent. Of particular note are the records of the Nye (Bark), spanning the years 1860 to 1888. The bulk of the records for the Nye consist of testimonies, judgments, awards, correspondence, and financial records concerning claims resulting from the burning of the vessel by the Confederate raider Alabama in 1863. Other ship's papers, dating 1836-1891, include agent/owner accounts; crew papers, including Whalemens' Shipping Papers and Hawaiian Shipping Articles; customs and consular records, including a protest concerning damage suffered by the Marcella (Bark); insurance policies; and related records. This collection also contains a power of attorney certificate, 1882, naming Charles R. Tucker, among others, attorneys in collecting the Alabama claim for a crew member of the Altamaha (Brig); stock certificates for shares held by Charles R. Tucker & Company and by Tucker and Edward Mandell individually in mining companies and local industries, 1849-1872; and a membership certificate, dated 1907.

Arrangement of Collection

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Information for Researchers

Access to Collections

Unrestricted. Consult librarian for an appointment.

Preferred Citation

New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library Mss 57, [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.

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Administrative Information

Provenance

Individual items in this collection were given to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society by Frank B. Ballou on 4 September 1947, James H. Gifford on 21 September 1957, Lawrence Romaine on 16 June 1964, and by Stuart C. Sherman.

Processing Information

Processed by: Barbara E. Austen, ca. 1982

Encoded by: Kermit Dewey, 04 June 2012; box list appended by Caitlin Hayes, 24 July 2012

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

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Description

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Subject Headings

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Vessel Names

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