Table of Contents

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Information for Researchers

Related Materials

Separations List

Administrative Information

Description

Subject Headings

Inventory of the Akin Family Papers

In the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library

Biographical Note

Seth Kelley Akin was born in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, in 1803. He moved to Syracuse, New York, in 1824 to work in the Syracuse Salt Company in association with Henry Gifford (1801-1872). In about 1827, Akin moved to New Bedford, Mass. There, he started the Nonquitt Salt Company in South Dartmouth, Mass., and was employed by Samuel Leonard, a New Bedford lumbar merchant. Akin also became surveyor of lumber for the city until shortly before his death in 1888.

Seth Kelley Akin's son, Francis Taber Akin (1837-1917), grandsons: Thomas Bryant Akin (1866-1951) and Charles Gardner Akin (1870-1953), and great-grandsons: Francis Taber Akin (1909-1961) and Charles Gardner Akin Jr. (b. 1900) were active in the firewood, coal, and painting/paint supply business in New Bedford from 1860 until about 1956. These individuals were either the successors of or partners in the following organizations:

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Scope and Content Note

The Akin papers reflect activities of family members and their relatives by marriage during the years 1818 to 1956. Many of the materials relate to the six New Bedford business organizations that various Akins were associated with, either as successors or partners, between 1854 and ca. 1956. These business records encompass day books, sales accounts, orders, bills and receipts, and similar financial records; time books and other labor records; legal documents, such as agreements, leases, and deeds; incoming correspondence; price lists; clippings; advertisements, product catalogs, and business cards; and memoranda. Of particular note among these documents are a volume of formulae for paints manufactured by Perry, Kirby & Company in 1862; labor books reflecting the painting of many local houses and buildings by Hart & Akin and F. T. Akin & Company from 1877-1901; and clippings concerning strikes by coal miners and teamsters between 1898-1914. Records are most numerous for the firms of Hart & Akin, 1874-1901, and Akin-Denison Company, 1870-1956.

Another major portion of this collection consists of the papers of John Arnold Macomber (1812-1875), father-in-law of both Francis Taber Akin and Thomas Akin (1838-1920). Macomber was involved in the whaling industry as part owner and captain of several vessels from about 1845 until 1865. He then shifted his attention to the petroleum business and established the firm of Macomber, Tabor & Company, with interests in oil fields at Parkersburg, Virginia, and Parker City, Pennsylvania. His papers chiefly consist of correspondence, insurance policies, and other ship's papers for years 1845-1876 for several whalers, particularly the ship Hillman, and documents concerning the settlement of his estate by several individuals, including a son-in-law, William Henry Mathews (1841-1909), and Macomber's business partners at the time of his death, Edmund Taber (1819-1911) and Charles Henry Bourne (b.1847). These estate records date from 1875 to 1895 and include correspondence; account books, accounts current, bills and receipts, and other financial records; legal documents, including probate records; and memoranda concerning Macomber's property. Many of these materials concern expenses of his family at New Bedford and settlement of his business affairs in Pennsylvania.

Rounding out the collection are papers of Akin family members and their other relatives by marriage, 1818-1953. Seth Kelley Akin is represented by correspondence; account books, bills, and receipts; and legal documents, including several deeds and leases. Much of this material concerns his interests in the Syracuse and Nonquitt saltworks along with his other business affairs from the years 1818 to 1880. Papers for his son, Francis Taber Akin, date from 1858-1900 and consist of correspondence, checks, bills, receipts, legal documents, and a record of hours worked on painting jobs and his income from 1858-1864. Papers for other family members principally consist of personal correspondence. A final group of documents contains deeds, calling cards, a letter, and a clipping concerning various Akins and their friends, 1830-1870, 1953. Published works which may serve as a guide to the persons represented in this collection include The History of New Bedford and Its' Vicinity, 1602-1892 by Leonard Bolles Ellis (1892) and Representative Men and Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts (1912). There is also an Akin Family Genealogical Chart compiled in 1981 in the possession of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society.

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 61, [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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Related Materials

Related Manuscript Collections

Mss 140: Akin Family Papers

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Separations List

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Administrative Information

Provenance

Materials in this collection were donated to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society by Charles Gardner Akin Jr. between September 1977 and March 1981. Additional material was given by Barbara Groves on 21 November 1986.

Processing Information

Processed by: Judith Downey, ca. 1982

Encoded by: Kermit Dewey, 8 June 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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