Table of Contents

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Information for Researchers

Administrative Information

Description

Subject Headings

Inventory of the John Ham Williams Page Papers

In the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library

Biographical Note

John Ham Williams Page was born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, in 1802, and after graduating from Harvard in 1826, he came to New Bedford, Massachusetts. He served as the principal of Friends Academy for three years and then studied law, being admitted to the bar in 1832. He returned to New Bedford to practice law for the next twenty years. He served as a Representative in the legislature and on the Governor's Council. He later removed himself to Boston, Mass., where he became Treasurer of the Lawrence Machine Shop and an investor in several railroads.

In 1834, he married Mary Brayton (d. 1848) and again in 1850, to Susan Congdon Greene (1822-1902). Page met his untimely death by drowning off Winthrop, Mass., on 17 June 1865.

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Scope and Content Note

Papers in this collection reflect the activities of John Ham Williams Page as a businessman of New Bedford and Boston, Massachusetts, between 1852-1862. His correspondence concerns his property in Pocasset, Mass.; his property on Fish Island and his involvement in the Acushnet Iron Foundry; as well as his involvement in court cases, in the Lawrence Machine Shop, investments in railroads; and overseeing an individual's financial matters.

There are a series of letters regarding the attitudes and feelings occurring in the South immediately prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. Noted individuals amongst Page's correspondents are Lucy Bakewell (Mrs. John James) Audubon; John Chipman Hoadley, Herman Melville's brother-in-law; and William Butler Ogden, first mayor of Chicago and railroad executive.

These papers have been arranged into series by type of document. The correspondence has been organized into chronological order.

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 82, [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

This entire collection was donated to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society by Mary Louise Grinnell in 1982.

Processing Information

Processed by: Judith Downey, ca. 1984

Encoded by: Mark Procknik, 21 December 2011

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Description

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Subject Headings

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Vessel Names

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