Table of Contents

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Information for Researchers

Separations List

Administrative Information

Description

Subject Headings

Inventory of the Albert C. Sherman Papers

In the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library

Biographical Note

Albert C. Sherman was born in Westport, Massachusetts, in 1849. He began his career serving on whaling vessels in the 1870's out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and became a master in 1884. By 1885, he began sailing out of San Francisco, California, and captained steam powered vessels into the Arctic. He continued his career in the whaling industry until 1899 when he retired and permanently returned home to New Bedford. Sherman spent nearly thirty years in whaling, and at least half were spent in the Arctic. Upon his return to New Bedford, Sherman purchased an interest in a livery stable property which he operated until just before his death when it was destroyed by fire. Sherman died in 1914.

Sherman married three times, his second wife, Caroline L. Nye Kirschbaum Sherman (1858-1896) accompanied him to Herschel Island in the Arctic in 1895. While there she gave birth to their second child, a daughter, the first white child born that far north.

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Scope and Content Note

Papers in this collection primarily reflect the activities of Albert C. Sherman as a whaling master of New Bedford, Mass., and San Francisco, Calif., between 1875-1899. His papers consist of a diary, 1898, and ship's papers, 1875-1899. The diary records events after the Orca (Steam Bark) was wrecked in the Arctic Disaster of 1897. The ship's papers contain records for seven whaling vessels on which Sherman served, the majority departing from San Francisco on voyages to the Arctic regions and include correspondence, agent/owner accounts and customs records. Amongst the records of the Beluga (Steam Bark) are programs for the entertainment aboard that vessel by Fry's Opera Company and the Herschel Island Snowflakes. There is also a menu for the leap year party given by the women of the fleet. They have been arranged chronologically by date he served aboard and by the initial date if he served aboard the vessel more than once.

There are also papers for Sherman's second wife, Caroline L. Nye Kirschbaum Sherman which consist of a scrapbook of newspaper clippings, 1889-1895 and a pressed flower book, ca. 1896. The newspaper clippings include birth, death and marriage announcements, articles relating to her husband and his vessels and regarding herself and her experiences in the Arctic most notably the birth of a daughter. The pressed flower book contains flowers from Herschel Island in the Arctic.

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 86, [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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Separations List

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Administrative Information

Provenance

Materials in this collection were donated to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society on 30 December 1983 by Elizabeth Ladner, Hannah Sherman, and Margaret S. Kohn.

Processing Information

Processed by: Judith M. Downey, ca. 1985

Encoded by: Kermit Dewey, 16 April 2012

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Description

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Subject Headings

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Vessel Names

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