Table of Contents

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Information for Researchers

Administrative Information

Collection Inventory

Subject Headings

Inventory of the John H. Clifford Papers

In the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library

Biographical Note

John H. Clifford was an American politician and lawyer born in Providence, Rhode Island on January 16, 1809. Clifford is the great grandson of Gideon Howland. Clifford graduated from Brown University in 1827 and then studied law with attorneys in New Bedford and Dedham (Massachusetts) before opening a law practice in New Bedford. Clifford was a member of the Whig party, began his political career in 1835, and served in the Massachusetts legislature and senate before holding the offices of district attorney and then governor. He served as Massachusetts Attorney General from 1849-1953, and then served one term from 1853 to 1854 as Governor before returning to the office of Attorney General from 1854 to 1858). In his first term as Attorney General, Clifford prosecuted Prof. John W. Webster for the murder Dr. George Parkman. In 1859, the state hired Clifford to assist Attorney General Henry Philips in a case presented to the Supreme Court regarding disputed boundaries with Rhode Island. President Grant asked him to serve in Russia and Turkey, but Clifford declined. In 1867, Clifford retired from his legal career and became president of the Boston and Providence Railroad Corporation. Clifford died on January 2, 1876 in New Bedford.

Members of the Howland family were chiefly involved with mercantile activities and the whaling industries of New Bedford, Massachusetts from 1797-1890. Captain Philip Howland was born in 1819 in Dartmouth. Howland married his first wife Sarah Potter in 1849. Sarah died in 1853 and Philip married Patience Potter sometime after that. Howland died in 1866.

Members of the Hathaway family of New Bedford, Massachusetts, were chiefly involved in the China Trade as importers of tea, hemp, and silk and in various aspects of the whaling industry between 1816-1888.

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Scope and Content Note

Papers in this collection date from 1809-1886, but consist primarily of John H. Clifford’s correspondence, legal, and financial papers. Clifford’s letters date primarily from 1862 when he was a Senator and deal with Massachusetts’ involvement with the Civil War, request for loans, introductions, invitations, and drafts of speeches to the senate. Legal and financial documents span the years 1832 to 1843 and include deeds, loan papers and shares for the New Bedford and Taunton Railroad Corporation and the New Bedford Social Library.

Howland papers consist primarily of account statements, tax receipts, insurance receipts and marriage licenses for the years to and relate to Captain Philip Howland and his second wife Patience Howland. Documents from George and Annie Howland Chase include their marriage license from 1866 along with account statements and tax receipts from 1866 to 1867. Papers for other Howland family members include an undated art project by Cynthia Howland, an undated receipt for a grave allocated to Isaac Howland, receipts for the Mutual Insurance Company for Warren Howland from 1849, and Ann H. Chase’s inheritance receipt from 1868.

Additional papers in this collection related to the Hathaway Family include Elizabeth Hathaway’s correspondence from 1808, Thomas Hathaway’s will from 1811, an 1809 marriage license of Howard Potter to Elisa Hathaway, and Sarah Potter’s reward of merit from 1830.

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 186, [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

Materials in this collection were purchased by the New Bedford Whaling Museum on June 29, 1990 as part of accession B90-20.

Processing Information

Processed by: Cecelia Tavares, 2021

Encoded by: Mark Procknik, 2021

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Collection Inventory

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Subject Headings

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