Table of Contents

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Information for Researchers

Administrative Information

Collection Inventory

Subject Headings

Inventory of the William W. Crapo Papers

In the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library

Biographical Note

William Wallace Crapo was born in 1830 in Dartmouth (Massachusetts) and died in 1926 in New Bedford (Massachusetts) and was the son of Michigan Governor Henry Howland Crapo (1804-1869). He attended Yale University and Dane Law School (Harvard Law School) and went on to become the head of the law firm Crapo, Clifford & Clifford and later, Crapo, Clifford, Prescott & Bullard. He was engaged in the prosecution on behalf of the New Bedford whalemen in the “Alabama Claims” whereby the British Government paid $15,000,000 to the United States Government for losses suffered during the Civil War due to the collusion of the British with the Confederate privateers. William W. Crapo served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1875 to 1883. He was also a founding member of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society and served as the Society’s first president from 1903 until 1908 while also serving as Vice President of the Old Colony Historical Society.

Return to the Table of Contents

Scope and Content Note

The papers in this collection primarily focus on William W. Crapo’s bid for the Republican nomination for governor in 1889. Correspondence begins in early 1889 with letters of inquiry to Crapo suggesting he consider the bid for the Republican nomination. After agreeing to become a candidate, Crapo shared several letters with Everett W. Burdett, a Boston attorney, on setting up meetings with key players in the Boston area. Other letters are from various Republican delegates offering insight into how he was polling against his competitor, Lieutenant-Governor John Q. Brackett. In addition, there are letters from the Boston Globe requesting him to write an editorial on his views of newspapers and how they should report.

There are also several documents, dated 1868 to 1902 that reflect his business interests in the railroad companies of the Flint and Holly Railroad Company and the Pere Marquette Railroad Company. This collection also contains requests for Crapo to speak at various meetings along with newspaper clippings from 1889 to 1924 that not only chronical events of the 1889 bid for the Republican nomination, but also include various endorsements from newspapers in the Commonwealth.

Arrangement of Collection

Return to the Table of Contents

Information for Researchers

Access to Collections

Unrestricted. Consult librarian for an appointment.

Preferred Citation

New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library Mss 190, [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.

Return to the Table of Contents

Administrative Information

Provenance

Materials in this collection were donated to the New Bedford Whaling Museum by Sarah C. Bullard in 2001 as part of Accession B2001.37.

Processing Information

Processed by: Cecelia Tavares, 2020

Encoded by: Mark Procknik, 2021

Return to the Table of Contents

Collection Inventory

Return to the Table of Contents

Subject Headings

Return to the Table of Contents

Vessel Names

Return to the Table of Contents