Table of Contents

Historical Note

Scope and Content Note

Information for Researchers

Separations List

Administrative Information

Description

Subject Headings

Inventory of the Noah Scovell Papers

In the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library

Historical Note

Noah Scovell was born in 1759, probably in Connecticut. Following service as a master or crew member on three privateering brigs – the Marshall, Sampson, and Unity – during the Revolutionary War, Scovell established himself as a merchant, shipmaster, and shipbuilder at Saybrook, Conn. He engaged in the dry-goods, livestock, lumber, and produce trades, operating at least one store in Saybrook. Over a twenty-year period, Scovell acted as master of numerous vessels engaged in coastwise shipping and the West Indian and Liverpool, England, trades, including the Cotton Planter (Ship), Dauphin (Brig), Dolphin (Brig) Experiment (Schooner), Fox (Sloop), Gallant (Schooner), Patty and Julia (Ship), Sally (Brig), and Wealtha Ann (Brig). Between 1785-1802, in 1809-1810, and again in 1818, he oversaw the construction of at least fourteen vessels at Saybrook and nearby ports. He also expanded his shipping activities to include trading ventures to ports in Europe and the Far East, particularly in the years 1803-1811. Scovell died in 1821.

Noah Scovell’s principal business partner from the mid-1790s to 1821 was his eldest son, Noah Scovell Jr., who was born in 1781. Young Scovell was his father’s chief business agent in New York City, N.Y. In addition, he served as master of vessels which sailed for foreign ports between 1804-1817. One of these, the brig Eliza Wheeler, was captured as a prize vessel in 1813, and Scovell spent two years as a prisoner of war in Great Britain, Other vessels which he commanded were the Commerce (Ship), Cotton Planter (Ship), Fair Play (Schooner), General Hamilton (Ship), Manufacturer (Brig), Sumatra (Brig), and Venus (Ship). Noah Scovell, Jr., appears to have withdrawn from most of his shipping and shipbuilding activities after his father’s death and devoted his efforts to establishing a dry dock company in New York City. He died in London, Eng., in 1833.

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Scope and Content Note

Most of the materials in this collection consist of business records which reflect the mercantile and ship-building activities of Noah Scovell and Noah Scovell Jr., from 1780-1827. A major portion of these records pertain to 132 vessels which the Scovells were associated with, usually as masters, builders, or part-owners. These papers include correspondence; agent/owner accounts; crew lists and wage payment records; customs and consular records, such as protests and Seamens' Protection Papers; insurance policies; bills of sale and of lading; bills and receipts; and memoranda. Most numerous among the ship's papers are those related to West Indian voyages of the brigs Ann, Catharine, Dolphin, and Peggy, the Fair Play (Schooner) and Fox (Sloop), and the Patty and Julia (Ship) between 1784-1804. These documents are complemented by a sizeable number of papers for the Commerce (Ship), Cotton Planter (Ship), General Hamilton (Ship), Sumatra (Brig), Venus (Ship), and Weltha Ann (Brig), concerning trading ventures to Amsterdam, Netherlands; Cadiz, Spain; Canton, China; Lisbon, Portugal; and Liverpool and London, England, chiefly in the years 1805-1821. Papers pertaining to the Scovells' ship-building activities are less numerous; however, those for the Dispatch (Sloop), Hercules (Ship), Matilda (Schooner), Vulpus (Schooner), and Young Factor (Ship), 1795-1802, describe the construction of those vessels in some detail.

Of particular note among the ship's papers are letters written by various shipmasters, including Noah Scovell and Noah Scovell Jr. and correspondence to the Scovells from agents, part-owners, and commission merchants, usually concerning the sale of each vessel's cargo. Represented by letters in the latter category are Edward Carrington, American Consul at Canton, China, who was involved in the transfer of goods from the General Hamilton (Ship) in exchange for tea; William Lees, a commission merchant at Liverpool, England; several Connecticut merchants, notably Stephen Clay and Lemuel Storrs of Middletown; and a number of New York City merchants, including David Gelston, Nathaniel G. Ingraham of the firm Ingraham, Phonex & Nixon, David Mumford, and Isaac Riley. Also of special interest are papers for the brigs Marshall, Sampson, and Unity concerning the service of these vessels as Revolutionary War privateers; correspondence and agent/owner accounts for the Ann (Brig), which deal with Noah Scovell's involvement in the West Indian slave trade in 1796-1799; muster rolls for passengers transported from Liverpool to New York City on the ships Commerce and Cotton Planter and the Fair Play (Schooner) between 1804-1807; and correspondence, financial records, regulations, petitions, certificates and memoranda for the brig Eliza Wheeler which reflect the experiences of Noah Scovell Jr. as a British prisoner of war, 1813-1815.

Another significant portion of the Noah Scovell papers consists of financial records dating from 1780-1827. These documents include daybooks and ledgers; accounts current; sales accounts; payment orders; bills of exchange and promissory notes; bills and receipts; and financial memoranda, chiefly pertaining to the cargo, crew, outfits, and voyage expenses of vessels engaged in the West Indian and foreign trades. The financial records also encompass labor accounts for work on vessels constructed under Scovell’s supervision between 1795-1818, as well as bills and receipts and financial memoranda concerning Noah Scovell’s personal and family expenses.

This collection also contains many business letters written to or by Noah Scovell and his eldest son between 1784-1828. Much of this correspondence relates to the Scovells’ ship-building activities. Other letters concern economic conditions in New York City, the West Indies, and various foreign ports, particularly as influenced by trade embargoes and the nation’s involvement in the War with France, 1798-1800, the Tripolitan War, 1801, and the War of 1812. Correspondents most frequently represented by these letters include many ship carpenters and ship chandlers who worked for the Scovells, especially Ebenezer Hayden and Benjamin Willis of Saybrook, Conn., as well as most of the individuals previously named in the description of this collection’s ship's papers.

Rounding out this collection are a few customs records for unidentified vessels, 1793-1810; numerous legal documents dating from 1783-1823; and general memoranda, ca. 1784-1816, which include a few brief log book entries. The legal documents, which chiefly consist of agreements, bonds, certificates, contracts, and court records concerning the Scovells’ business and personal affairs, include a bill of sale for a slave purchased by Noah Scovell Jr., at New York City in 1810. In addition, these papers include a deed, memoranda book, school notebook, stock certificate, and receipt for other members of the Scovell family, 1791-1822 and 1860. These documents supplement correspondence, crew records, bills and receipts, and memoranda among the ships’ papers for the Cotton Planter (Ship), Gallant (Schooner), General Hamilton (Ship), and Washington (Brig), which relate to the maritime activities of three other sons of Noah Scovell: Amos (b. ca. 1788), Lewis (b. ca. 1783), and Seabury (b. ca. 1786).

The Noah Scovell papers have been organized into series by type of document. The ship's papers, which comprise Series B, are arranged in alphabetical order according to the name of each vessel, then listed by type of document. Correspondence within the ship's papers has been organized by year, then alphabetically arranged within each year according to the surname of each correspondent. A similar arrangement scheme has been used for the Scovells’ incoming correspondence in Sub-series 1 of Series E; their outgoing correspondence in Sub-series 2 is chronologically arranged.

Researchers should note that additional papers of Noah Scovell and Noah Scovell Jr., are in the manuscript collection of the New York Public Library. These documents, dating from 1788-1830, include ship's papers for the Peggy (Brig); price lists concerning trade in England, France, and the West Indies; and records of the New York Dry Dock Company.

Arrangement of Collection

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Information for Researchers

Access to the Collection

Unrestricted. Consult librarian for an appointment.

Preferred Citation

New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library Mss 81 [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

Papers in this collection were gathered together by Charles A. Goodwin, probably between 1930-1960. In February of 1976 the Scovell papers were deposited at the Old Dartmouth Historical Society Whaling Museum Library.

Processing Information

Processed by: Patricia J. Albright, with assistance from Judith Downey, ca. 1982

Encoded by: Mark Procknik, 26 August 2011

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Description

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Subject Headings

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Vessel Names

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