JOHN DAVENPORT ( ) PAPERS, MSS 163 Processed by: Sylvia B. Kennick January 1985 Updated by: Catherine Robertson March 2015

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1 JOHN DAVENPORT ( ) PAPERS, MSS 163 Processed by: Sylvia B. Kennick January 1985 Updated by: Catherine Robertson March 2015 Volume: 1 box.5 linear feet Provenance: Conservation: Copyright: Processing: Restrictions: The John Davenport papers are a reorganization of manuscripts culled from three boxes of Davenport and Wood papers. The collection is from an unknown source. Removed was one folder of papers belonging to Joseph R. Russell, Davenport s brother-in-law (see Separation Sheet). Fragile and torn documents were archivally mended. Severely mold damaged items were photocopies and the originals were removed to box 1, folder 11. The material was placed in acid-free folders. Requests for permission to publish material from the collection must be submitted in writing to the Manuscript Librarian in the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum. Processing and conservation of this collection was funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The mold damaged documents in box 1, folder 11, are restricted due to their fragile condition. Photocopies of these items have been integrated into the main body of the collection. 2015, Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum Page 1

2 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH John Davenport was born in May 1776 to Anthony ( ) and Elizabeth Davenport in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Anthony was involved in shipping and merchant activities, and his son followed in his footsteps. He became a ship owner and shipping merchant, conducting a thriving business with coastwise United States ports, the West Indies, and Europe. Davenport died in 1817 in Newburyport. SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE The John Davenport papers provide an overview of the shipping activities of John Davenport ( ), a Newburyport ship owner and shipping merchant. The paucity of records in this collection does not truly reflect the thriving business which he conducted with coastwise United States ports, the West Indies, and Europe. The papers also contain deeds generated by John s stepmother s family, the Greenleafs. The ships papers, arranged alphabetically by vessel, contain papers of ships owned by John or on which he consigned cargo (see Appendix I for a listing). Of interest is an inventory of Captain William Hunt s belongings on the brig Sally, made upon his death at sea in The shipping papers include outfitting and cargo bills as well as accounts of miscellaneous ships. The correspondence contains letters from merchants and John s partner, Joseph P. Russell, and correspondence regarding general financial business. The family papers contain Newburyport real estate deeds from the family of John s stepmother, Catherine (Greenleaf) Davenport and a letter regarding the shipping activities of his father, Anthony Davenport ( ). BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RELATED COLLECTIONS Jackson, Russell Leigh. William Davenport of Newburyport and some of his Descendants. Historical Collections of the Essex Institute. Vol. 73, pp John Wood Papers, , MSS 162. Page , Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum

3 JOHN DAVENPORT ( ) PAPERS, CONTENTS LIST Box Folder Contents Date 1 1 Ships papers: Catherine-Rebecca (Ship) Ships papers: Ruby (Brig) Ships papers: Sally (Brig)-Sally (Schooner) Ships papers: Swift (Brig)-William (Schooner) Shipping papers Shipping papers Shipping papers , undated 8 Correspondence , undated 9 Personal bills and receipts , undated 10 Family papers Restricted-fragile items , Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum Page 3

4 Appendix 1 Ships Owned by John Davenport Vessel Dates Master Owner(s) Ports Catherine 1795 Samuel Carneau (?) Diamond (Sloop) 1797 John Prince John and Ezekiel Alexandria Prince Essex (Schooner) William Storey John Davenport Hope (Schooner) 1811 Green Sanborn Lowell Sanborn St. Barthelemy Industry (Schooner) William Harris James Wood, West Indies Samuel Newman, William Harris Lucy (Schooner) 1799 Pardon Brockway Surinam Merrimack (Brig) 1815 Abner and John Wood Mary (Schooner) 1816 Guadeloupe Mary (Ship) 1810 J. Stickney Olive Branch Peggy & Polly John D. Farley Joh Davenport, (Schooner) P. Brockway Port Packet (Sloop) 1796 Rebecca (Ship) 1797 Joseph Russell James Duncan Jr. Malaga Ruby (Brig) Thomas Boardman, John Davenport, Cape Henry, VA., Benjamin Barber, Thomas Boardman Guadeloupe, Samuel Nichols Sainte Croix, Martinique Wilmington NC., Matanzas, Havana, Santiago de Cuba Sally (Brig) William Hunt, John Davenport Trinidad, Tobago, Thomas Stattard, Barbados, Benjamin Barber Puerto Rico, Martinique Page , Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum

5 Appendix 1 Ships Owned by John Davenport (cont.) MSS 163: John Davenport Papers Sally (Schooner) Robert Campbell John Davenport, Philadelphia, P. Brockway New York, Jamaica, Washington Swift (Brig) Caleb Woodbury, John Davenport Labrador, John Bagley, Alicante, Daniel Dresser, Marseilles, Jeremiah Young Canary Islands, Martinique, Antigua Washington 1809 Henry Furlong Henry Furlong, Sicily, Palermo (Schooner) Benjamin Hale William (Schooner) 1798 George Nowell William Noyes Trinidad, Tobago 2015, Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum Page 5