Cold Spring Whaling Company Assorted Papers (1842-1855)

Whaling Museum and Education Center

Alice, instructions to Captain Eli H. White, 1851 - Image Source

Collection Facts

Extent:

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Historical Context

In 1836, John H. and Walter R. Jones, along with thirty-three local investors, purchased the first whaling ship in a small fleet that would later come to be known as the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Company. Voyaging during the golden age of whaling from the mid-1830s through late 1850s, the Company came to own nine different whaling vessels at various points during the Company’s period of operation. These vessels included the Monmouth (1825-1860), the Tuscarora (1825-1858), the Richmond (1825-1849), the N.P. Tallmadge (1835-1856), the Alice (1830-1863), the Splendid (1832-1860), the Huntsville (1831-1870), the Sheffield (1831-1860), and the Edgar (1844-1855). The fleet made many voyages for the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Company and sailed all over the globe, returning with a combined estimate of 1.5 million dollars worth of bone and oil during the Company’s years of operation.

Scope of Collection

The collection consists of ten folders of twenty assorted papers related to voyages made by the vessels Alice, Edgar, Huntsville, Monmouth, Richmond, and Splendid for the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Company during the years 1842-1855. These include items such as instructions from the Company to whaling captains, certifications of shipments, crew lists, a memorandum book, certificates of deposit for ships’ papers, bills for supplies and consular fees, and receipts of payment for cash advances. The final folder in the collection contains fourteen paper items related to miscellaneous voyages by ships unrelated to the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Company, largely consisting of certificates of shipment of various foodstuffs and other supplies between the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as three 1846 letters addressed to Abraham Bell & Son, a New York City-based merchant shipping firm.