Sturgis Library Archives | Captain Joseph Lincoln Papers
Henry Crocker Kittredge Collection
MS. COLL 3
Inventory of the
Captain Joseph Lincoln Papers
Volume: 1 linear foot
Provenance: Gift of Walter E. Babbitt
Restrictions: None stated
Processed by: A. A. Mayo, 6/91, and revised by Pamela Narbeth 3/98
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Captain Joseph Lincoln of Brewster was born April 17, 1825, the second son of four born to Isaac and Desire (Foster) Lincoln. Captain Lincoln's father and two younger brothers were sea captains as he was.
Captain Lincoln's first wife, the former Susan Paine Mayo, died childless in 1856, after a long period of poor health. On October 26, 1857 Captain Lincoln married Emily Crosby, born November 7, 1831, the daughter of a Brewster cobbler, Joseph Crocker Crosby and his wife Susan. Mrs. Lincoln's brother Joseph, who provides some early correspondence in these Papers, was lost at sea aboard the Wild Ranger while still a young man.
Captain Joseph Lincoln commanded many merchant vessels during his lifetime, primarily out of Boston harbor. Most significant among them are the bark Maria (c. 1853-55) and the bark Mist (c. 1864-68). The Captain's commercial travels brought him to many domestic and foreign ports, including Philadelphia, New Orleans, Russia, England Scotland and Surinam. He and his brothers also owned property in the Western territory of Minnesota.
Captain and Mrs. Lincoln's only child, the author Joseph Crosby Lincoln, was born on February 13, 1870. Later that same year, on December 19, Captain Lincoln died of a fever while in Charleston, South Carolina, while in command of the bark Aurelia.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The Captain Joseph Lincoln Papers cover the period 1852-1873, and document his sailing career and business dealings, as well as his relationship to the Brewster community and to his family. The Lincoln Papers reflect the adventure of his travels as much as local inter-familial community living in the mid-nineteenth century.
The Lincoln Papers are an open collection, donated by Walter E. Babbitt, and are divided into two Series: Correspondence 1852-1873, and Legal Documents, 1854-1869.
The Correspondence Series includes material both personal and professional in nature. The letters have been transcribed, presumably by the donor. The personal correspondence is an outgoing and incoming exchange primarily between the Captain while at sea and his wife at home in Brewster, but there is other correspondence as well. This material is an intimate account of their relationship, and incorporates such matters as family and community dynamics. It includes Mrs. Lincoln's several pregnancies and subsequent miscarriages, periodic reports on the Civil War (some on Union stationary), President Lincoln's assassination, political unrest in Mexico, mutiny and other concerns of the Captain while at sea, and the property investments in Minnesota. The professional correspondence is of a business nature and documents the relationship between the shipowners, their agents and Captain Lincoln.
The Legal Documents Series consists of material that is official or administrative in nature relating to ships and shipping and property interests.
SERIES LIST AND DESCRIPTION
Series I: Correspondence, 1852-1873, divided into two sub-series .
Incoming and outgoing letters and telegrams of a personal nature make up the first sub-series; professional correspondence that includes orders, instructions, petitions, and notices of monetary advances make up the second.
Series II: Legal Documents, 1854-1869
Property deeds; home, fire ship and cargo insurance policies; contracts, inspections reports from foreign ports and command notifications. Arranges alphabetically by subject, then chronologically within each folder.
| Box | Folder | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| SERIES I CORRESPONDENCE: | ||
| 1 | 1 | Biographical material |
| 1 | 2 | Biographic List of Correspondents, by Walter Babbitt, donor of collection |
| Sub-series A: Personal Correspondence: | ||
| 1 | 3 | Correspondence, 1852-1856 |
| 1 | 4 | Correspondence, 1858-Jan. 1862 |
| 1 | 5 | Correspondence, Feb. 1862-1863 |
| 1 | 6 | Correspondence, 1864-July 1865 |
| 1 | 7 | Correspondence, Aug. 1865-1873 |
| Sub-series B: Professional Correspondence, 1853-1868 | ||
| 1 | 8 | Correspondence, 1853-August 1854 |
| 1 | 9 | Correspondence, Sept. 1854-1855 |
| 1 | 10 | Correspondence, 1859-1863 |
| 2 | 1 | Correspondence, 1864-1867 |
| 2 | 2 | Correspondence, 1868 |
| SERIES II LEGAL DOCUMENTS: | ||
| 2 | 3 | Property, 1857-1866 |
| 2 | 4 | Shipping, 1854-1868 |
| 2 | 5 | Receipts for provisions, 1862-1869 |
| In Oversize Box AA of the Kittredge Maritime Collection: | ||
| AA | 1 | Port Clearance, Bark Mist, Bassein, [Burma], May 27, 1868 Cargo Manifest, Bark Mist, Bassein, May 27, 1868 |