Sturgis Library Archives | Captain Nehemiah Smith Papers
Henry Crocker Kittredge Collection
MS. COLL. 5
An inventory of the
Captain Nehemiah Smith Papers
Volume: 1 linear foot
Provenance: Gift of Mrs. Gerald F. Gilmore, great-great-granddaughter of Capt. Smith.
Restrictions: None stated
Processed by : A. A. Mayo, 8/91, and reformatted by Pamela Narbeth, 3/98
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Captain Nehemiah Smith was born and sailed out of the town of Eastham. He was born on July 16, 1776 to Nehemiah and Jedidah (Arey) Smith. He married Mary Knowles, daughter of Seth and Hannah (Hatch) Knowles on December 20, 1801.
Captain Smith sailed out of Eastham on the schooners Polly and Albert and owned shares of other ships, including Industry, and the coastal packets Minerva and Morning Flower. The schooner Polly was wrecked while under his command on Cape Henry, Virginia, near the end of a voyage from Boston to Richmond. After spending nearly two weeks trying to round the Cape in a gale in January 1810, the schooner was wrecked on the beach with no loss of life. Captain Smith sold the salvageable cargo on the beach for the owner, Benjamin Bangs of Brewster. Evidently Mr. Bangs did not blame the Captain for the wreck, because he sent him out on a series of voyages later that year in the schooner Albert, trading between Lisbon, Boston and Richmond. Later in the decade he is back in Eastham operating a store. He died at the age of 43 on March 13, 1820 and is buried in the Methodist cemetery in Orleans.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The Nehemiah Smith Papers are divided into two series: Family Materials and Business Materials. The Family Materials consist of biographical papers, estate papers of Captian Smith and papers of his widow Mary and some of his children. The Business series consists of accounts, bills of lading, cargo invoices, correspondence, receipts and bills which demonstate Captain Smith's life at sea as a ship captain and document the transactions of commercial shipping from 1810-1820. A few of the items are papers of his brother Dean Smith. Some of the papers in this series reflect Captain Smith's later years as a general store merchant. He also owned shares in ships and packets. The second series is arranged alphabetically by subject, then chronologically.
Captain Smith owned a beautiful mahogany secretary desk which was built in 1812. This collection of papers were found in the desk by his grandson Albert Oliver Smith. Albert Smith's granddaughter Mrs. Gerald F. Gilmore donated the desk and the collection of papers to Sturgis Library in 1979.
| Box | Folder | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Series 1: Smith Family Materials: | ||
| 1 | 1 | Biographical material |
| 1 | 2 | Will and estate papers, 1820, of Nehemiah Smith |
| 1 | 3 | Mary Smith (Widow Mary Smith, but not all papers of Captain are of Nehemiah Smith's widow), Albert, Polly and Seth Smith |
| Series 2: Smith Business Records: | ||
| 1 | 4 | Accounts, 1810-1819 |
| 1 | 5 | Bills of Lading, 1810 |
| 1 | 6 | Cargo Invoices, 1810-1818 |
| 1 | 7-8 | Correspondence, 1810-1811, 1816-1819 |
| 1 | 9 | Port Charges, 1810-1811 |
| 1 | 10 | Receipts, 1807-1818 |
| 1 | 11 | Receipts, 1813-1820 |
| 1 | 12-15 | Supply Purchase Bills, 1810-1816; 1817; 1818; 1819-1820 |
| in Oversize Material, Henry Crocker Kittredge Maritime Collection, Box BB: | ||
| BB | 2 | Deed: 1/4 share schooner Cohasset to Heman Smith by Obed Knowles, Eastham, Apr. 15, 1801. Protest: wreck of the schooner Polly , Virginia, Feb. 21, 1810 Account, Marine Insurance, wrecked schooner Polly, Mar. 29,1810 Invoice, cargo, schooner Albert, Dec. 14, 1810 Account, cargo sales, schooner Albert, Aug. 2, 1811 Contract between Dr. Samuel Thompson of New Hampshire and the Friendly Botanic Society of Eastham, May 15, 1816 Account, supply purchases, June 3, 1818 Account, supply purchases, Nov. 26, 1819 Account, schooner, Albert, n.d. |