Ship’s Papers of Lion (Ship) of Providence

File — Box: 1

Identifier: 003-02-18

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains minimal documentation for the first and last voyages of the Lion, with better, though decidedly incomplete, documentation for the middle two voyages from Providence. Papers include correspondence, bills and receipts, gauges of oil, financial records including interest and deposits, crew lists and expenses, stockholders’ meeting minutes, and legal documents.

Dates

1841-1857

Creator

Johnson, Barbara (Collector, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

PPL believes this collection is in the public domain. Users of this item are responsible for determining copyright restrictions.

Biographical / Historical

The Ship Lion of Providence was built in North Kingstown (in the village of Wickford) in 1823. She was registered in Providence from 1824 and sailed from there for her entire career. She was probably in the merchant trade before being converted to whaling in 1841. She made four whaling voyages from Providence (1841-1844, 1845-1849, 1849-1853, and 1854-1856) before being lost on December 2, 1856. Captain Lloyd Bowers served as agent, and William Earle served as secretary to the stockholders of the Whaleship Lion. Minutes of the stockholders' meeting of November 1854 paint a gloomy picture of the ship’s financial situation. Her subsequent loss on November 30, 1856 brought an end to whaling from Providence.

Extent

.5 Linear Feet (1 manuscript box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is organized into five series, mostly grouped by voyage. The first series includes materials from the voyage of June 12, 1841 - September 16, 1844; the second series includes materials from the voyage of August 28, 1845 - July 8, 1849; the third series includes materials from the voyage of December 2, 1849 - October 23, 1853; and the fourth series includes materials from the voyage of 1854 - 1856. The fifth and final series contains undated and miscellaneous materials.

Custodial History

Purchased at auction by Providence Dealer Edward Lefkowicz, previously owned by Barbara Johnson.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased on September 25, 1997 for the Paul C. Nicholson Collection.

Accruals

No accruals are expected.

Related Materials

003-01-02, Nicholson Whaling Collection Logbooks, Providence Public Library. Includes a total of two journals for the Lion, from 1841-1845 and 1845, and five account books for the Lion, from 1845-1850, 1846-1856, 1849-1854 (two volumes), and 1854-1863.

Kendall Whaling Museum Manuscript Collection, New Bedford Whaling Museum. Includes several documents related to the Lion, including insurance policies and a receipt.

Separated Materials

Logbooks and account books of the Lion were acquired separately and are cataloged separately within the Nicholson Whaling Logbook Collection. These items are digitized and available at

https://archive.org/details/providencepublicnicholson

Notes on the materials from collector Barbara Johnson were removed and placed in curatorial files.

Processing Information

Previously part of general Nicholson Whaling Manuscript Collection, Subgroup 17. Processing by Judith Lund in 2008 with additions made to the finding aid by Janaya Kizzie in 2014. The decision to reprocess the subgroups as individual collections was made by Jordan Goffin in 2018. The collection was reprocessed by Angela DiVeglia in 2021.