Box 2

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Correspondence from Samuel Osborn Doane and Warren Smith to Thomas & William Davis regarding the detention of the schooner Harmony by the Shelburne Custom House in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for failing to have British registration, dated 1785-1788. The letters indicate the vessel had been released by 1787 and sold to Sheldon Pool, probably Samuel Sheldon Pool (1751-1835).

Scope and Contents: Correspondence from Thomas & William Davis to Daniel Sargent, Hewes & Anthony, Benjamin Studley, and other agents regarding the trade and shipment of goods and cargo, dated 1783-1801. There is also correspondence to William Whittridge regarding payment of interest to Mercy Hedge, accompanied by Whittridge's letter to her, and both incoming and outgoing correspondence with Samuel Blagge regarding shipment of fish. In addition, there are several letters from Thomas Davis (1756-1805) to...

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Correspondence from merchants, agents, and others regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, dated February-July 1787. Correspondents include Thomas Russell of Boston, who was freighting a ship with cargo of Thomas & William Davisthat included fish, bound for Portugal; and Captain Eliphalet Holbrook, who wrote he was unable to get the price he quoted for the sale of the firm's fish in Boston.

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Correspondence from merchants, agents, and others regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, dated November 1787-April 1788. Topics include news of ships bound for ports in the United States and Spain. Correspondents include several ship captains and Salem, Massachusetts, merchant William Gray.

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Correspondence from merchants, agents, and others regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, dated May 1788-May 1789. Topics cover the impact of weather on voyages of the firm's vessels and pricing of goods. Correspondents include the Beverley, Massachusetts, merchants Brown & Thorndike, and Samuel Parkman, of Boston.

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Correspondence from merchants, agents, and others regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, dated July 1789-March 1790. Topics include payment of duties on cargo, prices current, and status of voyages. Correspondents include J.W. Winthrop, of Boston, and Captain Eliphalet Holbrook.

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Correspondence from merchants, agents, and others, including William Gray and Samuel Parkman, regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, dated from May 1790 to September 1791.

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Correspondence from merchants, agents, and others, including Ebenezer Parsons (1746-1819) and his son, Gorham Parsons, of Boston, Massachusetts, regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, prices current, and news of ships, dated from November 1791 to 1792.

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Correspondence from merchants, agents, and others, regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, insurance, and news of ships, dated 1793-1794. Correspondents include Ebenezer Parsons (1746-1819) and Stephen Higginson (1743-1828), of Boston, Massachusetts, and Captain Samuel Foster, who described a difficult voyage to Virginia aboard the brigantine William with cargo including lumber.

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Correspondence from merchants, agents, and others, including Abiel Washburn, of Middleboro, Massachusetts, and Gorham Parsons, of Boston, regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, news of ships' voyages, and prices current, dated 1795-1796.

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Correspondence from merchants, agents, and others regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, market trends, and news of ships' voyages, dated from 1798 to January 1799. Correspondents include the Baltimore, Maryland, firm of Wales & Clopper, and merchant and whaler William Rotch (1759-1850), of New Bedford, Massachusetts, who inquired if Davis could obtain news of a ship carrying whale oil in Spain, and the potential danger from French privateers.

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Correspondence from merchants, agents, and others, including Wales & Clopper, of Baltimore, Maryland, regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, prices current, and news of ships' voyages, dated March-December 1799.

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Correspondence from merchants, agents, and others, including Wales & Clopper, of Baltimore, Maryland, regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, prices current, and news of one of a ship's voyages to South Carolina, dated from 1800 to February 1801.

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Correspondence from merchants, agents, and others, including Wales & Clopper and George Finney, of Baltimore, Maryland, regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, prices current, and news of ships' voyages, dated May 1801 to January 15, 1803.

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Correspondence from merchants, agents, and others, including Wales & Clopper, of Baltimore, Maryland, regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, prices current, and news of ships' voyages, dated January 24, 1803 to 1804.

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Correspondence from merchants and agents in England, South America, and the Caribbean, to Thomas & William Davis regarding the import and export of goods including lumber, molasses, and tobacco, and the market for American products in foreign ports, dated from 1784 to July 1787.

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Correspondence from merchants and agents in the West Indies, Europe, England, and South America to Thomas & William Davis regarding the import and export of goods including rice, fish, rum, cotton, and sugar, and prices current for American products in foreign ports, dated from November 1787 to September 1789.

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Correspondence from merchants and agents in the West Indies, Europe, England, and South America to Thomas & William Davis regarding the import and export of goods including fish, lumber, sugar, rum, cotton, and molasses, and the state of the market for American goods in foreign ports, dated October 1789-June 1791.

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Correspondence from merchants and agents in the West Indies, Europe, and South America to Thomas & William Davis regarding the import and export of goods including molasses, sugar, and fish, and prices current for American produce in foreign ports, dated from August 1791 to August 9, 1792.

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Correspondence from merchants and agents in the West Indies, Europe, and South America to Thomas & William Davis regarding the import and export of goods including fish, lumber, flour, and molasses, and the market for American products in foreign ports, dated August 19, 1792-April 1793. Also discussed is the impact of the ongoing French Revolutionary Wars on trade.

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Correspondence from merchants and agents in the West Indies, Europe, and South America to Thomas & William Davis, dated June 1793-April 1794, regarding the import and export of goods including fish and corn, prices current, the impact of the ongoing French Revolutionary Wars on trade and prices, and the dissolution of the truce between Portugal and Algiers. There is also a chart listing American ships and exports they carried from St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1793.

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Correspondence from merchants and agents in Europe and South America to Thomas & William Davis regarding the import and export of goods including fish, molasses, cotton, and flour, and prices current, dated May-December 1794.

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Correspondence from merchants and agents in Europe and the Caribbean to Thomas & William Davis regarding the import and export of goods including fish, flour, rice, corn, and molasses, and prices current, dated January-April 1795.

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Correspondence from merchants and agents in Europe and the Caribbean to Thomas & William Davis regarding the import and export of goods including fish, corn, and hemp, prices current, and the market for American goods in foreign ports, dated May-October 1795.

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Correspondence from merchants and agents regarding delivery and receipt of cargo on behalf of Thomas & William Davis, dated from 1783 to October 11, 1784.