Container List
Series I - Samuel and William Vernon, 1756-1799, 1756-1799
Scope and Contents noteBrothers Samuel and William Vernon were business partners involved in the triangular trade that sent rum from Rhode Island to Africa, bought slaves in Africa to sell in the West Indies or in the southern colonies, and brought molasses back to Rhode Island. See the Dictionary of American Biography entry on William Vernon for further information about his role in American politics and other business interests. |
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Subseries 1 - Correspondence, 1756-1796, 1756-1796
Scope and Contents noteMost of the letters in this series are addressed to the Vernons in Newport, Rhode Island, from the masters of their slave ships and from slave dealers in the West Indies, Virginia, South Carolina and Massachusetts. Some frequent correspondents were the firm of Adams and Griffin in Richmond, Va., Charles Bolton of Barbados, Samuel Brown of Boston, John Thornton and Charles Yates of Fredericksburg, Va., Capt. Caleb Godfrey, Capt. John Duncan, Capt. Thomas Rogers, and Capt. William Taylor. The letters of these and other men to the Vernons report shipboard incidents, progress of sales in the South and plans for return of ships to Newport. The series also contains letters from the Vernons to their business partners or the masters of their ships and frequently include instructions for the sale of slaves or cargo. |
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Container 1 | Container 2 | Title | Date | |
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Box: 1 | Folder : 1 | Letters received A #1-12, 14-39, 47 |
1756-1772 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 2 | Letters received B #6-7, 10, 13-25, 28 and 1 unnumbered item |
1755-1795 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 3 | Letters received C #5, 7, 19 and 1 unnumbered item |
1752-1798 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 4 | Letters received D #9-10, 14-36 |
1754-1771 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 5 | Letters received E #1-2 |
1771-1772 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 6 | Letters received G #1, 3-15 |
1754-1756 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 7 | Letters received H #5, 20 |
1769, 1774 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 8 | Letters received K #11-12 |
1774, 1775 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 9 | Letters received M #12-16 |
1754-1755 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 10 | Letters received N-O-P #1, 12-16 |
1751-1796 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 11 | Letters received R #3-5, 7-13, 16, 22-23 and 2 unnumbered items |
1764-1775 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 12 | Letters received S #26, 44, 56-57 and 1 unnumbered item |
1758-1799 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 13 | Letters received T #5-14, 16-26, 31 |
1756-1774 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 14 | Letters sent and received V #34-50 and 14 unnumbered items |
1755-1793 | |
Box: 1 | Folder : 15 | Letters received W, Y #19-20, 24, 28-30 |
1756-1773 | |
Subseries 2 - Business Papers, 1756-1799, 1756-1799
Scope and Contents noteArranged alphabetically by name of ship, then by format for those not attributed to a particular ship. This subseries contains crew lists, accounts of sales and purchases of slaves, invoices, bills of lading, records of wages to ship crews, ship expenses, accounts of sales of goods in Africa, cargo manifests and trade books of the Vernons' slave ships. The voyages of the Othello are the most well-documented in the collection; papers relating to this ship include accounts, receipts, memoranda, copies of correspondence, trade books and account books. A 45-page trade book of Othello, 1764-5 is housed in Box 7, an oversize box. In folder 11, "Depositions and Memoranda re: Vernon vs. Rogers," are papers dated 1766 regarding the Vernons' legal action against Thomas Rogers, captain of the Othello, for disobeying their orders to sail directly to Georgia or South Carolina after leaving Barbados. Instead Rogers sailed to St. Christopher's where there was an insurrection, which resulted in the death of 11 slaves. The Vernons sought redress regarding the loss of revenue from unsold slaves. The ship Royall Charlotte is represented by accounts, receipts, memoranda and a 16-page trade book. In addition to an account, there is one deposition, dated April 4, 1799, related to the ship Orange, which refers to damage to the ship when it hit a reef off the coast of the Bahamas during a return voyage. There are accounts and an 86-page trade book of the ship Venus housed in this subseries. This subseries also includes accounts for the ships Adventures, Ascension, Casada Gardin, Hare, Little Sally, Lydia, Marigold, Nancy, Pacific, and TittBitt. A 24-page trade book of an unidentified vessel and a 20-page fragment of an account book for an unidentified vessel were placed in this series because they were originally kept with the other volumes specifically attributed to the ships of the Vernons and the format and handwriting match the others. Folder 20 houses fragments of letters and accounts, and a clipping of a three-page article entitled, Account of a late Publication intitled 'The Origin of the Negroe Slave Trade,' By Matthias Christian Sprengel. |
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Container 1 | Container 2 | Title | Date | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 1 | Schooner
Active Trading Book, Sloop
Adventures accounts |
1769-1770 | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 2 | Ship
Ascension accounts |
1796-1800 | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 3 | Ship
Casada Gardin accounts |
1759-1760 | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 4 | Sloop
Hare accounts |
1754-1756, undated | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 5 | Schooner
Little Sally accounts, Sloop
Lydia accounts |
1763- 1765, undated | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 6 | Brigantine
Marigold accounts, Sloop
Nancy accounts |
1759-1764, undated | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 7 | Brigantine
Orange account and deposition |
1799 | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 8 | Brigantine
Othello Papers (1 of 2) accounts, receipts, memoranda, letters |
1763-1775, undated | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 9 | Brigantine
Othello Papers (2 of 2) |
1765-1775, undated | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 10 | Brigantine
Othello Volumes |
1769-1774, undated | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 11 | Papers re:
Vernon vs. Rogers |
1766, undated | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 12 | Ship
Pacific |
1789 | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 13 | Brigantine
Royall Charlotte accounts, receipts, memoranda and book of trade |
1761-1775, undated | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 14 | Sloop
TittBitt |
1756, 1757 | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 15 | Snow Venus, Trade Book |
1756-1757 | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 16 | Trade book of vessel (unidentified) |
1774-1775 | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 17 | Account Book Fragment (unidentified) |
1767 | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 18 | Accounts |
1754-1799, undated | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 19 | Bills and Receipts |
1754-1787, undated | |
Box: 2 | Folder : 20 | Clippings and fragments |
1755, 1784, undated | |
Box: 7 | Brigantine
Othello trade book |
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