1851-1870 – Whaling archive pertaining to Captain Jacob Luce Cleveland and the whaleships Cherokee, Julian, Cornelia, Atlantic, and Matthew Luce were owned by William Hathaway of New Bedford and Richard Luce of Martha’s Vineyard

This archive provides an excellent overview of the business side of a whaling master's life and consists of 30 letters, receipts, ledger pages, sailors' contracts, bills of lading, diplomatic documents, supply lists, and an account book. Many have Quaker dates.
At the time of its earliest items, the New England whaling industry was still thriving, however, it was soon to rapidly decline. The need for sperm oil would slacken after the discovery of Pennsylvania petroleum in 1859. The Civil War brought attacks on the whaling fleet by Confederate raiders like the Shenandoah, Alabama, and Florida that destroyed more than 50 whalers, which owners could not (truncated) afford to replace. In 1871, 33 ships of the American whaling fleet were lost while wintering over in Alaska during a brutal Arctic season. Miraculously, although the ships were completely crushed by ice, no lives were lost. Later in 1875, after 11 more ships were lost in a similar disaster, New England whaling ended, and all remaining whaling was done from San Francisco.
Some of the items in this archive include:

Early 1850s – Letters and receipts, mostly from New Bedford,

1856 – Two partially printed official Chilean mariner hiring contracts for Tomas Sanderson,

1856 – A lengthy list of supplies bought from a Hawaiian ship chandler located at "Lahaina Maui, Sandwich Islands" including assorted items of clothing, potatoes, sugar, soda loaf, and clothing,

1858 – Letter from William Hathaway notifying Cleveland that he has been sent a Barrel of Philadelphia Mess Beef, requesting assistance in locating the Julian's medicine chest and navigational chart,

1858 – Letter from Hathaway discussing an extension of the insurance policy for the Bark Atlantique,

1858 – Letter from Hathaway requesting assistance in locating a former "mate on board the whale ship Julian" who had joined the crew in Hawaii.

1858 and 1859 – Annual statements showing payments to and from Hathaway during both years for whale bone, whale oil, ship outfits and catchings, mess beef, and his share of profit from the Julian's voyage (1/8 for an owner's share and an additional 1/14 for mastering the ship).

1859 – Letter from Hathaway requesting Cleveland come to New Bedford to discuss mastering the next voyage of the Matthew Luce since the Atlantique was still in the Galapagos Islands with over 1,100 barrels of sperm oil and won't arrive back in New Bedford until at least June.

1860 – Illustrated bill of lading documenting Cleveland's shipment of 4,855 gallons of Sperm Oil from Talcahuano, Chile to New Bedford aboard the Bark Virginia.

1862 – Partially printed Consular certificate from Paita, Peru documenting Cleaveland's registration of the Mathew Luce and deposit of its crew list.

1863 – Cleveland's copy of a letter he sent to Hathaway from Valparaiso, Chile with detailed information about rates of exchange, sales of bills, interest rates, premiums, and current and expected prices of Whale and Sperm oil, as well as how "the prospects of the Union Cause . . . will inconvenience shipments (touching this coast)."

1865 – Illustrated bill of lading documenting Cleveland's shipment of four casks of sperm oil to New Bedford aboard the Barque Cornelia.
(For more information, see Van Riper's "A Wanderer's Guide to Historic Vineyard Homes" in the 10 July 2017 edition of the Vineyard Visitor, Tower's A History of the American Whale Fishery, Bockstoce's Whales, Ice, & Men: The History of Whaling in the Western Arctic, and various online genealogical references.)
A captivating archive documenting the final years of Massachusetts's whaling industry. Individual whaling-related letters and documents from Cleveland, Hathaway, and the Luce family occasionally appear for sale in the trade or at auction. OCLC reports that the logbook of Cleveland's last whaling voyage is held by the Library of Congress, several institutions hold logbooks of Hathaway and Luce whaling vessels, and a collection of Hathaway & Luce business correspondence is located at the Boston Public Library. (Inventory #: 010294)