1.   Historical note

2.   Scope and content

3.   Provenance

4.   Processing note

5.   Inventory

6.   Subjects


    List of finding aids

    R.I.H.S. Library page

    R.I.H.S. home page

 Samuel Nightingale III Papers

(part of the Nightingale-Jenckes Papers)

 Merchant of Providence, R.I.

 Papers, 1803-1851. Bulk, 1806-1823.

 Size: 1 linear foot

 Catalog number: MSS 588, sg 3

 Processed by:

Rick Stattler, August 1996

 USE MICROFILM    E445 .R4, part 2, reels 15-17

©Rhode Island Historical Society

Manuscripts Division

 


Historical note:



            Samuel Nightingale III (1782-1851) was the son of Samuel Nightingale II (1741-1814). He was raised in Providence, R.I. and followed his father into the mercantile trade. In 1805, he served as a supercargo to the East Indies and China aboard the ship Hazard, owned by his uncle William F. Melee and John Corlis. He became owner of at least three ships registered from Providence:


1806-1810      brigantine Nancy, with John Rogers. Spain, coastal trade.

1809-1815      ship Mary Ann with John Corlis and John Rogers. Coastal trade.

1816-1821      ship Atlas. Coastal trade.


            Nightingale eventually moved into the textile industry and became owner of Georgiaville Mills at Georgiaville, R.I. He also served as president of the National Exchange Bank in Providence, and was active in the town's First Congregational Church. He died in Hampton, New Hampshire.

            Nightingale was generally referred to as "Jr." until his father's death in 1814.

            Samuel Nightingale III (1782-1851) married three times: to Harriet Rogers (d.1812), Elizabeth K. Thompson (1791-1819) and Harriet's sister Eliza Rogers (1790-1870). He had six children, including Susan E. (1809-1883, unmarried), Harriet F. (1810-1894, unmarried), Rev. Crawford (1816-1892); Edwin J. (1824-1879); Samuel A. of Worcester (1828-1906), and Horatio R. (1828-1885).


Bibliography:

Chapin, William Waterman. Genealogy of the Nightingale Family (typescript at the R.I.H.S.,             compiled 1912).

Cutter, William Richard, ed. New England Families: Genealogical and Memorial New York:             Lewis Historical Publishing, 1915. Volume 1, p. 491-492.

Works Projects Administration. Ship Registers and Enrollments of Providence, R.I. 1773-1939.             Providence, R.I. 1941.


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Scope and content:


            The bulk of this collection relates to Nightingale's mercantile career from 1801 to 1820. There are also extensive accounts and correspondence with his cousin Edwin T. Jenckes, a merchant of South America and Florida, dated 1820 through 1836; Nightingale apparently had care of his Providence affairs. There are also family deeds, accounts of estates managed by Nightingale, and a small amount of 1849 correspondence. There does not seem to be much, if any, material relating to his textile career.

            This collection includes several letters relating to Nightingale's uncle William F. Megee, including:

            10 letters from W.F. Megee Jr. dated 1819-1821, one as child dated 1/11/1804

            a letter to W.F. Megee Jr. dated 9/24/1821

            a letter from Edwin T. Jenckes dated 7/21/1821 discussing Megee's death.

            letters discussing W.F. Megee Jr. dated 9/16/1818 and 9/2/1822.


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Provenance:


            This collection was probably donated by George A. Holbrook on May 8, 1900 as part of what became known as the Nightingale-Jenckes Papers. The evidence for this is somewhat circumstantial, and interested parties can consult a lengthy essay on the subject that is available in the collection file at the repository.

            A large collection of family deeds and other papers was donated by Mrs. Norman Baker in 1969. This donation included mostly material relating to later generations of the family, but some earlier material is included here.


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Processing note:


            These papers were originally an undifferentiated part of the larger "Nightingale-Jenckes Papers", and were separated out during the reprocessing of those papers in 1996.


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Inventory:


Correspondence:

Box 5, folder 1. 1801-1809

Box 5, folder 2. 1810, 1-6

Box 5, folder 3. 1810, 7-12

Box 5, folder 4. 1811, 1-3

Box 5, folder 5. 1811, 4-6

Box 5, folder 6. 1811, 7-9

Box 5, folder 7. 1811, 10-12

Box 5, folder 8. 1812

Box 5, folder 9. 1813-1818

Box 5, folder 10. 1819-1820 (mostly re ship Atlas)

Box 5, folder 11. 1820-1825

Box 5, folder 12. 1826-1829

Box 5, folder 13. 1830-1831

Box 5, folder 14. 1832

Box 5, folder 15. 1833-1836

Box 5, folder 16. 1848-1849 and undated

Box 5, folder 17. 1809, 1811, 1817 (moldy)


Accounts:

Box 5, folder 18. Atlas (ship), 1816-1820

Box 5, folder 19. Hazard (ship), 1801-1806

Box 5, folder 20. Mary Ann (ship), 1809-1810

Box 5, folder 21. Mary Ann (ship), 1811

Box 5, folder 22. Mary Ann (ship), 1812-1815

Box 5, folder 23. Mary Ann (ship), 1807-1812 (moldy)

Box 5, folder 24. Nancy (ship), 1807-1810

Box 5, folder 25. New ship construction, 1809-1812

Box 5, folder 26. New ship construction, 1809-1812


Box 5, folder 27. Joseph S. Cooke estate - original receipts, 1801-1812

Box 5, folder 28. Joseph S. Cooke estate - 1840-1845

Box 5, folder 29. Estate account book: Enos Hitchcock, 1803-1808

                                                               Samuel Nightingale II, 1814-1820

Box 5, folder 30. Shipping book, 1806

Box 5, folder 31. Inventory, 1816

Box 5, folder 32. Ledger, 1806-1813

Box 5, folder 33. Account book, 1807-1813

                                    Also served as letter book, 1807

Box 5, folder 34. Laborers book, 1808-1809

Box 5, folder 35. Deeds, 1810-1851

Box 5, folder 36. Miscellaneous, 1807-1812

Box 5, folder 37. Miscellaneous, 1827-1833. Mostly re Edwin T. and Joseph S. Jenckes.

Box 11, oversized folder 1. Accounts for ships Mary Ann, Atlas, Nancy, "New ship".


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Subjects:


Atlas (ship)

Cooke, Joseph S.

Corlis, John

Hazard

Hitchcock, Enos

Jenckes, Edwin T.

Jenckes, Joseph S. Of Terre Haute, In.

Mary Ann (ship)

Merchants - Rhode Island - Providence

Megee, William F.

Megee, William F. Jr.

Nancy (brigantine)

Nightingale, Samuel II

Rogers, John



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RIHS1822