3. Provenance 5. Inventory 6. Subjects |
(part of the Nightingale-Jenckes Papers) Merchant of Providence, R.I. and Canton, China Papers, 1791-1811. Size: 1.75 linear feet Catalog number: MSS 588, sg 4 Processed by: Rick Stattler, August 1996 USE MICROFILM E445 .R4, part 2, reels 17-20©Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division |
Historical note:
William Fairchild Megee (1765-1820) of Providence served as supercargo on board John Brown's ship George Washington on the first trading voyage from Rhode Island to China and the East Indies in 1787. He sailed again to China in 1789, and later owned or co-owned several ships active in the trade. He also engaged in the slave trade in South America from his sloop Resource as late as 1806, and may have been a partner with merchant Edward Carrington on some ventures. Megee died in Canton in 1820, where he was operating as a factor. He owned the following ships registered in Providence, and possibly others:
1795 ship Susan with William Clarke and Joseph Nightingale.
1798 ship Palmyra with John Innes Clark
1798-1808 ship Resource with John Corlis and later with Amos T. Jenckes
1801 ship Hazard with John Corlis
1801 ship John and Charles with John Corlis
1801 ship Susan with John Corlis
1803 ship Abby and Sally (sole owner)
1803-1804 schooner Silvia (sole owner - condemned as unseaworthy)
1803-1804 brigantine Industry (sole owner)
He married Susan Nightingale (1771-1841), daughter of Samuel Nightingale II (1741-1814). They had one son, William F. Jr. (1795?-1826), a sea captain who died on the coast of Africa. William F. Megee Jr. also owned a share of the ship Two Catherines from 1822 until his death. He left a son of his own, William C. Megee.
Bibliography:
Chapin, William Waterman. Genealogy of the Nightingale Family (typescript at the R.I.H.S., compiled 1912).
Coughtry, Jay. The Notorious Triangle: Rhode Island and the African Slave Trade 1700-1807. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1981. See note on page 323.
Hedges, James B. The Browns of Providence Plantations: The Nineteenth Century. Providence : Brown University Press, 1968.
Works Projects Administration. Ship Registers and Enrollments of Providence, R.I. 1773-1939. Providence, R.I. 1941.
Scope and content:
This collection includes correspondence files and accounts from 1791 to 1808, the bulk covering 1800 to 1805. There are also family deeds from 1791 to 1811. There is very little relating to Megee's early service with the Brown family. There are extensive accounts relating to Megee's ship Resource. For the most part, the papers are organized only by year, and may not be in chronological order within the folders. Accounts, receipts and invoices can be found interfiled with the correspondence.
Provenance:
This collection was probably donated by George A. Holbrook on May 18, 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.
An additional collection of Nightingale family deeds and other papers, including deeds to William F. Megee, were donated by Mrs. Norman Baker in 1969. One item, an 1800 import certificate, was donated in 1968 by Matthew Millman. Nine miscellaneous accounts were donated by Lucy A. Metcalf in 1910. The provenance of the 1807 military commission is unknown but appears to be different than for the main body of papers.
Processing note:
Most of the loose papers in this collection were long cataloged as part of the Nightingale-Jenckes Papers. There was also a collection of 10 volumes and two loose papers known as the William F. Megee Papers. This latter portion seems to have arrived in the same accession, and is clearly related material. Thus, the two portions have been reunited. These combined Megee papers were reorganized in 1996.
Related items in other manuscript collections at the R.I.H.S. Library include:
Carrington Papers
Log of snow Susan and ship Palmyra, 1797-1798
Log of ship Resource, 1803-1804
Samuel Nightingale III Papers. Includes:
6 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.
Shepley Papers, vol. 15, p. 145.
A ship's protest filed by Megee and J.I. Clark re ship Palmyra, 11/8/1798
Rhode Island Manuscripts, vol. 1, p. 73.
Deposition of Nathaniel Fellows re Megee's schooner Antelope, 1804
Inventory:
Correspondence and loose accounts:
Box 6, folder 1. 1791-1797
Box 6, folder 2. 1798-1800
Box 6, folder 3. 1801
Box 6, folder 4. 1802
Box 6, folder 5. 1803, 1-7
Box 6, folder 6. 1803, 8-10
Box 6, folder 7. 1803, 11-12
Box 6, folder 8. 1803, Abby & Sally
Box 6, folder 9. 1804, 1-5
Box 6, folder 10. 1804, 6-12
Box 6, folder 11. 1805, 1-4
Box 6, folder 12. 1805, 5-8
Box 6, folder 13. 1805, 9-12
Box 6, folder 14. 1806-1820
Box 6, folder 15. Deeds, 1791-1811
Miscellaneous:
Box 6, folder 16. Personal accounts, 1791-1805
Box 6, folder 17. Accounts with John Lippitt, 1795-1800
Box 6, folder 18. Invoice book, 1803-1805
Box 6, folder 19. Sales accounts, Canton 1803-1805
Box 6, folder 20. Farm accounts, 1803-1807
Box 6, folder 21. Accounts with John Lippitt, 1805
Box 11, oversized volume 2. Index to unknown account book, ca. 1792-1801
Box 11, oversized folder 2. Abby & Sally accounts
Box 11, oversized folder 3. Oversized letters (copies interfiled in collection)
3 pages from account book, 1805.
Sloop Resource accounts
Box 7, folder 1. Ship Resource and Eliza accounts, 1796-1803
Box 7, folder 2. Ship Resource account book, 1802-1803 Manila & Canton
Box 7, folder 3. Ship Resource account book, 1802-1803 Manila & Canton
Box 7, folder 4. Ship Resource account book, 1805-1807
Box 11, oversized volume 1. Ship Resource seamen account book, 1805-1806
Box 7, folder 5. Ship Resource import certificate, 1800, Providence
Box 7, folder 6. Ship Resource loose accounts, 1801-1807
Box 7, folder 7. Ship Resource loose accounts, 1805-1806
Box 7, folder 8. Ship Resource loose accounts, 1806
Box 11, oversized folder 1. Ship Resource loose accounts, 1800-1807
Subjects:
Brown & Francis
China - Commerce - United States
Corlis, John
Francis, John
Jenckes, Amos T.
Jenckes, Ebenezer T.
Jenckes, Edwin T.
Lippitt, John
Magee, William F. : see Megee, William F.
Megee, William F. Jr.
Merchants - Rhode Island - Providence
Nightingale, Candace C.
Nightingale, Samuel II
Resource (sloop)
Slave-trade - South America
South America - Commerce - United States
Selected index to correspondence
Brown & Francis
Copy of letter of credit, 1/2/1792
Corlis, John
Copies of several letters sent to Corlis, 1800.
Francis, John
Letter copy sent to Francis re brig Mercury, 11/12/1791
Jenckes, Ebenezer
Original letter sent to Jenckes re ship Turk, 3/26/1797
Jenckes, Edwin T.
Letter as child to uncle, describing horse race from Providence to Boston, 4/5/1806
Megee, James
Instructions for purchase of goods in Canton, 2/11/1796
Megee, William F. Jr.
Letters to father as child, 1805
Also see Samuel Nightingale III Papers.
Nightingale, Candace C.
Letter to Megee, 4/5/1806
Nightingale, Samuel II
Letter copy sent to Nightingale re settlement of accounts, 2/13/1794
End of finding aid - return to top
RIHS1822