By Mark Procknik

George Howland & Sons

Vessel Repair Records, 1830-1860

By Mark Procknik, Librarian, New Bedford Whaling Museum

The business records of George Howland, Sr., and his sons (1797-1890), clearly demonstrate significant overlaps between the region’s whaling history, and the larger regional history in which the industry flourished. The New Bedford Whaling Museum library holds several collections related to the Howland family, most notably the line sired by George Howland Sr. (1781-1852). Howland, a proud Quaker from Acushnet, MA, with deep family roots in Dartmouth and Westport dating back to the 1670s, began his career in 1797 working in the office of noted whaling merchant William Rotch Jr. (1759-1850). Rotch, whose father William and grandfather, Joseph, pioneered colonial sperm whaling, moved from Nantucket Island to mainland New Bedford in 1787.1 Dealing in products derived from the sperm whale including refined sperm oil and spermaceti candles, William Rotch Jr., brought the knowledge he gained working with his father, to New Bedford where he established his own firm of William Rotch Jr. & Sons with his sons William Rodman (1788-1860), Joseph (1790-1839), and Thomas (1791-1840). All three sons would pursue careers in various aspects of New Bedford’s whaling industry, establishing the firms of William R. Rotch & Company and the Rotch Wharf Company, in addition to the Rotch Candle House and New Bedford Cordage Company.

Howland’s experience gained in the Rotch counting house undoubtedly benefitted him when establishing his own firm, George Howland &

1 Strong relations between the Quaker communities on Cape Cod,

Nantucket, and the Old Dartmouth region funneled maritime skills to the dynamic seaports of the whale fishery. Joseph Rotch, along with Joseph Russell of Dartmouth, built the seaport at Bedford

Village in 1765 specifically to pursue the whaling industry. Sons, contemporaneous with the Rotch family dynasty. Unlike the Nantucket-oriented Rotches, who were primarily sperm whalers, the Howlands diversified their business strategy to include whale oil and whale bone as well as sperm oil. This was a hallmark of the most successful New Bedford firms starting in the 1820s and continuing for decades. His sons George Jr. (1806-1892) and Matthew (1814-1884), continued this business model after their father’s death in 1852. The firm owned and managed several famous nineteenth century New Bedford merchant and whaling vessels, including the ships Cortes, George and Susan, George Howland, Hope, Java, Rousseau and Ann Alexander. It was a successful fleet.

The NBWM collection, Mss 7, Business Records of George Howland & Sons, contains many financial accounts, ledgers, and records documenting this fleet. One curious memorandum book dating from 1830 to 1862 identifies brief descriptions of vessel repairs between voyages. Like other such volumes it includes various information such as journal extracts, spar dimensions, and “whales seen and taken” charts. These sorts of books contained the accrued knowledge that whaling agents depended upon in strategizing their voyages. This particular volume is a unique and valuable synopsis of the intervoyage preparations necessary to keep the ships in working trim. Taken in combination with the 18371839 Cash Book – a particularly community-based affair comes into focus including such little-known names as laborers, truckers, night watchmen, and the like. Dozens of people worked on these ships and they all appear by name in the Cash Account Book. In November 1837, for instance, Howland’s account book records that the George and Susan

and the Rousseau sailed for the Pacific Ocean after being newly caulked, sheathed, and coppered. This work would have been done at Howland’s wharf, located north of the bridge between Rodman’s and Wilcox’s wharves and the people who did the work were not necessarily specialized craftsmen. Almost all of them appear in the New Bedford City Directories as “laborers”.

Included is a note affirming that Howland purchased copper from the local whaling firm of Pope & Morgan in order to outfit the Hope’s 1840 voyage.2 This suggests that various firms had various business dealings of interest to the maritime community at large. Dealing with intermediaries drove up the costs, but that was the price of doing business. In 1839, Howland likewise describes repairing the Java, recording that the ship was re-rigged, caulked, sheathed, and coppered for a voyage to New Zealand in May. In November similar repairs were made to the Golconda for a December voyage, primarily by sheathing the deck, but the masts received some attention as well. While these entries from Howland & Sons’ account books offer a window into the work required to outfit and maintain a fleet of seaworthy vessels, they also provide a glimpse into the business dealings of the nineteenth century New Bedford seaport. While succinctly documenting the necessary outfitting work for his various vessels, also noted are many local businesses and merchants working in New Bedford at the time, including Pope & Morgan, Dudley Davenport, and Samuel Leonard. Pope & Morgan ran a commission merchant business out of Rotch Square. Dudley Davenport ran a housewright business but was also a dealer in lumber and coal out of South Water Street, while Samuel Leonard worked as a lumber and oil dealer out of Rotch’s South Wharf. All three operated on the nineteenth century waterfront and offered valuable services for all New Bedford residents looking for copper, lumber, and coal. George Howland employed the services and wares offered by these local waterfront businesses in order to sustain his growing business as a whaling agent in a growing industry.

2 The New Bedford Copper Company incorporated in 1860 would provide the New Bedford whaling fleet directly with sheathing.