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Title Letters to Rebecca Kinsman from her Family
Reference MSS-43, box 7, folder 2
Library Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum
Collection Nathaniel Kinsman Papers, 1784-1882
Collection Series Personal Papers
Date 1843-1847
Description Personal letters to Rebecca Kinsman in Macau from her father Abijah Chase, son William, brothers William and Stephen Chase, mother Mary Chase, and nieces Mary Anne and Eliza Southwick.
Document Type Correspondence, Manuscript
Theme(s) Social Life
Keywords domestic, family, children, news, friends, weather, household, health, community, society, ship, voyage, sea, seafaring, captain, politics, religion, disease, death
Countries USA; China
Ports Salem, USA; Boston, USA; Guangzhou, China; Macau, China; New York, USA
Additional Information

Nathaniel Kinsman (1798-1847) was the eldest son of Nathaniel (1775-1808) and Deborah (Webb) Kinsman. He served as a clerk on the Union, advancing to supercargo in two years, after which he continued to sail ships for William Gray and Pickering Dodge. By 1830, Nathaniel was part-owner and master of the Parachute. Between 1834 and 1839 he stayed in Salem, Massachusetts, and married Rebecca Chase (1810-1882) with whom he had four children. In 1839, Nathaniel returned to the sea as master of the Zenobia, owned by Daniel Parker of New York. After a venture to ship tea from Canton to New York failed to make a large profit, Nathaniel accepted the offer of a partnership with Wetmore and Company. He left Salem for China in June 1843 with his wife, two children, a niece and a servant. Once his family were settled in Macao, Nathaniel left for Canton to establish a new house for the firm. His wife remained in Macao, serving as a secretary and as the official business hostess for Wetmore and Company. The family lived in China for three and a half years. Nathaniel died in Macao on 30 April 1847. Rebecca returned to Salem in June 1847. In 1865 she married Joseph Grinnell of New Bedford.

Please note that some of the metadata for this document has been drawn from the Peabody Essex Museum catalogue.

Copyright Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum