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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Ship's Papers: Comet |
| Reference | MH-20, box 2, folder 2 |
| Library | Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum |
| Collection | Benjamin Shreve Papers (1793-1848) |
| Collection Series | I. Shipping Papers |
| Date | 1821-1824 |
| Description | Invoices and instructions of Brig Comet to Canton. Includes invoice for chinaware. Also, account for silk. Again invoices with Chinese characters. Correspondence from Manila. Also some personal letters from Benjamin Shreve to his wife while he is Canton, in which he discusses his business. |
| Document Type | Manuscript, Mercantile Papers, Correspondence |
| Theme(s) | Trade and Commerce |
| Keywords | silk, chinoiserie, goods, merchandise, receipt, invoice, commodity, business, letter, family, domestic, merchant, bill, tea, cargo, freight, ship, ginger, vessel, mother of pearl, sandalwood, nankeen, textiles, shipping, supercargo, comprador, news, coffee, linguist, chop, bill of lading, supplies, food, insurance, sugar |
| Countries | China; USA; Philippines |
| Places | Huangpu |
| Ports | Guangzhou, China; Manila, Philippines; New York, USA; Boston, USA; Philadelphia, USA; Salem, USA |
| Company | Pitman and French; Perkins and Company; Russell and Company |
| Ships | Comet, Henry Astor |
| People | Thomas Tunno Forbes; Gideon Tucker |
| Additional Information |
Benjamin Shreve (1780-1839) was born in Winchester, Virginia to Benjamin and Hannah Shreve. Details of his personal life are sparse, however it is known that his brother Isaac moved to Salem in 1794 to take up an apprenticeship in leather tanning. Subsequently, Isaac probably introduced Benjamin to Mary Goodhue of Salem, and the couple were soon married and settled in the city. Shreve was apparently involved in shipping before he arrived in Salem, as he was declared bankrupt in Alexandria, Virginia, and his papers suggest a relationship between his financial difficulties and an 1804 voyage of the schooner Betsey. Once in Salem Shreve acted as supercargo on a number of voyages, and bought the Four Sons, which he renamed Dawn, and the Catherine from Joseph Peabody and Gideon Tucker. In the 1820s he invested in voyages to South America by his own vessels and those of other merchants. He arranged to build the brig Washington in 1823. He died in 1839, leaving no children. 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 |
