Overview of the Collection
Biography of George Elliott
Restrictions
Index Terms
Administrative Information
Detailed Description of the Collection
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Repository:
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G.W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport |
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Creator:
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Elliott, George, 1810-1862 |
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Title:
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George Elliott Collection |
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Dates:
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1794-1964, bulk 1813-1867 |
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Extent:
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259 items, 10 vols. |
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Abstract:
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Journals
and other documents related to George Elliott's sealing and whaling
voyages, including a contract with Silas E. Burrows and account of
Nathaniel Brown Palmer's last sealing expedition; a lecture Elliott
delivered on whales and whaling; family correspondence; an
autobiography written by Elizabeth Hill, Elliott's mother; sketches of
Elliott's inventions; receipts and miscellaneous papers dealing with
the Elliott/Hill families and Elliot's business undertakings. Vessels
include the schooners PENGUIN and ENERGY, the brigs UXOR, HENRY,
ULYSSES, MEDINA, and AMES, and the ships CHARLES ADAMS and MERCURY. |
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Identification:
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Coll. 338 |
George
Elliott was born on December 2, 1810, the son of Captain George Elliott
and Elizabeth Freeman Elliott, both Americans then living in England.
After his father's death, Elliott's mother returned to the United
States, eventually marrying typefounder W.H. Hill. George apprenticed
with his stepfather briefly, then ran away to begin a life at sea. His
first experience as a merchant mariner was a sealing voyage aboard the
schooner PENGUIN, out of Stonington, Connecticut. After his return, he
married Hannah Peters in Stonington on June 20, 1833. Over the years
the couple had ten children.
Elliott
took to ship again in September 1833 on the schooner ENERGY, sailing
from Rocky Hill to Hartford, then New York, Norfolk and Richmond. From
Richmond, he shipped on the brig UXOR tending to the ship CHARLES
ADAMS, for whaling in the Falklands and off Patagonia. This was the
high point of Elliott's maritime career. The trip was highly
successful, and he was assigned work as a substitute boatsteerer.
Subsequently, he shipped on several vessels owned by Silas E. Burrows,
including the MERCURY, MEDINA and AMES. He was first officer on the
AMES, which grounded off Patagonia. He had prospects of being a whaling
master, but these were never realized. After further unproductive
attempts at whaling, and work as a machinist, Elliott returned to the
United States and pursued a variety of occupations in Connecticut,
elsewhere in the Northeast, and in the South. He worked as carpenter,
mechanic, blacksmith and inventor, with extended absences from home and
family. Financial instability marked his later life, and that of his
family.
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Restrictions on Access
Available for use in the Manuscripts Division.
Restrictions on Use
Various copying restriction apply. Guidelines are available from the Manuscripts
Division. See also: Mystic Seaport's copyright notice.
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This
collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of
the G. W. Blunt White Library. Researchers desiring materials about
related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Persons:
Burrows, Silas Enoch, 1794-1870
Burt, Enoch
Elliott family
Elliott, Hannah,1814-1907
Freeman family
Hill family
Hill, Elizabeth, d. 1858
Morrell, Benjamin, 1795-1839
Nash, Ellery
Palmer, Nathaniel Brown, 1799-1877
Pendleton, Benjamin, 1787-1857
Upton, George
Corporate Bodies (Including Vessels):
Alonzo (Schooner)
Ames (Brig)
Annawan (Brig)
Antarctic (Schooner)
Chalcedony (Bark)
Charles Adams (Ship : 1826)
Edward [Edwards?] (Brig)
Elizabeth (Bark)
Energy (Schooner : 1833)
Henry (Brig)
Invincible (Steamboat)
Lexington (Steamship : 1835)
Medina (Brig)
Mercury (Ship)
Penguin (Schooner)
Providence Machine Co.
Strong Lyman & Co. Machinists
Ulysses (Brig)
Uxor (Brig : 1827)
Places:
Apalachicola (Fla.)
Boston (Mass.)
Cape Horn (Chile)
Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)
Chicago (Ill.)
Connecticut River
Falkland Islands--Ports of entry
Groton (Conn.)
Hartford (Conn.)
James River and Kanawha Canal (Va.)
London (England)
Manchester (Conn.)
Mobile (Ala.)
Montevideo (Uruguay)--Ports of entry
Mystic (Conn.)
New Orleans (La.)
New York (N.Y.)--Ports of entry
Norfolk (Va.)--Ports of entry
Patagonia (Argentina and Chile)--Ports of entry
Richmond (Va.)--Ports of entry
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)--Ports of embarkation
Rocky Hill (Conn.)--Ports of embarkation
Sacramento (Calif.)
Salem (Mass.)
Stonington (Conn.)
Willimantic (Conn.)
Subjects:
Death at sea
Floods--California--Sacramento
Inventions
Locks (Hydraulic engineering)--Virginia
Machine design
Mutiny
Nautical instruments
Sealing--Connecticut--Stonington
Shipwrecks
Whaling
Document Types:
Advertisements
Contracts
Correspondence
Diaries
Drawings
Receipts
Recipes
Occupations:
Blacksmiths
Carpenters
Inventors
Machinists
Merchant mariners
Whalers (Persons)
Whaling masters
Return to the Table of Contents
Preferred Citation
Coll. 338, Manuscripts Collection, G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc.
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The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
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George Elliott maritime career and reminiscences, 1829-1839, after 1850
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Box
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Folder
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| 1 |
1 |
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1: Journal of a sealing voyage from Stonington, Connecticut towards
Cape Horn onboard the schooner PENGUIN, 1829-1831 (74 pages) |
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| Vol. 2: Journal of a voyage on the schooner ENERGY, 1833 September 4-1833 October 16 (32 pages) |
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| 3 |
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3: Journal of a whaling voyage from Stonington, Connecticut on the brig
UXOR, William Edward Wheeler, master, as tender to the ship CHARLES
ADAMS, Charles T. Stanton, master, Includes drawings of whales and
flukes as well as whale stamps. 1833-1834 (84 pages) |
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4: Journal of a voyage to the South Atlantic Ocean on the ship MERCURY;
Chas. T. Stanton, master. The brig HENRY acting as tender to the ship.
Includes accounts of passage on the vessels EAGLE, ALONZO and MEDINA,
1835 May 24-1838 July 30 (170 pages) |
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5: Journal abstract kept on board the brig ULYSSES of Rio de Janeiro.
Summary Recapitulation of the Logbook, 1837 May 3-1838 February 1 (18,
4 pages) |
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Vol. 6: Journal of a whaling voyage from Rio de Janeiro on the AMES and
MEDINA,. Includes account of passages on the EDWARD(S) to Montevideo
and CHALCEDONY to Salem, 1838-1843 (70 pages) |
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| 7 |
| Lecture
on whales and whaling written by George Elliott, typed note from
descendent briefly summarizing Elliott's career, after 1850, undated (2
items) |
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Box
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Folder
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| 2 |
1 |
| Advertisement for seal skins from schooner PENGUIN, originally enclosed in Volume 1, probably 1831 (1 items) |
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| Contract
between George Elliot and Silas E. Burrows for first-mate position
onboard either the AMES or MEDINA, recipe for Indian rubber cement,
both originally enclosed in Volume 3, 1838 June 11, undated (2 items) |
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George Elliott papers and drawings related to non-maritime career, approximately 1839-1862
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Box
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Folder
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| Partnership contract with Enoch Burt for blacksmithing business, 1845 November 21 (1 item) |
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| Pencil sketches of various inventions George Elliott attempted to create, approximately 1840-1861 (8 items) |
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| Pencil sketches of a door lock system, approximately 1840-1861 (11 items) |
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Miscellaneous
documents and papers of George and Hannah Elliott, Elizabeth Freeman
Elliott Hill and other family members, 1816-1857, 1933, 1964
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Box
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Folder
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| George Elliott and Hannah Peters marriage certificate, 1845 November 21 (1 item) |
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| Facsimile
of Family Register recording births and marriage of George and Hannah
Elliott, children's names and birthdates, with information added onto
the document pertaining to descendents, 1810-1933 (1 item) |
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| Report of Oakland Lodge, No. 25, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Manchester, 1850 July 1 (1 item) |
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| Financial
receipts and notebooks with accounting, pertaining to George Elliott
and his family, 1831 July 2-1856 September 1 (9 items) |
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| Court Summons identifying George Elliott as plaintiff in lawsuit, Manchester, 1849 (1 item) |
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| Receipt
for payment by Elizabeth Elliott of insurance premium issued by Royal
Exchange Assurance, London, 1816 October 12 (1 item) |
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| Reference from A. Bronson, Baptist minister on behalf of Elizabeth Hill as author of A Widow's Offering;
Draft letter from descendent to Reader's Digest inquiring about
possibility of condensation of great-grandmother's book for
publication, 1853, 1964 (2 items) |
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| Rent
receipts for Mystic and Groton lodgings and receipt for freight
shipment on steamer MYSTIC pertaining to Elizabeth Hill, originally
enclosed in Vol. 8, 1854 January 1-1857 September 23 (8 items) |
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| Receipt
for registered mail, Hampden and Springfield Laundry price list for
1849, advertisement for vocal lessons offered by E.N. Hill, recipes for
diarrhea and hair cleaning solutions, record of wages, inquiry
regarding lottery winnings, 1854 January 1-1857 September 23 (8 items) |
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| Religious verse, undated (2 items) |
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Correspondence of George Elliott, Hill and Peters families, 1813-1867
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Box
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Folder
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| Family
correspondence, including letter from Elizabeth Elliott Hill's brother
Edward Freeman to George Elliott about nephew Edward Freeman's whaling
voyage, letter from George Elliott to mother from schooner PENGUIN,
1813-1833 (24 items) |
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| Family correspondence, including letters from George Elliott recounting whaling and other voyages, 1834-1839 (23 items) |
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| Letter to George Elliott in response to application for mate position, 1839 January 22 (1 item) |
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| Family
correspondence, including letter from mother Elizabeth Hill to son
George about having avoided LEXINGTON disaster, 1840-1841 (26 items) |
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| Family correspondence, 1842-1844 (19 items) |
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| Family correspondence, 1845-1849 (25 items) |
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| Rent due letter to George Elliott, 1848 March 18 (1 item) |
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| Family correspondence, including letters from Hannah Elliott's family describing Sacramento flood, 1850-1853 (26 items) |
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| Family correspondence, 1854-1855 (14 items) |
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| Family correspondence, 1856-1867 (30 items) |
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| Family correspondence, some fragmented, undated (11 items) |
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Published materials, 1794-1852
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Box
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Folder
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| Medical pamphlet from a ship's medicine chest, undated (29 pages) |
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| Vol. 7: Rackham's Ladies' Memorandum Book, or, Fashionable Repository, for the year 1818.
Three entries are made in cash accounts receipts section for 1824.
Bible chapter and verse notes in memorandum section, 1818 (40 pages) |
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| Vol. 8: The Widow's Offering: an Authentic Narrative of the Parentage, Life, Trials and Travels of Mrs. Elizabeth Hill written by Elizabeth Hill, 1852 edition (179 pages) |
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| Vol. 9: The Widow's Offering: an Authentic Narrative of the Parentage, Life, Trials and Travels of Mrs. Elizabeth Hill written by Elizabeth Hill, 1856 edition (281 pages) |
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| Vol. 10: The Saint's Everlasting Rest; or, a Treatise of the Blessed State of the Saints in their enjoyment Of God in Heaven. Written by Richard Baxter, and abridged by Benjamin Fawcett, 1794 (360 pages) |
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