- Title
- Cornelius Fellowes ledger, 1775-1791 (inclusive)
- Fellowes, Cornelius., creator
- Massachusetts
- Ledger of merchant and shipmaster Cornelius Fellows (or Fellowes), containing accounts of trade and shipping ventures in the West Indies, South America, Great Britain, and Amsterdam, as well as commission sales and general store sales, dated 1775-1793. The volume contains sales accounts of cargo he shipped on the sloop Fox to Demerara and Cayenne, French Guiana, in 1790, including cages for the imprisonment and transport of Africans sent by Robert & Joshua Davis of Boston. Additional goods marketed there, such as handkerchiefs, shoes, beef, and rice, may also have been intended for enslaved people. Nathaniel Fellowes, Cornelius’ brother, Larkin & Hurd of Charlestown, Joseph & Nathaniel Ruggles of Roxbury, and P. Williams of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, were among the other investors receiving proceeds from the Guiana voyage. An account against Meram Miares (Miriam Myers), in Stabroek, Demerara, for ham, white beans, and cloth, was balanced by one Hadley’s quadrant, referring to the octant invented by John Hadley (1682-1744), coffee, and old copper. In 1775-1776, Fellowes commanded the brig Hope’s voyages to Grenada, Tobago, Cork, Ireland, and London; accounts reflect disbursements at each destination and cargo acquired or sold such as molasses, rum, sugar, and tea. Other early entries reflect sales of goods consigned to Fellowes by brothers Captain Gustavus Fellowes and Nathaniel Fellowes, Isaac Smith, and William Wier, and retail sales to Boston boarding house owner Mary Loring, Captain James Nickels (Nichols) of Newburyport, Betsey Williams, and tailor Daniel Ray (Rea). An account with shoemakers Ramsdell & Atwood reflect his payment in cash and assorted dry goods, including black calamanco he stipulated was to be made into shoes priced at fifteen shillings each, and receipt of those and other orders of shoes. Fellowes sometimes bartered for commodities or services: Mrs. Blackman paid by spinning, and Daniel Crosby provided shaving and dressing at Fellowes’ shop. The end of the volume contains additional retail charges for rice, shoes, and ham to Charlotte Cadate, an African American man named Jacke, and others.
- .25 linear feet (1 volume).
- English
- Ledgers (account books)
- Books and documents
- Fellowes, Cornelius
Fellowes, Gustavus
Fellowes, Nathaniel
African Americans--Massachusetts--History--18th century
Businesswomen--Massachusetts--History
Women--Economic conditions--Massachusetts--History
Commerce--Massachusetts--History--18th century
Retail trade--Massachusetts--Boston
Imports--Massachusetts
Slavery--French Guiana--History
Slavery--Guyana--History
Slave trade--French Guiana--History
Slave trade--Guyana--History
Shipping--Massachusetts
Shipping--West Indies
Boston (Mass.)--Commerce--Guyana
Guyana--Commerce--Massachusetts--Boston - Collections and items have been digitized with the generous support of The Polonsky Foundation.
See also: Manuscripts in Baker Library (4th ed., 1978), Entry 881. - Cornelius Fellowes was a Boston merchant and sea captain active between the 1770s and 1790s. He engaged in mercantile voyages to South America, the West Indies, and Amsterdam, and probably owned a general store, where he marketed dry goods. His brother, Nathaniel Fellowes, was a plantation owner in Cuba, and Fellowes and his shipping partners provided supplies for slave traders; in 1790, he commanded a voyage of the sloop Fox to French Guiana, where he sold cages intended to imprison and transport Africans on the account of Robert & Joshua Davis. Fellowes also was master of the brig Hope during a 1775-1776 venture to Grenada, Tobago, Cork, Ireland, and London.
- Cornelius Fellowes Ledger. Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
- Colonial North American Project at Harvard University
- Baker Library, Harvard Business School, Harvard University
- 990146689070203941
- Title
- Cornelius Fellowes ledger, 1775-1791 (inclusive)
- Creator / Contributor
- Fellowes, Cornelius., creator
- Place of Origin
- Massachusetts
- Description
- Ledger of merchant and shipmaster Cornelius Fellows (or Fellowes), containing accounts of trade and shipping ventures in the West Indies, South America, Great Britain, and Amsterdam, as well as commission sales and general store sales, dated 1775-1793. The volume contains sales accounts of cargo he shipped on the sloop Fox to Demerara and Cayenne, French Guiana, in 1790, including cages for the imprisonment and transport of Africans sent by Robert & Joshua Davis of Boston. Additional goods marketed there, such as handkerchiefs, shoes, beef, and rice, may also have been intended for enslaved people. Nathaniel Fellowes, Cornelius’ brother, Larkin & Hurd of Charlestown, Joseph & Nathaniel Ruggles of Roxbury, and P. Williams of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, were among the other investors receiving proceeds from the Guiana voyage. An account against Meram Miares (Miriam Myers), in Stabroek, Demerara, for ham, white beans, and cloth, was balanced by one Hadley’s quadrant, referring to the octant invented by John Hadley (1682-1744), coffee, and old copper. In 1775-1776, Fellowes commanded the brig Hope’s voyages to Grenada, Tobago, Cork, Ireland, and London; accounts reflect disbursements at each destination and cargo acquired or sold such as molasses, rum, sugar, and tea. Other early entries reflect sales of goods consigned to Fellowes by brothers Captain Gustavus Fellowes and Nathaniel Fellowes, Isaac Smith, and William Wier, and retail sales to Boston boarding house owner Mary Loring, Captain James Nickels (Nichols) of Newburyport, Betsey Williams, and tailor Daniel Ray (Rea). An account with shoemakers Ramsdell & Atwood reflect his payment in cash and assorted dry goods, including black calamanco he stipulated was to be made into shoes priced at fifteen shillings each, and receipt of those and other orders of shoes. Fellowes sometimes bartered for commodities or services: Mrs. Blackman paid by spinning, and Daniel Crosby provided shaving and dressing at Fellowes’ shop. The end of the volume contains additional retail charges for rice, shoes, and ham to Charlotte Cadate, an African American man named Jacke, and others.
- Extent
- .25 linear feet (1 volume).
- Language
- English
- Genre
- Ledgers (account books)
- Digital Format
- Books and documents
- Subjects
- Fellowes, Cornelius
Fellowes, Gustavus
Fellowes, Nathaniel
African Americans--Massachusetts--History--18th century
Businesswomen--Massachusetts--History
Women--Economic conditions--Massachusetts--History
Commerce--Massachusetts--History--18th century
Retail trade--Massachusetts--Boston
Imports--Massachusetts
Slavery--French Guiana--History
Slavery--Guyana--History
Slave trade--French Guiana--History
Slave trade--Guyana--History
Shipping--Massachusetts
Shipping--West Indies
Boston (Mass.)--Commerce--Guyana
Guyana--Commerce--Massachusetts--Boston - Notes
- Collections and items have been digitized with the generous support of The Polonsky Foundation.
See also: Manuscripts in Baker Library (4th ed., 1978), Entry 881. - Biographical / Historical Note
- Cornelius Fellowes was a Boston merchant and sea captain active between the 1770s and 1790s. He engaged in mercantile voyages to South America, the West Indies, and Amsterdam, and probably owned a general store, where he marketed dry goods. His brother, Nathaniel Fellowes, was a plantation owner in Cuba, and Fellowes and his shipping partners provided supplies for slave traders; in 1790, he commanded a voyage of the sloop Fox to French Guiana, where he sold cages intended to imprison and transport Africans on the account of Robert & Joshua Davis. Fellowes also was master of the brig Hope during a 1775-1776 venture to Grenada, Tobago, Cork, Ireland, and London.
- Cite As
- Cornelius Fellowes Ledger. Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
- Series
- Colonial North American Project at Harvard University
- Repository
- Baker Library, Harvard Business School, Harvard University
- Record ID
- 990146689070203941
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