Special Collections: Guide to the Allen B. Pierce Papers

Arranged and described by Brenda Howitson Steeves
Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections Department
May 2004
 
 
Introduction and Summary Information
 
Collection Title: Allen B. Pierce Papers.
Dates of the Collection: 1848-1884 (inclusive); 1853-1881 (bulk).
Provenance: The Allen B. Pierce Papers came to the Special Collections Department as a gift from Allen Pierce in 1969.
Collection Number: MS 408.
Box Numbers: 1 (formerly Cage Box 45).
Size and Arrangement: The collection consists of one archival record carton of material (1 cubic foot).
Conservation Note: The collection has been re-housed in acid-free folders and an acid-free box. Documents have been surface cleaned as needed and metal fasteners removed.
Preferred Citation: Allen B. Pierce Papers, Special Collections, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University of Maine.
Restrictions on Access and Use: Kept at Fogler Library's offsite storage facility. One week's notice required for retrieval.
 
Biography
 
The collection contains papers and documents of Allen B. Pierce of Orrington, Maine. Allen Pierce was born in 1821, the son of Nathaniel Pierce, Jr. and Ruth Ryder. He served as master of various ships, including the schooner Julia Ann and the brigs L.P. Snow, Walter Howes and George E. Dale. The home port for these vessels was Bangor, Maine, and they carried cargo from various ports on the East Coast to ports in Cuba, the West Indies, and Europe. The cargo included spruce boards, cedar shingles, shooks, cast iron, flour, coffee, sugar, molasses, and logwood. Allen Pierce appears to have had an association with the firm of Knight & Sons, ship brokers in Philadelphia.
 
Scope and Content Note
 
The collection contains papers reflecting Allen Pierce’s service as master on various vessels, 1850-1881. A small group of personal papers is also included.
 
The collection begins with correspondence, 1855-1884, most of it related to the shipping business. This is followed by a group of bills and receipts, both general and relating to a particular vessel; most are bills for ship stores, provisions and produce. A few are receipts for wages received by seamen aboard Pierce’s vessels. The largest portion of the collection contains maritime documents arranged in alphabetical order by type of document: account books, articles of agreement, bills of health, bills of lading, charter party documents, insurance documents, manifests of cargo, and seamen’s protection certificates. Most of the documents relate to the vessels Walter Howes and George E. Dale.
 
A small group of personal documents from Allen Pierce’s life in Orrington ends the collection. These include school essays, essays about the Riverside Lodge of the International Order of Good Templars in Orrington, deeds and notes, writs, and an account book belonging to Pierce’s wife, Charlotte.

Box List
 
Please note: All items without a folder number and designated as Oversized are kept in the flat storage area.
 
Box 1
 
Folder
 
1     Correspondence, 1855-1884, undated
2-3  General bills and receipts, 1854-1877, undated
4     Miscellaneous business and advertising cards
5     Bills and receipts, 1850’s, Brig L.P. Snow
6     Bills and receipts, 1850’s, Schooner Julia Ann
7     Bills and receipts, 1860’s, Brig Walter Howes
8-9  Bills and receipts, 1870’s, Brig George E. Dale
10   Account book, 1859-1870, Brigs Walter Howes and George E. Dale
11   Account book of labor on Brig George E. Dale, 1875
Oversized         Articles of agreement, 1857-1859, Brig L.P. Snow
Oversized         Articles of agreement, 1859-1868, Brig Walter Howes
Oversized         Articles of agreement, 1867-1880, Brig George E. Dale
12     Bills of health, 1856, 1861, 1879
13     Bills of lading, 1848-1878
14     Certificate of citizenship, 1860, for Daniel Keene
15     Charter party documents, 1853-1881
16     Clearance certificates, 1856-1879
17     Insurance documents, 1853-1881
18     Manifests of cargo, 1857-1880
19     Manifests of cargo, blank
20     Seamen’s protection certificates, 1856, 1859, 1861
21     Miscellaneous documents, 1857-1863, Brig Walter Howes
22     Instrument of declaration and protest, 1873, Brig George E. Dale
23     Declaration ... to desertion of seamen or mariners, 1881, Brig George E. Dale
24     Miscellaneous documents, 1869-1878, Brig George E. Dale
25     School papers, essays, unidentified, undated
26     Essays re International Order of Good Templars, Riverside Lodge, Orrington, Me., 1878
27     Deeds, bills of sale, 1860’s-1870’s
28     Writs against Allen B. & Arthur A. Pierce, 1880, 1881
29     Notes, 1857, 1874, 1883
30     Miscellaneous documents & notes
31     Mrs. A.B. Pierce private account [book], undated

Finding Aids for selected manuscript collections in the Special Collections Department at Fogler Library are accessible online in URSUS, in a browsable Guide to Manuscript Collections. Please contact Special Collections at spc@umit.maine.edu or (207) 581-1686 for further information.

Return to top level page

---

Special Collections Staff: spc@umit.maine.edu | Revised: 01/17/2013