Matthew Bartlett--John F. Brooks Papers
Abstract
The John F. Brooks Records total 111 volumes dated 1858 to 1915. The first 55 volumes are letterbooks, 1869-1915, 9 cashbooks follow, then 8 journals/daybooks dated 1877-1915. Following those are 8 summary journals, 6 trail balance books, 17 invoice books, 2 cargo books, and 3 miscellaneous record books. Volumes with entries prior to 1880 are primarily records of the M. Bartlett shipping business of which John Brooks was a partner. Matthew Bartlett died in May 1880,and thus for all practical purposes entries after that date detail the business activity of the Boston shipping firm known as John F. Brooks. This collection provides an intensive study into the West Africa trade of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Dates
- Creation: 1858 - 1914
Language of Materials
English Latin
Restrictions on Access
Available for use in the Manuscripts Division
Restrictions on Use
Various copying restrictions apply. Guidelines are available from the Manuscripts Division.
Biography of John F. Brooks, d. 1914
Sometime during the 1860's John F. Brooks entered into a partnership with Matthew Bartlett, a shipping agent in Boston who conducted an active trade with numerous West African ports. Mr. Bartlett died in 1880. Brooks assisted Peter Strickland, their agent in Goree, Senegal, in closing the M. Bartlett business while he created his own West African business at 92 State Street under the name John F. Brooks, which operated until his death on December 10, 1914. Records indicate that Mr. John P. Felt continued affairs at least through April, 1915.
Trading at ports like Goree, Elmina, and Freetown, Brooks imported hides, palm oil, peanuts, gum, and other products, while exporting tobacco, rum, lumber, cloth, and sundry manufactured goods from beds to sewing machines. He also traded extensively through Liverpool and Marsailles.
Extent
111 volume(s)
Genre / Form
Geographic
- Africa, West--Commerce--Massachusetts - Boston
- Boston (Mass.)--Commerce--Africa, West
- Boston (Mass.)--Commerce--England--Liverpool
- Boston (Mass.)--Commerce--France--Marseille
- Liverpool (England)--Commerce--Massachusetts--Boston
- Marseille (France)--Commerce--Massachusetts--Boston
Occupation
Topical
- Title
- Matthew Bartlett--John F. Brooks Papers (Coll. 157)
- Subtitle
- An Inventory of the Collection at the G.W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Manuscripts Repository
G. W. Blunt White Library
Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc.
112 Greenmanville Avenue
Mystic CT 06355 United States
860.572.5367
collections@mysticseaport.org