Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm79035410
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Nathaniel Brown Palmer and his brother, Alexander Smith Palmer, sea captains and merchants of Stonington, Connecticut, and other members of the Palmer family, together with the papers of Richard Fanning Loper, sea captain, shipbuilder, merchant, and inventor of Stonington, Connecticut, and Philadelphia, were deposited in the Library of Congress in several installments between 1927 and 1937 by Elizabeth Dixon (Mrs. Richard Fanning) Loper, Alexander Palmer Loper, and other members of the Loper family. These deposits were later converted to gifts and purchases. Additional papers were given to the Library by Alexander P. Loper in 1938-1939, and by Harriet B. Brown, Malcolm F. Brown, and Mark Palmer between 1992 and 2000.
Part I of the Palmer-Loper Papers was arranged and described in 1983 by Audrey Walker. Material received between 1992 and 1994 was processed as Part II in 1995 by Michael Spangler and Lisa Madison. Material received between 1996 and 2000 was organized as an addition to Part II in 2003 by Michael Spangler.
A description of the Palmer-Loper Family Papers appears in
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Some pamphlets and books have been transferred to the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. One nautical chart has been transferred to the Geography and Map Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Palmer-Loper Family Papers.
Copyrights possessed by Harriet B. Brown and Malcolm F. Brown in the papers of the Palmer-Loper Family have been dedicated to the public. The status of other copyrights in the unpublished writings in the papers of the Palmer-Loper Family is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of the Palmer-Loper family are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Microfilm editions of part of these papers are available on eleven reels. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Roman numeral designating the Part followed by a colon and container or reel number, Palmer-Loper Family Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Part I of the papers of the Palmer-Loper Family covers the years 1767 to 1930, with the bulk of the papers falling within the years 1840-1880. The collection reflects the close association between the Palmer and Loper families brought about by shared sailing and mercantile interests and the marriage of Alexander Smith Palmer's daughter, Elizabeth, to Richard Fanning Loper's son, Richard, in 1873. The papers include correspondence, logs and journals, financial and business records, miscellany, and printed matter.
The most prominent figure in Part I of the collection is Nathaniel Brown Palmer
(1799-1877), a sea captain known for his discovery of the Antarctic archipelago and
peninsula bearing his name. The Miscellany series contains several descriptions of his discoveries, including
the version Palmer related to Frederick T. Bush, former United States consul in China,
and an extract from the logbook of the
The papers of the younger brother, Alexander Smith Palmer (1806-1894), also a sea captain, who had sailed in his earlier years with Nathaniel and who later commanded packet ships in the Liverpool trade and shared commands of clippers in the China trade with his brothers, Nathaniel and Theodore, relate in part to his career at sea. However, most of Alexander's papers are concerned with his life after he gave up the sea and center on his family and on financial investments in shipping, particularly his ownership of various vessels. Little material in the collection pertains to his involvement in Connecticut politics.
Papers of Richard Fanning Loper (1800-1880) form the largest segment of Part I of the
collection. Loper, who had sailed as second mate on the
Early correspondence in the General Correspondence series in the collection belongs to members of the
Palmer family and includes both family and business letters. Family correspondence,
mainly between Nathaniel, Alexander, and Theodore Dwight Palmer, with some letters from
in-laws, contains descriptive details of voyages as well as family news. Business
letters follow the careers of Alexander and Nathaniel Palmer from their sealing and
whaling expeditions to the South Shetland Islands in 1822 to their voyages to China in
the 1840s. Several letters contain comments on the clipper ship
Richard F. Loper's correspondence in Part I, which becomes predominant around 1874, focuses on his business interests in the years subsequent to his life at sea. A few letters concern his role in chartering vessels during the Civil War, but most relate to his shipbuilding activities and to the operation of his company, Loper and Dorman.
The latter part of the General Correspondence series contains numerous letters from the children of Alexander S. Palmer, particularly Nathaniel (“Natty”) Brown Palmer II (1840-1877) and Louis Lambert Palmer (1845-1887). Letters after 1880 belong almost exclusively to Louis L. Palmer and Richard Fanning Loper, Jr. (1850-1914). Other correspondents in Part I include Frederick T. Bush, John Schuyler Crosby, Edmund Fanning, Elizabeth (“Libby”) Dixon Palmer Loper, Benjamin Pendleton, Francis Hopkinson Smith, Charles T. Stanton, Thomas P. Stanton, and the business firms of A. A. Low & Brothers, Baldwin & Spooner, G. Woodhull & Minturns, Lawrence Giles Co., and Russell & Co.
Financial and business
records constitute the largest series in Part I. Within this series, the group
of ships' papers relating mainly to the vessels of the Palmer brothers is both
noteworthy and voluminous. It includes letters of instruction, registration and
ownership records, journals, logbooks and abstracts of logbooks, financial records,
passenger lists, and miscellaneous nautical calculations. Among the more significant
logbooks are those of the
Part II of the papers of the Palmer-Loper Family spans the years 1667-1986 with the bulk of the material concentrated between 1790 and 1930. The material supplements Part I of the collection, providing expanded insight into the personal and business affairs of two prominent New England maritime families. The papers include correspondence, subject files, financial and legal documents, genealogical notes, photographs, diaries, and printed matter.
The major series in Part II is the Correspondence file, which contains letters exchanged principally between family members over several generations. The correspondence generally pertains to family news but often includes discussions of business affairs, information on sailing vessels, and observations on local and national events. Prominent family correspondents include Nathaniel Brown Palmer, his brother, Alexander Smith Palmer, and Richard Fanning Loper. The letters of Nathaniel B. Palmer relate mainly to business and shipping matters. Letters between Alexander S. Palmer and his wife, Priscilla Dixon Palmer, daughter of Rhode Island Senator Nathan Fellows Dixon, and their children are numerous including an exchange of correspondence in early 1861 between Alexander Smith Palmer and his son Nathaniel ("Natty") B. Palmer II, who was employed in a mercantile house in New Orleans. As the secession crisis intensified and hostilities appeared imminent, Nathaniel Palmer described the heightened tensions in the city and efforts to recruit him for its defense. Although there is little material pertaining to Richard F. Loper, there are numerous letters relating to the family of his son Richard F. Loper, Jr. (1850-1914), and his wife, Elizabeth ("Libby") Dixon Palmer Loper.
Correspondence of other family members includes letters of Louis Lambert Palmer to his father Alexander S. Palmer pertaining to his attendance at preparatory school and Yale University and to his business activities and law practice in Chicago. William H. Loper, a career sergeant in the army engineers, wrote several letters describing his activities in Cuba during the Spanish-American War and experiences during two tours of duty in the Philippine Islands. The latter letters contain information on the forces of Emilio Aguinaldo and guerilla warfare in the Philippines at the turn of the century.
Also included are letters written primarily during the 1830s by naval officer Francis H. Gregory to Nathaniel B. and Eliza Palmer. Gregory, whose long naval career culminated in the rank of rear admiral, met the Palmers in 1832 at Callao, Peru, shortly after their ship had been commandeered and released by convicts escaping Chile's Juan Fernández Islands. Letters of Joseph W. Stanton, brother-in-law of Nathaniel B. and Alexander S. Palmer and plantation owner and merchant in New Orleans with close ties to the Connecticut maritime families, express Stanton's business and political concerns. In a letter dated November 9, 1864, to Nathaniel B. Palmer II , Stanton stated his disappointment at Lincoln's reelection, but then goes on to assert that "New England was the cause of this war and she has controuled [sic] its course and management.... But it will end in our [New England] loosing our monopoly in navigation and the commerce connected with it." He then reminded Palmer that his father, Alexander S. Palmer, held the same views. Other correspondents include Nathan Fellows Dixon (1812-1881), Nathan Fellows Dixon (1847-1897), Edmund Fanning, William Grant, Alexander Smith Palmer, Jr. (1843-1891), Theodore Dwight Palmer, and John Randolph Spears, the biographer of the elder Nathaniel Brown Palmer.
The Subject File in Part II
contains printed matter, notes, correspondence, and other material relating to such
topics as Antarctica, Stonington, Connecticut, and yachting. Noteworthy items include a
census of Long Point, Stonington, conducted in 1776, and several receipts and other
documents relating to the yacht
Financial and legal records constitute the Miscellany series in Part II. Financial material includes balance sheets, receipts, and canceled checks; deeds, wills, patents, and other items comprise the legal records. Other notable items include brief diaries of journeys to New York and New Orleans by Priscilla Dixon Palmer, late eighteenth century sermon notes by Ira Hart, photographs and prints, and printed matter, including clippings pertaining to the Palmers and Lopers.
The Addition series includes correspondence, diaries, account books, deeds, financial records, and printed matter. Personal and business letters received by family members comprise the bulk of the correspondence. An exception is a draft letter apparently penned by Elizabeth Dixon Palmer Loper describing in detail the fatal voyage to China in 1877 of her uncle Nathaniel B. Palmer with her brother Nathaniel (“Natty”) B. Palmer II, a nephew of the elder Palmer and a victim of tuberculosis. Undertaken as a remedy, the journey so weakened Natty that he died at sea on May 16 on the return trip. Exhausted emotionally and physically, Nathaniel B. Palmer died also on June 21, only days after he returned with Natty's body to San Francisco. A letter from Robert Bennet Forbes, China merchant and shipowner, to Richard F. Loper in 1862 discussed supplying ships outfitted with Loper's patented propeller to the United States Navy. Other correspondents include Frederick Albert Cook, Francis H. Gregory, and William Herbert Hobbs. Elizabeth Dixon Palmer Loper's diary records her journeys with other family members through France and Italy in 1871-1872 and includes descriptions of major cities and attractions. Nathaniel (“Natty”) B. Palmer's journal from early 1861 documents his brief employment in New Orleans and describes the mounting war fever there. On his return trip to Stonington in May, he noted while passing through the upper South that “many planters are plowing up the cotton which is about two inches high, and putting in corn and wheat in preparation for the war.” Deeds and other legal and financial records further document family land transactions and fiscal matters in Stonington.
The collection is arranged in two parts and nine series:
Part I:
Part II:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm79035410
Available on microfilm. Shelf no. 18,965
Diary of Nathaniel Brown Palmer II (1840-1877); financial notes and accounts are included at the end of the diary.
Letters sent and received.
Arranged chronologically.
Accounts, bank books, bills and receipts, canceled checks and check stubs, insurance and legal records, logs, journals, and other ships' papers.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material, by subject therein, and chronologically within folders.
Volume I of the brig
Biographical data, certificates, clippings, design drawings, notes, and school papers.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and subject and chronologically therein.
Letters sent and received.
Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent and chronologically therein. Files of frequent correspondents are subdivided further by letters sent and received.
Printed matter, writings, notes, correspondence, financial records, and other material.
Arranged alphabetically by topic and chronologically therein.
Autograph book, diaries, drawings, financial and legal records, photographs, postcards, printed matter, school papers, and sermon notes.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and chronologically thereunder.
Correspondence, diaries, deeds, bills, receipts, account books, financial records, photographs, maps, genealogical notes, surveys, newspaper clippings, and printed matter.
Arranged alphabetically by name of person, type of material, or subject and chronologically thereunder.
Logbooks, genealogical charts, maps, certificates, and other oversize material.
Arranged and described according to the series, containers, and folders from which the items were removed.
Logbooks available on microfilm shelf nos. 18,965 and 18,965.1.