Background on John S. Chandler
Born in Provincetown, Mass., on Mar. 9, 1836, John Smalley Chandler went to sea in his early teens and was working as a whaleman by 1860. He and his brother George, a housepainter, boarded in the house of the seaman, Nathan Dunham. After marrying Ruth Hunks Rider in December 1861, he relocated to Orrington, Maine.
During the 1860s, Chandler became a ship's captain, undertaking voyages to Barbados and St. Vincent in 1867 and 1868, however in 1874, he moved to Bucksport, Maine, and entered into an agreement to provide care for his wife's aging parents, Nathaniel and Nancy Rider, in exchange for deeds to the family land. Although he did not abandon the sea, Chandler ran a farm for many years. He died in Bucksport on Mar. 23, 1916, with Ruth following two years later.
Scope of collection
Haphazard in organization, the Chandler ledger documents a life at sea in the latter nineteenth century, leavened with hints of life ashore. The first entry in the ledger is a record of hauling loads of hay in 1896, while the next twenty pages contain accounts for crewmembers on voyages to Barbados and other places in 1867-1868 and 1876-1877. Following this are 10 pages containing accounts for labor, supplies and merchandise, headed "Bucksport" and dating from 1878 to 1882, and then thirty pages of pasted-in bills for taxes, clothes, coal, boots and other commodities, dating from 1853 to 1866, all from Provincetown, Mass. The last 75 pages of the book are a farm journal covering Chandler's work in Bucksport from 1899 to 1914, with notations about livestock, selling apples, work performed and general mention of the elder Chandler's comings and goings. The wide range of Chandler's economic activities -- he sold apples, cream, and livestock; performed labor or carted goods for his neighbors; and he leased parts of his farm -- are documented on a regular basis, as well as personal items such as travels and visits, weather, and new purchases.
Administrative information
Search terms
Subjects
- Bucksport (Me.)--Economic conditions--Sources.
- Bucksport (Me.)--Social life and customs--Sources.
- Chandler, John, b. 1836.
- Farmers--Maine--Bucksport--History--Sources.
- Merchant mariners--Massachusetts--History--19th century--Sources.
- Provincetown (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th century--Sources.
- Ship captains--Massachusetts--History--Sources.
- Voyages and travels--History--19th century--Sources.
Contributors
- Chandler, John S. [main entry]
Link to similar SCUA collections
