Charles D. Prescott (1848-1927) Papers

CHARLES D. PRESCOTT (1848-1927) PAPERS, 1880-1921, 1930, 1951

Series List

Scope and Content Note

The Charles D. Prescott papers document the activities of this Maine ship captain and his family. It has been organized into two series.

Subseries A. Shipping Papers contains letters, account books, and logbooks for various ships that Prescott sailed on. Of interest is the 1882 letter from Enoch Soule to Captain Prescott, giving him permission to take his wife on voyages as he had "never had one disposed to make trouble yet." Box 3 contains a scrapbook made by Prescott's son, Worrall, which includes annotated original manuscript material such as ships' papers, telegrams, letters, bills and receipts, transcripts of letters, a birth certificate, Hong Kong business cards, a notebook created while Prescott was captain of the S. S. El Oriente, and news clippings. It appears that the scrapbook was created in 1950-1951. The series also includes an empty card case that once belonged to Prescott.

Subseries B. Family Papers includes letters, a photograph, and a copy of the book A Day in a Colonial Home written by Della R. Prescott.

Biographical Sketches

Charles Dumont Prescott was born in Woolwich, Maine, on October 18, 1848, the son of Joseph and Rebecca (Gray) Prescott. He became captain of the ships Tam O'Shanter, Paramita, and El Oriente, and the S. S. Siglo. In 1903, while captain of the El Dorado, he rescued a young Cuban boy who was found floating in a small dugout off the coast of Georgia.

In 1882 he married Mary Jane Reed (1855-1943) and they had five children: Della Reed (1884-1943); Corinna Carlton (1886-1985); Samuel R. (born 1888); Charles E. (1892-1893); and Worrall Dumont (1900-1976). Della sailed with Captain and Mrs. Dumont on the Tam O'Shanter on a voyage from San Francisco to Antwerp. She was born in Oakland, California, at the home of relatives of Mrs. Prescott. Corinna was born on board the Paramita in 1886.

Prescott died in South Gardiner, Maine, on December 23, 1927.

Enoch D. Soule built and owned the ships Tam O'Shanter and the Paramita. He moved from Freeport, Maine, to Newton, Massachusetts, in 1879 and died in 1894.

Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in Philcat. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research use.

Administrative Information

Copyright

Requests for permission to publish material from the collection must be submitted in writing to the Manuscript Librarian in the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum.

Preferred Citation

Charles D. Prescott (1848-1927) Papers, MH 189, Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.

Provenance

This material was donated by Worrall D. Prescott on March 27, 1956, April 3, 1956, March 24, 1961, and August 28, 1967 (acc #13,779, 13,805, 13,820, and 15,416).

Processing Information

Collection processed by Tamara Gaydos, October 2016.

Related Material

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Prescott, Worrall Dumont. A Genealogical Record concerning Captain Samuel Reed and Mary Winship Reed and All Their Descendants to January 1, 1953. Captain Samuel Reed and Mary Winship Were Married, November 30, 1783, Woolwich, Maine. New York?: W. D. Prescott, 1953.

Tam O'Shanter (Ship) Logbook, 1883, Log 2019

El Oriente (Ship) Logbook, 1910-1912, Log 1826

El Oriente (Ship) Logbook, 1914-1916, Log 1827

El Oriente (Ship) Logbook, 1916-1917, Log 1828