Whaling Logs of the Ships Nimrod and Iris, 1835-1841

Whaling logs of the ships Nimrod and Iris, consist of three volumes. Volume I (Nimrod) is incomplete account kept aboard the Ship Nimrod, on a voyage from Sag Harbor to the South Atlantic 14 July 1835 to ?; (17 March 1836 is last entry, near South Atlantic Ocean island of Saint Helena); pages follow...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hedges, Jeremiah M.
Language:unknown
Published: 1835
Subjects:
Online Access:http://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15281coll2/id/12799
Description
Summary:Whaling logs of the ships Nimrod and Iris, consist of three volumes. Volume I (Nimrod) is incomplete account kept aboard the Ship Nimrod, on a voyage from Sag Harbor to the South Atlantic 14 July 1835 to ?; (17 March 1836 is last entry, near South Atlantic Ocean island of Saint Helena); pages following contain algebra problems, a transcription of a sermon by the Rev. Beriah Green, professor of biblical literature in the Western Reserve College, Hudson Ohio, "Christian Obligation," and an untitled poem, first passage "come my landlord, fill us a quart." Journal picks up again, possibly by different author, with "a table showing number of times we made our sails on board Ship Nimrod December 24, 1835, lists March 17, 1835; last page contains entry "September 6, 1835 the Ship Nimrod was 3399 miles off Montauk Point."; final entry is "list of debts due to me J.M. Hedges on board the Ship Nimrod January 20 1836," with four names listed. ); owned by Charles T. of Sag Harbor, commanded by Captain Erastus Barns. Keeper of account appears to be Jeremiah M. Hedges (by handwriting comparison in another LIC item, "Bonnycastle's Algebra). Journal keeper Hedges complains early of his ailments, making small comments in the "remarks on board" section of the journal; at one point he's promised by Capt. Barns he'll be sent home when they get to the "western islands" (in South Atlantic) if he "would not say any more of it;" later, Capt. Barns himself would become very ill, mentally, to a point of jumping off the ship, being restrained by crew in a strait jacket, put on Saint Helena Island, etc., until voyage home. These two illnesses and ensuing chaos may account for journal's incompleteness. Volume II is an unnamed, incomplete account kept aboard an unnamed whaling ship (no cover, just segment of journal), on a voyage from unknown port to the South Atlantic; dates covered are 9 September 1835 to 7 December 1835; handwriting is different than Jeremiah M. Hedges, and includes at least two different penmen. No coordinates given in journal, but on 27 October 1835, ship arrives at Tristan Da Cunha Islands. Throughout journal, names of ships sighted and rendezvoused with, along with their respective ports, are mentioned. Volume III is an unnamed ledger with three sections: section 1 is "Ledger A or No. 1," January 1, 1830, 10 pages; starts with alphabetical index of names and items sold, presumably outfitting whaling ships; section 2 is titled "Alegbra," containing 11 pages of rules and examples, no date (possibly notebook of Jeremiah M. Hedges); section 3 is "Journal of a Whaling Voyage from New London to the Brazil Banks in the Bark Iris, Capt. Robert L. Douglass, 1841," 22 pages (pencilled in note at end: "read by Frank M. Miller, 1932;" presumably a lecture at the EHL, information/transcript not found); 6 November 1841 - 9 May 1844 (last entry 12 July 1842); page preceding first journal entries titled "List of Names of the Crew of the Barque Iris of New London, Capt. Robert L. Douglas, Master." Lists entire crew of 25. (On a voyage in the Iris, out of New London, Jeremiah M. Hedges was lost at sea, May 1844). Volume IV is another section of a mathematics notebook; on back cover states "property of Hiram B. Hedges." No date.