PEM has acquired from Raab a recently discovered archive documenting one of Salem’s great merchant families at the turn of the 19th century
Occasionally, when a historical document Raab has offered for sale is purchased by or donated to an institution, where it might be available for research and study, particularly one that has never received scholarly attention, we share that news in collaboration with the acquiring institution. This is perhaps all the more important when it concerns a large archive of material where the promotion of accessibility would aid in its study, and this is the case with an archive Raab acquired from the heirs of Benjamin Crowninshield and sold to the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) this month. A better home for this remarkable collection, including hundreds of documents that shed light on the prominent Crowninshield family of sea captains, merchants, and privateers, would be hard to imagine. The roots of the PEM date to the 1799 founding of the East India Marine Society, an organization of Salem ship captains, and PEM holds an unparalleled collection of material related to the Crowninshield family.
Most of the newly acquired documents were added to PEM’s “Crowninshield Family Papers 1697-1924” collection, said Dan Lipcan, the Ann C. Pingree Director of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum.
The Crowninshield family’s importance extended from shipping to political and military leadership. During the War of 1812, Benjamin and his brother George Jr. offered three vessels to the U.S. government for service as privateers. Despite having relatively little political experience, Benjamin Crowninshield (1772-1851) ascended to President James Madison’s Cabinet in 1815 as Secretary of Navy and remained in that post when James Monroe succeeded Madison as President in 1817.
To hear more about the Crowninshield discovery, check out the “Inspired by History” podcast episode 7: The Secrets of An Early American Business Empire.
