1800s New Jersey Shipping Agent and Captain’s Diary and Ledger Naming Vessels, Locals and Global Ports

On offer is a remarkable artifact from the great days of sail and maritime enterprise in 19th century America.

The first page of the manuscript bears the name "OHIO" and "American Line". The author notes that this manuscript includes “Foreign List of Corespondents [sic]…and List of Vessels Arriving at Woodbury NJ, 1866, 7, 8, 9, 70…and Diary for 1867, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74,75".

There is a name on the cover page - J. Standley Twells. The manuscript  contains a wide variety of information and suggests that Twells may have been a shipping agent, responsible for procuring supplies or cargo for various ships that came to the harbor of Woodbury, New Jersey. Certainly, at some point, Twells became a ship Captain himself. On page 31, there is a rough diagram of a 3-masted barque showing its exterior dimensions.

Throughout the manuscript, Twells records various vessels that he has business with. These include the SS Pennsylvania and the SS Ohio. These were two of the four Pennsylvania class passenger/cargo ships built for the American Steamship Company. They were the largest iron ships ever constructed in the United States at that time.

An excerpt from the manuscript follows:

“Edward S Bradway sailed for Europe from Phila Thursday March…April 1, 1875…Steamship "Pennsylvania", Capt Harris at 8:30 A.M.” [p32]

There are a number of pages that refer to "Sea Side Park" which the context suggests is a ship. The pages record time that he spent on her.

Other pages bear the names of ports in the Americas, Europe and in China. followed by the names of individuals and companies. These may be people with whom he had a trade relationship.

For example, page 184 Notes the names of six ships and Twells’ position as Captain as seen in this excerpt:

“The Sloops Washington, The "Aurora Borealis, The " Ocean Wave, The " Neptune, The Schr Sea Gull, The Yacht Sea Weed…Captain J. Standley Twells…”

Many other pages contain personal notes, lists of friends and activities in which Twells participated.

Informal research on J. Standley Twells has shown that Twells family name was present in the Woodbury, New Jersey area at the time of this manuscript’s writing. One J. Stanley Twells is listed as a Member of the Association of [those] Owning and Controlling the Training School of the New Jersey Home for the Education and Care of Feeble-Minded Children in 1889. Our informal research is unable to determine whether this is the same person or a relative.

For a historian, this Record Book offers an excellent insight into the nature of the vibrant seaborne trade from a small community on the United States eastern seaboard as well as the extensive international network to which he was connected. This also provides clues as to the locations of various ships at different times. 

For a genealogist, this offers a large cache of family names that can help fill in many gaps in the webs of family relationships.

This record book measures 13.5 inches by 8 inches. It contains 188 pages and is approximately 70% complete. The covers are missing from this book. The binding is broken and the signatures, while intact, are separated out. Many of the pages are loose. The book definitely shows age and use over the past century and a half. The handwriting is fairly legible.