1631-1859
Guide to the Collection
Representative digitized documents from this collection:
Restrictions on Access
Use of portions of this collection is restricted. Select items are available as color digital facsimiles (see links below). Black and white microfilm of select items is also available for use in the library.
Abstract
This collection consists of the personal, legal, and business papers of Greenough family members and related families, mostly in Boston, Mass., in shipping, business, and the law. Primarily the papers of merchant Thomas (1710-1785), lawyer and merchant David S. (1752-1826), lawyer David S. (1787-1830), and David S. Greenough (1814-1877). Related families include the Clarke, Doane, Erving, Holmes, Shrimpton, Stevens, Stoddard, and Yeamans families.
Biographical Sketches
Greenough Family
Thomas Greenough (1710-1785), son of John and Elizabeth Greenough, and brother of William and John, married Martha Clarke in 1734, daughter of William and Mary (Bronsdon) Clarke. The couple had the following children: Sarah (1735-1823, m. in 1757 Alexander Edwards), Martha (b. 1736, m. in 1767 Capt. John Stone), Thomas, Jr. (1738-1775), William (b. 1740), John (1742-1798), William (b. 1743), Elizabeth (1745-1825, m. in 1777 Eleazer Brooks), Mary (1746-1792, m. in 1767 John Savage), and Jerusha (1747-1782, m. in 1768 Andrew Lepear). After Martha's death in 1749, Thomas Greenough married (2nd) Sarah Stoddard in 1750, daughter of David and Elizabeth (Richardson) Shrimpton Stoddard. As husband of Sarah Stoddard, Thomas Greenough inherited part of the Antigua plantation and Noddles Island. Their children were: David Stoddard Greenough (David S. Greenough I, 1752-1826), William (1756-1831), Yeamans and Newman (twins, b. 1758), and Chauncey (1760-1778). Thomas was a maker of navigational and surveying instruments and became deacon of Boston's New Brick Church in 1755. He was also interested in real estate, owning and selling several properties. He was active in city affairs, serving as clerk of the markets, constable, and selectman. A member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, he became captain of the 4th Company, 2nd Massachusetts Regiment in the Cape Breton expedition, and was commissioned 9 Feb. 1744. In 1747, he became third sergeant. An active Boston patriot, he worked to relieve the hardships of those whose income was minimized due to the Revolution. He was also a member of the Revolutionary Committee of Correspondence, which met in the Joshua Loring house, a property which was seized from the commodore by the patriots and later became the possession of his son David Stoddard Greenough (David S. Greenough I).
John Greenough (1742-1781), son of Thomas and Martha (Clarke) Greenough, was an importer, justice of the peace, and representative to the General Court. He married Mehitable Dillingham (1747-1798) in 1766. Their son was David Greenough (1774-1836), a builder and real estate dealer in Boston.
David Stoddard Greenough (David S. Greenough I, 1752-1826), lawyer and merchant, was the son of Thomas and Sarah (Stoddard) Greenough. In 1784, he married Anne Doane (1744-1802), daughter of John and June (Collier) Doane, widow of Elisha Doane, and mother of John Doane. After the Revolution, they moved to the former Loring house in Jamaica Plain (Roxbury), Mass. Their only child was David Stoddard Greenough, Jr. (David S. Greenough II, 1787-1830). An ardent patriot, David S. Greenough I was a member of the "Sons of Liberty" and on the Committee of Public Safety under George Washington. He served the state of Massachusetts as a justice of the peace in both Norfolk and Suffolk counties. From his mother Sarah (Stoddard), he inherited one-sixth of Noddles Island. With his brother William, he exchanged a share of a Chelsea farm for another two-sixths of Noddles Island, thus increasing his share of the island to one-half.
David Stoddard Greenough, Jr. (David S. Greenough II) (1787-1830) was the son of David S. Greenough I and Anne (Doane). A member of the Harvard College class of 1805, he practiced law, served as a justice of the peace in Massachusetts, and was lieutenant colonel of the Boston Independent Cadets. In 1813, he married Maria Foster Doane (1793-1843), daughter of Elisha and Jane (Cutler) Doane of Wellfleet and Cohasset. They resided in Jamaica Plain (Roxbury) and had five children: David Stoddard (David S. Greenough III, 1814-1877), John (d. 1846), Anne, James, and Jane (d. 1847). David S. Greenough II was the heir of one-half of Noddles Island. Upon his death, the land was sold to William Hyslop Sumner, who later sold it to the East Boston Co.
David Stoddard Greenough III (1814-1877), a Boston lawyer and avid sportsman, was the son of David S. Greenough II and Maria Foster (Doane). He was graduated from Harvard College in 1833 and Harvard Law School in 1836. In 1843, he married Anna Parkman (1821-1906), daughter of John and Sarah (Rand) Parkman. Their son was David Stoddard Greenough IV (1844-1924), a businessman and real estate developer.
Erving Family
John Erving (1690-1787), a native of Scotland, arrived in Boston around 1706 and rose to be a wealthy merchant. In 1720, he married Abigail Phillips, member of a prominent Welsh family. Their children were: John, George, James, William, Elizabeth (m. James Bowdoin, governor of Massachusetts), Mary (m. Col. Scott), Anne (m. Duncan Stewart), and Sarah (m. Col. Waldo).
Colonel John Erving (1728-1816), Boston merchant, was the son of John and Abigail (Phillips) Erving. A 1747 graduate of Harvard College, he married in 1754 Maria Catherina Shirley, daughter of Gov. William and Frances (Baker) Shirley. Their sons were Shirley and John. For a while an active Whig, he served as a justice of the peace (1756) and in 1768 served with John Hancock on a committee to enforce the pre-Revolutionary embargo. Later, however, he and his brother George were appointed to the "Mandamus Council," a Boston council charged with upholding the authority of the British monarch. He moved to Halifax and later to England. With his brother George, he was proscribed by an act of 1778 and his property confiscated. He died in England.
George Erving (1738-1806), Boston merchant, was the second son of John and Abigail (Phillips) Erving. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1757, and in 1768 he married Lucy Winslow (d. 1770), daughter of Isaac and Lucy (Waldo) Winslow. Their only son was George William Erving (1769-1850), later a prominent American diplomat. After the death of his first wife Lucy, he married in 1775 Mary (Polly) McIntosh. Once an active Whig, he later broke with his party because he was opposed to the idea of secession from England. He moved to England, then back to Froyle, New Hampshire, and again returned to England, where he died.
Major William Erving (1734-1791), son of John and Abigail (Phillips) Erving, was graduated from Harvard College with the class of 1753. He was married for a short time to Catherine ----- and fathered a son named William, both of whom must have died very early. For many years, he was a major in the British Army, serving as a military engineer. He participated in the second siege of Louisburg, was an aide-de-camp to General Wolfe at the siege of Quebec, and was at the capture of Havana in 1762. In the years preceding the Revolution, he resigned from the army and repatriated himself. Much of his correspondence (particularly that addressed to his brother George) appears in this collection. David S. Greenough I was the executor of his will.
Shrimpton Family
Samuel Shrimpton (1643-1698) served as a lieutenant colonel in the militia and on the Governor's Council under Gov. Andros and King James II. He married Elizabeth (Roberts) Breedon (d. 1713), daughter of Capt. Nicholas and Elizabeth Roberts. Their son was Samuel Shrimpton, Jr. (1673-1703). Col. Shrimpton and his wife were in possession of several properties, including Noddles Island in Boston Harbor. Upon the death of Col. Shrimpton, his widow was married to widower Simeon Stoddard (1650-1730).
Samuel Shrimpton, Jr. (1673-1703), son of Col. Samuel and Elizabeth (Roberts) Breedon Shrimpton, was a Boston merchant who married in 1696 Elizabeth Richardson (1680-1757). Their only child was Elizabeth Shrimpton (1702-1721). She married in 1720 John Yeamans (d. 1743), London merchant and lieutenant-governor of Antigua. Upon the death of her grandmother Elizabeth R. B. S. Stoddard in 1713, she inherited Noddles Island in Boston Harbor. The couple's only son was Shute Shrimpton Yeamans (1721-1769).
Yeamans Family
John Yeamans (d. 1743), London merchant and lieutenant governor of Antigua, married in 1720 Elizabeth Shrimpton (1702-1721). Their only son was Shute Shrimpton Yeamans (1721-1769).
Shute Shrimpton Yeamans (1721-1769), London merchant, was the son of John and Elizabeth (Shrimpton) Yeamans. From his mother, he inherited Noddles Island in Boston Harbor, and from his father, he inherited the Antigua plantation. Upon his death, both of these inheritances were passed on to his step-aunts, Mary (Stoddard) Chauncy (wife of Charles Chauncy), Sarah (Stoddard) Greenough (wife of Thomas Greenough), and Mehitable (Stoddard) Hyslop (wife of William Hyslop).
Stoddard Family
David Stoddard (1685-1723), son of Mary (d. 1708) and Simeon Stoddard (1650-1730), was a London and Boston merchant and a Shrimpton family agent at Boston. He married Elizabeth (Richardson) Shrimpton (1680-1757) in 1713, and their children were Mary, Sarah, and Mehitable.
Anthony Stoddard (1678-1748), son of Mary (d. 1708) and Simeon Stoddard (1650-1730), married Martha Belcher in 1705. Their children were Simeon (1707-1776), Anthony (1728-1776), and Martha (1720-1785). Martha Stoddard married (1st) John Fitch; (2nd) Ebenezer Holmes, an executor of the estate of Anthony Stoddard; and (3rd) Boston merchant John Stevens (b. 1715). The Stevenses owned multiple properties, including one in Ashford, Conn.
Sources
For more information on the genealogy of the Greenough family, see:
Hamilton Perkins Greenough. Some Descendants of Captain William Greenough of Boston, Massachusetts (Santa Barbara, Calif., 1969).
For further information or materials on the Shrimpton, Stoddard, or Stevens families, see the MHS unpublished guide to the Shrimpton family papers. A more extensive history of the Erving family exists in the Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, Second Series, Vol. V, pp. 4-33.
Collection Description
The David S. Greenough papers consist primarily of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century personal, legal, and business papers of the Greenough family and related families. The collection, the bulk of which dates between 1744 and 1830, spans the lives of five generations of Greenough family members engaged in shipping, business, and the law. Residents of Boston and Jamaica Plain (Roxbury), Massachusetts, the Greenoughs maintained relationships with many prominent Boston families through their legal offices and their marriages. A number of other families, including the Shrimpton, Stoddard, Doane, Holmes, Erving, Stevens, and Yeamans families, are heavily represented in their various connections as relatives, joint-heirs, and/or business associates.
The collection includes accounts, bills (for schooling, purchases, taxes), receipts, correspondence, surveyor's maps, inventories, wills, certificates, insurance policies, deeds, estate papers, bills of lading, and other miscellaneous items. The papers document the family concerns, business activities, and property transactions of the Greenoughs and related families. In particular, the collection reflects the lives of: Thomas Greenough (1710-1785), merchant; his son David Stoddard Greenough (David S. Greenough I, 1752-1826), lawyer and merchant; his grandson David Stoddard Greenough, Jr. (David S. Greenough II, 1787-1830), lawyer; and his great-grandson David Stoddard Greenough (David S. Greenough III, 1814-1877), lawyer. The life spans of David S. Greenough I and David S. Greenough II greatly overlapped, often making it difficult to distinguish between their papers.
Box 1 contains all of the undated material that is not in Oversize, which includes, among other things, some William Erving letter copies, a collection of recipes, and some anonymous poetry. Among the early papers (boxes 1-4) are items relating to the ownership, sale, and maintenance of Noddles Island in Boston Harbor, a property which was passed down through the Shrimpton, Yeamans, Stoddard, and Greenough families. Box 2 includes some papers of David Stoddard and Anthony Stoddard and his Lincolnshire Co., and boxes 4-6 contain papers of Boston merchant Thomas Greenough.
Correspondence among members of the Ebenezer Holmes family is contained in box 5. Papers of the 1760s and 1770s (boxes 6 and 7) include materials related to the properties of John and Martha (Stoddard) Stevens of Ashford, Conn. Box 7 (and box 10) hold business and estate papers of Elisha Doane, the first husband of Anne Doane, who was later married to David S. Greenough I. Boxes 7-14 (spanning the 1770s and 1780s) include much correspondence between Martha (Stoddard) Stevens and her advisor Ebenezer Byles concerning her estate and sales of her various properties.
Correspondence among Erving family members and letter copies of William Erving are in boxes 10-13 and 15-16. The majority of the items relating to the management, conditions, business, and progress of the Antigua plantation owned by members of the Greenough family are scattered through boxes 11-26. Letters between David S. Greenough I and his agents in Antigua are frequent. Among these agents are Samuel Eliot, Robert Dodd, and Samuel Athill.
Box 19 includes several letters to Massachusetts Governor Increase Sumner. Box 23 contains papers related to the Higginson family and the Seth Wells estate. Box 24 holds correspondence between the Greenoughs and the Gordon, Savage, and Doane families; materials concerning Noddles Island; and papers of the Artemis Winchester estate (1815-1819), of which David S. Greenough I was an executor. In April 1818, David S. Greenough I (?) sold his share of the Antigua plantation to Charles Robertson, and this is documented in box 26. Boxes 27-30 include personal and business correspondence between David S. Greenough I and David S. Greenough II and John Morland, who was residing in Havana, and (in box 30 only) correspondence of David S. Greenough III.
Box 31 holds the estate papers of various Greenoughs and William D. Sohier, who was the executor of David S. Greenough II's estate. Also in this box are the papers of David S. Greenough II's children, chiefly those of John Greenough, merchant.
Boxes 32 and 33 contain volumes of the Antigua plantation accounts for the years 1775-1818 and are available on microfilm. The remainder of the volumes in boxes are arranged chronologically, spanning the years 1702-1834. Box 36 holds a series of 11 volumes (1787-1826) probably kept by David S. Greenough I and labeled "Family Expenses." Box 37 contains a series of seven farm diaries kept by David S. Greenough I (and David S. Greenough II) at their D. S. Greenough farm in Jamaica Plain (Roxbury). Volumes 90-92 are on the shelf and boxed individually. Volume 93 is in Oversize box 3.
Acquisition Information
A substantial portion of the David S. Greenough Papers was deposited at the Massachusetts Historical Society on 16 June 1924 by Mrs. David S. Greenough and Mrs. Clarence M. Boyce of Medfield, and Mrs. Anna G. Force of Seattle. The collection was given in 1956 by Mrs. Boyce and Mrs. Greenough, and by Mrs. Force in 1962.
Restrictions on Access
Use of portions of this collection is restricted. Select items are available as color digital facsimiles (see links below). Black and white microfilm of select items is also available for use in the library.
Other Formats
Portions of this collection are available as microfilm, P-395, 1 reel, and as color digital facsimiles.
Summary Description of the Collection
Loose papers
William Erving letter copies, undated; recipes, undated; 1644-1700
1701-1730
1731-1743
1744-1749
1750-1756
1757-1764
1765-1775
1776-Apr. 1781
May 1781-May 1783
June 1783-June 1784
Includes folder of William Erving letter copies for the year 1783.
July 1784-1785
Includes folder of William Erving letter copies for the years 1784 and 1785.
1786-June 1787
Includes folder of William Erving letter copies for the year 1786.
July 1787-1788
Includes folder of William Erving letter copies for the year 1787.
1789-Apr. 1790
May 1790-July 1791
Aug. 1791-Apr. 1793
May 1793-Apr. 1795
May 1795-1797
1798-1801
1802-Sep. 1806
Oct. 1806-Sep. 1810
Oct. 1810-1811
1812-1813
1814-1815
1816-1817
1818-1819
1820-Sep. 1822
Oct. 1822-1824
1825-1826
1827-1830
1831-1859
There are no materials for the years 1845 and 1848-1858. Includes three folders of printed matter and a drawing of a compass rose "Made by James Ham, Instrument Maker."
VolumesDigital Content
Antigua plantation accounts
Available on microfilm, P-395 (1 reel).
1775
1779-1789
1796-1797
Jan.-Aug. 1798
Sep.-Dec. 1798
1799-1800
1801-1817
Jan.-Mar. 1818
Boxed volumes
Bills and notes payable and receivable (blank)
Checkbook (blank)
Ledger index, n.d.
"Carpenter's Rules of Work," n.d.
David S. Greenough I inventory of household and farm buildings, n.d.
Account book, 1702-1704
Elizabeth (Richardson) Shrimpton Stoddard (1680-1757) household expense book, 1721-1738
Anthony Stoddard (1678-1747/8) cash book, 1722-1738
Bills of lading book, 1738-1742
Surveyor's notebook and accounts, 1756-1764
John Stevens (b. 1715) wastebook, 1762-1775; estate of Martha (Stoddard) Stevens (1720-1785), 1785-1801
Elisha Doane and John Greenough, Wellfleet Military Co., 1765-1768; account book, 1766-1770
Account book, 1766-1769
Account book/farm diary, 1770-1774
Anthony Stoddard (1728-1776) receipt book, 1771-1775
David S. Greenough I "Memorandums," Mar.-July 1776
Erving and Stewart account book, 1779-1790
Simeon Smith surveyor's notebook, [1781]
Estate of Elisha Doane, 1783-1807
[David S. Greenough I] ledger, 1783-1826
"Family Expenses"
Chronological records labeled "Family Expenses" and probably kept by D. S. Greenough.
1787-1789
1790-1793
1793-1796
1796-1799
1800-1804
1805-1809
1810-1815
1816-1819
1820-1823
1824-1825
1826
Farm diariesDigital Content
Volumes 32-38 constitute a series of farm diaries kept by David S. Greenough I and David S. Greenough II.
David S. Greenough I, 1790-1798
David S. Greenough I, 1798-1809
David S. Greenough I, 1810-1815
Loose items removed from 1810-1815 diary, 1802-1815
David S. Greenough I, 1816-1818
David S. Greenough I, 1819-1821
David S. Greenough I, 1822-1824
David S. Greenough I and David S. Greenough II, 1825-1827
Boxed volumesDigital Content
Edward Paine surveyor's notebook, [1791]
Estate of William Erving, 1791-1793
Estate of William Erving, 1791-1794
David S. Greenough I bank book, 1792-1818
John Doane "Memorandum of Moneys...," 1794
Estate of John Doane and estate of Alexander Edwards, 1794-1822
Estate of Martha (Stoddard) Stevens (1720-1785) with Elizabeth Sumner, 1800-1802
David S. Greenough I bank book (foreign money), 1807-1808
David S. Greenough II "Forms of Declarations," 1807-1823
David S. Greenough I "Forms of Special Pleas," 1808
David S. Greenough I "Small Accounts and Rents" ledger, 1808-1817
David S. Greenough II expense book, 1809-1811
F. D. Channing's accounts with Stephen Higginson, 1809-1811
David S. Greenough II receipt book, 1809-1816
David S. Greenough II letterbook, 1810-1812
David S. Greenough I ledger with index, 1810-1812
David S. Greenough I "Executions Returnable," 1810-1826
David S. Greenough I writ book, 1810-1826
David S. Greenough I wastebook, 1811-1818
David S. Greenough I ledger, 1811-1821
David S. Greenough I town court docket, 1812-1818; Norfolk County Court, 1819-1826
David S. Greenough II docket C.C.C.P., 1812-1826
David S. Greenough II letterbook with index, 1812-1830
[David S. Greenough II] diary, 1814-1816
David S. Greenough [II] bank book, 1815-1817
Estate of Artemis Winchester, in account with David S. Greenough [II], 1815-1817
David S. Greenough [II] bank book, 1815-1818
David S. Greenough [I] docket, S.J.C., 1815-1820; C.C.P., 1814-1819
[David S. Greenough II] expense book, 1816-1817
[David S. Greenough II] wastebook, 1816-1823
[David S. Greenough II] ledger, 1816-1823
[David S. Greenough II] diary, 1816-1824
[David S. Greenough II] receipt book, 1816-1825
David S. Greenough [II] ledger, 1816-1826
Accounts of sales, 1817
[David S. Greenough II] Union Bank book, 1817-1818
[Doane] bills and notes payable and receivable, 1817-1830
David S. Greenough [I or II] New England Bank book, 1818-1819
[David S. Greenough II] "Expense Account and Cash Account," 1818-1820
[David S. Greenough II] ledger, 1818-1829
[David S. Greenough II] expense book, 1820-1827
[David S. Greenough II] cash book, 1820-1830
[David S. Greenough I or II] checkbook, 1821-1823
[David S. Greenough II] wastebook, 1823-1830
[David S. Greenough II] diary, 1824-1825
David S. Greenough II receipt book, 1825-1830; John Greenough (d. 1846) receipt book, 1832
[David S. Greenough II] cash book, 1826-1827
[David S. Greenough II] bank book, 1826-1830
[David S. Greenough II] expense book, 1827-1840
Maria Foster (Doane) Greenough (1793-1843) meat accounts with J. W. Bennett, [1834]
[David S. Greenough II or III] "A Foolish Tale," 1834
Loose volumes
Elisha Doane wastebook, 1783-1794
[David S. Greenough I] wastebook, 1810-1814
[David S. Greenough II] wastebook, 1819-1826
Accounts of estate of Shute Shrimpton Yeamans (1721-1769), 1769-1775
Oversize
Oversize consists of printed matter and miscellaneous manuscripts. Included are newspapers, surveyors' maps, accounts, deeds of sale, contracts, legal and business correspondence, various certificates, bills of lading, and other items. Each oversize manuscript item has been dummied out of the collection.
Printed matter, 1631-1751
Includes one recipe and a 25 May 1792 surveyor's map of land owned by David S. Greenough I.
1751-1767
1769-1794
Includes Volume 93.
1795-1839
Preferred Citation
David Stoddard Greenough family papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.
Persons:
Subjects:
Materials Removed from the Collection
For a list of engravings and museum items removed from this collection, please see the Curator of Manuscripts.