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This collection contains 5 letters that George N. Ives, a fish and oyster packer in New Bern and Beaufort, North Carolina, wrote to Captain Samuel Truman Preston of Greenport, New York, in 1883 and 1884. Ives primarily discussed his boats, including one he had recently purchased.

This collection contains 5 letters that George N. Ives, a fish and oyster packer in New Bern and Beaufort, North Carolina, wrote to Captain Samuel Truman Preston of Greenport, New York, in 1883 and 1884. Ives primarily discussed his boats, including one he had recently purchased.

Ives wrote each of his letters (9 pages total) on stationery decorated with his business logo, the background of which was an image of a blue or pink fish. In his first letter, he described the recent travels of his sloop Nellie May and physical specifications of his schooner Nellie B. Neff (April 11, 1883). On November 15, 1883, he requested additional information from Captain Preston regarding the Annie, to help him determine whether or not to buy it. In his final 3 letters, Ives discussed the Favorica, a boat he purchased around 1884. Among other topics, he mentioned the Favorica's incomplete outfitting and his intention to send a flag and compass to New York to meet the ship upon its arrival. Ives occasionally thanked Preston for shipments of clams.

This collection contains four letters written by Henry Colby, a fisherman based in East Gloucester, Massachusetts, to a friend, George McIntosh of Hallowell, Maine. Colby frequently inquired of friends and family in Maine and described his life and travels as a fisherman along the Atlantic coast, which included several lengthy trips to the Arctic Ocean.

This collection contains four letters written by Henry Colby, a fisherman based in East Gloucester, Massachusetts, to a friend, George McIntosh of Hallowell, Maine. Colby frequently inquired of his family and friends in Maine, and described his life as a fisherman, traveling along the Atlantic Coast and into the Arctic Ocean (October 8, 1869). Though brief, his letters provided several detailed descriptions of his work, including the size of the boats he worked on, his wages as a chief mate, the amount of fish caught and their value, and how the weather affected his journeys. He often apologized for the delay in his letters, as his work frequently kept him at sea for several weeks at a time, and he occasionally provided updates on his personal life, which included a new daughter in the fall of 1869. In 1870, he reported selling his boat to work on the John Fannie R (June 10, 1870).