Chase Leavitt & Co., RecordsChase Leavitt & Co., Records, 1936-1983
| Maine Maritime Museum Manuscript Collection Online Catalog
Arrangement
Abstract
Shipbrokers in Portland, ME, established in 1854 and still in the same business in 1997.
Records of Chase, Leavitt & Co. Firm engaged in handling incoming and outgoing cargoes, customs, crew, repairs, etc. for commercial vessels. This collection documents vessel arrivals in Portland, Searsport, Bucksport, Wiscasset & Yarmouth, ME, and Portsmouth, NH, with a folder or more for each ship containing account summaries, oaths, protests, crew documents, cargo manifests, port receipts, medical care arrangements, stevedoring and pilotage bills, permits, deportation forms, charter parties, correspondence, etc. There is no documentation of the company’s operations as a whole, with the exception of some World War II material from the War Shipping Administration. Includes one unrelated volume (blank) of receipts from the Portland Dry Dock Company, 186-.
General company records are located at Maine Historical Society.
Subjects (links to similar collections)Customs administration
Freight and freightage
Leavitt family
Marine protests
Merchant marine
Merchant seamen
Merchant ships
Pilot guides
Portland (ME)
Portland Dry Dock Company
Portsmouth (NH)
Searsport (ME)
Shipping
Stevedores
United States. War Shipping Administration
Wiscasset (ME)
Yarmouth (ME)
Administrative Information
The general overall operation of the company is not documented within these records, with one exception, which is discussed below (Series II). There are no general account ledgers, personnel records, company minutes, policies or correspondence, for example. However, these kinds of records have survived and are in the care of Maine Historical Society, Portland, ME. A copy of their inventory for this collection is appended. What the MMM collection does do is to document in great detail all the actions and operations necessary to service each vessel as it enters port, is in port, and as it leaves (Series I). A list of the types of documents found in Series I follows, and while each folder does not contain every type of document listed below, overall there are many examples of each.
cargo loading plans telephone messages
disbursement accounts certificates of survey
correspondence account summaries
bills of lading Customs stores lists
telegrams CL form (pilot, berthing, water, bunkers)
crew lists certificates of survey
passenger lists & forms freight brokerage bills
export declarations crew sign-off forms
stevedore bills vessel utilization/performance forms
pilot bills news clippings
cargo port logs loading/unloading permits
ship data sheets deportation notices
freight manifests (inward & outward) miscellaneous notes
stores lists miscellaneous receipts
medical bills navigation fee forms
master’s oaths certificates of loading
marine protests certification of billing
damaged cargo reports transfers of funds
damaged cargo photos charter parties
damage to vessel/outrun reports legal papers of various kinds
The exception to the lack of general company documents is two boxes of material (Series II), one of which relates to operations during the early years of World War II, when the U. S. War Shipping Administration set policy for cargo handling firms. Included are correspondence with local and Washington-based officials of the WSA, forms, accounts, and copies of regulations which give a fairly complete picture of this phase of the company’s business. The second contains a book of notarized marine protests, many of which were completed by the Leavitts, and an unrelated book of blank receipts from the Portland Dry Dock Company which bear the date 186-.