Scope and arrangement
This insurance register and documents, which include contracts, statements of losses, and extracts of letters, details the dealings of the mercantile company Gibbs and Channing of Newport, Rhode Island. These accounts were kept by Hugh Pollock and Company of New York City, a firm Gibbs and Channing contracted with to underwrite their maritime insurance policies from 1798 to 1799.
Each page documents the broker accounts of one client. Entries consist of date, ship name, departure and destination locations, insurance amounts for vessels and cargo, premium rates, and other fees paid. The volume contains accounts with the following merchants and firms: William Armstrong; John Bard, Jr.; Bethune and Smith; Bogert and Mansfield; John Delafield; John Ferrers; Monson Hayt; Hoyt and Tom; John Knox; S.A. Lawrence; Leffingwell and Pierpont; Edward Moore and Company; Munro and Gordon; Munro and Roe; Robinson and Hartshorne; H.G. Rutgers and Company; David Reedy; Saidler and Waterbury; Wilmerding and Van Wagener; and Winthrop and Lewis. Shipping locations include ports in the United States, the West Indies, South America, and Europe.
The loose documents include copies of the contract between Gibbs and Channing and Hugh Pollock and Company that established their partnership (1798), extracts of letters between the companies that contain discussions of business dealings (1798-1799), and statements of losses on insured vessels (1798-1800).