Research Log

• 24 Oct 1997 Brought Anthony with me to the Mariners' Museum Library at 100 Museum Drive, Newport News, Virginia. I told the librarian I was looking for a photo of the ship my great great grandparents took across the Atlantic, the William Frothingham. She hadn't heard of it, but when I showed her the information I had on it (ports and dates of embarkation and debarkation), she rushed to research it while I browsed the card catalog of photos. Since I had no idea what type of vessel William Frothingham was, I began looking through the catalog of steamship photos. I obviously came up with nothing. However, the librarian soon began unloading volumes of books on me with references to the ship. In this very first batch of books I pored through was Fairburn's Merchant Sail, American Lloyds' Registry, and Cutler's Queens of the Western Ocean. The information I found in these books she gave me was the impetus for this the original page of information I put together soon afterwards. I will always remember how patiently and quietly Anthony played while I rushed through these pages.
  

• 17 Dec 2000. Received a phone call out of the blue from Clive, whose ancestors also came over on William Frothingham. In fact, they crossed on the same voyage that brought my ancestors over--they were fellow passengers! Clive had found my previous webpage on William Frothingham and hunted me down to see if I had made any additional discoveries about the ship. Talking with Clive made me realize how a website dedicated to the research of William Frothingham could benefit a whole host of researchers. If somebody out there has uncovered something related to the ship, the website would provide a means of sharing this information with all interested parties.

• 10 Jan 2001. Visited the Cecil H Green Library on the Stanford University campus and pored through the first eight volumes of Germans to America. In these first eight volumes, I found no mention of the ship William Frothingham. I will continue reviewing this series of sixty-some odd books as I find the opportunity. After returning from the library to my hotel room, I went back online to create this website with the intent of posting the names of the passengers carried by this ship. I took another look at the Stanford University Library website and discovered that this library has a copy of Albion's Square-Riggers on Schedule.

• 11 Jan 2001. Returned to the Cecil H Green Library and reviewed Albion's Square-Riggers on Schedule. Gathered a lot of information about William Frothingham that I will post on this site soon. Albion also presents a fair amount of information about John J. Boyd, one of the owners of the ship.

• 16 Jan 2001. Once again returned to the Cecil H Green Library and reviewed several days worth of microfilm recordings of The New York Evening Post and The New York Times. I discovered the weather for Frothingham's 8 Jul 1858 arrival in the 3 Aug 1858 edition of the Times. This arrival of William Frothingham was announced in both the 9 Jul 1858 edition of the Times and the 8 Jul 1858 edition of the Post. Each gives nearly identical accounts of the voyage.

• 21 Mar 2001. Familiarized myself with the San Bruno Family History Center. Lucked out by finding LDS film 1415152 (NARA M1066 roll 10) in the temporary drawer. Began reviewing it from the start of the roll just up until the recording of the 12 Aug 1864 arrival of the Frothingham in the second book recorded on the roll. Also ordered LDS rolls 1415148 (NARA M1066 roll 6) and 1415149 (NARA M1066 roll 7).

• 22 Mar 2001. Made a quick visit to the Skyline College Library and reviewed microfilm recording of the 30 Aug 1852 edition of The New York Times. I found the departure notice for Frothingham's 28 Aug 1852 voyage for Port Philip, Australia.