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Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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1885-1910 ; 1974 (Creation)
- Creator
- Spicer, George D.
Physical description area
Physical description
- 1 v. of textual records
- 7 microfilm reels
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born in September 1846, George Dimock Spicer was the eldest of ten children of Jacob and Mary (Reid) Spicer of Spencers Island, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. George and his brothers, Johnson, Dewis, and Edmund, were all master mariners and became known throughout the area as the "Big Four." George D. Spicer began his career at sea in 1858 at the age of twelve as a cabin boy and by 1867 had received his first command on the brig GLOBE. The following year, Captain Spicer married Emily Jane (Morris) (d. 1892) of Advocate Harbour, Nova Scotia, and they embarked on a two-year voyage to various Mediterranean and eastern ports. The Spicers had five children: Minnie Antoinette (b.1871), Lawrence Percy (b.1873), Emily Gertrude (b.1874, m. Charles Huestis in 1897), George Whitney (d.1898 at age 18), and Stanley Williams (1882-1956). In 1880 Spicer formed a general merchandise and shipbuilding business under the name Spencers Island Company at Spencers Island, Nova Scotia, with N.W. Eaton, his brother Captain Johnson Spicer, his brother-in-law Captain J.S. Williams, and Amasa Loomer (master builder). Spicer sailed his vessels all over the world and was occasionally accompanied by his wife. He retired to Spencers Island in 1910 and died in 1937.
Custodial history
The diaries were borrowed from Stanley Spicer in 1974 for microfilming and the account book was transferred from the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in 2004 as part of a donation originally received from Stanley Spicer.
Scope and content
Consists of an account book for ships Charles S. Whitney (1885-1891) and Glooscap (1891-1910), which incorporates receipts as well as a drawing of Glooscap below deck, showing the arrangement of captain and crew quarters. Also included in the fonds are microfilm copies of thirty-five diaries kept by Captain Spicer, 1871-1910. The diaries chronicle Spicer's career as a master mariner and his experiences at sea on vessels Globe, J.F. Whitney, E.J. Spicer, Charles S. Whitney, Glooscap, and others; his travels to New York, Boston, Europe, South Pacific, West Indies, South America; and activities at home at Spencers Island. There are also two diaries kept by Spicer's wife, Emily, while on voyages with her husband, 1888 and 1889, and a diary kept by Antoinette Williams, 1879.
Notes area
Physical condition
The volume has a missing spine and the back cover has come off.
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
The microfilm content is arranged chronologically.
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Original diaries are held by Spicer family.
Availability of other formats
Microfilm reels 11018-11024
Restrictions on access
Use microfilm.