Table of Contents
The law office of Crapo, Clifford & Clifford was located in the city of New Bedford, Massachusetts. George C. Perkins was a partner in the law firm Crapo, Clifford, Prescott, Bullard and McLeod. Beginning in 1830, this office evolved under various names and partners who practiced admiralty law and were consequently involved in several notable cases concerning whaling ships from New Bedford.
William Wallace Crapo was born in 1830 and died in 1926. Mr. Crapo was the son of Henry Howland Crapo. He was the head of the law firm Crapo, Clifford & Clifford and later, Crapo Clifford Prescott and Bullard. He was engaged in the prosecution on behalf of the New Bedford whalemen in the “Alabama Claims” whereby the British Government paid $15,000,000 to the U.S. Government for losses suffered due to the collusion of the British with the Confederate privateers. Mr. Crapo was president of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society from 1903 to 1908.
Henry Howland Crapo was the eldest son of William Wallace Crapo. He was born in 1862 and in 1887 become a member of Crapo, Clifford & Clifford. Mr. Crapo was president of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society from 1938 to 1940.
Charles Warren Clifford, eldest son of Gov. John Henry Clifford was born in 1844. In 1869 he became a member of Marston & Crapo until its dissolution in 1878. He then became a partner in the firm of Crapo, Clifford & Clifford where he remained for 45 years. He was counsel for the owners of the Cape Horn Pigeon (Bark) and took part in the arbitration between the U.S. and Russia at the Hague. He died in 1923.
Walter Clifford was the second son of Gov. John Henry Clifford. He was born in 1849. He become the managing clerk for the law office of Marston & Crapo and from 1878 until his death 34 years later, was a partner in the firm of Crapo, Clifford & Clifford, later Crapo, Clifford & Prescott, then Crapo, Clifford Prescott & Bullard. He died in 1912.
Oliver Prescott (second) was the grandson of Judge Oliver Prescott. Oliver Prescott was a member of Crapo, Clifford, Prescott & Bullard. He died in 1938.
John H. Clifford, grandson of Governor John Henry Clifford and son of Walter Clifford. He was a member of the firm Crapo, Clifford, Prescott & Bullard.
George Marston was born in 1821. H became an associate of W. W. Crapo in 1869 and established the firm of Marston & Crapo. That firm continued for nine years and upon the dissolution of the partnership it then became Marston & Cobb. He died in 1883.
George C. Perkins (1921-2005) was a partner in the law firm of Crapo, Clifford, Prescott, Bullard & McLeod. Mr. Perkins was one of the founders of the New Bedford historic architecture preservation organization WHALE (the Waterfront Historic Area League).
The law firm of Crapo, Clifford, Prescott and Bullard is a descendant of the firm of Coffin (Timothy G.) and Clifford (John H.), 1830-1834. In succession came the partnerships of Colby and Clifford, Clifford and Brigham, Brigham and Stone, Stone and Crapo, Marston and Crapo, and Crapo, Clifford and Clifford, the latter formed in 1878. Mr. Crapo’s partners and associates were Joshua C. Stone, George Marston, Wendell H. Cobb, Charles W. Clifford, Walter Clifford, Frederick S.C. Bartlett, Henry H. Crapo (second), Oliver Prescott (second), John H. Clifford (second) John M. Bullard, Oliver Prescott (third) and Bryant Prescott.
The George M. Perkins Collection contains a collection of papers, documents and bound volumes collected from the law office of Crapo, Clifford & Clifford and its antecedents in New Bedford. Although personal papers are present, the majority of this collection reflects the broader scope of this New Bedford based law practice.
Arrangement of Collection
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New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library Mss 118, [sub-group, series, sub-series, folder/volume as appropriate], [item]
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Related Manuscript Collections
Mss 118: Crapo, Clifford & Clifford Papers
Materisl in this collection were donated to the New Bedford Whaling Museum in 2011 at the bequest of Bequest of George C. Perkins and Margaret F. Perkins, Accession #2011.24. These papers were compiled by New Bedford attorney George C. Perkins (1921-2005). Perkins, one of the founders of the New Bedford historic architecture preservation organization WHALE (the Waterfront Historic Area League), was a partner in the law firm of Crapo, Clifford, Prescott, Bullard and McLeod and he built much of this collection upon the reams of legal documents generated by the cases handled by the firm from as early as 1879 when the firm was called Crapo, Clifford & Clifford.
Processed by: Jalien Hollister, 2011
Encoded by: Mark Procknik, 23 April 2014
Please Consult Research Library for Detailed Description of Collection
Administration of estates
Atlanta Guano Company
Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company
Baker & Crowell (New Bedford, Mass.)
Baker, George F.
Bartlett, F. C. L.
Beauvais, J. Arthur
Borden, Gilbert B.
Bunker, James M.
Churchill, Robert G.
Clifford, Charles Warren
Clifford, Clifford & Brigham
Clifford, John H.
Clifford, Walter C.
County Cavan (Ireland)
Crapo, Clifford & Clifford (New Bedford, Mass.)
Crapo, Clifford, Prescott & Bullard (New Bedford, Mass.)
Crapo, Henry Howland
Crapo, William Wallace
Dana, Charles E.
Dana, E. T.
Dana, R. H.
Davis, Abner H.
Dyer, George N.
Foster, John W.
Funke, C. Edward
Green & Wood, Inc. (New Bedford, Mass.)
Gresham, Walter O.
Hartwell, A. S.
Harvard College, 1780-
Haskell, William H.
Hote & Company (New Orleans, La.)
J. & W.R. Wing & Co. (New Bedford, Mass.)
Knowlton, H.M., Esq.
Lawton, James M.
Lodge, Henry Cabot
Marston & Crapo (New Bedford, Mass.)
Mechanics National Bank (New Bedford, Mass.)
Merchants National Bank (New Bedford, Mass.)
Mutual Marine Insurance Company (New Bedford, Mass.)
New Bedford (Mass.)
New Bedford Institution for Savings (New Bedford, Mass.)
New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Company
Pairpoint Manufacturing Co.
Parker, Marcia F.
Potomska Mills (New Bedford, Mass.)
Randall, Rep. C.S.
Robinson, Edward M.
Russell, Thomas H.
Saint Petersburg (Russia)
United States. Department of State
United States. Department of the Interior
United States. District Court (Massachusetts)
United States. Navy
Viall, James E.
Wood, Charles L.
Bartholomew Gosnold (Bark)
Cape Horn Pigeon (Bark)
Charles L. Jeffery (Schooner)
Charles W. Morgan (Bark)
City of Sydney (Schooner)
Clara A. Phinney (Schooner)
Cornelius Howland (Ship)
F. H. Odiorne (Schooner)
Golden Ball (Schooner)
Harry Messer (Schooner)
Hope On (Bark)
J. Pender (Schooner)
John H. Bullrick (Schooner)
John Randolph (Schooner)
Joseph Maxwell (Bark)
M. W. Read (Schooner)
Oliver Crocker (Bark)
Pardon G. Thomson (Schooner)
S.C. Hart (Schooner)
Thomas Jefferson (Schooner)
W. A. Farnsworth (Bark)
William Henry (Ship)
Last modified: August 10, 2016