| | Abstract: | The Congress was a whaling bark out of Mystic, Connecticut, owned by L. and W.P. Randall and commanded by Captain Austin M. Lester. The Palestine was a Great Lakes schooner, sailing out of Huron, Ohio, under the command of Captain Wilcox. The collection consists of a single volume containing the logbooks of the Congress and the Palestine. It includes details of the Congress' whaling voyage to India and the Pacific, 1844-1847, and the Palestine's trip from Huron, Ohio to the upper Great Lakes and then to Buffalo, carrying wheat and flour. Included are details of life on board a whaling ship, travel and adventure in the Pacific Ocean, colored drawings of a sailing ship, inked stamps of various whales, sailing terminology, and entries relating to Great Lakes shipping and life on a lake schooner. Both logs were kept by John B. Wilber. The volume also includes markings made by A. Emertson, a young relative of Captain N. Emertson of Huron, Ohio, who used it as a composition book. | |
