Jamestown and Newport Ferry Company (Ms. 48)

Series 1. Ship's Logs
The Ships’ Logs Series consists of the daily logs maintained by the captains for each of the ferries owned and operated by the Jamestown and Newport Ferry Company. Also included in the series is a small number of engine room and radio logs maintained by the chief engineer and the radio officer respectively. Ferries represented in the logs include the Beavertail, the Conanicut, the Governor Carr, the Hammonton, the second and fourth Jamestown, the second Newport, the Wildwood, the Norfolk, and the Richmond. The latter two ferries were renamed the Newport and the Jamestown when purchased by the Jamestown and Newport Ferry Company in 1958. The logs of the Norfolk and the Richmond came north with the vessels from Virginia and are included in this series to provide continuous history of the Richmond/Jamestown and the Norfolk/Newport.

In addition to noting such routine information as the volume of passenger traffic and daily weather conditions, the captains also noted in the logs any unusual events, incidents, or sightings. Particularly interesting in this regard are the logs of the ferries Hammonton and Governor Carr for September 21, 1938, the date of the Hurricane of 1938 which devastated the southern New England coast. The Governor Carr’s propeller fouled while its crew was trying to move it from Jamestown to a safer harbor in Newport and it was blown ashore on Jamestown. It remained there for two and a half months until it was refloated in early December. All of this of this information was routinely recorded in the Governor Carr’s log along with rapidly changing weather conditions. The Hammonton rode out the storm at its slip and the log records the rapidly rising tide which nearly drove the ferry up on the dock. Also included in the logs are accounts of rescues of capsized small boat sailors, aid rendered to disabled vessels, and collisions and near misses. The logs provide a valuable source of information for weather conditions and unusual events in and around Narragansett Bay over a seventy year time span.

The logs are arranged alphabetically by the name of the vessel and chronologically by date for each vessel.

Series 2. Captain's Reports
This series contains the daily and monthly reports which the ferry captains had to maintain and submit to the company office. The series has been divided into two sub-series, Daily Reports and Monthly Reports.

The Daily Reports include the number of passengers and vehicles carried on each trip which the ferries made. Beginning in the early 1940’s, they also contain general information on the weather conditions each day. They complement in many respects the ships’ logs. By examining these reports one can gain information on traffic volume, busiest and least busy trips, and weather conditions over an extended period of time. The reports are divided into West Ferry and East Ferry reports until 1940, when West Ferry service ceased, and are arranged chronologically by date within folders.

The second sub-series, Monthly Reports, represent a compilation of the daily reports. Included are daily and monthly totals for trips, vehicles, and passengers for each vessel, as well as a brief description of the weather conditions for each day of the month. The monthly reports were submitted on a form especially designed for the purpose. They are arranged chronologically by month within folders.

Series 3. Purser's Reports
The Pursers’ Reports Series consists of daily reports compiled by the ships’ pursers and submitted to the company office on a standard form. The reports contain information on the number and types of tickets sold, passes issued and used, and cash receipts. The Ferry Company sold a number of different kinds of commuter tickets (e.g. twelve and twenty trip packages) and the pursers’ reports reveal how well or how poorly each of them sold.

The pursers’ reports are divided into East and West Ferry reports up to 1940, when the West Ferry was replaced by the Jamestown Bridge, and are arranged chronologically by date within folders. Beginning in November, 1942, the company no longer filed the pursers’ reports separately, but filed them with a group of daily reports in an office reports file. From November of 1942 forward, the pursers’ reports can be found in the Office Reports Series, Series IV.

Series 4. Office Reports
This series contains a variety of daily reports which the company required to be submitted to its business office. It includes turnstile reports, summary of turnstile and pursers’ reports, freight reports, daily ticket reports, daily office reports, and beginning in late 1942, pursers’ reports. Much of the information contained in the various reports is duplicative. For example, pursers’ reports, turnstile reports, summary of turnstile and pursers’ reports, and daily office reports present virtually the same information in different formats.

The daily ticket reports represent a special kind of ticket sold between 1940 and 1945 in conjunction with the Jamestown Bridge Authority. Commuters were able to purchase one ticket which would allow them passage over both the newly opened Jamestown Bridge and the Jamestown and Newport ferries at a reduced rate. The receipts from the sale of these tickets were divided evenly between the Ferry Company and the Bridge Authority. Daily ticket reports were submitted to the Ferry Company, and presumably to the Bridge Authority, indicating the volume of ticket sales and receipts. Prior to November of 1942, these reports were filed separately and are contained in the Ticket/Turnstile Series, Series IX. Turnstile reports were similarly filed in the Ticket/Turnstile Series prior to June, 1943.

The office reports are arranged chronologically by date within folders.

Series 5. Ledger's
The Ledger series consists of a number of bound and unbound ledgers used to record the financial transactions of the Jamestown and Newport Ferry Company over a period of seventy-two years. Included are accounts payable and receivable ledgers, disbursement and receipt ledgers, payroll ledgers, stock ledgers, and general ledgers.

Payroll records were kept as part of the Disbursement/Receipt Ledgers from 1897 to 1919, and from 1919 to 1928 were maintained in separate payroll ledgers. After 1928 different payroll accounting procedures were instituted and an individual payroll card was created for each employee for each year. These can be found in the Payroll Record Series, Series VI.

Other items of interest in this series include the company’s stock ledger. The town of Jamestown was majority owner of the company since its inception, but did not succeed in buying up all outstanding shares and becoming sole owner of the company until 1925. The stock ledger reveals the names of prominent citizens of late nineteenth century Jamestown who invested in the company in hopes of ensuring reliable transportation across the Bay to Newport and the mainland.

The Disbursement/Receipt Ledgers are also valuable in that they provide a month by month accounting of receipts and expenditures. Both the source of receipts and the name of the individual or company to whom disbursements were made were included in the monthly accounting. A perusal of these ledgers allows one to get a general idea of the company’s financial health, as well as to determine the identities of individuals and businesses whose services the Ferry Company most frequently used.

The series is arranged alphabetically by name or type of ledger.

Series 6. Payroll Records
In this series are found records of the Ferry Company’s payroll. The series is divided into two sub-series: Annual Pay Cards, 1928-58 and Timesheets/Pay Vouchers, 1920-51.

Beginning in 1928, the payroll was kept on individual pay cards for each employee for each year. On the pay card is recorded the individual employee’s weekly pay for each week of the year. Used in conjunction with the Disbursement/Receipt Ledgers and the Payroll Ledgers from previous series, in which weekly payrolls were recorded from 1897 to 1928, the payroll cards provide valuable information on annual incomes and changing wage scales in a particular segment of the maritime industry over a sixty year period.

They also allow one to determine the impact, if any, on wages of unionization of company employees in 1936. One can also determine from examining payroll records the uncertain and seasonal nature of the work involved. Number of employees and hours worked varied significantly from season to season.

The pay cards are arranged chronologically by year and alphabetically by name of employee within folders.

Sub-series II, Timesheets/Vouchers, consist of weekly timesheets and weekly or monthly payroll vouchers. The vouchers list each employee by name, his or her wages, and the total amount of the payroll for the week or month in question. Used with other series in the collection, particularly the Ledger Series, this series gives an accounting of the weekly payroll burden of the company.

The series is arranged chronologically by date.