Jonathan Bourne Jr. (merchant)

Jonathan Bourne Jr. (1811—1889) was a whaling agent and merchant who lived and worked in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Jonathan Bourne Jr.
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Businessman and Politician
Known forNamesake of Bourne, Massachusetts

Biography

He was the tenth of eleven children and was raised on a farm in Sandwich, Massachusetts. When he was seventeen, he moved to New Bedford and entered the grocery business.[1][2]: 45  By the time he was 24, he had married into the Nye-Howland family and had started investing in whaling ships.[2]: 45 

Business ventures
The half-scale model of Lagoda in the Bourne Building of the New Bedford Whaling Museum is based on Jonathan Bourne's ship, and was commissioned by his daughter Emily Bourne.

In 1841, he purchased the Lagoda, a merchant vessel he converted to a whaling ship.[2]: 45  The Lagoda became the most lucrative whaling ship in New Bedford's history.[2]: 45  Bourne would serve as agent for 24 vessels and own stock in 22 more.[2]: 45 

He also invested in the Gosnold Mill, Hathaway Mill, Bourne Mill, and Acushnet Mill.[2]: 45  He also directed the Union Street Railway Company, the Western Railroad, and the New Bedford, Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Company.[2]: 45 

Civic engagement

He was instrumental in the election of Abraham Lincoln.[2]: 45  He helped West Sandwich achieve township, and that town was named Bourne after him.[2]: 45 

References
  1. "MSS 18: Jonathan Bourne Jr. Business Records, 1836-1899 - New Bedford Whaling Museum". www.whalingmuseum.org. 2021-04-11. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  2. Museum, New Bedford Whaling (2015). Treasures of the Whaling Museum: Touchstone to the Region's Past. Old Dartmouth Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-9845534-6-4.
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