Letters and Miscellaneous Papers of the Winsor Family 1820-1915

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The Winsors were one of the most successful merchant families in Duxbury shortly after the Revolutionary War. In the 1780s and 90s, they launched more vessels than any other builders in town. Samuel Winsor, born perhaps in Boston in 1725, is the first of the family seen in Duxbury. He settled on Clark’s Island in Duxbury Bay and built several small vessels. His sons, Nathaniel and Joshua, continued the family business. In the 1840s, Nathaniel, Jr. decided to move the family business to Boston and begin investing in Boston-built clipper ships. He established Winsor’s Regular Line servicing Savannah, Mobile, and New Orleans. Daniel Loring Winsor, son of Nathaniel, Jr., was a ship’s captain and agent for Magoun & Son, Boston ship owners. The family business survived until 1907.