About this record
Bates was a shipbuilder at Manitowoc, Wis., and Chicago, and an authority on subjects connected with maritime history and navigation. The papers given here consist of two folders containing a manuscript ¿Synopsis of a System of Marine Inspection¿ (1857), letters to George C. Walker about his yacht, minutes from shipbuilders meetings, family papers, various bills and receipts, miscellaneous correspondence, and several muster rolls and letters relating to Bates' Civil War service in the 19th Wisconsin Infantry. Not included are a large folder of blueprints and specifications for boats and the manuscript of Bates' 1902 monograph, "American Navigation: The Political History of Its Rise and Ruin¿ (whose published text is available at Google Books).Citation
Bates, William W. Papers, 1857-1912 (Green Bay Mss 85; selections).