At a special meeting of the Providence Steam-Boat Company, holden at the Hall of the Washington Hotel, on the 2d day of February inst. a Committee was appointed, consisting of E. S. Williams, H. R. Greene, W. Paine, jun., Nathaniel Bishop and John Pettes, empowered to sell the Steam-Boat Providence to the New York and Boston Transportation Company; and notice is hereby given to the Stockholders, that said Committee have effected the sale of said Boat and Furniture for the sum of $70,000

Providence: February 18, 1836. Quarto bifolium (approx. 7½" x 9"), printed in italic and roman type on p. [1] only, the others blank except for Borden's return address and the address to Mr. William R. Bowers of Providence in ink on the verso of the integral leaf, together with a red wax seal; previous folds from mailing, else fine. In the 1830s Providence was the principal stop on the route between New York and Boston. Steamers ran between Providence and New York while connecting stage lines, later railroad trains, traveling between Providence and Boston. According to J.H. Morrison, History of Steam Navigation (1903), a cooperative arrangement was made between the Boston and New Transportation Co. (as it was more commonly known) and the Providence Steam Boat Company in 1836. "This was the first step in the formation of the noted Transportation Company that subsequently held such power in the water transportation on the Long Island Sound. It was at first an association or partnership known as the Boston and New York Transportation Company, but afterwards became a corporation known as the 'New Jersey Steam Navigation Company." The chief competition on this route came from a line owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt and, in particular, from his boat Lexington. Initially allied with the railroads, steamship lines gradually declined as the ridership on railroads grew in the 1840s. According to records at the Rhode Island Historical Society, the addressee, William Read Bowers (1800-1841), was a sea captain and ship owner of Providence. He was the son of Asa Bowers and Candace Hoppin; his mother was a member of one of the leading merchant families of the city. By 1832, William was the owner of at least three ships: the Abeona (Samuel Read, master), Almira (Ephraim Eldredge, master) and the Phebe (William Davis, master). He was also principal partner in a ships' chandlery business at 114 South Water Street in Providence from the early 1830s onward. The Providence, about 400 tons, was built in 1832 by Bell & Brown of New York. She had a single beam engine built by the West Point Foundry in New York. The sellers reserved "the right of free passage in said Boat to such as are now entitled to that privilege, by paying to the said Transportation Company the sum of Fifty Dollars yearly. And it is further expected that such of the Stockholders as wish to retain the right, will make it known by the first day of March next, at which time the said Boat is to be delivered to the purchasers. Signed in type: J. Borden, Sec'y. Not in OCLC or American Imprints. (Inventory #: 55287)