[Footnote 3: Joseph Allen was the chief landholder of Gloucester.]

168. Petition of William Ward. 1744.[1]

[Footnote 1: Mass. Archives, vol. 64, p. 254. See doc. no. 170.]

Capt. Waterhouse

Sr

I Hope Youll Excuse my Taking the Liberty in Writing to you. But as a poor Creminall Confined, hopes that you and the Gentleman in the Cabin will Pardon the abrupt Treattment, I have Used Latly, but all Owing To a Moros Way in answering when Called: Which I Acnowledge is Not showing agood Decoram: Sr, as for the Afair I Was Accused with last night it was Done intirely Thro ignorance, that is that I thought I might Speak freely without Shewing any Sedition: Sr, I must Likwise acnowledge in Not Obeing the mastr was ill Done. Which I hope you and the Gentlemen will freely Pardon: Sr, I am Sencible thro what I have Done, Deserves Being Broke of my Station. Now Sr, I hope youll be so Good as To Pardon One Who Never in this World New What it was To be Confined. Which I Pray god grant to you: Which is Gentlemen from Your humble Sert: To Comd:

WM. WARD.

P.S. Gentlemen I hope for the Time To Come, To be Deserving of your favours.

169. Deposition of John Flood and Zechariah Foss. August 3, 1744.[1]

[Footnote 1: Mass. Archives, vol. 64, pp. 245-246.]

The Deposition of John Flood and Zachariah Foss who sail'd from Boston on the 25th of June last in the Privateer Hawk, Samuel Waterhouse Commander.

The Deponents testifye that being on Board the Brigantine Hawk commanded by Saml: Waterhouse, They on the 29th of June last, in the forenoon, betwixt the Hours of Eleven and Twelve, about 40 Leagues to the South East of Cape Briton, spied a Sloop steering northward, and observing that she had a White Pennant out[2] they gave her Chace, and easily outsaild her and having got within about a Mile of her the Sloop fir'd a Shot which fell about half a mile to Leeward of the Hawk, at the same time making all the Sail she could to run from us; upon which we fired at the Sloop five times successively; our first and second shot fell to Leeward, The third went thro' her Foresail, The fourth went thro' both her Mainsail and Foresail, The fifth struck her forward towards her Bow: upon which we were ordered to bear away, (being then at the Distance of about forty Pole from her, as near as we can judge) and as we bore away from the Sloop, we gave her three Chears (which were return'd us) and fir'd another Gun; The Sloop in the mean time bearing close upon the Wind in order to make her Escape. within the Space of about an Hour after, the Company in the Hawk agreeing (all save the Captain and the owners Quartermaster) to follow the Sloop and Engage her, We gave her Chace, but She having by that time got to the Distance of about 3 Leagues from Us to windward, and a thick Fog arising, we lost Sight of her by about four of the Clock in the afternoon; we however, kept our course in pursuit of her till the next morning, but saw her not again.

[Footnote 2: And therefore was presumed to be French.]

The Deponents further declare that the Number of Hands on Board the Hawk (including Boys to the number of 10 or 12) was one hundred and thirty eight; That she had twelve Carriage Guns—(viz: 2 nine Pounders, 2 six Pounders, and 8 four Pounders,) beside 20 or 22 Swivel Guns.

That the Sloop (so far as they could judge) was of not more than half the number of Tun as the Brigantine Hawk. The Number of her Men they could not guess at, being in great Measure cover'd by a Netting, which Surrounded them; Save that they observ'd em to muster thick on the Quarter Deck. That not coming a Breast with the Sloop, the Deponents could not discover the Number of her Guns, Save, that mr Flood imagined that he saw two Carriage Guns on her Larboard side.

The Deponents further declare that they verily believe that had the Brigantine Engaged the sloop, the former might easily have taken the latter, and that this was the Opinion of their Company in General.

They further add, that when orders were given for their bearing off from the Sloop, Capt. Waterhouse declar'd as a reason for so doing that his owners enjoyn'd him not to Engage with a Privateer. But that when it was Voted by the Company to pursue the Sloop, he appear'd well pleas'd that the matter was so over ruled, altho' his orders were otherwise.

The said Zachariah Foss further adds, that he heard Capt. Waterhouse say that thenceforward he would take all the Privateers that came in his way.

The sd Zachariah further declar'd that on the Day before the Hawk sail'd from Boston, sundry Gentlemen (whom he took to be her owners) being on Board, he heard e'm desire Capt. Waterhouse not to Engage any Privateer, for that the Vessel was not fitted for such a purpose, adding that should he take a Privateer, they should get nothing by it, but Rags and Lice and broken Bones.

And the Deponents further say not.

JOHN FLOOD. ZECH FOSS.

Suffolk, BOSTON, August 3, 1744. The above named John Flood and Zachary Foss made oath to the Truth of the foregoing Deposition.

Before Us { S. DANFORTH } Of the Council.[2] { EL'M HUTCHINSON }

[Footnote 2: Samuel Danforth was a member of the council of the province from 1739 to 1774; Eliakim Hutchinson from 1744 to 1746, and judge of the court of common pleas from 1741 to 1774; the latter married Governor Shirley's eldest daughter.]

170. Testimony concerning William Ward. August 4, 1744.[1]

[Footnote 1: Mass. Archives, vol. 64, p. 253.]

On board the Hawk Privateer Samuel Waterhouse Comander, August 4th: 1744 att a Comitte of the Commander and Officers on board the Hawk Privateer: James Hudson, Charles Ward and John Woodbridge, being called as evidences against Will'm Ward Boatswain of Said Privateer, do testifie and say that at or upon the second day of August this instant they heard the said Will'm Ward speake in the Steeridge of Sd. Hawk that the Captain and Officers where[2] discharging the People (meaning some of the hands) in order to put their shares in their own Pockets, togeather with other Seditious and disrespective words.

JAMES HUDSON. CHARLES WARD. JOHN WOODBRIDGE.

[Footnote 2: Were.]

171. Protest of Sailors. August 13, 1744.[1]

[Footnote 1: Ibid., pp. 249-251. As to protests, see doc. no. 136, note.]

On the Thirteenth day of August Ao. Dom: 1744, And in the Eighteenth Year of His Majestys Reign Before me Benjamin Pollard[2] Notary and Tabellion Publick by Royal Authority duly Admitted and sworn dwelling and practising in Boston in New England Personally Appeared the several persons whose Names are hereunto Subscribed Sailors belonging to the Brigantine named the Hawk Called a private Man of Warr Mounting 12 Carriage and 20 Swivel Guns and Carrying 138 Men Commanded by Samuel Waterhouse now lying the Harbour of Cape Ann Who Severally Declared as follows. And First these Appearers say that the said Saml. Waterhouse in a late Cruize against the French and Spaniards Suffered a Small French Privateer whose force did not Exceed one third of the said Hawk and which it was in his Power to have taken without risque of his Vessell and Company, to escape after firing a few guns, by Voluntarily Parting from him with a Salute of Three Chears; And on the Twenty Ninth day of July last the sd. Brigt Hawk being in Consort with the Sloop Elizabeth a Private Man of Warr belonging to New-York of About 10 Carriage and 12 Swivel Guns and about 55 Men Commanded by Thomas Barns about Twelve o'Clock of that day descry'd a ship Standing to the Westward, the Hawk then Standing to the Eastward upon which Capt. Waterhouse bore away to the sd. sloop to Consult with Capt. Barns (who was then to Leward) About Engaging sd. Ship, and Capt. Barns ask'd what they Made of her, Waterhouse sd. he believed her to be a 40 Gun Ship, to which Barns answered, if she was an 80 Gun Ship he would See her, and then they Stood for her, the ship Still keeping her Course And About an hour before Sun Sett that day gott within About Three Quarters of a Mile of her, when the Hawk hoisted English Colours and fired a Nine Pound Shot at her, and the ship hoisted a French Jack on her Ensign Staff and returned a shot, which fell Short of the Hawk and after the Hawk had fired About 10 Guns and the Ship about 17 Guns, Waterhouse Commanded his Company to desist from firing and to bare away as fast as Possible, and Capt. Barns (who then lay to Windward by order of sd. Waterhouse) very Much Blamed Waterhouse's Conduct in leaving her and said that he (Barns) Intended to have got under her Stern and Raked her fore and aft, and the next Morning Saw a ship they believed to be the same but Waterhouse would not follow her but gave Chase to a smaller Vessell Called the St. John lately taken by him, but Barns was resolved to see her and accordingly went after her and found it was the Same Ship they had Engaged over night And further declared That the said Capt. Waterhouse has been guilty of a Breach of the Articles of Agreement respecting the said Cruize by rejecting and refusing the Vote of the said Company, That the said Waterhouse is a Man of a Moross, Froward and Barbarous disposition having during sd. Cruize used Many of these appearers very Inhumanely by Confining them in Irons Without any real Cause, and is Man of no Courage or Resolution daring not to Engage any Vessell of Equal force with his, but on the Contrary has turned his back on them, and these appearers verily believe that with the help of the sd. Sloop (who was Willing to Aid and Assist) the said Hawk Might have taken the aforesd: Ship, That the sd: Waterhouse Often declared on board that he had orders not to Engage any Privateer and that he Came out to take Merchantmen and such as he could run down, That these appearers have always acted up to their duty in their respective Capacitys on board said Hawk to the Utmost of their Power, And for the reasons Aforesaid These Appearers have left the sd. Hawk in Cape Ann Harbour and Come up to Town and requesting me the said Notary to Protest against the said Capt. Waterhouse and his Cowardice, Actings and doings.

[Footnote 2: Sheriff of Suffolk County 1743-1756.]

Therefore I the said Notary At the request aforesaid did and do hereby Solemnly Protest against the said Samuel Waterhouse and his Cowardice, Actings, doings and Misconduct in and about the said Cruize as the Only reason of these Appearers Coming up to Town, and for all loss, Costs, Charges, damages and demands Whatsoever, Which they or any of them Shall or May Suffer Sustain or be put unto by Means thereof, And Lastly the appearers Declared that they are ready and Willing to go on board the Said Hawk Privateer and proceed in her on another Cruize under the Command of any Captain of known Courage and Conduct. Thus done and Protested in Boston the day and year before written

And To the truth of all which these Appearers have Severally Made Oath and subscribed their Names.

JONATHAN TAYLOR CHRISTOPR: COLLINS JOHN PEARSON EZEKIEL PITTMAN RICHARD ANDERSON BENJA: BOLTER his JOHN PEEWEY WILLIAM [X] BLEYTH mark PATRICK CARNEY WILLIAM WILLIAMS ANDREW LEISHMAN WILLIAM SWETT his DANL. CALFE CHAS: [X] DREW mark his JEREMIAH MOLTON WILLIAM [X] HODGKINS mark JOHN PALLOT ROBERT STANLY JOHN THOMPSON ADAM HOLLIDAY RICHD. THOMPSON STEPHEN HILLOCK EDWD. BROOKSBY JOHN SEAWARD PETER SCOTT

The aforegoing is a just and true Copy of the original Protest on Record in My Office, Attest.

BENJA: POLLARD Noty. Pubk: 1744.

BOSTON Augst: 14: 1744.

172. Petition of Henry Johnson. August 27, 1744.[1]

[Footnote 1: Mass. Archives, vol. 64, pp. 256-258.]

To His Excellency William Shirley Esq. Govr. and the Hon'ble the Councill

The Petition of Henry Johnson of Boston

Humbly Sheweth

That Mr. Detcheverie, Monsr. Darrancette, and a Boy Named Augustine, French Prisoners taken and brought in here per Capt Waterhouse, has Lodged and Boarded at the house of your Petr. per Order of Benja. Pollard Esq Sheriff of the County of Suffolk, your Petr. humbly Prays your Excellency and hon'rs will be pleased to Ascertain the Allowance your Petr. is to receive for their Board, Washing and Lodging for Twenty One Days, the time they have been at your Petr. house, and your Petr. as in duty Bound Shall Ever pray

Boston 27 August 1744 HENRY JOHNSON 1744

[Indorsement]

At a Council held at the Council Chamber in Boston Fryday Octo'r 5 1744.

Read and Dismiss'd.

Monsieur Detcheverie to Henry Johnson Dr. for his Board and Lodging 3 Weeks at 3L 9. 0.0 Monsieur Darrancette to Henry Johnson Dr. for his Board and Lodging 3 Weeks at 3L 9. 0.0 For your Boy Augustine 3 weeks at 30s. 4.10.0 ———— L13.10.0

BOSTON, 22 August 1744. Errors Excepted.

HENRY JOHNSON. 1744



THE LEWIS JOSEPH AND THE ST. ANNE.

173. Deposition of Jacques Piegnon. January 24, 1745.[1]

[Footnote 1: Records of the Admiralty Court held in Philadelphia, 1735-1746, in volume preserved in the office of the clerk of the U.S. district court, pp. 213-216. The judge was Thomas Hopkinson, who qualified in January, 1745.]

The Same 24th January 1744.[2] 5 P.M.

[Footnote 2: I.e., 1745, N.S.]

Proclamation made a fourth Time, and none appearing to Claim, the Court ordered the Proctor to Proceed to Prove the lawfull Caption of the said Ship Lewis Joseph and Snow St. Ann and their Ladings,[3]

[Footnote 3: The story of the capture is also related in Benjamin Franklin's paper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, Jan. 22, 1745: "On Friday [Jan. 18, arrived] a Ship and Snow, from the Warren Privateer, Alexander Kattur, and the Old George Schooner, William Dougall, Commanders, who sailed from this Port about six Weeks ago in Consort. Seven Days after they left the Capes, in the Latitude of 31, they met with the Ship.... She is a Frigate built Ship, of 18 Carriage Guns, belongs to St. Malo's, and was thither bound. She is called the Lewis Joseph. The Captain's Name was Piedsnoirs.... She maintained an obstinate Fight for Five Hours, and did not surrender, till she had received near Fifty Shot in her Hull, and was at last boarded, and the Captain, his second Lieutenant, and four Men killed, and several of the Gentlemen Passengers wounded. The Captain had the Character of a Gallant Man, and, as the Prisoners say, always declared, that he would never part with the Ship but with his Life.... The Snow is called the St. Anne, Pierre Dalheu Master, bound to Bourdeaux, and was taken two Days after the Ship. [The rich cargoes are described.] We are daily expecting the two Privateers in."]

Whereupon the following Depositions being Produced and Read, viz.

Jacques Piegnon of St. Malo in France Mariner being Sworn

Deposeth and Sayeth

To the first Interrogatory

That he this Deponent Knows the Ship called the Lewis Joseph now riding at Anchor in this Port of Philadelphia; That in the Month of August 1743 this Deponent contracted and Agreed with Francis Pienoir late Captain of the said Ship and the owners thereof at St. Malo aforesaid to enter and go as Second Captain on Board the said Ship on a Voyage from St. Malo to Cadiz and from thence to proceed to some port of French or Spanish America as should be agreed and resolved on at Cadiz aforesaid; That agreeable to his said Contract this Deponent sailed in the said Ship in quality of Second Captain to Cadiz and from thence to Port Orient[4] in France and thence returned to Cadiz and from thence proceeded to Cape Francois[5] in the Island of Hispaniola; That the said Francis Pienoir was Captain and Commander of the said Ship during the said Voyage; That from Cape Francois aforesaid this Deponent sailed in the said Ship on an Intended Voyage for Nantz in France and on the 26th day of Decr. last, New Stile, the said Ship [was] attacked upon the High Seas in or near the Latitude of 31 deg. North by two English Privateer Vessels, of one of which Captain Alexander Kattur was Commander[6] and Captain John Dougal was Commander of the other, but does not Know the Names of the said Privateers but has heard that one of them was Called the Warren and the other the George; That the Engagement between the said Two Privateers and the said Ship Lewis Joseph continued for about five or Six Hours; That at the Beginning of the said Engagement there were fifty two Men in and belonging to the said Ship Lewis Joseph but four of them were Killed in the said Engagement vizt. the said Captain Pienoir, another Captain who was a Passenger and two common Sailors, and three of the Men belonging to the said Privateers were also Killed in the said Engagement as this Deponent afterward heard and believes; That at the time of the said Engagement the said Ship Lewis Joseph was mounted with Eighteen Guns; That the said Ship Lewis Joseph was then taken by the said two English Privateers; That the said Captain Pienoir and all the Mariners and Comp'y belonging to the said Ship Lewis Joseph at the Time of her said Caption were Subjects of the French King; That the same Ship Lewis Joseph was then Laden with divers Goods Wares and Merchandizes.

[Footnote 4: Now called Lorient.]

[Footnote 5: Now Cap Haitien.]

[Footnote 6: The Warren; see note 3, above, and Pa. Mag. Hist., XXIV. 350.]

To the Second Interrogatory;

That the said Ship Lewis Joseph at the time of her said Caption wholly belonged to Monrs. John Petel a Merchant then residing at St. Malo and a Subject of the French King; That part of the Goods Wares and Merchandizes wherewith the said Ship was laden at the time of her said Caption belonged to the said Captain and the officers of the said Ship and the residue thereof to divers Merchts. and others at St. Malo's, Nantz and other Ports and Places in France and that such Owners of the said Cargo were all then Subjects of the French King.

To the third Interrogatory,

That before the said Ship Lewis Josephs Departure on the said Voyage from St. Malo, the said Captain Pienoir applyed for and obtained from the proper Officer at the Court of France a Commission which gave Authority to the said Captain with the Marriners and Company belonging to the said Ship as a private Ship of War to Seize and take any Person with their Goods and Effects who then were or should happen to be the Enemies of the French King during the Course of the said Voyage; That it is Customary in France for such Ships when there happens to be an Expectation of War being Declared before their Return from such Voyages to apply for and take out such Commissions before their Departure, And this Deponent with the said Captain Pienoir and the rest of the said Ships Company hearing at Cadiz upon their Return thither from Port Orient that War was declared by the French King against Great Britain,[7] they the said Officers and Company belonging to the said Ship Lewis Joseph looked upon themselves well warranted and authorized by the said Commission to Act with the said Ship as a private Ship of War against the Subjects of the King of Great Britain and to Seize and take their Persons and Effects; That the said Ship did not touch in any Port or Place in France after the time of this Deponents hearing of War being Declared against Great Britain as aforesaid; That after the said Ships Departure from St. Malo and during the said Voyage, the said Captain Pienoir produced and read the said Commission to this Deponent and the Rest of the said Ships company, and that the purport thereof was to authorise the said Captain Pienoir with his said Ships Company to Seize and take any Pirates, Interlopers and any future Enemys of the French King with their Ships, Goods and Effects or to that Effect, and was to Continue in force only for the said Voyage, and that the said Commission had a large Seal affixt to it; but what or whose such Seal was this Deponent knows not.

[Footnote 7: The king of France (Louis XV.) declared war on Great Britain on Mar. 15, 1744, N.S.]

To the fourth and fifth Interrogatorys,

That he, this Deponent, knows the Vessel or Snow called the St. Anne in the Interrogatory mentioned and now riding in the Port of Philadelphia; That the said Snow being laden with Divers Wares and Merchandizes at Cape Francois Sailed from thence in Company with the said Ship Louis Joseph and was afterwards taken by the said two English Privateers who took the said Ship Lewis Joseph or one of them as this Deponent hath heard and believes, and was brought into the Port of Philadelphia along with the said Ship, as the Prize of and belonging to the said Privateers but when or where the said Snow was Attacked or taken, or who was the Captain and Commander of her this Deponent knows not, but hath heard and believes that the Captain, Mariners and Owners of the said Snow were all Subjects of the French King; and to the Rest of these Interrogatories cannot Depose.

JACQUE PIEGNON.



THE APOLLO.

174. Deposition of John Brown. August 2, 1745.[1]

[Footnote 1: From the same manuscript volume as the preceding, pp. 262-264. The capture is thus recorded in the Pennsylvania Gazette of Aug. 1, 1745: "Yesterday arrived the Privateer Trembleur, belonging to this Port, and brought in the Scotch Ship taken some Weeks since by the Spanish Privateer Snow off the Capes of Virginia. Captain Bowne met with [her] East of Bermudas, bound to Laguira".]

John Brown of Holywood near Belfast[2] in the Kingdom of Ireland being Sworn,

[Footnote 2: Holywood is four or five miles northeast of Belfast, on the east shore of Belfast Lough.]

1st. To the first Interrogatory saith that he Knows the Ship called the Apollo now rideing at Anchor in this Port of Philadelphia; That he first Knew the said Ship At the aforesaid Port about Seven Years ago, but the Particular Time does not now remember; That he was hired by Alexander McMullen the Commander of the said Ship on or about the Nineteenth Day of March last past at Larn[3] in the Kingdom of Ireland aforesaid to proceed with the said Ship as Chief Mate thereof from thence to Virginia; That the said Ship at her Departure from Larn aforesaid was not Laden with any Goods, Wares or Merchandizes but in her Ballast; That the said Ship Apollo in the prosecution of the said Intended Voyage was taken as a Prize on the Sixteenth day of June last past upon the High Seas near the Capes of Virginia by a Spanish Privateer Snow; That the Commander of the said Privateer after he had taken Possession of the Ship Apollo brought over board her into his own Vessel the Master and all the Men belonging to the said Ship except this Deponent and one Boy, and at the same time put on Board her Sixteen Mariners belonging to the said Spanish Privateer Snow; That on or about the twentieth Day of the said Month of June the Commander of the said Spanish Privateer caused to be laden on Board the said Ship Apollo several Goods, Wares and Merchandizes the Cargo of a Certain British Snow which the said Privateer had taken a few Days before; That soon after the said Goods, Wares and Merchandizes were put on Board the said Ship Apollo she was seperated from the said Spanish Privateer; That he this Deponant was on Board the said Ship Apollo at the Time of such her seperation and saith that she remained under the Conduct of the said Sixteen Spanish Mariners who were put on Board her on her being first taken as aforesaid (in order to carry her to Laguira[4] as they informed this Deponant) untill the twelfth day of July last past when the said Ship Apollo was attacked and Retaken as a Prize on the High Seas by an English Privateer Sloop called the Trembluer[5] whereof Captain Obadiah Bowne was Commander;[6] That upon the Recaption of the said Ship Apollo by the said Sloop the said Captain Obadiah Bowne put on Board her twelve or Thirteen Mariners in order to navigate and carry her to this Port of Philadelphia where she arrived the first day of this Instant Month of August and till which Time the said Deponent Continued on Board her from the Time of her being Retaken as aforesaid.

[Footnote 3: Larne lies on the northeast coast of Ireland, some twenty miles north of Belfast.]

[Footnote 4: La Guayra on the Venezuelan coast, the port of Caracas.]

[Footnote 5: Trembleur, i.e., Quaker. Her first appearance is in the journal of William Black, under date of May 30, 1744: "a fine Bermudas Sloop bought the other day for 800 pounds Sterling, and is called the le Trembleur, to carry 14 Carriage and 20 Swivel Guns, and 100 Men". Pa. Mag. Hist., I. 247.]

[Footnote 6: After the war was over, Bowne settled down to the keeping of a public-house "at the sign of the Trembleur", at the corner of Market and Water streets, hence long called "Bowne's corner". Memorial Hist. Phila., I. 263.]

2d. To the second Interrogatory this Deponent saith that the said Ship apollo at the Time of his being Shipped as Chief Mate of her as aforesaid did belong to Richard Oswald[7] and Company Merchants residing in Glascow in Scotland and subjects of the King of Great Britain as this Deponent was informed by the said Alexander McMullen then Master of the said Ship Apollo. And this Deponent further says that he does no[t] Know to whom the Goods, Wares and Merchandizes taken from on Board the said Ship Apollo did belong, but says that he Knew and was well acquainted with James Bowne the Commander of the said British Snow at the Time of her being Taken as aforesaid.

JOHN BROWN.

[Footnote 7: This was that Richard Oswald (1705-1784), Franklin's friend, who signed for Great Britain the preliminary articles of peace with the United States, Nov. 30, 1782.]

175. Deposition of Diego de Prada y Nieto. August 2, 1745.[1]

[Footnote 1: From the same volume as the preceding, pp. 264-266.]

Diego De Prada y Nieto of Sevilla in the Kingdom of Spain being Sworn

3d. To the third Interrogatory Saith That he Knows the Ship called the Apollo now riding at Anchor in this Port of Philadelphia; That he first saw the said Ship Apollo on the High Seas on the Twenty seventh or Twenty eight day of June last, New stile,[2] about the distance of Twelve or thirteen leagues from the Capes of Virginia; That the Persons then on Board the said Ship were Subjects of the King of Great Britain; That the said Ship Apollo at or about the place and Time aforesaid was Attacked and Taken Prize [by] a Spanish Privateer Snow called the Neustra Senora De los Dellores y Animas[3] Commanded by Don Carlos Francisco de Bissava and Navigated by Eighty Mariners all Subjects of the King of Spain; That immediately upon the said Ship Apollo being taken as aforesaid this Deponant with fifteen or Sixteen Spanish Mariners belonging to the Said Spanish Snow were sent by the said Capt. Don Carlos Francisco de Bissava on Board the said Ship Apollo whereof they took possession; That the Command of the said Ship Apollo was given to this Deponent with orders to carry her to Laguira on the Coast of Caraccas in new Spain;[4] That on or about the thirty first day of June last N.S.[5] the said Capt. De Bissava caused to be put on Board the said Ship Apollo sundry Goods, Wares and Merchandizes being the Cargo of a Certain Snow taken by a Spainish Privateer about five days before, two legues from the Coast of Virginia, but the Names of the Owners or Commander of the said Snow this Deponent Knows not but has heard and believes tha[t] she belonged to the Subjects of the King of Great Britain; That the said Depont. with the said fifteen or Sixteen other Spanish Mariners Continued in Possession and had the Care and Conduct of the said Ship Apollo untill the 23d day of July last, New Stile,[6] when she was attacked and Retaken by an English Privateer Sloop called the Trembleur whereof Capt. Obidiah Bowne was Commander; That the said Captain Bowne immediately upon his retaken the said Ship Apollo put on Board her thirteen Men who Conducted and brought the said Ship to this Port of Philadelphia.

[Footnote 2: A Spanish sailor would date by new style; June 27, N.S., was June 16, O.S., the date given in the previous deposition.]

[Footnote 3: Nuestra Senora de los Dolores y [de las] Animas, "Our Lady of Sorrows and of Souls".]

[Footnote 4: Rather, in the viceroyalty of New Granada.]

[Footnote 5: June 20, O.S., according to John Brown's deposition.]

[Footnote 6: July 12, O.S. (Brown).]

4th. To the fourth Interrogatory This Deponent Saith That among the People who were put on board the said Ship Apollo by the Spaniards there was one Mullato man who was called Limena whom this Deponent says is a free man, and that he, this Deponent had been informed by several and by the said Mullato himself that since the Commencement of the War between England and Spain he was Taken and Carred in to Jamaica and there sold as a Slave and that he run away from the English and got among the Spaniard And this Deponent further heard that he belonged to a Privateer Commanded by Don Pedro De Parieveck and that having quarreld with one of the Officers on board the same, the said Commander by a Letter desired the said Captain Don Carlos Francisco de Bissava Commander of the said Spanish Privateer Snow called the Neustra Senora de los Dellores y Animas to receive the said Mullato on board the same and that he was received aboard accordingly and was to draw an equall share with the Whitemen and did receive ten pieces of Eight Advance money being the sum the Whitemen also receivd and the said Mullato was looked upon by the People on Board the said Privateer as a freeman and by some of them was well known.

DIEGO D PRADA LONE NIETO.



THE PRINCE CHARLES OF LORRAINE.

176. Deposition of Benjamin Munro and William Kipp. April 23, 1746.[1]

[Footnote 1: Rhode Island Archives, volume lettered "Admiralty Papers, 1746-1750", p. 45. Capt. Simeon Potter of Bristol (a town in Massachusetts till January, 1747, in Rhode Island after that date) was one of the most noted and successful of the privateers of his time. His raid on French Guiana in November, 1744, though not enormously profitable nor of much military importance, makes a very picturesque story, chiefly because of the vivid account we have of it from one of its victims, Father Elzear Fauque, an intelligent Jesuit, who was serving the mission at Oyapoc, and was carried away as a prisoner by Potter when he sacked and destroyed that settlement. Father Fauque's narrative, a letter to an officer of his society, dated from Cayenne, Dec. 22, 1744, is in the Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, XXVII. 172-250 (Paris 1749), VIII. 387-454 (ed. 1781), IV. 493-533 (ed. 1819), II. 34-50 (ed. 1838). There is an English translation in Bishop W.I. Kip's Historical Scenes from the Old Jesuit Missions (N.Y., 1875), pp. 153-205, reprinted in Professor W.H. Munro's Tales of an Old Sea Port (Princeton, 1917), pp. 48-93, in which Potter's life is also told. The admiralty case arose from questions respecting disposal of the booty. Prince Charles of Lorraine was brother-in-law of Maria Theresa, and commanded her army against Frederick the Great. According to Father Fauque, the privateer so named carried 10 cannon, 12 swivel-guns and 61 men. Lettres Edifiantes (ed. 1819), IV. 494.]

Benjamin Munro and William Kipp of Lawfull Age Testifieth and Saith that the said Munro was Master of the Sloope Prince Charles of Lorain whereof Simeon Potter was Commander as a Private Man of Warr and that We took and Plundred a Small Place near Cyan[2] called Yopock[3] and then Proceeded to Cyan where said Potters Lieutenant and Thirty Two men Landed took and Plundred a Place called Muekell yeau.[4] We Landed on Cyan with Ten men where We were taken by One hundred and Thirty Soldiers where Three of Our Men were Killed and Four wounded and then We were carried to Cyan Fort where Capt. Potter sent a flagg of Truce on Shoar with a Fryar[5] and some Soldiers that were taken at Yopock whereupon the Governour of Cyan[6] Immediately gave us Our Barge againe to go on board and half an Ox for fresh Provisions and then We went to go on board of Our Vessel but missed of her in the Night and so We Proceeded to Surranam[7] where We were all Put into the Fort and keept untill the Masters of the English Vessels there Petitioned for us to Come out and in a few Dayes after Capt. Potter arrived in the River with his Priveteer and Came up to Surranam to the Governour[8] to Desire Liberty of him to Wood and Water but they gave no Liberty in Ten or Twelve Dayes and then Ordered that the English Men should bring Wood and Water on Board but the Thing was Attended with so much Dificulty that We were Obliged to Sell some small Plunder on board of Our Own Vessell to Defray our Charges and also that while We were at Surranam Three of Our Slaves Ran away from Us and that the Governour keept and Detained them from us then we Sailed for Barbadoes in Order to Carreen and Refitt Our Vessell and that when We came to Sea we found Five Men and no more on Board who talked Dutch and were dressed in Sailors Apparel who did their Duty as Such and Said that they belonged to Dutch Vessells in Surranam and when we arrived at Barbadoes We Landed our Prize Goods and Slaves where they were Condemned and Sold at a Publick Vendue.

BEN MUNRO. WM. KIPP.

Bristol ss: BRISTOL Apr. 23d 1746.

[Footnote 2: Cayenne the chief town of French Guiana. For the pronunciation, see doc. no. 63, note 20.]

[Footnote 3: Oyapoc, on a river of the same name, lies some 80 miles to the southeast of Cayenne, toward the Brazilian boundary.]

[Footnote 4: Macouria, a lady's plantation a little northwest of Cayenne. Father Fauque, ubi sup., pp. 519-520.]

[Footnote 5: Father Fauque was not a friar, but a Jesuit.]

[Footnote 6: M. d'Orvilliers, father of the celebrated admiral of that name. La Condamine, returning by way of the Amazon and of Oyapoc from his celebrated geodetic expedition to Peru, had spent five months with him at Cayenne earlier in this year. Relation Abregee, pp. 209-214.]

[Footnote 7: The Dutch then possessed both what is now Dutch and what is now British Guiana. In 1744 their possessions constituted three colonies, Surinam, Berbice, and Essequebo, of which Surinam, the present Dutch Guiana, was the most important. The fort spoken of was at the capital, Paramaribo.]

[Footnote 8: Jan Jacob Mauricius, governor of Surinam 1742-1751; see account of him in Harris and de Villiers, Storm van 's Gravesande, II. 538-539.]

Personally appeared the above named Benj'n Munro and Will'm Kipp, (being bound to Sea), and made Oath to the truth of the above written evidence: taken in Perpetuam Rei Memoriam before us two of his Majs. Justices of the peace in and for the County of Bristol:[9] Quorum Unus,

JONA: WOODBURY. JOSEPH RUSSELL.

[Footnote 9: At this date a county of Massachusetts. With this narrative we can compare Captain Potter's own brief account of the affair, as given in the Pennsylvania Gazette of Feb. 19, 1745, being an extract from a letter written by him to his owners, sent to that journal from Newport: "We came to an Anchor at Y'opoch River, took a Craft by which we had an Account of a considerable French Settlement up that River, with a Fort of six Carriage Guns and 50 Soldiers, excluding Officers: We went with the Prisoners we took into the Craft (bound) before us as our Guides: At one o'clock in the Morning we landed a small Distance from the Fort, gave three Huzza's and entred the same Sword in Hand, took it without the loss of one Man, kept Possession thereof 8 Days, took in Plunder 9 Indians, 2 Negroes, a Mulatto Wench, 50 Small-Arms, 5 Casks of Powder, and a small Quantity of Plate, and took 10 Prisoners. We then steered for Surinam and sent up for Liberty to refit, but were refused by the Governor thereof: How far this is consistent with the Treaties between England and Holland, I for my part must leave to others to determine."]

177. Deposition of Daniel Vaughan. September 1, 1746.[1]

[Footnote 1: Rhode Island Archives, volume lettered "Admiralty Papers, 1746-1750", following doc. no. 176.]

Daniel Vaughan, late Lieutenant the Sloop Prince Charles of Lorain, Capt. Simeon Potter, on a Cruising Voiage Anno 1744, on oath declared that an Indian man Named Jeffery Potter was one of the Hands of said Sloop during her Cruize; that on said Cruize the Sloops Company made an Attack on a French Settlement called Yapoke and took out of said Settlement Seven Indians, three Negroes, twenty large Spoons or Ladles, nine Large Ladles, one Gold and one Silver hilted Sword, one Gold and one Silver Watch, two Bags of Money the Quanty uncertain, a number of Chest and Trunks of Goods and Merchandize and waring apparell, a Number of Gold Rings, Buttons and Buckles, a Number of Silver Candlesticks and Church Plate both Gold and Silver,[2] a Number of Swords, about Sixty small arms for Cannon, Shot of all Sorts, about Fifty halfe Barrals of Powder, a Quantity of Beafe, Flower and other Provisions and Sundry other things wch. this Deponent cannot enumerate; that after the taking of said Goods etc. from Yapoke sd. Sloop and Company sail'd for Surrinam where Capt. Potter put a Quantity of sd. Merchandize up at Vendue on board a Vessel in the Harbour and purchased the most of them himself and ship't them to Rhode Island on his own account; then said Sloop Sailed for Barbadoes on wch. passage the men demanded that Capt. Potter would Share the Money taken, according to the Articles, to which Capt. Potter answered that he would share none until his Return for all the Men were indebted to the Owners more than that amounted to and Swore at and Damn'd them threatning them with his drawn sword at their Breasts, which Treatment Obliged the Men to hold their Peace and when said Sloop arrived at Barbadoes Capt. Potter without consulting the Men put part of the afore mentioned Effects into the Hands of Mr. Charles Bolton and kept the other part in his own Hands and Supply'd the Men only with Rum and Sugar for their own drinking, and further this Deponent saith that Capt. Potter refusing to let the men have their Shares and his Ill Treatment of them by beating them occasioned about twenty-four to leave the Vessel whose Shares Capt. Potter retained in his Hands and further this Deponent saith not. DANIEL VAGHN. Sworn to this 1 Day of September A.D. 1746, Capt. Potter not notified living out of the Government, befor EBEN'R RICHARDSON Just: apece.[3]

[Footnote 2: Father Fauque greatly laments the loss of these. Professor Munro, History of Bristol, p. 180, says that some of the silver which Captain Potter brought home from Oyapoc is still in the possession of descendants of his family.]

[Footnote 3: Bristol had not yet become a part of Rhode Island. Ebenezer Richardson was a justice of the peace in Newport; R.I. Col. Recs., V. 335. Thomas Ward was elected secretary of the colony of Rhode Island in May, 1747 (ibid., V. 215).]

A true Copy as one file in the Case Patd. agst. Potter examd.

by THO. WARD, Clk.



THE ELIZABETH.

178. Deposition of William Dunbar. May 7, 1747.[1]

[Footnote 1: Rhode Island Archives, same volume as the preceding, p. 15. This deposition follows in that volume the libel of John Sweet of Newport, commander of the privateer Defiance, against Paas's sloop, captured by him.]

Novemb'r 26th 1746 Being at the Island Orcheilla[2] in Company with Captn. Rous in the Trelawney Galley of Jamaica, Saw a Sloop coming from the Eastward, at 9 P.M. took her, they Informed us it was the Sloop Elizabeth, John Paas Mastr. from Martinico, were Bound and belonged to Curacoa, Cargoe Sugar and Coffea. when John Paas came on board the Privateer all the Papers he Could produce was a Sea Brief[3] and a Paper containing an accot. of the Cargoe he then had on Board, we Inquired for the rest of his Papers, he answered he had left them in Martinico, we told him such mistakes were not at all likely, and therefore must Send him into Port. he made Use of many horrid Imprecations, and many times offered to Swear, his Vessell and Cargoe was a Dutch Property and that neither french nor Spaniards were anyway Concerned in either. when we Told him he must go in his Sloop for Rhode Island, his answer Generally was, what Signifies my going with the Sloop without my papers, do but first lett me go to Curacoa and furnish myself w'th papers and then I will follow my Sloop. and his Sloop being Leaky we Concluded to heave her down and stop her leaks before we Sent her homeward. after we had Cleaned her and got the Cargoe on Board, found Concealed in the under part of the Boats Chock,[4] a Sett of french Papers Expressing who the Cargoe belonged to. John Paas Imediately retracted what he had formerly Said, Acknowledged that Vessell and Cargoe did belong to the french. Some time afterwards we had Some discourse Concerning the Illicit Trade that is Carried on by the Inhabitants of Curacoa. John Paas Told me a Sure way of knowing a real dutch Vessell and Cargoe from a Counterfeit one, which is by a paper Carried by all Dutch Vessells (but wanted where french or Spainards are Concerned) expressing the Owners and Master Name, where bound to, a Particular account of all the Cargoe on Board.[5] this Paper is Sworn to by the Owners, afterwards Signed by the Governour and other Officers, with the Island Seal affixed to it.

WILL. DUNBAR.

[Footnote 2: Orchilla, a small island in the Caribbean, north of Venezuela and 200 miles east of Curacao.]

[Footnote 3: See doc. no. 129.]

[Footnote 4: Blocks of wood, shaped to the under side of a boat, on which a boat rested when on the deck of a ship.]

[Footnote 5: See doc. no. 128, note 12.]

The above Eviden[ce] was sworn to in Court the 7th Day of May 1747.

* * * * *

179. Petition of Edward Winter. May, 1749.[1]

[Footnote 1: Mass. Archives, vol. 64, pp. 333-335.]

Province of the } To his Excellency William Shirley Massachusetts Bay } Esqr. Govr: and Commander in chief in and over sd. Province[2] the Hon'ble the Council and House of Rep'ves in General Court Assembled May —— 1749.

[Footnote 2: Shirley was governor of Massachusetts from 1741 to 1756. His correspondence, edited by Charles H. Lincoln, has been published in two volumes by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.]

The Petition of Edward Winter of Boston Blacksmith Humbly Sheweth,

That in the Year 1744 there were nine persons committed to the County Goal[3] in Boston, being charged with committing divers acts of Piracy, Hostility etc. on the high Seas and soon after they were put into Goal, they attempted to get off their Irons and make their Escape but being discovered were prevented, and thereupon your Petr: was ordered to Search and Examine their Irons several times in a week, which he accordingly did from the 12th day of January 1744 to the 23d of July 1746, 253 times, and charged the Province for the same the small price of one shilling a time, amounting in the whole to L12. 13. 0 bills of the last tenor,[4] and put in his Bill to the Committee appointed by the special Court of Admiralty who try'd said Prisoners, to Examine the Acco'ts of Charges that had arisen on said Prisoners, but the same was not allowed by them, they apprehending the Pet'rs Bill sho'd be paid by the County (tho' all other charges upon 'em the Province paid) and said Committee accordingly recommended it to the Court of Sessions to pay the same, to whom your Petr. has since appl'd but they absolutely refused paying it, so that your Petr. unless that he is relieved by this Hon: Court is like to suffer greatly.

[Footnote 3: Gaol.]

[Footnote 4: Massachusetts began the issue of provincial paper money in 1690, and continued it till 1748. Its bills of credit were distinguished, according to the form of these promises to pay, into three varieties: old tenor (issues of 1690-1737), middle tenor (1737-1740), and new tenor (1740-1748). New tenor bills, here spoken of, were at this date valued at about one-tenth of the corresponding sum in specie.]

Your Petr. therefore prays your Excellency and Honours will be pleased to take the premises into Consideration, and as all the other charges were paid by the Province, he prays he mayn't be the only sufferer, but that you'l be pleas'd to order Payment of his Acco't out of the Treasury accordingly.

And as in Duty Bound he shall pray etc.

EDWARD WINTER.

In the House of Rep'tives June 28: 1749.

Read and ordered That there be granted and allowed to be payd to the Petitioner Edw'd Winter out of the Province Treasury the Sum of Twelve pounds Thirteen shillings In full for his Services In Sd. Petition mentioned.

J. DWIGHT, Spkr.

In Council June 29 1749 Read and Concurr'd.

SAM HOLBROOK, D'ty Sec'ry. Consented to. W. SHIRLEY.[5]

[Footnote 5: The order is printed in Acts and Resolves, XIV. 285.]

180. Commission of a Vice-Admiralty Judge. September 23, 1752.[1]

[Footnote 1: From the volume in the clerk's office of the United States district court at Charleston, S.C. called "Admiralty Records of South Carolina, Book E-F", p. 1. A commission issued to a vice-admiralty judge, Lucas Santen, New York, 1683, has already been inserted in this volume, as doc. no. 51, but that, besides being issued under a proprietary, and so not wholly typical, was not a commission to Santen as admiralty judge but a special commission for the trial of piracy. Another typical specimen, to Richard Morris, New York, Oct. 16, 1762, may be seen in E.C. Benedict, The American Admiralty, third ed., pp. 79-84; fourth ed., pp. 76-80. Benedict states that he has also seen the commissions of Roger Mompesson, Apr. 1, 1703, of Francis Harrison, Feb. 13, 1721, and of Lewis Morris, Jan. 16, 1738, who served as judge in New York till 1762. All three were destroyed in the fire at the Albany Capitol.]

South Carolina.

George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, and so forth

To James Michie, Esquire.[2]

[Footnote 2: James Michie, a South Carolina lawyer, was admiralty judge from 1752 to 1758, speaker of the assembly 1752-1754, and chief-justice for a brief period in 1759. He died July 16, 1760. S.C. Hist. Mag., X. 160. His predecessor James Graeme (also chief justice) had died in late August, 1752.]

We, reposing especial Trust and Confidence in the Loyalty, Integrity and Ability of you the said James Michie, and your skill and knowledge in our Laws Civil and Maritime of our Kingdom of Great Britain as well as of our province of South Carolina in America, have constituted and appoint you to be Judge of our Court of Vice Admiralty in our province of South Carolina in America aforesaid, with full Power and Authority to sit, hear and Determine all Causes whatsoever competent to the Jurisdiction of the said Court, To have and to hold, use, exercise and enjoy the said Office of the Judge of the Vice Admiralty in our province of South Carolina in America aforesaid, with all the Fees, profits, Perquisites, Privileges, Advantages and Emoluments incident thereto, in as full and ample manner as any of your Predecessors Judges of the said court have holden the same.

This Commission to continue during Pleasure.

Given under the great Seal of the said Province at CharlesTown in the Council Chamber the twenty third Day of September and in the twenty-sixth year of our Reign 1752.

Witness our Trusty and Well beloved James Glen, Esq: Governor in Chief and Captain General in and over our said Province.[3]

[Footnote 3: James Glen, a Scot, was appointed governor of South Carolina in 1738, commissioned in 1739, came out to the colony in 1743, and was governor till 1756.]

By his Excellency's Command.

WILLIAM PINCKNEY, Dept. Secry.[4]

[Footnote 4: Maj. William Pinckney (1703-1766), deputy secretary and afterward commissary general of the province; grandfather of Governor Charles Pinckney. In the volume in which this commission is found, it is indexed as James Michie's commission from Governor Glen, the document which follows (no. 181) as his commission from England. Sometimes, especially in the earlier period, admiralty judges in the colonies were commissioned by the respective governors acting under warrants from the lords of the admiralty empowering them so to do (e.g., doc. no. 69); more often they were commissioned directly by those lords, under the great seal of the admiralty. Docs. nos. 180 and 181 illustrate the two forms.]

Recorded in the Secretary's Office in Book II, folio 286.

181. Commission of a Vice-Admiralty Judge. June 16, 1753.[1]

[Footnote 1: South Carolina Admiralty Records, vol. E-F, p. 55. See doc. no. 180, note 4.]

George the Second by the grace of God of great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, To our beloved James Michie Esquire, Greeting. We do by these Presents make, Ordaine, nominate and appoint You the said James Michie Esquire to be our Commissary[2] in our Province of South Carolina and Territories thereunto belonging in the room of the former deceased, hereby granting unto you full Power to take Cognizance of and proceed in all Causes Civil and Maritime and in Complaints, Contracts, Offences or suspected Offences, Crimes, Pleas, Debts, Exchanges, Policies of Assurance, Accounts, Chartreparties, Bills of Lading of Ships and all Matters and Contracts which [in] any Manner whatsoever relates to Freights due for Ships hired and let out, Transport Money or maritime Usery (otherwise Bottomary) or which do any Ways concern Suits, Trespasses, Injuries, Extortions, demands and affairs Civil and maritime whatsoever, between Merchants, or between Owners and Proprietors of Ships and all other Vessells whatsoever imployed or used or between any other Persons howsoever had, made, began or contracted, or [any] Matter, Cause or Thing, Business or Injury whatsoever done or to be done as well in, upon or by the Sea or public Streams, or fresh Water, Ponds, Rivers, Creeks and Places Over flowed whatsoever within the Ebbing and flowing of the Sea or high Water Mark as upon any of the Shores or Banks adjoining to them or either of them, together with all and singular their Incidents, emergencies, Dependencies, annexed and Connexed causes whatsoever, and such Causes, Complaints, Contracts and other the Premises abovesaid or any of them howsoever the same may happen to arise, be contracted, had or done, To hear and determine (according to the civil and maritime Laws and Customs of Our High Court of Admiralty of England) in our said Province of South Carolina and Territories thereunto belonging whatsoever, and also with Power to Sit and Hold Courts in any Cities, Towns and Places in our Province of South Carolina aforesaid, for the hearing and determining of all such causes and Businesses together with all and singular their Incidents, Emergencies, Dependencies, annexed and connexed Causes whatsoever, and to proceed judicially and according to Law in administring Justice therein, And moreover to compell the Witnesses in case they withdraw themselves for Intrest, Fear, Favour or ill Will or any other Cause whatsoever, to give Evidence to the Truth in all and every the Causes above mentioned according to the Exegencies of the Law, And further to take all manner of Recognizances, Cautions, Obligations and Stipulations as well to our use, as at the Instance of any parties for Agreements or Debts and other Causes and Businesses whatsoever, and to put the same in execution and to cause and command them to be executed. Also duly to search and inquire of and concerning all Goods of Traitors, Pirates, Manslayers, Felons, Fugitives and Felons of themselves[3] and concerning the Bodies of Persons drowned, killed or by any other means coming to their Death in the Sea or in any Port, Rivers, Public Streams or Creeks and Places overflowed. And also concerning Mayhem happening in the aforesaid Places, and Engines, Toyls and Nets prohibited and unlawful and the Occupiers thereof, And Moreover concerning Fishes Royal, namely Whales, Hoggs, Grampusses, Dolphins, Sturgeon and all other Fishes whatsoever which are of a great or very large Bulk or Fatness, by Right or Custom any Ways used belonging to us and to the Office of our High Admiral of England, and also of and Concerning all Casualties at Sea, Goods wrecked, Flotson and Jetzon, Lagen, Thares [?], Things cast overboard and wreck of the Sea, and all Goods taken or to be taken as Derelicts[4] or by chance [found or] to be found, And all other Trespasses, Misdemeanors, Offenses, Enormities and maritime Crimes whatsoever done and committed or to be done and committed as well in and upon the high Sea as all Ports, Rivers, Fresh Waters and Creeks and Shores of the Sea to high Water Mark, from all first Bridges towards the Sea, in and throughout our said Province of South Carolina, and Maratime Coasts thereunto belonging, howsoever, wheresoever or by what Means so ever arising or happening, and all such Things as are discovered and found out as allso all fines, Mulcts, amercements and Compositions due and to be due in that Behalf To tax, moderate, demand and collect and levy and to cause the same to be demanded, levied and collected, and according to Law to compose and command them to be paid, and also to proceed in all and every the Causes and Business above recited, and in all other Contracts, Causes, Contempts and Offences whatsoever, howsoever contracted or arising (so that the Goods or Persons of the Debtors may be found within the Jurisdiction of our Vice Admiralty in our Province of South Carolina aforesaid) according to the Civil and Maritime Laws and Customs of our said high Court of Admiralty of England anciently used, and by all other lawful Ways, Means and Methods according to the best of your Skill and Knowledge, And all such Causes and Contracts to hear, examine, discuss and finally determine (saving nevertheless the Right of appealing to our aforesaid High Court of Admiralty of England, and to the Judge or President of the said Court for the time being, and saving always the Right of our said high Court of Admiralty of England, and also of the Judge and Register of the same Court, from whom or either of them it is not our Intention in any thing to derogate, by these Presents) and also to arrest and cause and command to be arrested all Ships, Persons, Things, Goods, Wares and Merchandizes for the Premisses and every of them and for other Causes whatsoever concerning the same wheresoever they shall be met with or found within our Province of South Carolina aforesaid and the Territories thereof, either within Liberties or without, And to compel all manner of Persons in that behalf, as the Case shall require, to appear and to answer, with Power of using any temporal Coertion and of inflicting any other Penalty or Mulct according to the right Order and Courses of the Law, summarily and plainly, looking only unto the Truth of the fact. And we impower you in this Behalf to fine, correct, punish, chastise and reform and imprison and cause and command to be imprisoned, in any Gaols being within our Province of South Carolina aforesaid and maritime places of the same, the Parties guilty and Violators of the Laws and Jurisdiction of our Admiralty aforesaid and Usurpers, Delinquents, and contumacious Absenters, Masters of Ships, Mariners, Rowers, Fisher men, Shipwrights and other Workmen and Artificers whomsoever exercising any kind of maritime Affairs as well according to the aforesaidmentioned civil and maritime Laws and Ordinances and Customs aforesaid and their Demerits As According to the Statutes and Ordinances aforesaid and those of our Kingdom of Great Britain for the Admiralty of England in that behalf made and Provided, And to deliver and absolve, to discharge and Cause and Command to be discharged, whatsoever Persons imprisoned in such cases, Who are to be delivered, and to promulge and interpose all manner of Sentences and Decrees and to put the same in Execution, with Cognizance and Jurisdiction of whatsoever other Causes, Civil and Maritime, which relate to the Sea or which any Manner of ways respect or Concern the Sea or passage over the Same or Naval or Maritime Voyage performed or to be performed or the Maritime Jurisdiction above said, with power also to proceed in the same According to the Civil and Maritime Laws and Customs of aforesaid Court anciently used, as well those of meer Office Mix'd or promoted[5] as at the Instance of any Party, as the Case shall require and seem Convenient. And we do by these presents, which are to continue during our Royal Will and pleasure only, Further give and grant unto you James Michie Esq., Our said Commissary, the Power of taking and receiving all and every the wages, fees, Profits, Advantages and Commodities whatsoever in any manner due and anciently belonging to the said Office, According to the Custom of our High Court of Admiralty of England, Committing unto you our Power and Authority Concerning all and Singular the Premises in the several places above Expressed (Saving in all the Prerogative of our said High Court of Admiralty of England aforesaid) together with power of Deputing and Surrogating in your place for and Concerning the premisses one or more Deputy or Deputies as often as you shall think fit. Further we do in Our Name Command and firmly and Strictly Charge all and Singular Our Governors, Commanders, Justices of the Peace, Mayors, Sheriffs, Marshalls, keepers of all our Goals and Prisons, Bailiffs, Constables and all other our officers and Ministers and faithful and Leige Subjects in and throughout our aforesaid Province of South Carolina And Territories thereuntobelonging That in the Execution of this our Commission they be from time to time Aiding, Assisting and yield due Obedience in all things as is fitting, unto you and your Deputy Whomsoever, under pain of the Law and the Peril which will fall thereon. Given at London in the High Court of Our Admiralty of England aforesaid under the Great Seal thereof the Sixteenth Day of June in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven and fifty three and of our Reign the twenty sixth.

SAML. HILL, Register.[6]

[Footnote 2: Civil law judge.]

[Footnote 3: Suicides.]

[Footnote 4: Flotsam, goods found floating on the water from a wreck; jetsam, goods thrown overboard from a ship which has perished; legan, heavy goods thrown overboard with a line and buoy to mark where they have sunk; derelicts, vessels abandoned on the seas.]

[Footnote 5: I.e., cases where there was no one corresponding to the plaintiff in a suit at common law, but where the judge proceeded, as an exercise of his own duty (mere office) or on being promoted (incited) thereto by an informer.]

[Footnote 6: Register of the High Court of Admiralty.]

182. Warrant to try Prizes. June 5, 1756.[1]

[Footnote 1: South Carolina Admiralty Records, vol. E-F, p. 115. This warrant is there entered in the records of the admiralty court for Nov. 22, 1756, the judge, James Michie (see the two preceding documents), presiding. Great Britain had declared war against France on May 18, 1756. A similar warrant is in Anthony Stokes's View of the Constitution of the British Colonies (London, 1783), p. 280.]

By the Commissrs. for Executing the Office of Lord High Admiral of Great Britain and Ireland etc.

Whereas his Majesty had declared Warr agt. France we do in Pursuance of His Majesty's Commissn. under the great Seal of Great Britain dated fourth day of this instant June (a Copy whereof is hereunto Annexed) hereby will and require the Vice Admiralty Court of South Carolina, and the vice Admirall, or his Deputy, or Judge of the said Court, or his Deputy, now, and for the time being, to take Cognizance of, and Judicially to proceed upon all and all manner of Captures, Seizures, Prizes and reprizals of all Ships and goods already Seized and taken, and which hereafter may be seized and taken, and hear and determine the same and according to the Course of Admiralty and Law of Nations, to adjudge and Condemn all such Ships, Vessels and Goods as shall belong to France or the Vessels and subjects of the French King, or to any other inhabiting within any of his Countries, Territories or Dominions, and all such other Ships, Vessels and Goods as are or shall be liable to Confiscation pursuant to the respective Treaties between his Majesty and other Princes, States and Potentates which shall be brought before them for Trial and Condemnation, And for so doing this Shall be their sufficient Warrant. Given under Our Hands and Seal of the Office of the Admiralty this fifth day of June 1756 and in the twenty ninth year of His Majestys Reign.

ANSON.[2] BATEMAN. R. EDGCUMBE.

[Footnote 2: Lord Anson, the celebrated admiral, was at this time first lord of the admiralty. The other commissioners signing were John, second viscount Bateman, an Irish courtier, and Richard Edgcumbe, afterward the second Baron Edgcumbe, celebrated as a dissipated wit.]

To the Vice Admiralty Court of South Carolina and the Vice Admiral or his Deputy or the Judge of the said Court or his Deputy, now, and for the time being.

By Command of their Lordships J. CLEVLAND.[3]

[Footnote 3: John Clevland, secretary to the Admiralty 1751-1763.]

183. Standing Interrogatories. 1756.[1]

[Footnote 1: From Anthony Stokes's View of the Constitution of the British Colonies (London, 1783), pp. 284-288; already in print, but inasmuch as the most learned of American admiralty judges told the editor of this volume that he had never seen a set of the standing interrogatories, that were used at this period, it seems not superfluous to print one here. Later sets, more elaborate, as used in 1798, may be found in Christopher Robinson's Admiralty Reports, I. 381-389, and in Marriott, Formulare Instrumentorum (London, 1802), pp. 130-148. Since in civil-law procedure witnesses were not examined orally in open court, but all testimony was obtained in the form of written depositions, it was advisable in prize proceedings, in order that examinations might be thorough and searching, to employ standard sets of questions, ready-made. Anthony Stokes (1735-1799), from whose book the present specimen is taken, was an English or Welsh lawyer, practised law in Antigua and St. Christopher 1763-1769, and was chief-justice of Georgia, 1769-1776, 1779-1782, then retired to England as a loyalist. His book contains many specimens of documents used in proceedings before the vice-admiralty courts in the colonies.]

Antigua. Interrogatories administered to witnesses in preparatorio, touching In the Court of Vice and concerning the seisure and taking Admiralty. of a certain Schooner, named Princess of Orange, alias Flying Fish, whereof Casparus Wyneburgh was Master, by the private Schooner of War Mary, whereof Edward Richards is Commander.

1. Where was you born, and where do you now live, and how long have you lived there, and where have you lived for seven years last past? are you subject to the Crown of Great Britain, or of what Prince or State are you a subject?

2. When, where, and by whom was the schooner and lading, goods and merchandises, concerning which you are now examined, taken and seised, and into what place or port were the same carried? whether was there any resistance made, or any guns fired against the said schooner, or persons who seised and took the same, and what and how many, and by whom?

3. Whether was you present at the time of the taking or seizing the schooner and her lading, goods and merchandises, concerning which you are now examined, or how and when was you first made acquainted thereof? whether was the said schooner and goods taken by a man of war, or a private man of war, and to whom did such man of war, or private man of war belong? had they any commissions to act as such, and from and by whom, and by what particular vessel, or by whom was or were the said schooner seized and taken? to what kingdom, country, or nation did the said schooner so seized and taken belong, and under the colours of what kingdom, country, or nation did she sail at the time she was so seized and taken? was the said schooner, which was taken, a man of war, privateer, or merchantman?

4. Upon what pretence was the said schooner seized and taken? to what port or place was she afterwards carried? whether was she condemned, and upon what account, and for what reason was she condemned, and by whom, and by what authority was she so condemned?

5. Who by name was the master of the vessel concerning which you are now examined, at the time she was taken and seized? how long have you known the said master? who first appointed him to be master of the said schooner, and when did he take possession thereof, and who by name delivered the same to him? where is the said master's fixed place of habitation with his wife and family, and how long has he lived there? what countryman[2] is he by birth, and to what Prince or State subject?

[Footnote 2: I.e., of what country.]

6. What number of mariners belonged to the said schooner at the time she was taken and seized? what countrymen are they, and where did they all come on board? whether had you, or any of the officers or company, or mariners, belonging to the said schooner or vessel, any part, share, or interest in the said schooner concerning which you are now examined, and what in particular, and the value thereof, at the time the said schooner was so taken, or the said goods seised?

7. Whether did you belong to the schooner or vessel concerning which you are now examined, at the time she was taken and seized? how long had you known her? when and where did you first see her? of what burthen was she? how many guns did she carry? and how many or what number of men did belong to, or were on board the said schooner at the time she was taken, or at the beginning of the engagement before she was taken? and of what country building was she? what was her name, and how long had she been so called? whether do you know of any other name she was called by? and what were such names, as you know or have heard?

8. To what ports and places was the said schooner or vessel concerning which you are now examined bound, the voyage wherein she was taken and seized? to and from what ports or places did she sail the said voyage before she was taken and seized? where did the voyage begin, and where was the voyage to have ended? what sort of lading did she carry at the time of her first setting out on the said voyage, and what particular sort of lading and goods had she on board at the time she was taken and seized, proceeding upon a lawful trade? had she at that time any, and what prohibited goods on board her?

9. Who were the owners of the said schooner and vessel and goods concerning which you are now examined, at the time she was taken and seized? how do you know they were the owners of the said schooner and goods at that time? of what nation are they by birth, and where do they live with their wives and families? and to what Prince or State are they subjects?

10. Was there any bill of sale made to the owners of the said schooner? in what month or year, and where and before what witnesses was the same made, and when did you last see it, and what is become thereof?

11. In what port or place was the lading, which was on board the schooner at the time she was taken and seized, first put on board the said schooner? in what month and year was the lading so put on board? what were the several qualities and quantities, and particulars thereof? whether were the same laden and put on board the said schooner in one port, or at one time, or in several ports and places, and how many by name, and at how many several times, and what particulars and what quantity at each port? who by name were the several laders or owners thereof, and what countrymen are they? where were the said goods to be delivered, and for whose account, and to whom by name did they then really belong?

12. How many bills of lading were signed for the goods seized on board the said schooner? whether were the same colourable, and whether were any bills of lading signed, which were of a different tenor with those which were on board the said schooner at the time she was seized and taken? and what were the contents of such other bills of lading, and what are become thereof?

13. What bills of lading, invoices, letters, or any instruments in writing, or papers, have you to prove your own property, or the property of any other person, and of whom in the schooner and goods, concerning which you are now examined? produce the same, and set forth the particular times when, and how, and in what manner, and upon what account, and for what consideration you became possessed thereof?

14. In what particular port or place, and in what degree of latitude[3] were or was the schooner, concerning which you are now examined, taken and seized? at what time, and upon what day of the month, and in what year, was or were the said schooner so taken and seized?

[Footnote 3: A statement of the longitude, it will be observed, is not required. Any navigator of that time could easily determine his latitude, but there was no accurate method of determining longitude at sea till John Harrison made his trial voyage to Jamaica with his chronometer in 1761-1762.]

15. Whether was there any charter party signed for the voyage, wherein the schooner, concerning which you are now examined, was taken and seized? what is become thereof? when, where, and between whom was the same made? what were the contents thereof?

16. What papers, bills of lading, letters, or other writings, any way concerning or relating to the schooner concerning which you are now examined, were on board the said schooner at the time of the seizure of the said schooner? were any of the papers thrown overboard by any person, and whom, and when, and by whose orders?

17. What loss or damage have you sustained, by reason of the seizing and taking of the said schooner concerning which you are now examined? to what value does such loss or damages amount? and how and after what manner do you compute such loss and damage? have you received any and what satisfaction for such the loss and damage which you have sustained, and when and from whom did you receive the same?



LA VIRGEN DEL ROSARIO Y EL SANTO CRISTO DE BUEN VIAGE.

184. Libel of Richard Haddon. March 9, 1757.[1]

[Footnote 1: This document, and all that follow relating to this case, nos. 184-196, are derived from the files of the vice-admiralty court which during the colonial period sat in New York. They are preserved in the offices of the United States district court in that city. In the case of the colonial admiralty courts which sat in Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston, only the record-books of those courts, from which several of our documents were obtained, have survived, and of the other courts apparently nothing; but from the New York admiralty court we have, besides records, a copious mass of papers relating to the cases, preserved by an exceptionally careful assistant register. By the care of Hon. Charles M. Hough, U.S. circuit judge, these papers have been arranged, mounted, and bound in model fashion. In interpreting the papers here printed, the editor has been much assisted by an opportunity to read a manuscript of Judge Hough's concerning them.

The case of the Virgen del Rosario, more exactly the cases of Richard Haddon v. 10 Doubloons, etc., of Ybanez v. L2409, and of the King v. Thomas Miller and Sampson Simpson, give excellent illustrations of the chicanery with which prize cases could be conducted and of the manner in which through admiralty courts the ends of justice could be defeated. The materials are copious. The history of the capture is sufficiently set forth in docs. no. 187 and no. 188. The legal history of the case may be summarized as follows. Sept. 20, 1756, Nathaniel Marston and Jasper Farmar petition governor and council for a privateer's commission for the Peggy or Charming Peggy, whereof Richard Haddon was to be commander, Christopher Miller lieutenant; Cal. N.Y. Hist. MSS., II. 659. Sept. 29, 1756, the commission is granted. Dec. 7, 1756, the Peggy captures the schooner La Virgen del Rosario y el Santo Christo de Buen Viage, plunders her, and lets her go. (It will be remembered that Great Britain was not at war with Spain at this time, but only with France.) Mar. 5, 1757, the Peggy arrives at New York, "having taken as many Prizes during her Cruize as she could well man"; Pennsylvania Gazette, Mar. 10. Mar. 9, Haddon libels the plunder (doc. no. 184). Mar. 31, the admiralty judge decrees that it shall be his, provided no better claimant arises within a year and a day, and provided he furnishes sureties to the register of the court to the value of L2409. 4s. 11d.; notes of Sir William Burrell on this case in Reports of Cases determined by the High Court of Admiralty and upon Appeal therefrom, temp. Sir Thomas Saulsbury and Sir George Hay, ed. R.G. Marsden (London, 1885), pp. 185-186. July 26, 1757, the sureties present their account of sales (doc. no. 186). Feb. 17, 1758, and Mar. 10, on pressure from London, where Captain Ybanez has made his complaint, the advocate general in New York files a claim for money and goods, in the king's name, to restore them to the Spaniards. Apr. 5, the sureties demur. Apr. 19, the judge dismisses the advocate general's claim. Sept. 27, 1758, Ybanez files his own claim or libel (doc. no. 188), but the judge rules Feb. 10, 1759, that his time had expired (Marsden, loc. cit.). Dec. 19, 1760, the Lords Commissioners of Appeals in Prize Causes reverse the colonial court, and condemn the captor in costs and damages (ibid., and doc. no. 195). July 4 and 26, 1761, the New York judge declares that, while the Lords of Appeal had apparently reversed his decree of Mar. 31, 1757, on Haddon's libel, they had not reversed his decree of Feb. 10, 1759, on that of Ybanez, the decree actually appealed from (court papers). But so the matter had been dragged on until, Jan. 4, 1762, Great Britain declared war against Spain, and it may be considered certain that Ybanez never recovered anything; perhaps he did not deserve to, for pretty clearly he had been violating or evading the laws of his own country.

Meanwhile, July 14, 1758, the advocate general, on account of irregularities on Haddon's part violating his commission as a privateer, had sued his bondsmen (King v. Miller and Simpson). Their counsel moved for a commission to take evidence in Havana, which was granted by the court, Sept. 2, 1758; hence docs. nos. 189, 191-194. June 27, 1761, on all the evidence now collected, the court decreed forfeiture of the bond. July 7, 1761, the sureties appealed (doc. no. 196), but there is no record evidence that their appeal was ever perfected, or that they ever paid. See doc. 196, note 1.]

Province of New York } To the Honourable Lewis Court of Vice Admiralty } Morris Esqr[2] Commissary and Judge of the Court of Vice Admiralty for the province of New York.

[Footnote 2: Lewis Morris (1698-1762)—son of Lewis Morris the governor of New Jersey and father of Lewis Morris the signer of the Declaration of Independence, of Richard Morris the judge, and of Gouverneur Morris—was admiralty judge in New York from 1738 to 1762. His own record of his life, from his family Bible, is in N.Y. Gen. and Biog. Record, VII. 16-18.]

The Lybell of Richard Haddon of the City of New York Marriner[3] Commander of the private vessell of Warr called the Peggy in behalf of himself and the Owners and Company of the said Schooner Peggy in all Humble Manner Sheweth unto your honor that his most Gracious Majesty George the Second, by the Grace of God of Great Brittain france and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, Vfd. by his Commission under the seal of the Court of Vice Admiralty of New York Bearing date the Twenty Ninth Day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand Seven hundred and fifty Six writeing as is therein Recited did thereby Grant Commission to and Lycence and Authorize Jasper Farmer[4] and Nathaniell Marston[5] of the City of New York Merchants to Sett forth in warr Like manner the said Schooner called the peggy under the Command of the said Richard Haddon, therewith by force of Arms to Attack, Surprize, Seize and take by and with the said Schooner and the crew thereof any place or fortress upon the Land or any Ship or Vessell, Goods, Amunition, Arms, Stores of Warr or Merchandize belonging to or possessed by any of his said Majesties Enemies in any Sea, Creek, Haven or River and Such other Ships, Vessells and Goods which are or shall be Lyable to Confiscation pursuant to the treaties between his Said Majesty and Other princes, States and potentates and to bring the same to such port as should be most convenient in Order to have them Legally Adjudged in his said Majesties high Court of Admiralty of England or before the Judges of such other Admiralty Court as Shall be Lawfully Authorized within his Majesties Dominions, which being Condemned it Should and might be Lawfull for the said Richard Haddon to sell and Dispose of Such Ships, Vessells, and Goods, Amunition, Arms, Stores of Warr or Merchandise so Adjudged and Condemned in Such sort and Manner as by the Course of the Admiralty hath been Accustomed as by the said Commission may more fully Appear, and the said Richard Haddon Doth further Show unto your Honour that in pursuance of his Said Commission on or About the Seventh Day of December Last past being on the High Seas within the Jurisdiction of this Court in the said Schooner Peggy with his Company and Crew on Board the Same in or About the Latitude of twenty-one Degrees and Eighteen Minutes North Longitude Eighty Seven[6] Degrees fifty Seven Minutes West from London he did meet with, sett upon and take a Certain Schooner Belonging to the Subjects of the french King Enemies of our Said Lord King George the Second, having on Board ten Doubleloons,[7] five thousand seven hundred and Sixty four Dollars, one hundred and five pistereens,[8] and Some Small Silver as also one Bracelett, twenty Gold rings, Some Silver Buckells, six Swivell Guns, Some Shott, one Cask of Powder, Some Cutlasses and one Kegg of Indigo being the Money, Chattles, Goods and Effects of the Subjects of the french King, Enemies of our Said Lord King George the Second, which money, Bracelett, Rings, Buckells, Swivell Guns, Shott, powder, Cutlasses and Indigo Belonging to the Subjects of the french King and Enemies of our Said Lord King George the Second the said Richard Haddon hath brought into this his Majesties port of New York in the said Schooner Peggy in Order to have the Same Legally Condemned by the Sentence and Decree of this Honourable Court (But the said Schooner being unfitt to Come upon a Winters Coast and he the said Richard Haddon having a Great Number of prisoners Delivered her to a Number of them to Carry them to some french port After takeing out of her the Money, Goods and Chattles aforesaid) Wherefore the said Richard Haddon Humbly prays your Honour that the said Money, Bracelett, Rings, Buckells, Swivell Guns, Shott, Powder, Cutlasses and Indigo Aforesaid belonging to the Subjects of the french King and Enemies of our Said Lord the King may by the Sentence and Adjudication of this Honourable Court be Condemned as Lawfull prize to the Use of the said Richard Haddon and the Owners and Company of the said Schooner Peggy According to the Common Right of Nations and the Law of Arms in Such Case used.

RICHD. MORRIS Pr.[9] for the Lybellent.

[Footnote 3: Richard Haddon, mariner, was a New Jersey man, but became a freeman of New York City in 1749; N.Y. Hist. Soc. Fund Pubs., 1885, p. 167. An extract from a letter of his, written during this same cruise, Dec. 29, 1756, and conveying valuable information he had picked up respecting the proposed expedition of the French up the Mississippi to the Illinois country, is printed in N.Y. Col. Docs., VII. 219; it was an enclosure in a letter from Governor Hardy of New York to Secretary Pitt, Feb. 26, 1757, printed in Miss Kimball's Correspondence of William Pitt, I. 12; cf. p. 31.]

[Footnote 4: Jasper Farmer, merchant, owner in several privateers of the time, and militia captain, was killed a few months later, Apr. 23, 1758, by one whom he was trying to impress.]

[Footnote 5: Also an owner in several privateers; will (1778) in N.Y. Hist. Soc. Fund Pubs., 1900, p. 50.]

[Footnote 6: A scribe must have misread the figure 81, which appears in other documents, into 87. In reality, 87 deg. 57' W., in the latitude named, would locate the capture on dry land, in Yucatan. It took place near the Isle of Pines, south of the western part of Cuba.]

[Footnote 7: A doubloon was a Spanish gold coin, equal to $8.24.]

[Footnote 8: A pistareen or peseta was equal to about 19 cents.]

[Footnote 9: Proctor. Richard Morris (1730-1810), son of the judge (note 2, above), and at this time practising in the court, succeeded his father as admiralty judge in 1762 (commission Oct. 16, see doc. no. 180, note 1), and served as such till 1776, when he took the American side. From 1779 to 1790 he was chief justice of the Supreme Court of New York.]

[Endorsements:] New York Court of Vice Admiralty.—

Richd. Haddon in Behalf of himself the Owners and Comp'y of the Schooner Peggy v. 10 Doubleloons, 5764 Dollars, 105 Pisterreens, one Bracelett, 20 Gold rings, Some Silver Buckells, Some Small Silver, six Swivell Guns, Some Shott, one Cask of Powder, Some Cutlasses and one Bagg of Indigo.—Read and filed Wednesday the 9th of March 1757. Proclamations Wednesday the 9th, Thursday the 10th and Fryday 11th March. Sentence Thursday 31st of March.

185. Deposition of Francisco Raphe. March 31, 1757.[1]

[Footnote 1: The document is endorsed as filed on the same date.]

Province of New York ss.

The Deposition of Francisco Raphe Having been before Sworn and now Examined on the part and behalf of Richard Haddon Commander of the private Vessel of War the Peggy, Against Ten Doubleloons, five Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty four Dollars, One Hundred and five Pisterreens, one Bracelet, Twenty Gold Rings, Some Silver Buckles, Some Small Silver, Six Swivel Guns, Some Shot, one Cask of Powder, Some Cuttlasses and one Keg of Indigo.

1. To the first Interrogatory this Deponent saith that his Name is Francis Rafe, and is twenty Six Years of Age, that he is a Native of Sierra[2] in Greece and Subject to the Grand Turk, by Ocupation a Mariner.

[Footnote 2: Presumably the island of Psyra in the Aegean, now called Psara.]

2. To the second He says, that two Days after the Vessel he was on board of Sailed out of Cuba they were taken by Capn. Haddon, which was about December last, that he does not know the Vessels Name of which he was aboard for she had no Regular Commander, no Dispatches or Papers of any kind from any Port or Place whatsoever And he believes that had said Vessel been taken by any Vessel of any Nation she would have been a lawfull prize, and had she been taken by a Spanish Guarda Costa, the whole Ships Crew would have been Hanged as Pirates, that there were on board of all Nations almost, as Genoves, French and others, In Number Seventy two, and that one of the Chief in Particular was a Frenchman Subject to the French King. That He knows no further to Declare in Relation to any other Interrogatories, but only that He absolutly from all the Knowledge he can form thinks her to be a just and Lawfull prize.

FRANCISCO RAPHE.

Examined the 31st March Anno Dom 1757 (GARRET NOEL, Spanish Interpreter)[3] RICHD. NICHOLS Reg'er.[4]

[Footnote 3: "Spanish interpreter of the province of New York"; Cal. N.Y. Hist. MSS., II. 662, and Cal. Council Minutes, p. 443. Elder in the Presbyterian Church; Cal. N.Y. Hist. MSS., II. 698, and Doc. Hist. N.Y., III. 300. Schoolmaster; N.Y. Hist. Soc. Fund Pubs., 1885, p. 177. "Mr. Garret Noel, for many years a respectable bookseller in New York, died at Elizabethtown, N.J., September 20, 1776, aged 70"; ibid., 1899, p. 370.]

[Footnote 4: Register of the court of admiralty till his death, Aug. 19, 1775. "During a residence in New York of 60 years he followed the Profession of Law. He was of a respectable family in Wales". Ibid., 1899, p. 296, where his will is given.]

186. Account of Sales. July 26, 1757.[1]

[Footnote 1: The document is not dated; the date may be supplied from doc. no. 188, p. 550, infra.]

Sales of Sundrys takeing and Brot. in by the Privateer Schooner Peggy Richd. Haddon Commr.

1 Brasslett L 2. 0. 0 20 Gold Rings Case Mattle[2] @ 8/ 8. 0. 0 Some Odd Silver Buckles 2. 0. 0 Some Small Silver 1.12. 7 6 Swivle Gunns @ 40/ 12. 0. 0 Some Shott 9. 6 Cagg Powder 2.12. 0 Some Cuttlasses 18. 0 1 Kegg Indigo 10. 3. 4-3/4 ———————- 39.15. 5-3/4 5764 Dollars @ 8/ L2305.12. 0 10 Doubleloons @ 112/ 56. 0. 0 105 Pistereens 1/6 7.17. 6 ———————- 2369. 9. 6 ———————- L2409. 4.11-3/4 ———————-

[Footnote 2: Metal? The valuation indicates alloyed gold. The slanting mark after 8 is for shillings, and the shilling in this account is the New York shilling, equivalent to 12-1/2 cents.]

Errors Excepted

THOS. MILLER.[3]

[Footnote 3: Thomas Miller was a nephew of Jasper Farmer; C.F. Billopp, History of Thomas and Ann Billopp Farmer, pp. 45, 46.]

187. Deposition of Don Felipe Ybanez.[1] September 2, 1758.

[Footnote 1: In some of the documents the name is found written, by ignorant scribes, Philip y Banes, and therefore it is found under Banes in some indexes. Ybanez, arriving in Jamaica soon after the capture, complained to Vice-Adm. George Townshend, commanding on that station, of the "piratical behavior" of Haddon. Townshend wrote to the secretary of the admiralty, enclosing affidavits. Holdernesse, secretary of state, sent on May 20, 1757, a circular to the colonial governors, printed in N.C. Col. Rec., V. 756, expressing his Majesty's indignation at such actions toward a neutral, and ordered the governor of New York to proceed against Haddon. The Calendar of Council Minutes, p. 434, shows the letter to have been received, July 16. On Sept. 16 Secretary Pitt sent a circular to the governors with strict commands against molesting Spanish subjects; Kimball, Corr. of William Pitt, I. 105. On Feb. 13, 1758, Lieutenant-governor James DeLancey writes (ibid., I. 181) that this circular had been received Jan. 19, and that a proclamation had at once been issued. He adds, "Capt. Phillip Ybannes who was plundered by Capt. Richard Haddon is now here and I have put him in a way to recover the loss he has sustained and if he meets with Justice in the Admiralty he cannot fail of a recompence."]

Province of New York. Court of Vice Admiralty.

The Deposition of Don Phelipe Ybanes being before Sworn and now Examined on the part of our Lord the King on the Lybel of William Kempe, Esqr.[2] his Majes'ys Advocate General for this Province of New York Against Thomas Miller and Sampson Simpson[3] Defendants.

[Footnote 2: Attorney general 1752-1759, advocate general 1753-1759, d. 1759. He filed his claim on behalf of the crown Feb. 17 and Mar. 10; the judge dismissed it Apr. 19, 1758, on the ground that the king had no interest in the goods. Marsden, p. 185; doc. no. 188, and other papers.]

[Footnote 3: Samson or Sampson Simson, d. 1773, son of Rabbi Joseph Simson and uncle of that Samson Simson who founded the Mt. Sinai Hospital, was the chief Jewish merchant in New York, owner of several privateers, and later one of the founders of the Chamber of Commerce. At this time he was parnas residente (president) of the Congregation Shearith Israel, till 1825 the one Jewish congregation in New York. Publications of the American Jewish Hist. Soc., II. 83, III. 81, X. 109-117, XI. 155, XXI. 74, XXV. 90. Dr. Benjamin Kennicott, in The Ten Annual Accounts of the Collation of Hebrew MSS. of the Old Testament (Oxford, 1770), p. 161, mentions information from President Cooper in New York "that Mr. Sampson Simson, a very worthy and benevolent old Gentleman, of the Jewish persuasion, living in that city, is in possession of a MS. of very great antiquity, containing the whole Hebrew Bible"—on which see Ezra Stiles, Literary Diary, III. 3, 32.]

1st. This Deponent saith that his Name is Phelipe Ybanes Aged thirty seven years Born at St. Lucar[4] in Old Spain by Ocupation a Mariner and subject to the King of Spain.

[Footnote 4: At the mouth of the Guadalquivir. Columbus sailed thence on his third voyage, in 1498.]

2ly. That his first knowledge of Richd. Haddon and the Schooner Peggy was on the sixth or Seventh Day of December 1756. That he first knew the Schooner called the Virgin of the Rosary and Santo Christo in the year 1756 when he bought her in Jamaica. That she belonged to Port Trinity[5] on the Island of Cuba immediately before the 6th and 7th Days of December 1756. He this Depon't being then Commander of said Schooner having his Resident in the Havana with his Family. That he was on board said Schooner on the 6th and 7th days of December 1756 as Commander and Owner. That said Schooner was not then Equipped to use Force in any manner but only as a trading Vessel. That she had on board three small Guns unloaded and Six Swivel Guns, three of which were Loaded with Ball in Case of Necessity to make Signals but all in the Hold for Ballast, and fourteen Hangers,[6] which was all the Arms on board. That he this Deponent was sole Owner of said Schooner at that time. That when he this Deponent was met with by Richd. Haddon on the 6th or 7th Day of December 1756, he[7] came from Port Trinity but last from Port Banes[8] Eight Leagues from the Havana in the same District where he touched and took in for Jamaica, where he was Bound, two Passengers both Eng'h Subjects named Henry Myerhoffer[9] and Willm. Abbot[10] Beside which he took in Eight Spaniards. That they then made to the Number of Sixteen Spaniards on board and two English, seven of which were Mariners. The Names of the Spaniards were Don Phelipe Ybanes Capn. and Owner, Don Francisco Garcia, Pasqual de Cordova, Don Geronimo de la Cal, Cayetano Peres, Pablo Antonio Corea, Marcelino Marero, Silvestre Manuel de Castro, Miguel de Fuentes, Henry Myerhoffer, and Wm. Abbot English Passengers, Juan Lorenso Boatswain, Matheas Antonio, Antonio Malacallo, Bedro Valderama, Antonio Gonis, Bernardo Martines, Antonio Navarette, Mariners. That the Spanish Passengers were Residents at the Havana with their Families and so were the Seamen Except one who is a Resident at St. Agustin. That the motive of the Spanish passengers going in said Schooner was to trade at Jamaica. That said Schooner had no more Mariners on board than is Customary nor so many as is quite Necessary for such a Vessel. That there was no such person on board said Schooner as Francisco Raphel[11] at the time she was taken by Richd. Haddon nor any French Subjects.

[Footnote 5: Trinidad, near the middle of the south side of Cuba.]

[Footnote 6: Small short swords.]

[Footnote 7: The deponent.]