USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Salem > Salem vessels and their voyages; a history of the "Astrea", "Mindoro", "Sooloo", "Panay", "Dragon", "Highlander", "Shirley", and "Formosa", with some account of their masters, and other reminiscences of Salem shipmasters > Part 2
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Eight chests Bohca tea and eight chests Hyson tea for Benjamin Webb, Salem.
Sixty-five chests Hyson tea, 35 chests Bohea tea, 10 half chests do., three boxes China ware, 15 cases Nankeens and one case silks to James Magce (master of the Astrea) and Thomas Handasyd Perkins (supercargo of the ship) of Boston.
Twenty-eight chests Hyson tea and one chest Nankeens for Thomas H. Perkins, Boston.
Three chests Nankeen, one chest Bohea tea and one chest Hyson tea for James Magee and Thomas H. Perkins of Boston.
Two cases silks for Oliver Brewster, Boston.
Forty-nine chests Hyson tea, four boxes Chinese fig- ures, nine boxes of merchandise, 18 boxes Fouchong tea and two chests Nankeen for Thomas H. Perkins, Boston.
Two tea caddys, three boxes tea, eight boxes Fouchong tea, four boxes paper hangings, one box ribbon, two ivory baskets, three boxes Hyson tea and four tubs sugar candy for Thomas H. Perkins, Boston.
Six chests gunpowder tea, two half chests do., 155 chests fine tea, 18 half chests Fouchong tea, 64 chests do., 25 boxes china ware, 10 boxes merchandise, six bundles win- dow frames, two bundles floormats, seven boxes images, six boxes pictures, one mat containing lambkin, two lacquered ware tea boxes, four small boxes Hyson tea, one box Fou- chong tea, 16 small boxes do., four small boxes gunpow- der tea, three whole chests Bohea tea, two small bundles hair, one small box sundries, one bagg farmerie and one small box Hyson tea for James Magee, master of the ship.
Three chests Bohea tea, 15 quarter chests do., and four chests Hyson tea, one-third for Thomas P. Bray, Salem. Two chests chinaware for E. II. Derby, Salem.
One small box silks and one small box chinaware for Thomas H. Perkins, Boston.
The foregoing comprises the largest and most important
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS Supercargo of the "ASTREA "
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BY GEORGE GRANVILLE PUTNAM
items of the manifest, and there is also a list of between 100 and 200 small articles, consigned to other persons, The reader may see the form in perusal of the photograph of the manifest itself, which accompanies this article, Col- lector Sullivan having given his permission for its repro- duction.
The document is signed by James Magee, master, fol- lowed by the words, "Sworn before me this 5th day of June, 1790, Joseph Hiller, Coll'r."
To the original paper has been added the following: "Endorsed, No. 54, James Magee, Ship Astrea. Attest, Robert S. Rantoul, collector, 1865." And on the centen- nial anniversary of the original signing the paper, it re- ceived the following official recognition: "Centennial. Signed this 4th day of June, 1890, A. F. Hitchings, Spe- cial Deputy Collector."
The amount of duties paid on the cargo was $27,109.18.
When the present special deputy collector, William J. Sullivan, was appointed to the office, he took special charge of this manifest, and, as before stated, keeps it secure in the Custom House safe.
The Astrea made several other voyages. In 1793, while on a voyage from Madras to Pegu, she was seized by the Sultan of Pegu, and used as a transport for his troops to Siam. Capt. John Gibaut and his mate were detained as hostages. Captain Gibaut was an intimate friend of Rev. William Bentley, D. D., who writes in his diary that "he was a scholar and a gentleman, and entered Har- vard University which gave him a degree." He died in Gloucester, August 11, 1805, in the 38th year of his age, while collector of customs for the district.
The writer has not been able to find the end of the Astrea. Log books of the ship, preserved by the Essex Institute in its fireproof building, are one from China to Java in 1790, Diedrich Wise, master; to Russia in 1787, Benjamin Hodges, master. Her register at the Salem Custom House states that she was built in Pembroke in 1782. The register is dated May 11, 1791.
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SALEM VESSELS AND THEIR VOYAGES
THE OWNER.
Elias Hasket Derby, the owner of the Astrea, was born in Salem, August 16, 1739. In the memoir by his son, E. H. Derby, it is stated that he was of English extrac- tion. His ancestor, Roger Derby, born in 1643, emigrated to America in 1671, from Topsham, near Exeter, in the South of England. He settled first at Ipswich, but re- moved to Salem, where he embarked in trade, reared a large family, and acquired a respectable property. His son Richard, born 1679, died in 1715, at the early age of 35, married, in 1702, Martha, daughter of Elias Hasket, of Salem. He left a son Richard, born in 1712, who was the father of Elias Hasket Derby, the subject of this sketch. Losing his father in his infancy, Richard was reared by an energetic mother, and in his 24th year, in 1736, he was master of the sloop Ranger, from Salem for Cadiz and Malaga, in which he made a good voyage. He retired from the sea in 1757, and became a merchant of Salem.
Elias Hasket Derby, his second son, the subject of this sketch, was born in Salem, and in carly life appears to have kept the books and conducted the correspondence of his father, and to have been the accountant of his family. At an early age he married a Crowninshield, while his sister married a Crowninshield also, thus making a double connection between the families. From 1760 to 1775, ho not only took charge of his father's books, wharves, and other property, but imbibing the spirit of his father and ·acquiring through him and his captains a knowledge of commerce, he engaged extensively in the trade to the English and French islands. At the commencement of the Revolutionary War, he was the owner of no less than seven sail of vessels, in the trade of the West Indies, varying from sixty to one hundred tons, and by frugality and industry had acquired a property of $50,000.
At this period, most of the rich men of Massachusetts clung to the mother country, but none of the Derby name followed their example, and the subject of this sketch espoused the cause of the colonies. His trade and that of
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BY GEORGE GRANVILLE PUTNAM
Salem was ruined by the war, and his property seriously impaired. Mr. Derby, indignant, united with his towns- men and took a prominent part in the equipment of at least 150 armed vessels, fitted out from Salem during the Revolution, mounting more than 2,000 cannon, and manned by the gallant seamen of Salem, Beverly and Marblehead. He subscribed $10,000 towards the build- ing of the famous frigate Essex.
Ile had been successful, but he welcomed peace with joy, for his tastes were pacific. He was prepared, by the speed and capacity of his vessels, to meet the mercantile fleet of England in fair competition. He sent his vessels to Europe and to the "rich ports of the far East," and he acquired a handsome property. He built a handsome mansion in what is now Derby Square, but he did not live long to enjoy it. His death occurred in Salem, Sep- tember 8, 1799. His property was valued at more than $1,000,000, and was the largest single individual fortune in New England, if not in the whole country.
THE COMMANDER.
It would be interesting to have a detailed sketch of Captain James Magee, the master in whom, with Mr. Perkins, so much confidence was placed by Mr. Derby. In his book on "An Account of the Maritime History of Massachusetts," the author, Samuel Eliot Morrison, thus refers to him:
"Captain James Magee (1750-1801), is described as 'a convivial, noble-hearted Irishman,' during the Revolution commanded the man-of-war brig General Arnold, which was wrecked in Plymouth Bay. He married Margaret Eliot, sister of Mrs. Thomas Handasyd Perkins, and lived in the old Shirley mansion, Roxbury."
THE SUPERCARGO.
A biography of Thomas Handasyd Perkins, the super- cargo of the Astrea, is published in The Merchants' Mag- azine and Commercial Review, volumne 33, from July to
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SALEM VESSELS AND THEIR VOYAGES
December, 1855, and from it the following notes are taken :
"Thomas Handasyd Perkins was born in Boston, De- comber 15, 1764, and was named for his grandfather, Thomas Handasyd Peck. His father died in middle age, leaving a widow and cight children, of whom he was the second son and only six years old. His mother lived to be 71 years old. The son gave up the chance of an edu- cation at Cambridge, in order to enter a commercial life, and he was placed with the Messrs. Shattuck, among the most active merchants of Boston, where he remained until he was 21. He married Miss Sarah Elliot, only daughter of Simon Elliot, in 1788, and the union lasted more than 60 years. His married life led to an intimacy with Cap- tain James Magee, a relative of Mrs. Perkins, who had made one voyage to Canton. He sailed from Salem in February, 1789, a supercargo of the ship Astrea, bound to Batavia and Canton, and commanded by Captain Ma- gee. He later became a merchant and a military officer, and had a most remarkable career, which is detailed at. length in the Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Re- view, volume 33, July and December, 1855. He became possessed of considerable wealth, and gave liberally to charity and several institutions, the Boston Athenaeum and Harvard University, and was one of the founders of the Perkins' Institution for the Blind, in Boston, which is named for him. He died in Boston, Jan. 11, 1854, in the 90th year of his age. Robert C. Winthrop said of him: "He was one of the noblest specimens of humanity to which Boston ever gave birth."
Mr. Perkins wrote interestingly of his voyage in the Astrea. He said: "Difficulties were encountered and in- conveniences were necessarily submitted to then which are avoided now. The ship was not coppered, and her bottom becoming foul, we made a long passage to Batavia ; being in want of water before arriving there we stopped at Mew Island, at the mouth of the Straits of Sunda, for a supply.
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BY GEORGE GRANVILLE PUTNAM
"The casks in which a part of our water was contained had been used in bringing coffee from the Cape of Good Hope, and although burned out, and, as was supposed, purified, yet the water put in them was most disgusting. The waters from the cascade on the Java shore were of course duly appreciated. We remained in this beautiful bay several days. There were at the time no inhabitants on this part of Java. I went on shore every day, and in one of my excursions climbed the precipice over which the cascade flowed, to examine its source, and from what we learned on reaching Batavia, we were led to believe that we had run great hazard, as more than one instance had occurred of persons visiting the same spot having been. destroyed by tigers, who were slaking their thirst in this beautiful stream. Bats of great size were seen crossing the narrow strait which divided Mew Island from Java, and returning towards the close of the day to their roosts on the Java side. Tigers and anacondas abound at Ba- tavia.
"I remember the fright I had in crossing a creek, the bottom of which was hard, about knee deep, and but a few yards wide. My crossing alarmed half a dozen or more young crocodiles or alligators, which were further up the stream than I was crossing, and they came down upon'us with a celerity which was inconceivable. None of them touched either my servant or myself, and I have no doubt they were quite as much alarmed as we were.
"No boats of any kind came into the bay while we lay there. Prince's Island was in sight; but the inhabitants, who had a bad name, were otherwise engaged, and we met nothing to alarm us. The pirates from Sumatra and the Eastern Islands made frequent attacks on vessels in those days, even so far to the west as the Straits of Sunda,
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SALEM VESSELS AND THEIR VOYAGES
though their depredations were more confined to Banca Straits and the more eastern archipelago."
ANOTHER SHIP ASTREA.
Mr. Derby had a second ship Astrea built for his East India trade, and it became quite as noted as the first of the name. The vessel was built in Bradford in 1795, and registered 391 tons. Under command of Henry Prince, with Nathaniel Bowditch, the eminent mathematician, supercargo, this Astrea was the first American vessel to visit Manila, arriving at that port in 1796. A journal of this voyage, kept by Dr. Bowditch, is a model, and is in the possession of the Essex Institute. The Astrea sailed from Salem, March 27, 1796, for Lisbon, thence to Manila, where she arrived October 3, 1796. On February 18, 1797, the ship sprung a leak and from that date until May 22, 1797, when she arrived at Salem, two men were obliged to be kept constantly at the pumps.
From 1797 to 1858, the date of the last arrival at this port from Manila, in July, 1858, of the barque Dragon, Captain Thomas C. Dunn, with a cargo of hemp, con- signed to Benjamin A. West, there were 82 entries at Salem from Manila. The period from 1829 to 1839 shows the largest number of arrivals, 30 of the 82 entries being made in that time.
SHIP MINDORO " Charles H. Al'en, Jr., Master Silsbee, Pickman & Allen, Owrers From painting owned by George H Alen . showing the ship leaving Boston July 17, 1964, For Batavia and Hong Kong
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BY GEORGE GRANVILLE PUTNAM
THE SHIP MINDORO.
The last of Salem's square-riggers, and one which was perhaps best known to Salemites of today, for she lay at Derby wharf from 1893 to 1897, awaiting a purchaser, before she was sold to New York parties, was the ship Mindoro. She was built in East Boston in 1864, and was launched from the yard of John & Justin E. Taylor, her builders. She registered 970 tons and was an enor- mous carrier, having on board 2,000 tons of sugar on one voyage; on another, 1,350 tons of sugar and 1,450 tons of coal; and 7,227 bales of hemp on a third. She was 168 feet long, 39 feet beam, and 28 feet depth of hold. Her owners were Silsbees, Pickman & George H. Allen.
When she was built, the high price and scarcity of hard pine lumber led her builders to construct her of oak, and so thoroughly well built was she that she was entitled to a special classification, being rated A-1 with a star, which is the highest rate that can be given a ship. She was rebuilt in 1884 and the original oak was re- placed by hard pine, and at the same time she was put in first class condition, so that she was as trim and new as when launebed in 1864.
The ship's quarters were comfortable. Aft, under the poop deck, which extended some distance beyond the mizzenmast, were the captain's quarters, an extra state- room and a saloon, with the quarters of the first and second mates forward of these, all open from the poop deck. The steward's pantry, store room and dining room were also under this deck. On the main deck, between the mainmast and the foremast, was a good-sized house, containing cook's room, galley, large store room, carpen- ter's shop, and forward of these the crew's quarters.
CAPT. CHARLES H. ALLEN, JR.
Captain Charles H. Allen, Jr., was the first master of the Mindoro, and was born in Salem, March 26, 1880, the son of the late William E. and Sarah H. (Wright) Allen. His father was a shipmaster, who died at Gam- bia, on the coast of Africa, in 1838. The son graduated from the old Phillips School, and when only 15 years
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SALEM VESSELS AND THEIR VOYAGES
of age he shipped on the famous old ship St. Paul, on a voyage to Manila and back to Salem. The ship was commanded by his uncle, the late Captain Charles H. Allen, and the boy made three round voyages in her. In 1848 he made a voyage in the ship John Q. Adams, to Canton and return. In 1849 he was second mate of the ship Harriot Erving, to Valparaiso. There he joined the ship General Harrison as mate, and proceeded to San Francisco. He remained in California until the fall of 1851, spending a part of the time in mines. He was there during the exciting times of the mining days, and was a member of the famous vigilance committee, which by its prompt work cleared the city of San Francisco of the murderers and thugs that infested it, and again made life safe. One of his companions at this time was Frcd Townsend Ward, later the famous Chinese mandarin. General Ward was then the mate of the ship Russell Glover, living aboard the vessel most of the time.
In 1851, Mr. Allen joined as mate the big ship Susque- hanna, in San Francisco, and went in her to Shanghai and New York, arriving home in the spring of 1852. Next, he sailed as mate of the barque Pilot, Capt. Thomas C. Dunn, making a voyage to the Fecjee Islands. He re- mained at the Islands a long time, having a most remark- able series of adventures. While there, a war broke out among the natives, and the bodies of the slain were eaten by the victors. He was urged to dine with the natives, but declined, having no taste for human flesh. From the Feejees he went to Manila. On the passage home to Salem the vessel sprung a leak, and was con- demned at Batavia.
At Batavia he joined as mate the ship Torrent, Captain Copp, of Salem, and was in the ship two voyages between London, China and Australia. In 1865 he came home from London as mate of the ship Sparkling Waves. On this trip he took off the crew, while in charge of a boat, of a Norwegian vessel on the southern end of the Grand Banks, and bound to Boston. In June, 1865, he joined. as mate the new ship Sumatra, of Salem, Capt. Josiah
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BY GEORGE GRANVILLE PUTNAM
Dudley, and made three voyages to Manila, Australia and San Francisco.
He arrived home in January, 1861, and in June of the same year was made master of the ship Sooloo, of Salem, and went to San Francisco, Mazatlan and Bremen, and returned to New York. In November, 1862, he took charge of the ship Derby, to San Francisco, and sailed between San Francisco and Hong Kong until 1864, carrying passengers and freight.
In December, 1864, he became master of the new ship Mindoro, and made three voyages, as before stated. In 1870 he took charge of the new ship Formosa, making three round voyages in her between Boston and Manila. In 1876 he returned to the Sooloo, and remained in her until he retired in 1884, all of her voyages being to Manila, Australia and Japan and home.
April 10, 1856, he married Miss Margaret Mckenzie, of Salem, but she died some years ago. He was the father of Charles F. Allen, of the City Trust Company, Boston, and Miss Mary F. Allen and Miss Lillian H. Allen, all of Salem. Captain Allen joined the Salem Marine Society Nov. 5, 1879.
CAPT. BENJAMIN OLIVER REYNOLDS.
Captain Reynolds, the second commander, was born in Dover, N. H., in December, 1836, and began a seafaring life as a boy on the ship Shirley, of Salem, in 1854. The ship was owned by Silsbees, Pickman & George II. Allen, and was bound to Australia, under the command of Capt. Nicholas T. Snell, of Salem. He continued in her several voyages and was promoted to second and chief mate. He next sailed in the ship Malay, owned by the same firm, Capt. Samuel Hutchinson Jr., to San Fran- cisco, as mate. He came home in the ship Ocean Pearl. He joined the new ship Mindoro in 1864, as mate, and was made master of her in 1869. In 1873 the firm made him master of their ship Formosa. He made sev- cral voyages in her, but lost her in 1880. On one voyage in her he sailed from Boston, Feb. 14, 1877, and made the passage to Melbourne, Australia, in the quick time
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SALEM VESSELS AND THEIR VOYAGES
of 79 days. He came home and took charge of the ship Humboldt, owned by DeGroot & Peck, but on the home- ward passage was so unfortunate as to Jose her on Lincoln Island, one of the Paracel group. His mate was W. Frank Powars, who later commanded the ships Mindoro and Sooloo. The officers and crew passed through many thrilling experiences. The story of the wreck was written home by Captain Powars, and the writer of this series had the great pleasure of obtaining it for publication in the old "Salem Register." Mr. Powars came home to New York as mate of the ship Samar, Capt. Oswald Miller, of Salem.
The "Salem Register" published the story in full, and it occupied two columns in each of its issues of Dec. 22 and Dec. 26, 1881. It created a widespread interest. Hon. Charles W. Palfray, the senior editor, wrote: "The letter was written by Mr. Powars to his sister, Mrs. Edward Collins of Salem, in the freedom of family intercourse and with all the frankness of a sailor, and was not designed for publication, but is too vivid a pic- ture of the perils encountered by those who 'go down to the sca in ships,' and too intensely interesting in itself as a true story of remarkable adventure, to be withheld from his friends and the public. If 'the age of chivalry is gone,' this narrative proves that the age of romantic and perilous events and wonderful escapes is not. The narrative is as full of fascination as the fictitious adven- tures of Robinson Crusoe, and is marked by as wonderful providences as any detailed in Cotton Mather's 'Mag- nalia.' As a tale of the sea it would furnish material for a volume worthy of the genius of a Cooper or a Marryatt."
The letter was highly prized by the friends of Captain Powars, all of whom will be glad to see it published in permanent form in "The Historical Collections" of the Institute. Henry C. Gauss, of Washington, D. C., a former Salem journalist, and a brother-in-law of Captain Powars, has caused to be typewritten the full story, which he has presented to friends. In introducing the . letter, Mr. Gauss says :
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BY GEORGE GRANVILLE PUTNAM
"Captain William Frank Powars, of Salem, Mass., who wrote the following account of the wreck of the ship Humboldt as a letter to his friends in Salem, was the last of a race of Salem boys, now become traditional, who entered the maritime profession as ship boys and rose to command.
"He was a man of most engaging and estimable per- sonality, and in narrative was always picturesque and intensely interesting. The following unstudied picture of a shipwreck suffers in no degree by comparison with that classic of American sea-writing, "Two Years Before the Mast,' and, indeed, supplements that narrative, which contains no description of a wreck."
"Temperance Hall, "Hong Kong, China. "November 3, 1881. "I am once again in Hong Kong, but this time under very sad circumstances, in consequence of the loss of the good ship Humboldt on Lincoln Island Reefs, one of the Paracles group, in the China Sca, on the night of Oct. 22, during a typhoon.
"The Humboldt left Woo Sung, at the mouth of the Shanghai River, on the forenoon of Oct. 18, and that night was out clear of all islands, so we could shape a course down the China coast. That night and Wednes- day the 19th passed off with very fine weather, but on the morning of the 20th the weather shut in thick and the wind gradually increased. We ran through Formosa Channel that day, and at eleven o'clock that night were clear of all danger there.
"From that time we shaped a course for Macclesfield Bank to the eastward of the Paracles Islands. Friday noon, weather thick and blowing heavily, with a very high sea, no observation, ship making a run from 11 to 13 miles per hour. Saturday noon the weather was worse every way than on Friday, the ship under lower fore and main topsails making from 10 to 11 miles per hour; at 4 p. m., barometer very low, the vessel was hove to; in coming to the wind lost lower foretopsail, the men
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SALEM VESSELS AND THEIR VOYAGES
getting frightened and leaving the braces, and one slat of the sail took it clear away; Jay to under lower main topsail until 7.30 p. m., and as the wind had gone down considerably at that time, kept away on the course again, in the meantime having bent another lower foretopsail.
"It was my watch below when the ship was kept off. I went on deck at 8 o'clock, and Capt. Reynolds ivent below to try and get some sleep, telling me to watch the barometer and not make any more sail unless the glass went up. He left me, and I went about hauling braces taut and other ropes that were slatting about. Had just finished and was going along the main deck to have a look at the lookout man, when I heard a roar like distant thunder. I turned to run to the cabin to tell the captain the wind was coming from the southwest, and at the same time sung out to the man at the wheel to put the helm "hard-a-starboard." Before I got to the cabin door the man on the lookout shouted "Breakers ahead !" and at the same time a heavy sea broke over the stern. I jumped on the booby hatch and from there to the top of the after-house, and sang out "All hands on deck." When the ship went down on the next sea, the ruddor was un- hung and the mainstay carried away at the masthead.
"We all gathered in the mizzen rigging, up out of the water, and when the vessel struck the bottom it was as much as we could do to keep from being shaken off. It could not have been more than five minutes before we were over the reef and into deep water, but it seemed as many hours. As good fortune had it, the ship kept stern on to the sea, for had she laid broadside to it she would have been turned end over end. As soon as we found she did not strike the bottom when she went down in the sea, ordered the carpenter to sound the pumps, and found she was making water fast. Some of the men were placed at the pumps and some were ordered to put bread and water in the two quarter boats which we always carried there, and which could have been ready to lower in two minutes. But no boat of the four in the ship could have lived in that sea, though it looked at the time as if that was our only hope.
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