USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Standard history of Essex county, Massachusetts, embracing a history of the county from its first settlement to the present time, with a history and description of its towns and cities. The Most historic county of America. > Part 135
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149
The commerce in which Mr. Derby was engaged was pursued in vessels ranging from fifty to one hundred tons. His vessels, laden with fish, lumber, and provisions, cleared for Dominiea, or some Windward Isle in the British West Indies, and then ran through the islands for a market. The returns were made in sugar, molasses, cotton, rum, claret, and naval stores, from Carolina. With the returns from these voyages, assorted cargoes were made of oil, naval stores, and the produce of the islands, for Spain and Madeira ; and the proceeds remitted partly in bills on London, and partly in wine, salt, fruit, oil, iron, lead, and handkerchiefs, to America. During the French War, from 1756 to 1763, Mr. Derby owned several ships, as well as brigantines, carrying each eight or ten cannon. He was owner of part of the cannon to capture which Col. Leslie was sent down from Boston, as related in a preceding chapter. He died in Salem, Nov. 9, 1783.
The commerce of Salem did not receive any decided impetus till the close of the Revolutionary War. From that period until the embargo preceding the War of 1812, the commercial prosperity of Salem was at the zenith. The three prominent merchants of that period were Elias Hasket Derby, William Gray, and Joseph Peabody. They owned a large proportion of the shipping of Salem, and their vessels penetrated every port and brought home the offerings of every climc. They made the name of Salem familiar wherever trade penetrated or civilization ventured, and the name of the Salem merchant a synonym for honor, intelligence, and vigor the world over.
Elias Hasket Derby was born in Salem, Ang. 16, 1739. At an early age, he entered the counting-room of his father, Richard Derby, before alluded to, and from 1760 to 1775 he took charge of his father's books and engaged extensively in the trade to the English and French islands. At the commencement of the Revolutionary War, he had seven sail of vessels in the trade of the West Indies. Many of the rich men clung to the mother country, but Mr. Derby espoused the cause of the colonists. His trade and that of Salem was ruined by the war. Indignant at the oppressive course of Great Britain, Mr. Derby united with his townsmen, and Salem fitted out at least 158 armed vessels during the Revolution. An account of the encounters of some of these vessels will be given later in this chapter.
From 1771 to 1785 the tonnage of Salem declined, and did not revive till the opening of the India trade, when it increased with astonishing rapidity, as appears by the following table : -
Tonnage of Salem. - In 1768, 7,913 tons ; 1771, 9,223 tons ; 1781, 8,652 tons; 1791, 9,031, tons ; * 1800, 24,862 tons ; 1807 (252 ves- sels), 43,570 tons.
* This table is from a list of Salem property, valued and returned to the General Court. A return from the custom-house puts the tonnage iu 1791 at 14,570 tous, and in 1794 at 16,788 tons.
384
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
On the 15th of June, 1784, the barque "Light Horse " was sent by Mr. Derby to St. Petersburg, and opened the American trade with that place. For a short time Mr. Derby sent ships to Spain and the West In- dies. But his daring and venturesome spirit was not content to follow only in the footsteps of his predecessors, and he turned his eyes to the Cape of Good Hope and the far-distant Indies, and determined to measure his strength with the incorporated companies of England and France and Holland, which then entirely monopolized the commerce of the East.
In November, 1784, he despatched the ship " Grand Turk," of 300 tous, Capt. Jonathan Ingersoll, on the first voyage from Salem to the Cape of Good Hope. Although this voyage was not very successful, it gave Mr. Derby an insight into the wants and prices of the Indian market, and Nov. 28, 1785, he cleared the same vessel under com- mand of Ebenezer West, for the Isle of France, with the purpose to visit Canton ; went to Isle of France, Batavia, and China, and returned to Salem in June, 1787, with a cargo of teas, silks, and nankeens, making the first voyage from New England to the Isle of France, India, and China.
In December, 1787, Mr. Derby again despatched his ship " Grand Turk " on a voyage to the Isle of France, under the charge of his son, Elias Hasket Derby, Jr. The "Grand Turk" was sold at a great profit, and the son remained at the Isle of France until the arrival, about a year afterwards, of the ship " Atlantic," when he proceeded to Surat, Bombay, and Calcutta, and first displayed our ensign at those ports. He bought at the Isle of France the ship " Peggy," sent her to Bombay for cotton, and then back to Salem, where she arrived June 21, 1789, with the first cargo of Bombay cotton. One of his vessels was the first to display the American flag at Siam, and another made the first voyage from America to Mocha.
In February, 1789, Mr. Derby sent, for the first time, the ship " Astrea " on a direet voyage to Canton. American ships were now following the lead of the "Grand Turk," and we find fifteen there in 1789, five of them belonging to Salem and four to Mr. Derby. In 1790 he imported into Salem 728,871 pounds of tea. In May, 1790, the brig " William and Henry," Capt. Benjamin Hodges, owned by Gray & Orne, entered this port with a cargo of tea, which was among the first of such cargoes imported in an American bottom. When Mr. Derby first engaged in the India trade there were no banks, and he rarely purchased or sold on credit. While his large ships were on their voyages to the East, he employed his brigs and schooners in making up the assortment for cargoes by sending them to Gottenburg and St. Petersburg for iron, duck, and hemp ; to France, Spain, and Madeira for wine and lead ; to the West Indies for spirits ; and to New York, Philadelphia, and Richmond, for flour, provisions, iron, and tobacco. In the brief space of fourteen years, from 1785 to 1799, he made 125 voyages, by at least thirty-seven different vessels; of which voyages, forty-five were to the East Indies or China. Among the officers of his ships who were afterwards distinguished, were Hon. Nathaniel Silsbee, late United States senator from Massachusetts, and Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch.
In 1798, the nation appeared to be on the eve of a war with France, and was without a navy. John Adams was president, and the admin- istration in June, 1798, passed an Act authorizing the president to accept such vessels as the citizens might build for the national service, and pay for them in a six per cent. stock. Subscriptions were opened in Salem, and Mr. Derby and Mr. William Gray cach subscribed $10,- 000, and William Orne and John Norris, each $5,000, and in a brief period some $74,700 was subscribed. Mr. Enos Briggs, who had built many of Mr. Derby's fastest ships, was instructed to build a frigate, to be called the " Essex." The keel was laid April 13, 1799, and September 30th following she was successfully launched. She proved the fastest ship in the navy, and captured property to the amount of two million dollars. Admiral Farragut served on the " Essex " as a midshipman.
Mr. Derby erected a costly edifice on the site now occupied by Derby Square, and laid out walks and gardens from Essex Street to a terrace which overhung the South River. This mansion he occupied but a few months before his death. Mr. Derby made one more brill- iant voyage before he closed his career, although he did not live to ascertain its results. Hostilities between France and the United States had commenced when Mr. Derby sent a ship of 400 tons, called the " Mount Vernon," equipped with twenty guns, manned by fifty men, and loaded with sugar, to the Mediterranean. The cost of the cargo was $43,275. The vessel was attacked by the enemy, but escaped, and arrived safely in America with a cargo of silks and wines, and realized a net profit of $100,000. Before her arrival, Mr. Derby
died, Sept. 8, 1799, and left an estate which exceeded a million dol- lars, and was supposed to be the largest fortune left in this country during the last century.
Among the many eminent merchants of Salem, perhaps Mr. Derby should be named first. He led the way to India and China, and opened for Salem that extensive foreign commerce which will always hold a prominent place in her history. We have given somewhat at length the account of Mr. Derby's career, because in no better way can we recite the commercial history of Salem for that period.
William Gray was a prominent merchant of Salem during Mr. Derby's later years. He was born in Lynn, June 27, 1760, and moved to Salem at an early age and entered the counting-room of Richard Derby. He became one of the largest ship-owners in Salem, and followed the lead of Mr. E. H. Derby in sending ships to Canton and ports in the East Indies. In 1805, Salem had fifty-four ships, eighteen barques, seventy-two brigs, and eighty-six schooners, five ships building, and forty-eight vessels round the Cape. In 1807, sixty ships, seven barques, forty-two brigs, forty schooners, and three sloops in the merchant service, and 100 fishermen and schooners ; and of these William Gray owned fifteen ships, seven barques, thirteen brigs, and one schooner, or one-fourth of the tonnage of the place.
. From 1801 to 1810 inclusive, the duties collected at Salem amounted to $7,272,633.31, and these were the years of Mr Gray's greatest activity. His former mansion is now the Essex House. About 1808, he left the Federal party and joined the Democrats, uphold- ing Jefferson in the Embargo Act of that year. Party feeling ran high, and Mr. Gray, finding a growing coolness towards him among many of his former associates, left Salem in 1809 and moved to Boston, where in 1810 and 1811 he was chosen lieutenant-gover- nor, and where he died, Nov. 3, 1825. During his life he accumulated a great property. As a merchant he was industrious, far-seeing, and energetic ; as a citizen, patriotic and publie-spirited, and he may well be classed among Salem's " princely merchants."
Joseph Peabody, contemporary with Mr. Gray, was an eminently successful merchant, who lived to see the decline of that commercial prosperity to which he had contributed so largely. He was born in Middleton, Dee. 9, 1757, and during the Revolutionary War he enlisted on a privateer, and made his first cruise in E. H. Derby's " Bunker Hill," and his second in the "Ranger." In 1782, he made a trip to Alexandria in the " Ranger," as second officer; and on his return the vessel was attacked by the enemy and Mr. Peabody was wounded. After peace was restored he was promoted to a com- mand in the employ of the Messrs. Gardner, of Salem, and soon realized a sufficient sum to purchase the vessel known as the " Three Friends." He retired from the sea in 1791, and engaged actively in commerce. During the early years of the present century he built and owned eighty-three ships, which in every instance he freighted himself. Ilis vessels made thirty-eight voyages to Calentta, seven- teen to Canton, thirty-two to Sumatra, forty-seven to St. Petersburg, and thirty to other ports of Europe before the War of 1812. He shipped at different times 7,000 seamen, and advanced thirty-five to the rank of master, who entered his employ as boys.
The disastrous effects of the embargo and war were shown in the diminution of vessels in the foreign trade of Salem, from 152 in 1807 to fifty-seven in 1815. In 1816, forty-two Indiamen had sailed and sixteen returned since the war. In 1817, Salem had thirty-two ships, two barques, and eighteen brigs in the India trade, and from 1808 to 1817 the arrivals from foreign ports were 936; which yielded an annual average of duties of $378,590. In 1821, 126 vessels were employed in foreign commerce, fifty-eight of them in the India trade, the largest being the ship " China," HI. Putnam, master, 370 tons.
A few facts relating to the connection of Mr. Peabody about this time with the China trade are interesting. In 1825 and 1826, the " Leander," a little brig of 223 tons, brought into Salem cargoes from Canton, which paid duties amounting, respectively, one to $86,847.47, and the other to $92,392.94. In 1829, 1830, and 1831, the " Suma- tra," a ship of only 287 tons, brought cargoes from the same port, paying duties of $128,363.13, in the first case ; $138,480.34, in the second ; and $140,761.96, in the third,-the five voyages paying duties to an aggregate of nearly $587,000. No other vessel has entered Salem paying $90,000 in duties. Both brig and ship were owned by Mr. Peabody, and were commanded on each voyage by the same gen- tleman, Capt. Charles Roundy, who still lives in Salem, a good type of that class of master mariners whose energy and fearlessness car- ried the name of Salem to the remotest ports, and whose uprightness and business integrity made that name an honored and respected one in those far-off countries. Among the commanders of Mr. Peabody's
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
385
vessels still living in Salem, are Charles Roundy, Oliver Thayer, Joseph Winn, Peter Silver, and Thomas M. Saunders. His death occurred at Salem, Jan. 5, 1844.
The enterprise and vigor displayed by Salem merchants, in seeking new ports for trade, is something almost imparalleled. Reynolds, who made a tour round the world in the U. S. vessel " Potomac," writing of Salem, in 1835, says : " When peace arrived, and our inde- pendence was acknowledged, the merchants of Salem were among the first to explore new channels of trade, disdaining to confine themselves to the narrow track of a Colonial commerce. With a few erroneous maps and charts, a sextant, and 'Guthrie's Grammar,' they swept round the Cape of Good Hope, exhausted the markets of the Isles of France and Bourbon, and pushing onward entered the Straits of Babel- mandel and secured the trade of the Red Sea. They brought from Madras, Calcutta and Bombay the best of their staples, and had their choice of the products of Ceylon and Sumatra."
Sumatra Trade .- Salem sent the first vessel that ever sailed direct from this country to Sumatra. In the year 1793 Capt. Jonathan Carnes, of Salem, being at the port of Bencoolen, learned that pepper grew wild on the north-western coast of Sumatra. On his return to Salem he made known his discovery to Mr. Jonathan Peele, who imme- diately built a schooner, and gave Carnes the command. The vessel was called the " Rajah," and was of 130 tons burden, carrying four guns and ten men. In 1795 he set sail for Sumatra, the destination of the vessel and the object of the voyage being kept a profound secret. * The vessel was absent eighteen months, during which time her owner, Mr. Peele, had no tidings from her. At last she enters Salem harbor, with a cargo of pepper in bulk, the first to be so im- ported into this country. This cargo was sold at a profit of seven hundred per cent. Such an extraordinary voyage created great excite- ment among the merchants of Salem, and they were all anxious to discover in what part of the Eastern world the cargo had been pro- cured. But the matter still remained a secret. Capt. Carnes was preparing for another voyage ; and the Salem merchants, determined if possible to penetrate the mystery, despatched several vessels to the port of Bencoolen, where it was known Carnes got his first knowledge of the trade. They were not successful, however, and had to make up their voyages in some of the other ports of India. But the secret voyages to Sumatra did not long continue. By the first of the present century the mystery was penetrated, and the whole ground open to competition.
In 1792 Nathaniel West built and despatched the schooner "Patty," under command of Edward West, from Salem to the East; and she was the first American vessel to visit Batavia. The ship "Friendship," Israel Williams, master, owned by Pierce & Waite, sailed from Salem Aug. 18, 1797, for Batavia and the coast of Sumatra, and left Batavia for the United States March 4, 1798. The ship "Fame," Briggs, master, sailed from Salem to Cochin China, and Manila Jan 18, 1803. The ship "Three Friends," Stewart, master, made a voyage from Salem to Batavia in the year 1801., The ship " Active," G. Nichols, master, arrived on the coast of Sumatra May 9, 1801. The ship " Recovery," Luther Dane, master, sailed from Salem for Sumatra June 15, 1802. The ship "Putnam" sailed from Salem to Sumatra Nov. 21, 1802, and hy this time the trade with this island had increased, so that during that year it was visited by some thirty American vessels, seeking cargocs of pepper. From that period up to the time of the embargo, previous to the War of 1812, the trade on the coast of Sumatra was regularly prosecuted by merchants from several ports in the United States - Salem always taking the lead.
Mocha Trade. - On the 26th of April, 1798, Capt. Joseph Ropes, in the ship " Recovery," left Salem, bound direct for Mocha, Arabia Felix, with $50,000 in specie, and arrived in that port on the 9th of September. This was the first American vessel that ever displayed the stars and stripes in that part of the world. The captain says that the arrival of the strange ship was viewed with great interest by the authorities, who could not divine from whence she came, and made frequent inquiries to know how many moons she had been coming.
ยท Madagascar Trade. - The American trade with the Island of Mad- agascar was opened by Nathaniel L. Rogers, an enterprising and emi- nent merchant of Salem. He sent the " Beulah " there about 1818, and his vessels were trading about that time at some ports on the cast coast of Africa, and through the Mozambique Channel. Zanzibar was then a small settlement, and no trade was carried on there - gum- copal, the principal staple, being carried to India by the Sultan's vessels to be cleaned.
* The " Rajah " cleared at Salem Nov. 3, 1795, for India, having on board 2 pipes of brandy, 58 cases of gin, 12 tons of iron, 2 hlds. of tobacco, and 2 boxes salmon.
Zanzibar Trade. - As Salem had been first at Sumatra and Mad- agascar, so she was first at Zanzibar. But little of the uncleaned gum- copal, which was the staple article of export, was brought to this country until after the " Black Warrior," belonging largely to N. L. Rogers, and commanded by John Bertram, was there in 1831. Mr. Bertram arrived in Zanzibar while the Sultan's frigate was lying in the harbor ready to carry the gum-copal to India, and made a bargain for what was on hand and for future cargoes. The "Black Warrior" arrived in Salem, in 1832, with the first large quantity of uncleaned gum-copal that had been imported into this country. For some time after, the gun-copal trade was monopolized by Salem merchants, and all the gum-copal nsed was distributed to Europe and other countries from the port of Salem.
But the " Black Warrior," although taking the first large cargo from Zanzibar, was not the first vessel to open trade with that port. The brig " Ann," Charles Millett, master, and owned by Henry Prince & Son, left Salem March 12, 1826, for Mocha. When she arrived there in June, Capt. Millett found a great scarcity of breadstuff's, and, leav- ing a clerk in charge of the business, he left Mocha for Zanzibar and Lamo, where he obtained a cargo of small grain, and purchased ivory and other articles for the homeward cargo. The "Ann " went from Zanzibar to Mocha, and from thence to Salem, arriving May 9, 1827. This was the opening of American trade with Zanzibar. The same vessel made a second voyage to Zanzibar, leaving Salem Aug. 9, 1827, and arriving home April 10, 1829, having visited many new ports on the east coast of Africa.
On the 12th of January, 1825, the brig "Laurel," Lovett, master, owned by Robert Brookhouse, left Salem for South America. Finding markets dull, the captain sailed for ports east of the Cape of Good Hope ; and about the 10th of July left Port Louis, Mauritius, for Zan- zibar, stopping at the Island of Johanna on the way. This was the first time the American flag was displayed in that island, and the king gave a reception in honor of the event. The vessel arrived at Zan- zibar the 20th of July, 1825, and, although not the first to open trade, seems to be the first to have displayed the American flag in that port. From Zanzibar the "Laurel " proceeded to Mombas, and from there to Patta, Lamo, and other small places, in all of which she appears to have displayed the American flag for the first time. The "Laurel" arrived in Salem on her return passage June 3, 1826.
The trade with Zanzibar, Madagascar, Arabia, and the east coast of Africa has been continued by Salem merchants from the summer of 1826, when the "Ann " was there, to the present day. Michael Shep- ard who was born in Salem, Sept. 4, 1785, and dicd there, Oct. 10, 1856, was engaged quite extensively in this trade. In 1846, Salem had nine vessels there. The firm of John Bertram continue the trade to the present day, but their vessels no longer enter the port of Salem. The last arrival at Salem from Zanzibar was the bark " Glide," May 1, 1870, and this was also the last arrival at Salem of any vessel from beyond the Cape of Good Hope.
South American Trade. - The trade between Salem and South America has been quite extensive. On the 25th of August, 1789, the schooner " Lark" arrived from Surinam with sugar and cocoa, and April 24, 1798, the brig "Katy" cleared for Cayenne. The brig " Laurel," before mentioned as belonging to Robert Brookhouse, was at Brazil in 1825. Salem vessels were found in all the eastern ports : in Cayenne, Para, Rio Janeiro, Rio Grande, Montevideo, Buenos Ayres, and on the coast of Patagonia. Michael Shepard and John Bertram sent vessels to Para, between 1845 and 1857, and Mr. Ber- tram was on the coast of Patagonia about three years, purchasing and shipping hides, returning to Salem in 1829. In 1846, Salem had fifteen vessels engaged in the South American trade. The last arrival at Salem from a South American port was the schooner " Mattie F.," which was entered from Cayenne, by Messrs. C. E. & B. H. Fabens, March 21, 1877. The ancestors of the Messrs. Fabens, for several generations, have been engaged in trade between Salem and Cayenne, but the business has been removed to Boston, and the entry of the " Mattie F." closed the foreign trade of Salem.
West Coast of Africa Trade. - If the natives on the West Coast of Africa have been temperate, they have been so in spite of the efforts of the Salem merchants to supply them with the materials for in- temperance. The trade opened carly, and Oct. 6, 1789, the schooner " Sally," and Oct. 8, 1789, the schooner " Polly," cleared for Senegal, each with a cargo of New England rum ; and from that time forward, Salem has contributed largely to spread a knowledge of the virtues and good qualities of New England rum, of the astounding effects of gunpowder, and of the consoling influences of Virginia tobacco, among the savage tribes of the West Coast. The Salem trade with this
49
.
386
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
country has been quite extensive ; Robert Brookhouse, Edward D. Kimball, Chas. Hoffman. Wm. Hunt. and others having been engaged in it. The last arrival at Salem from the West Coast of Africa was the brig "Ann Elizabeth." from Sierra Leone, which was entered by Charles Hoffman, in July. 1873. Salem merchants are still engaged in this trade. but their vessels do not enter the harbor of Salem.
Feejee Island Trade. - The enterprise of Salem merchants seems not to have been confined by the limits of the eivilized world. but to have extended to all habitable countries, however remote and however peopled. Salem was as familiar a name to the cannibals of the Feejee Islands. during the first half of the present century, as it was to the savages of Africa and Madagascar. In many of those wild countries, the untutored inhabitants thought Salem comprised all the remainder of the outer world about which they knew so little. Capt. William P. Richardson, of Salem, was at the Feejee Islands early in the pres- ent century, and when Commodore Wilkes was there on his famous exploring expedition, he found Salem vessels at the islands on his arrival, and their ma-ters familiar with the shoals of the harbors. and the habits of the natives. One of the vessels of the squadron. the "Peacock." is in danger of being cast away, and Salem, in the person of Capt. J. H. Eagleston, takes the helm, and brings her safely into port. This was on the 12th of July, 1840. The commodore, in his report to the government, says : "The squadron is much indebted to Capt. Eagleston for his attention aud assistance. I am also indebted to him for observations relating to gales."
Capt. Eagleston. in 1834. had made three voyages to these islands. He sailed for Stephen C. Phillips, who was a prominent merchant of Salem, from about 1828 to the time of his death in 1857. Mr. Phillips was largely engaged in trade with the Feejee Islands, with Manila and other Eastern ports. In 1846, Salem had six vessels en- gaged in trade with the Feejee Islands. The usual voyage was from Salein to the Feejee Islands, where the vessel would remain collecting the Beche-de-mer, a sort of sea-sing found on reefs and in shallow water, and after drying and preparing them for the market. carry them either to Manila to exchange for sugar and hemp, or to China to exchange for tea; the voyage usually consuming about two years. There are many curious articles at the Peabody Academy of Science, at Salem, which were brought from the Feejee Islands during these early voyages.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.