USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630-1880, Vol. IV > Part 26
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6 Captain Randall had been his companion on his first voyage, and had shared in the duties and emoluments of the supercargoship.
205
THE TRADE, COMMERCE, ETC., OF BOSTON.
June, 1787, he wrote a despatch to the Hon. John Jay, " Secretary of State for the Department of Foreign Affairs," in which he said : -
" The inhabitants of America must have tea, the consumption of which will natu- rally increase with the increasing population of our country. And while the nations of Europe are obliged to purchase this commodity with ready money, it must be pleasing to an American to know that his country can have it on easier terms, and that the otherwise useless product of her mountains and forests will in a considerable degree supply her with this elegant luxury. The advantages peculiar to America in this instance are striking, and the inanner in which her commerce has commenced and is now going on with this country has not a little alarmed the Europeans. They have seen, the first year, a single ship, not one fifth part of whose funds consisted of ready money, procure a cargo of the same article and on equally good terms as those of their own ships, purchased for the most part with specie. They have seen this ship again here on her second voyage, and four others in addition. They see these ships depending, and that too with sufficient reason, upon the productions of their own country to supply them with the merchandise of this ; and though a very small portion of their funds consisted of specie, they see them all returning with full and valuable cargoes. Such are the advantages which America derives from her ginseng.
" Until the American flag appeared in this quarter, it had been generally supposed that forty or fifty piculs (one hundred and thirty-three and one-third pounds) were equal to the annual consumption ; but experience has proved the contrary. Up- wards of four hundred and forty piculs were brought here by the first American ship in 1784, which did not equal the quantity brought from Europe the same season, the greatest part of which must have been previously sent there by citizens of the United States. The present year more than eighteen hundred piculs have been sold, one half of which came in the American vessels. Notwithstanding this increased quantity since 1784, the sales have not been materially affected by it, and it is probable that there will always be a sufficient demand for the article to make it equally valuable."
Mr. Shaw's expectations in relation to ginseng were not destined to be fulfilled. The article continued to be, and still is, shipped to China in mode- rate quantities,1 but other forms of remittance were to be brought to light far more profitable than this could ever have been.
At the session of the General Court in March 1787 it was ordered that a portion of the tax then in process of collection might be paid in public se- curities, and this proved a great accommodation to the people, who were able to purchase them at a price far below their nominal value. "Commerce in- creased, and afforded a revenue which was a great help; but the avails were less than if there had been uniform regulations in all the States." 2
Ship-building was active in Boston, and the general condition of trade satisfactory, in the summer of 1788,3 as we learn by way of London, in one
1 The export of ginseng in 1806 reached 448,394 pounds, valued at $ 1 39,000. - Pitkin's Com. of the U. S. p. 49. Ginseng imported into Canton, during the year ended Aug. 31, 1879:
Clarified .
piculs, 179
$44,623.50
Crude
" 184
34,968.00
363
$79,591.50
2 Alden Bradford's History of Massachusetts, P. 327.
3 In August, 1788, the exports from the port of Boston "for the year past," were stated to have been £145,146, 5s. 4d. The principal arti- cles were boards and staves, fish, rum, flour and provisions, pot and pearl ashes, furs, oil, candles,
206
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
of the papers of which city it was said: " Saturday, some despatches were received from Boston, which are dated July 20. They contain an account of the builders going on very fast on the shipping; that four large ships of three hundred tons were to be launched the beginning of August ; that trade continued brisk, and that everything was quiet in that quarter."1 Under date of November 20, in the same year, we find the ships " Hercules " and " Omphale " advertised for the Isles of France and India; "any person wishing to adventure to that part of the world may have an opportunity of sending goods on freight. The terms may be known by applying to Thomas Russell, at his store in Boston." On the 25th of December the ship " Ad- venture " was cleared for the Isles of France, and on the 16th of April, 1789, the ship "Friendship " arrived from Madras.2
The tax in Massachusetts for 1788 was $220,000. In 1789 it was much less. At this period, we are told, " lands rose in value, agricultural pro- duce bore a high price, commerce increased and was very profitable, and the labor of mechanics was in demand and well rewarded." Under a judicious management of the finances the amount of the revenue was far greater than had been anticipated, and public securities, which had been often sold at one sixth of their face, rose to par.3
Captain Magee, on his return from China in the " Hope," took command of the ship " Astræa," belonging to Mr. Derby of Salem, and sailed again to the same destination from Boston in February, 1789.4 Mr. Thomas
leather and shoes, tea, coffee, molasses, and naval stores. We give a few of the values : -
€
s.
a.
Fish
66,245 17 00
New England Rum
50,620 10 00
Oil .
34,864 00 00
Pot and Pearl Ashes
30,485 00 00
Flour
13,420 16 00
Flaxsee J
10,360 00 00
10,000 00 00 Furs
At this time, or a little later, there were two hundred and forty establishments in the Com- monwealth, engaged in the manufacture of pot and pearl ashes, nearly, if not quite, all the pro- duct of which came to Boston for exportation. [See the chapter on " Industries " in the present volume. - ED.]
1 Independent Chronicle, Nov. 6, 1788. The London dates were to September 6.
2 Ibid. April 23, 1789. Nathan Bond adver- tises for sale by auction, at his store in Cornhill, goods ex " Friendship " from Madras, consisting of chintzes, calicoes, book-muslins, ginghams, cottons, sheetings, silks, and saltpetre.
8 Bradford's History of Mass. pp. 331, 341.
4 "In those days a Canton voyage was a serious undertaking, and as six months were re- quired to provide the specie, ginseng, and other cargo, the ship [' Astræa '] was sent in the spring up the Baltic for iron, a schooner was sent to Madeira for wine, and letters were addressed to
Mr. Derby's correspondents at New York, Phil- adelphia, and Baltimore, for ginseng and specie. The ' Astræa,' on her return, met with stress of weather, and put into Newfoundland. This de- tention delayed her voyage until the close of the year. Upon her arrival from Russia, Mr. Derby had her thoroughly repaired, and then submitted her to a survey of three experienced merchants, who reported her to be in fine order for an India voyage. In February, 1789, he despatched her for Canton with an assorted cargo." - Life of Elias Hasket Derby, pp. 57, 58.
Mr. Nathaniel Silsbee, afterward Captain Silsbee, and later a prominent and successful merchant, and a Senator from Massachusetts in the Congress of the United States, came home as a passenger in the " Astraa." He had gone to-China as supercargo of another of Mr. Der- by's vessels, the brig "Three Sisters," which had been sold there.
Mr. Silsbee studied navigation on the voyage with Captain Magee, and in December, 1790, he shipped as second mate on board a small brig and made a voyage to Madeira, the West Indies, Baltimore, Madeira again, and back to Philadel- phia. In December, 1792, he sailed in command of a new ship belonging to Mr. Derby, the "Ben- jamin," one hundred and ninety tons, for the Isle of France and the East Indies. Neither he nor his chief officer, Mr. Cleveland (afterward Cap-
207
THE TRADE, COMMERCE, ETC., OF BOSTON.
Handasyd Perkins (connected by marriage with Captain Magee), went as supercargo; and both for himself personally, and for the community in which he was to become an eminent merchant and a distinguished citizen, the voyage was to have, as we shall presently see, most important results.
Mr. Shaw having written to his friends at home, urging them to extend their trade with China, a vessel of eight hundred and twenty tons was built at Braintree, larger than any merchant ship previously built in the United States. She was called the " Massachusetts," and was launched (or, as the papers announced the fact, she "slipt into her devoted element") in Sep- tember, 1789, in the presence of six thousand people.1 Messrs. M. M. Hays (State Street), Samuel Parkman (Merchants' Row), and William Shaw (" opposite the Golden Ball ") 2 were, with Mr. Samuel Shaw who had returned to take charge of her, the parties in interest.3 She took her departure from Boston at the end of March, 1789, saluting the fort, as she passed out, with thirteen guns, and was " esteemed as fine a ship of her dimensions as ever went to sea."4 She touched at Batavia, having mer- chandise on board which had been purchased for that market, and on her arrival at Canton was sold, for what reason does not appear.5 Mr. Shaw came back to the United States to procure another ship and prepare for another voyage. From this fourth voyage he did not live to return. 6
.
tain Cleveland) had then attained the age of twenty-one. "It is not probable that the annals of the world can furnish another example of an enterprise of such magnitude, requiring the exer- cise of so much judgment and skill, being con- ducted by so young a man, aided only by those who were yet younger, and accomplished with the most entire success."- Cleveland's Voyages, I. Introd. p. xxxiv. The only spare canvas for the repair of a sail on board this vessel bound on a voyage of eighteen months' duration or longer, and beyond the Cape of Good Hope, was what was on the cover of the log-book. In those days vessels were sheathed with wood; they were supplied with neither chronometers nor charts; and lunar observations were unknown. As late as 1827, Mr. Silsbee records in his auto- biography (which exists only in manuscript and was in the possession of his son, the late Hon. Nathaniel Silsbee, who has died while these pages have been going through the press) that he made a passage in a brig to Rotterdam, and that then they had no chronometer and knew nothing of lunar observations, but navigated by dead-reckoning.
1 Independent Chronicle, Sept. 24, 1789. [See further in Admiral Preble's chapter in Vol. III. -ED.]
2 The Golden Ball was in Dock Square, "near the head of Green's Wharf" (1760). - Drake's Hist. and Antiq. of Boston, p. 810.
3 Independent Chronicle, Nov. 27, 1789. The ship "Massachusetts," Job Prince, master, is
advertised to sail from Boston for Canton in February, and to return to New York. " Samuel Shaw goes and returns as agent for ship and cargo." His card says that after a second voy- age he had resided three seasons in China.
4 Ibid., April 1, 1790.
5 Ibid., May 19, 1791. "We are happy in learning that the ship 'Massachusetts' of this port, Job Prince, Esq., commander, has safe ar- rived at Canton, and has been sold there."
6 We glean from the papers of the day ad- ditional particulars of the movements of Boston shipping engaged in the East India trade, as follows : -
The ship " Favorite," Captain Cook, cleared for the East Indies, July 16, 1789. The arrival of the ship "Sally," Captain Cleveland, from the East Indies, is reported December 17; she left at the Isle of France Captains Folger and Frazier of Boston. The departure of the ship " Ruby," Captain Rich, for the East Indies, is announced, December 24. On the 26th of Au- gust, 1790, we read of the arrival of the "Mas- sachusetts," under command of Captain Carpen- ter; from the Isle of France, after a passage of four months and two days. On the 12th of September it is stated that of twenty-three sail of American vessels which arrived at the Isle of France from the United States in the year 1789, sixteen were from this port and Salem.
Captain Cleveland, in his Voyages, refers to the "active and lucrative commerce with the Isles
208
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
· The publication in 1784 or 1785 of the journals of the great naviga- tor, Captain Cook, called the attention of the commercial world to the immense numbers of sea-otter to be found on the northwest coast of America. "The fur of this animal, which was first introduced into com- merce in 1725, is described as a beautiful, soft, close, jet-black." The excitement produced by Cook's discovery was intense, and adventurers from many countries hastened to the Pacific to participate in the trade to which their attention had been directed. The merchants of Boston were among the first to explore this new field of enterprise, and they soon ob- tained, and for many years held, almost exclusive possession of it. The first expedition sent out by them consisted of the ship " Columbia," Cap- tain Kendrick, and the sloop "Washington," Captain Gray, which sailed Sept. 30, 1787, bound to the Northwest Coast, China, and thence home to Boston. In May, 1790, the ship " Federalist," at New York from Can- ton, brought news of the arrival at the latter port of Captain Gray, in the " Columbia," and of the discovery of the great river to which the name of the ship had been given. The assorted cargoes of the two vessels had been exchanged for furs; these had been carried to Canton in the " Columbia " (which touched on her way thither, " for refreshment and provisions," at the Hawaiian Islands) and disposed of, and a cargo of teas had been taken on board for Boston. Three months later the now celebrated vessel made her appearance in our harbor. She fired a Federal salute as she passed the Castle, and another on coming to her moorings. It is doubtful whether her destination was generally known when she went away; but the announcement of her achievements by the " Federalist " had filled the community with enthusiasm, and the wharves were covered with people who gave her a hearty welcome on her return. Of her voyage it was said: "To Messrs. Barrel, Brown, Bulfinch, Hatch, Derby, and Pintard, who planned the voyage, their country is indebted for this experiment in a branch of commerce before unassayed by Americans. . .. The ' Colum- bia ' and 'Washington' are the first American vessels who have circum- navigated the globe; and the 'Washington,' which is only of ninety tons burthen, is the first sloop of any nation ever sent on so great a voyage." 1 Captain Gray sailed in the " Columbia," on a second circumnavigatory voyage, in the month of September following.2
of France and Bourbon, which was continued up to the period of the conquest of those islands by the British, since which it has nearly ceased."
1 Independent Chronicle, Aug. 12, 1790. The smaller vessel may have given her name to Wash- ington Territory. Gray's Harbor, so called, lies to the north of the mouth of the Columbia River.
[A medal was struck and taken out by the ships. Its legend read, " Columbia and Wash- ington, commanded by J. Kendrick. Fitted at Boston, N. America, for the Pacific Ocean by J. Barrell, S. Brown, C. Bulfinch, J. Darby, C. Hatch, J. M. Pintard, 1787." Mass. Hist. Soc.
Proc. April, 1870, p. 299; and 1871, p. 41 .- ED.]
2 Canton was the only port in the Chinese empire to which foreign ships were then admit- ted. The port dues were very burdensome, and there was a trading company, consisting of ten or twelve native merchants, known as the Coho- ang, which had a monopoly of the trade, and which paid a considerable sum to the Govern- ment for the exclusive privileges which it en- joyed. "Though the first adventures in the fur trade met with a good market at Canton, as the number increased the profits diminished, and it
209
THE TRADE, COMMERCE, ETC., OF BOSTON.
This new opening for trade had not escaped the shrewd observation of Mr. Thomas H. Perkins, during his residence in China. While making himself acquainted with the habits of the Chinese, and collecting a fund of information relating to the trade of the empire in all its branches, he had ascertained the value of sea-otter skins and other furs from the Northwest Coast, "which formed the basis of action for him afterward in planning numerous voyages and directing mercantile operations of great importance between America, Asia, and Europe." On returning home, he found the country united and established under the Constitution of 1789; and although under the Federal government it had been found necessary to lay heavy customs duties for revenue, especially upon teas, he was satisfied that the confidence and stability to trade which were given by the new order of things more than compensated for the tax.1 He immediately despatched the brig " Hope," Captain Joseph Ingraham, for the Northwest Coast and China. In April, 1791, Captain Ingraham discovered a cluster of islands in the Pacific, a few degrees south of the equator, to two of which he gave the names of Washington and Adams. The islands are now known as part of the Marquesas group, but the names then given still appear on the maps. The main objects of the voyage of the " Hope " were defeated by untoward circumstances; but before this could have been known to Mr. Perkins, he and his friend Captain Magee had built another vessel, the " Margaret," for the same trade. A paragraph in the Independent Chronicle of Oct. 27, 1791, informing the public of the departure of this ship, gives us a glimpse at the commercial activity then prevailing in the town : -
" Upwards of seventy sail of vessels sailed from this port on Monday last for all parts of the world. Among them was the ship 'Margaret,' James Magee, Esq., commander, bound on a voyage of observation and enterprise to the northwest coast of this continent. This vessel is copper-bottomed, and is said to be the best provided of any one that ever sailed from this port." 2
was always in the power of the Coho-ang, to be regulated by its members at their pleasure."- Independent Chronicle, June 16, 1791.
1 "No State was more benefited by the adoption of the Federal Constitution than Mas- sachusetts. The pursuits of a large portion of her people were directed to commerce and navi- gation, and these prospered under the new gov- ernment. The debt had been a heavy burden, and a cause of constant complaint ; this was to be provided for by Congress, except a comparatively small amount which the State was required to take care of." - Bradford's History of Massachusetts, P. 330.
The arrivals from abroad at the port of Bos- ton in the year 1790 were 60 ships, 7 snows, 159 brigs, 170 schooners, 59 sloops ; total, 455. This was exclusive of the vessels employed in the coasting trade, which were supposed to amount to 1,200 sail. The duties on tonnage VOL. IV. - 27.
(foreign and American) collected from Oct. I, 1789, to Sept. 30, 1790, in the States of Massa- chusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York, were as follows : -
Massachusetts,
197,368 tons. $21,027
Pennsylvania, 109,918
30,449
New York, 92,114 66 25,48 >
For the same year the net amount of duties collected in the same States, on goods, wares, and merchandise, was :-
Pennsylvania $472,756
New York 446,646
Massachusetts
320,430
- Independent Chronicle, Jan. 27, 1791.
2 " Captain Magee carried out the frame of a vessel, with three or four carpenters, and set up the little craft of about thirty tons, under Cap- tain Swift, then the chief carpenter; and the schooner collected some twelve or fifteen hun- dred sea-otters during the season, which added
210
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
In 1792 Mr. Perkins entered into partnership with his elder brother James, who had been in business in the West Indies, under the firm name of J. & T. H. Perkins, and from that time forward the brothers prosecuted the trade with the Northwest Coast and China, as well as with other parts of the world, with the utmost vigor.1
While the enterprise of the business men of Boston was thus pushing toward every port open to them across the seas and beyond the capes, it sought also to increase its facilities for communication with places in the interior of the State and with the adjacent States. Nearly one hundred years previously it had been proposed to cut a canal across Cape Cod, to connect the waters of Buzzard's Bay on the southwest with those of Barn- stable Bay on the northeast.2 In the autumn of 1790 this project was renewed, and an elaborate report was presented, showing its feasibility. On the 12th of May, 1791, the arrival at Springfield is mentioned of " Cap- tain John Hills,3 employed by General Knox, secretary at war, to explore
the country from Springfield to Charles River, and make accurate survey thereof with a view to ascertain whether an inland navigation would be practicable." The Bridgewater canal, and that between the Forth and the Clyde, had been opened, and similar works were in progress in France. Travellers who had explored China had brought home accounts of canals in that country a thousand miles in length, connecting Canton in the south and Pekin in the north, " with their ten thousand vessels kept at the public expense ;" and it was said that by means of these canals the country was rendered " the most fertile and pleasant in the world." In 1793 the Middlesex Canal Company was incorporated, and the work was completed
much to the profit of the voyage, as the skins were worth thirty or forty dollars when Captain Magee reached China." - Memoir of Thomas H. Perkins, pp. 43-44.
In a sketch of the life of Ralph Haskins, recently published, we find some interesting par- ticulars concerning the Northwest Coast trade. In the year 1800, Mr. Haskins went out as supercargo in the " Atahualpa," Captain Dixey Wildes, owned by Messrs. Theodore Lyman, Kirk Boott, and William Pratt. The ship was of two hundred and nine tons, mounted eight guns, and was loaded with an assorted cargo consisting of broadcloth, flannel, blankets, pow- der, muskets, watches, tools, beads, wire, looking- glasses, and other articles. In a letter to Mr. Lyman, Mr. Haskins said : " The navigation here is more hazardous and the business worse than I expected, especially the inland navigation. Sunken rocks, strong tides, fogs, calms, no bot- tom for anchoring, and a large proportion of bad weather are among the difficulties we are obliged to combat." - Mem. Biog. New Eng. Hist. Gen. Soc. i. 468-469.
From June 11, 1800, to January 9, 1803, 34,- 357 sea-otter skins were imported into China,
worth on the average from $18 to $20 each. Of this quantity 30,407 were brought in Boston ves- sels. During the same period 1,048,750 seal skins were imported, worth from 80 to 90 cents each. Of the total number of vessels, - 80 ships and 9 brigs and schooners, - 27 ships and 5 brigs belonged to Boston. Pitkin's Com. of the U. S .; Appendix, pp. v-vii.
1 In later years, when the sons of the origi- nal partners, and Mr. Samuel Cabot, a son-in- law, were taken into the business, the firm was James & T. H. Perkins & Sons. Later still, it was Perkins & Co.
2 " By the annals of Prince, it appears that for now about an hundred years it has been meditated to cut off the Cape, or the whole county of Barnstable, by means of a canal through the town of Sandwich." - Independent Chronicle, Dec. 16, 1790.
At the time of writing this chapter, the Cape Cod ship-canal is still only a project. The last company incorporated for its construction re- ceived its charter from the Massachusetts Legis- lature of 1880.
8 Captain John Hills, of Philadelphia. He is spoken of as a very skilful surveyor.
2II
THE TRADE, COMMERCE, ETC., OF BOSTON.
and opened ten years later.1 Turnpike roads also were built in different directions.
The coastwise shipping trade was very valuable in itself, and it was an important feeder to the European and East India commerce of the port. During the month of October, 1791, there were two hundred and eighty- seven entries coastwise, from different parts of the Union, and ninety clear- ances for the same.2
Boston must, at this time, have presented an animated and attractive appearance. We are told, in a descriptive sketch written in 1794: --
" There are eighty wharves and quays, chiefly on the east side of the town. Of these the most distinguished is Boston Pier, or the Long Wharf, which extends from the bottom of State Street one thousand seven hundred and forty-three feet into the harbor. ... Here the principal navigation of the town is carried on ; vessels of all burdens load and unload ; and the London ships generally discharge their cargoes. It is the general resort of all the inhabitants, and is more frequented, we think, than any other part of the town."
The same writer says : ----
" The harbour of Boston is at this date (November, 1794) crowded with vessels. Eighty-four sail have been counted, lying at two of the wharves only. It is reckoned that not less than four hundred and fifty sail of ships, brigs, schooners, sloops, and small craft are now in this port." 3
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