USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630-1880, Vol. IV > Part 27
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The foreign commerce of those days required not only large capital for its successful prosecution, but general ability of a high order. Compre- hensive and authentic information, shrewd and sound judgment, and bold enterprise had to be brought together in combination when voyages were planned which were to compass the globe, and which were to be pro- longed during two or three years. All the requisite qualities to this end the merchants of Boston possessed; but as time went on and their opera- tions multiplied and extended, serious complications arose, for which neither they nor their country could be held responsible; and difficulties and dangers presented themselves which no foresight could have antici-
1 [See Mr. Adams's chapter in this volume. -ED.]
2 Independent Chronicle, Nov. 10, 1791. The total amount of duties collected at all the ports of the United States in the year ended Sept. 30, 1791, was $3,006,722. The collections in five States were as follows : -
. Pennsylvania, $707,955; New York, $619,- 534; Massachusetts, $420,707; Virginia, $334,- 995 ; Maryland, $322,964. - Independent Chron- icle, May 3, 1792.
The total exports from the United States in the year ended Sept. 30, 1792, were $20,518,014. For the same States as above, the exports were : -
Pennsylvania, $3,820,646; Virginia, $3,549,-
499 ; Massachusetts, $3,389,922; Maryland, $2,- 550,258 ; New York, $2,528,085. - Columbian Centinel, July 20, 1793.
Among the exports from Boston in 1792 were 50,000 barrels beef and pork, of which 20,000 barrels, at least, were packed here. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. iii. (1794) 287-288.
8 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., iii. (1794) 248, 287. The same writer (Mr. Pemberton) gives the for- eign entries and clearances at the port during the year 1793, as follows : -
Entries
Clearances
The West Indies
187
119
Great Britain
28
161
162
Other ports
376
292
- Ibid. p. 288.
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
pated, and no prudence averted. In the long wars between Great Britain and France, which seemed .to keep the whole world in a turmoil, the com- merce of neutrals suffered almost if not quite as severely as that of the belligerents ; and American merchants and shipmasters found themselves constantly and almost hopelessly involved, to their very great loss.1
The Government and the more enlightened portion of the community desired and honestly sought to maintain a strict neutrality as between the combatants. At a meeting of merchants and traders held in Faneuil Hall July 22, 1793, the Hon. Thomas Russell presiding, a committee consist- ing of Thomas Russell, Stephen Higginson, John Coffin Jones, Nathaniel Fellows, Samuel Brown, Charles Jarvis, and Eben Parsons reported a series of resolutions, which were adopted by a unanimous vote, sustaining the proclamation of President Washington in favor of neutrality, and pro- testing against the fitting out of armed vessels or privateers by American citizens. The sentiment of the meeting was this: the preservation of neu- trality is important to the interest and honor of this country ..
There was an existing treaty between the United States and France, by which " free bottoms were declared to make free ships; " but this prin- ciple was not recognized by the French men-of-war in their interference with American commerce. The Columbian Centinel of Sept. 11, 1793, says : " The prizes taken by the Marseilles privateer, now in this port, are seven in number, besides the ship 'President,' of Baltimore; " and, in reference to this vessel, it is added : " She is an American built and registered vessel, owned by Americans, sailing under American colors, had American prop- erty on board, and has been a constant trader between Maryland and Great Britain. The pretence for her capture was that she had English property on board, which, if every article had been, would not warrant the outrage." On the other hand the British vessels of war captured a large number of American ships with their cargoes, for their alleged violation of the paper blockade of the French ports, and on the suspicion that French property was covered by the American flag; and this suspicion extended to all vessels bound to or from a French port. The decisions of the prize-courts were often arbitrary and flagrantly unjust; and the ·demeanor of the naval officers was in many instances overbearing and insulting. Much hardship and serious disaster ensued, and excitement and indignation prevailed in every shipping community along the coast. The history of this period of decrees, orders in council, and non-intercourse will be told elsewhere in these volumes,2 and cannot be detailed here.
At a meeting of the merchants of Boston held Sept. 12, 1793, a com-
1 Mr. John Bromfield, writing to his mother from London, April 18, 1803, said : " My fears of a bad voyage are completely realized. I have been obliged to land my cargo, and make a ruin- ous voyage for the gentlemen who were good enough to give me employ. My own loss will be total of all that I have earned during my past
life. The decrees of France and England are ruinous to American commerce, which is a whip- top, scourged by both parties. Though a neu- tral, it is attacked by all the belligerents."-Lives of American Merchants, ii. 472.
2 [See Vol. III., Mr. H. C. Lodge's chapter. - ED.]
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THE TRADE, COMMERCE, ETC., OF BOSTON.
mittee was appointed, consisting of Thomas Russell, Stephen Higginson, John Coffin Jones, Caleb Davis, and David Sears, to receive and trans- mit to the President " authenticated evidence of injuries done to our com- merce by the armed vessels of any belligerent power." Soon after this, President Washington sent Mr. John Jay on a special mission to England, for the purpose of negotiating a treaty which, should set at rest the vex- atious questions in dispute ; but so strong and bitter was the political feel- ing then prevailing, that the treaty which Mr. Jay was able to arrange was condemned in this country before its terms had been made known. It was assumed that a weak surrender had been made to the pretensions of England, and serious riots took place among the lower classes in many of the towns, Liberty Square in Boston being one of the scenes of disturb- ance. It is to the credit of the merchants that they took a more calm and dispassionate view of the condition of affairs. A meeting had been held in the town, at which resolutions were passed condemning the treaty as injurious to the commercial interests of the United States and deroga- tory to the national honor and independence. The Chamber of Commerce, on the contrary, passed a vote expressing its acquiescence in the terms of the treaty, and addressed a memorial to that effect to the President, who, in his reply thereto, expressed " his satisfaction to learn that the commercial part of his fellow-citizens, whose interests were thought to be most deeply affected, so generally considered the treaty as calculated upon the whole to procure important advantages to the country." 1
The rulers of France, jealous of the commercial relations existing be- tween the United States and Great Britain, seemed determined to force the two nations into war with each other, if this could possibly be brought to pass. They issued a decree (Jan. 18, 1798) forbidding the entrance into any French port of any vessel which at any previous part of her voy- age had touched at an English possession, and declaring good prize all vessels having merchandise on board, the production or manufacture of England or her colonies, whoever the owners of the merchandise might be. This was regarded as being little short of a declaration of war, and authority was given to the American navy to seize vessels under the French flag which had committed encroachments upon American commerce; com- mercial intercourse between France and the United States was suspended ; treaties were declared to be no longer binding upon the latter; and letters of marque and reprisal were authorized.2
But notwithstanding the perplexities and perils thus superadded to the ordinary risks of ocean commerce, the merchants of Boston, Salem, and other communities went forward in the prosecution of their plans with all
1 Barry's Hist. of Mass., iii. 332, 333. The New York Chamber of Commerce concurred with the Boston chamber in its estimate of Mr. Jay's treaty. [See the Life of John Warren, ch. xxii., and Mr. Lodge's chapter in Vol. III. and references there. - ED.]
2 John S. Barry's History of Massachusetts, iii. 352, 353. " History will record the fact that France has been willing to see us independent of Britain, but not independent of herself."- George Cabot, in the Columbian Centinel, May 31, 1797.
214
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
their accustomed energy and spirit. Captain Cleveland in his journals mentions four Boston ships met by him on the Northwest Coast in the spring of. 1799, and says that ten others were to be despatched thither from Boston during that season; and while at Calcutta, in the following winter, he records : " During the three months of my residence in Calcutta, no less than twelve ships were laden with the produce and manufactures of Hindo- stan for the United States, whose cargoes would average about two hundred thousand dollars each." 1
In 1798 the Messrs. Perkins bought and sent to Canton direct the " Thomas Russell; " and Mr. Ephraim Bumstead, then the oldest apprentice in their counting-house, went out as supercargo. In 1803 they made an arrangement with this young man to go to China and establish himself there for the transaction of their own business and such other as might offer. Mr. Bumstead took passage in a ship from Providence, belonging partly to merchants there and partly to the Messrs. Perkins, and had as his clerk a nephew of theirs, John P. Cushing, who had also been in their em- ploy. Soon after his arrival in China Mr. Bumstead became very ill and embarked on a voyage for the benefit of his health, expecting to return before long; but he died at sea, and Mr. Cushing, at the early age of six- teen, found himself in sole charge, with many consignments to care for and important concerns to manage. He had " a good head," and he conducted affairs with so much ability that he was soon after taken into the firm, remaining in it until its dissolution. He visited the United States in 1807, but soon returned to China, and did not leave it until twenty years after that time. "He was well repaid for his undertaking by the result." 2
Mr. Cushing was succeeded in the management of the Canton house by Mr. Thomas T. Forbes, another nephew of the Perkins's, and a young man of much promise, who was lost soon after in the Canton River with his yacht " Haidee." Mr. Cushing was in Europe when the news of this calamity came to hand, and immediately returned to China to protect the interests of his firm. He and Mr. Forbes had been on intimate terms with the firm of Russell & Co., of which Mr. Samuel Russell was then at the head. It was now arranged to reorganize this house, and to transfer the business of Perkins & Co. to it. Mr. Augustine Heard was admitted as a partner, and Mr. Forbes's youngest brother John, then sixteen years of age, as a clerk. Mr. John M. Forbes subsequently became a partner, and, later, his older brother, Captain Robert Bennet Forbes, who was the head of the liouse for several years. Mr. Russell Sturgis, now of Baring Brothers & Co., was admitted to the firm in 1842. Mr. Paul S. Forbes, cousin of the three brothers just mentioned, Mr. W. Delano, Mr. John C. Green, and Mr. A. A. Low, were also members of this eminent firm.3
1 Cleveland's Voyages, i. 74, 112. The four
2 Memoir of Thomas H. Perkins, pp. 207, ships referred to were the "Eliza," Rowan; 208.
" Hancock," Crocker ; " Despatch," Breck ; and " Ulysses," Lamb.
8 In 1816, Captain Forbes entered the count- ing-house of S. Cabot and James and Thomas
215
THE TRADE, COMMERCE, ETC., OF BOSTON.
Another youth, who was afterward to become a most intelligent and successful merchant, graduated from the counting-house of the Messrs. Perkins in the early years of their business, and went to sea in one of their ships. This was William Sturgis, who had been with them for a few months only, when it became necessary for him, on the death of his father, to push his fortunes for himself (1798); and he shipped before the mast in the " Eliza," 136 tons, then fitting out for a voyage to the Northwest Coast, San Blas on the western coast of Mexico, and China. The vessel was under the command of Captain James Rowan, who had made several voyages in the same trade, and had been very successful in his intercourse with the Indians. On reaching the coast Captain Rowan advanced young Sturgis to be his assistant in the trading department; 1 and the latter displayed so much industry, ability, and tact in his new position, and had improved himself so much in the study of navigation that he attracted the attention of other ship-masters, and was called from the forecastle of the "Eliza" to be chief mate of the " Ulysses," the officers and crew of which vessel were in revolt against their captain. He proceeded in her to China, where he met the " Eliza," and, by consent of all parties, rejoined her as third mate. On his return to Boston in the spring of 1800 he was engaged as first mate and assistant trader on board the "Caroline," owned by James and Thomas Lamb and others, and fitting out for a three years' voyage to the Pacific and China, under Captain Charles Derby of Salem. The ship touched at the Sandwich Islands on the way out, and Captain Derby died there; whereupon. Mr. Sturgis, then nineteen years of age, became com- mander of the vessel and sole manager of ·her business. He came back to Boston in 1803, having made the voyage "to the great satisfaction and profit of his employers." He made another voyage, terminating in June, 1806. In the autumn of the same year he started on his fourth voyage round the world in the " Atahualpa," belonging to Theodore Lyman and others, with supervision over two other vessels, belonging to the same owners, already on the Coast. Returning in June, 1808, he sailed in the same ship for Canton direct, with an outfit exceeding three hundred thou- sand Spanish milled dollars; and accompanied by Mr. John Bromfield, who had an interest in the adventure and a share in the responsibility.2 It was
HI. Perkins, Jr., being twelve years of age, and in 1817 he shipped before the mast in a ship belonging to his uncles, the "Canton Packet." In 1824 they gave him the command of their favorite ship the "Levant;" and afterward he commanded the "Nile," the "Danube," and the " Lintin."
1 Of this voyage the Messrs. Perkins wrote to Mr. Samuel G. Perkins, then in London, under date of Nov. 9, 1799, as follows : -
"We wrote you the 'Eliza' had succeeded on the Northwest, and had proceeded to China; that is, she was about leaving the coast for China. We presume from the letters, which are dated off St. Blas, that she would dispose
of her dry-goods for about one hundred per cent advance. The collection of skins exceeded that of Magee in the ' Margaret,' or Swift in the ' Hazard,' although they were two years, and the ' Eliza ' ninety days."
2 John Bromfield was born in Newburyport, April 11, 1779, and was brought up in the count- ing-houses of Larkin & Hurd, Charlestown, and Soley & Stearns, Boston. After making two trading voyages to Europe, he sailed in the " Atahualpa " as supercargo, with Captain Stur- gis, being under engagement to remain a year in Canton as Mr. Lyman's factor. He subsequently went into business for himself, and was very suc- cessful. Many of his ventures were with his
.
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
on this voyage that he had a desperate encounter with pirates in the mouth of the Canton River. . He reached Boston again in 1810, and then joined Mr. John Bryant in business under the firm name of Bryant & Sturgis. Their business was principally with places on the Pacific and with China, and " from the year 1810 to 1840 more than half of the trade carried on with those countries, from the United States, was under their direction. They occasionally, however, had commercial intercourse with nearly every quarter.of the globe." 1
The " Thomas Russell " was despatched in May, 1800, under command of Captain Henry Jackson, to Malaga and ports in the Mediterranean, loaded with teas and nankeens, " the ultimate object of the voyage being the purchase of a cargo in Calcutta, and the speedy conversion of the present lading into dollars to be the governing object in the operations." 2
Passing on to the year 1807, we come to the English Orders in Council, the Milan decrees of Napoleon, and the non-intercourse policy of President Jef- ferson. All the industrial interests of Massachusetts, including the agricultu- ral, were seriously checked by the embargo laws, and the days of the Boston Port Bill seemed to have come back again. Ship-building was suspended, and the fisheries were abandoned. "The transfer of flour and grain from the Southern States to the northern and eastern ports was interdicted; and when this was found to be very injurious, the President proposed to grant license to such individuals to transport flour for the necessary consumption of the people, as Governor Sullivan should select or designate. Great com- plaints were made against this measure as partial and unjust. A petition was preferred to Congress at this time for liberty to send fish to foreign markets as had formerly been done, and when there were large quantities on hand exposed to decay in a short time ; but the request was not granted, nor was any sympathy expressed for the petitioners." 3 Commissioners were sent to England, and a treaty was negotiated by them; but this was so unsatisfactory to the President that he declined to submit it to the Senate. At this time the encounter took place between the "Leopard" and the " Chesapeake," near the Capes of Virginia, and the historian says: "The country had never been in such a state since the battle of Lexington."4 In 1809 there was a temporary relaxation of hostilities, and a thousand vessels were cleared for foreign ports. The Embargo Act was modified, so far as related to provisions and the exclusion of foreign armed vessels, but the
friends Bryant & Sturgis, and Henry Lee. He died Dec. 9, 1849. [See Hunt's American Mer- chants. - ED.]
1 Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc., 1863, 1864, p. 433.
2 In 1794, Pemberton writes : "Our trade to the Mediterranean is at present interrupted by the Barbary corsairs." - Mass. Hist. Coll. iii. (1794), p. 236.
8 Bradford's History of Massachusetts, p. 372 .. The registered tonnage of the United States engaged in the foreign trade in 1807 was 848,306. Of this, 310,309 tons, or more than one third of
the whole, were owned in Massachusetts. Mr. Cabot wrote to Colonel Pickering, in reference to the non-importation law of 1807 : "Our trade with France was comparatively small, and re- strictions as to that nation were not so injurious. With reference to England the case was differ- ent. Of all the surplus products of the United States, that country bought annually one half, and of all our foreign purchases she supplied two thirds."
4 John S. Barry's History of Massachusetts, iii. 363.
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THE TRADE, COMMERCE, ETC., OF BOSTON.
restrictions upon importations were continued, with a proviso empowering the President to legalize trade with Great Britain by proclamation. In 1810 the Federal Government found itself compelled to relax still further the rigor of its non-intercourse policy ; but many intelligent men were coming to see that war with Great Britain was inevitable. In 1812 the declaration of war was made, in opposition, undoubtedly, to the feelings of a majority of the people of this Commonwealth. They were engaged principally in com- mercial pursuits; "their spirit of thrift was greater than their thirst for military renown; and they were inclined to peace, not from cowardice nor from a willingness to sacrifice the interests of their country, but from a pro- found conviction that peace was the policy of the nation, and would sub- serve its interests better than war." 1
Great suffering followed. A vast amount of capital, and a large number of vessels and seamen were thrown out of employ; the prices of imported articles rose enormously ; the produce of the country was held at high rates ; work was scarce; money also was scarce, and it was difficult to supply family wants.2 Mr. Nathaniel Silsbee, in his autobiography,3 says : -
" On the 18th day of June, 1812, after an embargo of sixty days, the Government of the United States declared war against England, which had a most depressing effect upon the commercial interests of the country ; the vessels that were at home were generally dismantled and hauled up, except such as were suitable for privateers ; and although a much larger portion of vessels and property which happened to be abroad at the commencement of the war escaped capture than was expected, yet a number of these vessels and a considerable amount of property fell into the hands of the enemy, and caused large losses to the commercial part of the community."
Mr. Thomas H. Perkins, writing of these times in his journals, says: -
" Embargoes and non-intercourse, with political and other causes of embarrassment, crossed our path ; but we kept our trade with China, and during the war of the Penin- sula embarked largely in the shipment of provisions to Spain and Portugal. Our general plan was to freight vessels, load them with flour at the South for Europe, and have the funds remitted to London. To make some necessary arrangements respect- ing them, I took passage in the brig ' Reaper,' belonging to my friend Henry Lee, for London, in August, 1811. The intention of Mr. Lee was to proceed to India in the brig, taking funds from England, and returning to Boston with Calcutta cloths, which then paid a great advance. I sent funds in her, and she returned in the year 1812, during the war with Great Britain, and with great profit. Long-cloths of India then brought twenty-five cents a yard, though an inferior article to what is now made at six cents, being less than one fourth of the price the India cloths then sold at. I remained in London during the year, or until the summer, and returned after war had been declared. While in London I bought, with the elder Mr. Higginson, goods brought into England for France, which resulted in great gain."
In December, 1813, Congress passed a further restrictive measure, which added to the suffering already existing and increased the complaints of the
1 Barry's History of Massachusetts, p. 387.
2 Ibid., p. 392. 8 See Note, pp. 206, 207. VOL. IV. - 28.
218
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
people. It was so severe as to interdict the coasting trade between ports in the same State and the fishing business in small craft near the coast. The fishermen of Boston, who were thus deprived of the means of obtaining their daily bread, petitioned the General Court for relief.
The following extracts from the correspondence of the Messrs. Perkins will serve to throw light on the commercial history of the period now under review : -
" To MESSRS. PERKINS & Co., CANTON.
" January 1, 1814.
" You say a cargo laid in at Canton would bring three for one in South America, and your copper would give two prices back. Thus, $30,000 laid out in China would give you $90,000 in South America, one half of which laid out in copper would give one hundred per cent, or $90,000, - making $135,000 for $30,000 ; 60,000 lbs. of indigo, even at 80 cts., $48,000 ; 120 tons of sugar at $60, $7,200 ; and cotton, or some other light freight, say skin tea, $20,000, - in all $75,000, - would be worth here $400,000, and not employ the profits of the voyage to South America. Manilla sugar is worth $400 to $500 per ton, clear of duty. The ship should be flying light, her bottom in good order, the greatest vigilance used on the passage, and make any port north of New York."
.
" January 6, 1814.
" Teas have risen to enormous prices, but are now declining. . .. Teas will rise with you immediately after a knowledge of peace takes place. Many voyages will be undertaken after the war, and the country will be again flooded with teas."
" July 15, 1814.
" A messenger has recently arrived in this country, offering in the name of the Prince Regent propositions for concluding a peace between this country and Great Britain. . . . A final settlement, such as will enable us to navigate in safety, may be protracted, by the diplomatic habits of our Government, to the ensuing autumn. It may be concluded sooner. All will depend upon the complete prostration of Buona- parte. God grant that this obstacle may not long intervene ! How far we shall, in time of peace, be permitted to pursue our former commerce, is a question difficult to decide. Great Britain has neither affection nor respect for us. Her interest will guide in relation to her future stipulations. When she can, consistently with her own rights, restrict us, she will naturally do so."
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