April 25, 1780

Parsons, Samuel H., 1737-1789

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas Mumford

Written by Parsons as a Major General in Continental Army to Thomas Mumford, a merchant from Groton, Connecticut. Mumford was also the brother-in-law of Parsons's staff officer Silas Deane. Tells Mumford his son was waiting at home after having escaped from a prison ship in New York Harbor. Mentions that he was grossly abused and "closely confined" on board. After 14 days of confinement he was liberated to the city by a Mr. Walter and just as he was about to board Joseph Chew's ship, which was to take him to New London, Connecticut, for a prisoner exchange, he was taken away and carried to…

GLC00496.075.08

September 27, 1843

Semmes, Raphael, 1809-1877

Autograph letter signed

Title: to David Henshaw

Requests permission from Secretary of the Navy Henshaw to appoint Charles F. Cady a master's mate. Written on board the USS Poinsett.

GLC00496.084

June 4, 1776

Hancock, John, 1737-1793

Letter signed

Title: to the Convention of Maryland

Written by Hancock as President of the Continental Congress. Begins by saying "Our affairs are hastening fast to a Crisis; and the approaching Campaign will in all Probability, determine for ever the Fate of America." Says the King and Parliament has left no measure unemployed to accomplish their destruction. Says they are blockading the coast and about to pour in foreign troops. Says the affairs in Canada have "a melancholy Aspect" to them. Says it is likely the colonies will have to deal with Canada and the northern Indians as well as Great Britain. Sends resolves of Congress (not included…

GLC00639.12

November 11, 1840

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Roger S. Baldwin

Former United States President Adams writes to Baldwin, a lawyer and abolitionist. He acknowledges the receipt of Baldwin's narrative of the Amistad case, to be tried before the Supreme Court. He writes "I consented with extreme reluctance at the urgent request of Mr. Lewis Tappan and Mr. Ellis Gray Loring, to appear before the Court as one of the Counsel for these unfortunate men. My reluctance was founded entirely and exclusively upon the consciousness of my own incompetence to do justice to their cause. In every other point of view there is in my estimation no higher object upon earth of…

GLC00582

July 6, 1776

Hancock, John, 1737-1793

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William Cooper

Enclosing the Declaration of Independence, with personal notes to his friend and description of sabotage of a captured American ship. Cooper was town clerk of Boston. Also, discusses military matters.

GLC00595

1813-1814, 1860, 1864

Green, Joseph W., fl. 1812-1815

Header Record

Title: Diary and 2 letters re: War of 1812 [decimalized]

GLC00498

1813-1815

Green, Joseph W., fl. 1812-1815

Diary

Title: [Journal of a privateer and of prisoner of war during the War of 1812]

Diary written while aboard the privateer Alfred and as a prisoner of war in Melville Island Prison, Halifax, and Dartmoor Prison. Records many sightings and occasional capturing of ships. Entry on 22 February 1814 records the capture of Green's privateer by the British and being brought to Melville Island Prison at Halifax. Records writing to family and the arrival of new prisoners. Notable entries include mention of a prisoners' petition to General John Mason on 28 April 1814, the reduction of rations on 1 May 1814, the release of 90 prisoners on 23 July 1814. There are also…

GLC00498.01

July 18, 1860

Green, Joseph W., Jr., 1822-1889

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Gregory

Discusses the contributions made by soldiers from Marblehead, Massachusetts in the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Emphasizes the War of 1812, commenting on service aboard the ship Constitution by men from Marblehead. Expresses pride in the contributions made by his hometown and seeks to have them recognized. Author possibly Joseph W. Green, Jr. (as listed in the 1850 census) and probably the son of Joseph W. Green, who kept a diary of his time as a privateer and POW during the War of 1812.

GLC00498.02

23 October 1872

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885

Document signed

Title: Pardon of J.A. de Abora, convicted of violating the "Passenger Act."

Convicted of violating the "Passenger Act." Pardoned by recommendation of Senator W.H. Corbett, District Attorney Gibbs, the Collector of Customs at Portland, and other prominent citizens of Oregon, and since he was ignorant of the law. (c/s Hamilton Fish)

GLC00706

28 May 1862

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Document signed

Title: [Passport for whaling ship Contest].

Countersigned by Secretary of State Seward. Issued to Captain Norton of the whaling ship "Contest" for a trip to the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The pass indicates that the Contest is from the U.S. but not involved with the Civil War; it asks that the ship be allowed to travel freely. Contest left port on May 30, 1862 and returned on August 5, 1864, with 208 barrels of sperm oil, 691 barrels of whale oil, and 9,500 lbs. of whale bone. Copies in English, German, French, and Spanish. Signed and stamped by James Taylor, Notary Public. Features paper seal. Signed in New Bedford, MA.

GLC00709

April 14, 1857

Toucey, Isaac, 1796-1869

Manuscript letter signed

Title: to William McBlair

Sailing orders from the Navy Department, placing McBlair in charge of the sloop of war "Dale," and commanding him to sail to the African coast to combat illegal slave trading. McBlair is ordered to join the "United States African Squadron" and to stop ships transporting illegal cargo or falsely flying the American flag. Letter written from the "Navy Department." Pages bound with a green ribbon. Isaac Toucey was the U.S. Secretary of the Navy. He also served as a Congressman and Senator from Connecticut, United States Attorney General, and Governor of Connecticut.

GLC00722.01

May 2, 1858

Hawley, Charles E., fl. 1858

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William McBlair

Letter, with McBlair's autograph endorsement signed on the verso. The letter, written on board the U.S.S. "Marion" at Porto Praya, Cape Verde, states that Hawley is ill with dyspepsia, does not believe he can recover on board, and wishes that "a medical survey may be held in my case." McBlair's note on the next page, written on May 3, 1858, on board the U.S.S. "Dale" at Porto Praya, orders the medical examination to be held. Note on bottom of page states that Hawley passed; it is signed by Assistant Surgeons W. Sherman, R. J. Mason and H.W.M. Washington.

GLC00722.37

1855-1859

Header Record

Title: William McBlair collection [Decimalized .01-.72]

Collection of more than 70 documents regarding William McBlair, a United States Naval captain involved in American efforts to suppress the slave trade on the African coast in the 1850s. McBlair commanded the "Dale" in the U.S. Navy's African Squadron. He later joined the Confederate Navy and commanded the CSS "Patrick Henry," as well as the ironclad CSS "Atlanta." McBlair died in 1863 on board of a hospital ship. This collection includes McBlair's appointments, orders and personal and professional correspondence while on assignment patrolling the West Coast of Africa, particularly the…

GLC00722

January 19, 1858

Conover, Thomas A., 1794-1864

Manuscript letter signed

Title: to William McBlair

The letter is ordering McBlair to return with his ship to his "cruising ground" and continue his "suppression of the slave trade." Says McBlair should first take on recruits and supplies, then proceed to the coast to suppress the trade. States he is enclosing two separate orders from the Navy Department. Letter written on board the United States Flagship "Cumberland" in Porto Praya in Cape Verde off the coast of Africa. Thomas A. Conover was a Captain, later Commodore in the United States Navy, and the Commander of the African Squadron. A veteran of the War of 1812, Conover had previously…

GLC00722.02

25 June 1857

Conover, Thomas A., 1794-1864

Manuscript document

Title: General orders for the government of the U.S. Naval Forces on the West Coast of Africa

General orders regarding Navy protocols and conduct of officers. Clerical copy, tied with red ribbon. Conover's name appears to be clerically signed. Written on board the U.S.S. "Cumberland. " Forwarded to William McBlair by Conover.

GLC00722.03

1857

Manuscript document

Title: Extracts from the "Private Instructions" of the Navy Department to the Commander in chief of the U.S. Naval Forces on the West Coast of Africa

Includes extracts from GLC00722.01, noting that the U.S. flag "loses its true character, when it is worn by those who have no right to wear it...such a pretension would subject the flag to degradation and dishonor." Also includes a description of how slave traders disguise their illegal activities, and tips to spot them. Says this service will require the "greatest prudence, and the soundest discretion." Closing paragraph gives instructions for drawing funds from Baring Brothers and Co. in London. In part: "The cunning of the slave trader is constantly forming new disguises to elude…

GLC00722.04

1857

Manuscript document

Title: General signals

Explains a secret numeric code to be used when transmitting signals between ships.

GLC00722.05

1857

Manuscript document

Title: Private signals

Explains a system of secret signals to be used in communication between ships. Orders captains to memorize the formula for the protocol and then destroy the document.

GLC00722.06

1857

Barnes, Edward A., fl. 1857

Manuscript document signed

Title: Rule for ascertaining the longitude by Chro. at Sunset

Details the procedure for obtaining longitude at sea based on the time of the sunset and latitude.

GLC00722.07

April 9, 1857

Dornin, Thomas Aloysius, 1800-1874

Manuscript letter signed

Title: to William McBlair

Enclosing a letter "for the guidance Purser Cunningham" regarding letters of credit and a copy of a letter regarding pay to officers on McBlair's ship, the "Dale."

GLC00722.08

11 May 1857

Manuscript document

Title: Officers & Crew, U.S. ship Dale

Complete list of all crew members, according to rank, on board the U.S.S. "Dale." Besides sailors, there are also twenty five marines on board the ship. Written at sea, on board the ship "Dale."

GLC00722.09

June 1, 1857

Cummings, A. B., fl. 1857-1858

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William McBlair

Reports that two crewmen, Charles Moore and John Duggin, were caught drunk and fighting, and that Duggin was also insubordinate. Letter written on board the U.S.S. "Dale," off of Funchal on the island of Madeira. Cummings was a lieutenant aboard the "Dale."

GLC00722.10

June 16, 1857

Livingston, John William Turk, 1804-1885

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William McBlair

Livingston is ordering McBlair to sail to Porto Praya and await further orders. Also orders him to deliver enclosed orders to Commander Thompson. Letter written on board the U.S.S. "St. Louis" in Funchal Bay, Madeira. John W. Livingston was then a United States Naval officer and the senior commander of the African Squadron; he reached the rank of rear admiral in 1868. His father was the famous naval officer William Turk, but John changed his surname to Livingston in 1843.

GLC00722.11

1857-1858

Manuscript document

Title: Report of target practice on board the U.S.S. "Dale"

Reporting on the success of target practices. First page details four cannon practices held on 15 July 1857, 31 August 1857, 13 October 1857 and 12 January 1858. Lists size of target, movement of ship, number of shells fired, success of the practice, and numerous other facts regarding the practice. Second page lists results of practice with muskets and pistols.

GLC00722.13

October 12, 1857

McBlair, William, ?-1863

Letter signed

Title: to Charles Wise

Discussing the capture by a British ship of a vessel flying the American flag. Commodore Wise was the captain of the HMS "Vesuvius," which had recently captured the "Bremer." McBlair states that because the "Bremer was flying the United States flag, the British ship had no right to capture her. McBlair's docket notes "not sent.," possibly because the British ship's name has been misspelled as "Vesudius" in this copy. Letter written on board the U.S.S. "Dale." Slavers often flew the American flag to avoid capture by British ships, as the Royal Navy did not have a right to seize U.S. vessels.…

GLC00722.14