Chapter XXIII: Part 23

That he this Deponent Knows the Ship called the _Lewis Joseph_ now riding at Anchor in this Port of Philadelphia; That in the Month of August 1743 this Deponent contracted and Agreed with Francis Pienoir late Captain of the said Ship and the owners thereof at St. Malo aforesaid to enter and go as Second Captain on Board the said Ship on a Voyage from St. Malo to Cadiz and from thence to proceed to some port of French or Spanish America as should be agreed and resolved on at Cadiz aforesaid; That agreeable to his said Contract this Deponent sailed in the said Ship in quality of Second Captain to Cadiz and from thence to Port Orient[4] in France and thence returned to Cadiz and from thence proceeded to Cape Francois[5] in the Island of Hispaniola; That the said Francis Pienoir was Captain and Commander of the said Ship during the said Voyage; That from Cape Francois aforesaid this Deponent sailed in the said Ship on an Intended Voyage for Nantz in France and on the 26th day of Decr. last, New Stile, the said Ship [was] attacked upon the High Seas in or near the Latitude of 31 deg. North by two English Privateer Vessels, of one of which Captain Alexander Kattur was Commander[6] and Captain John Dougal was Commander of the other, but does not Know the Names of the said Privateers but has heard that one of them was Called the _Warren_ and the other the _George_; That the Engagement between the said Two Privateers and the said Ship _Lewis Joseph_ continued for about five or Six Hours; That at the Beginning of the said Engagement there were fifty two Men in and belonging to the said Ship _Lewis Joseph_ but four of them were Killed in the said Engagement vizt. the said Captain Pienoir, another Captain who was a Passenger and two common Sailors, and three of the Men belonging to the said Privateers were also Killed in the said Engagement as this Deponent afterward heard and believes; That at the time of the said Engagement the said Ship _Lewis Joseph_ was mounted with Eighteen Guns; That the said Ship _Lewis Joseph_ was then taken by the said two English Privateers; That the said Captain Pienoir and all the Mariners and Comp'y belonging to the said Ship _Lewis Joseph_ at the Time of her said Caption were Subjects of the French King; That the same Ship _Lewis Joseph_ was then Laden with divers Goods Wares and Merchandizes.

[Footnote 4: Now called Lorient.]

[Footnote 5: Now Cap Haitien.]

[Footnote 6: The _Warren_; see note 3, above, and _Pa. Mag. Hist._, XXIV. 350.]

To the Second Interrogatory;

That the said Ship _Lewis Joseph_ at the time of her said Caption wholly belonged to Monrs. John Petel a Merchant then residing at St. Malo and a Subject of the French King; That part of the Goods Wares and Merchandizes wherewith the said Ship was laden at the time of her said Caption belonged to the said Captain and the officers of the said Ship and the residue thereof to divers Merchts. and others at St. Malo's, Nantz and other Ports and Places in France and that such Owners of the said Cargo were all then Subjects of the French King.

To the third Interrogatory,

That before the said Ship _Lewis Josephs_ Departure on the said Voyage from St. Malo, the said Captain Pienoir applyed for and obtained from the proper Officer at the Court of France a Commission which gave Authority to the said Captain with the Marriners and Company belonging to the said Ship as a private Ship of War to Seize and take any Person with their Goods and Effects who then were or should happen to be the Enemies of the French King during the Course of the said Voyage; That it is Customary in France for such Ships when there happens to be an Expectation of War being Declared before their Return from such Voyages to apply for and take out such Commissions before their Departure, And this Deponent with the said Captain Pienoir and the rest of the said Ships Company hearing at Cadiz upon their Return thither from Port Orient that War was declared by the French King against Great Britain,[7] they the said Officers and Company belonging to the said Ship _Lewis Joseph_ looked upon themselves well warranted and authorized by the said Commission to Act with the said Ship as a private Ship of War against the Subjects of the King of Great Britain and to Seize and take their Persons and Effects; That the said Ship did not touch in any Port or Place in France after the time of this Deponents hearing of War being Declared against Great Britain as aforesaid; That after the said Ships Departure from St. Malo and during the said Voyage, the said Captain Pienoir produced and read the said Commission to this Deponent and the Rest of the said Ships company, and that the purport thereof was to authorise the said Captain Pienoir with his said Ships Company to Seize and take any Pirates, Interlopers and any future Enemys of the French King with their Ships, Goods and Effects or to that Effect, and was to Continue in force only for the said Voyage, and that the said Commission had a large Seal affixt to it; but what or whose such Seal was this Deponent knows not.

[Footnote 7: The king of France (Louis XV.) declared war on Great Britain on Mar. 15, 1744, N.S.]

To the fourth and fifth Interrogatorys,

That he, this Deponent, knows the Vessel or Snow called the _St. Anne_ in the Interrogatory mentioned and now riding in the Port of Philadelphia; That the said Snow being laden with Divers Wares and Merchandizes at Cape Francois Sailed from thence in Company with the said Ship _Louis Joseph_ and was afterwards taken by the said two English Privateers who took the said Ship _Lewis Joseph_ or one of them as this Deponent hath heard and believes, and was brought into the Port of Philadelphia along with the said Ship, as the Prize of and belonging to the said Privateers but when or where the said Snow was Attacked or taken, or who was the Captain and Commander of her this Deponent knows not, but hath heard and believes that the Captain, Mariners and Owners of the said Snow were all Subjects of the French King; and to the Rest of these Interrogatories cannot Depose.

JACQUE PIEGNON.

THE _APOLLO_.

_174. Deposition of John Brown. August 2, 1745._[1]

[Footnote 1: From the same manuscript volume as the preceding, pp. 262-264. The capture is thus recorded in the _Pennsylvania Gazette_ of Aug. 1, 1745: "Yesterday arrived the Privateer _Trembleur_, belonging to this Port, and brought in the Scotch Ship taken some Weeks since by the Spanish Privateer Snow off the Capes of Virginia. Captain Bowne met with [her] East of Bermudas, bound to Laguira".]

John Brown of Holywood near Belfast[2] in the Kingdom of Ireland being Sworn,

[Footnote 2: Holywood is four or five miles northeast of Belfast, on the east shore of Belfast Lough.]

_1st._ To the first Interrogatory saith that he Knows the Ship called the _Apollo_ now rideing at Anchor in this Port of Philadelphia; That he first Knew the said Ship At the aforesaid Port about Seven Years ago, but the Particular Time does not now remember; That he was hired by Alexander McMullen the Commander of the said Ship on or about the Nineteenth Day of March last past at Larn[3] in the Kingdom of Ireland aforesaid to proceed with the said Ship as Chief Mate thereof from thence to Virginia; That the said Ship at her Departure from Larn aforesaid was not Laden with any Goods, Wares or Merchandizes but in her Ballast; That the said Ship _Apollo_ in the prosecution of the said Intended Voyage was taken as a Prize on the Sixteenth day of June last past upon the High Seas near the Capes of Virginia by a Spanish Privateer Snow; That the Commander of the said Privateer after he had taken Possession of the Ship _Apollo_ brought over board her into his own Vessel the Master and all the Men belonging to the said Ship except this Deponent and one Boy, and at the same time put on Board her Sixteen Mariners belonging to the said Spanish Privateer Snow; That on or about the twentieth Day of the said Month of June the Commander of the said Spanish Privateer caused to be laden on Board the said Ship _Apollo_ several Goods, Wares and Merchandizes the Cargo of a Certain British Snow which the said Privateer had taken a few Days before; That soon after the said Goods, Wares and Merchandizes were put on Board the said Ship _Apollo_ she was seperated from the said Spanish Privateer; That he this Deponant was on Board the said Ship _Apollo_ at the Time of such her seperation and saith that she remained under the Conduct of the said Sixteen Spanish Mariners who were put on Board her on her being first taken as aforesaid (in order to carry her to Laguira[4] as they informed this Deponant) untill the twelfth day of July last past when the said Ship _Apollo_ was attacked and Retaken as a Prize on the High Seas by an English Privateer Sloop called the _Trembluer_[5] whereof Captain Obadiah Bowne was Commander;[6] That upon the Recaption of the said Ship _Apollo_ by the said Sloop the said Captain Obadiah Bowne put on Board her twelve or Thirteen Mariners in order to navigate and carry her to this Port of Philadelphia where she arrived the first day of this Instant Month of August and till which Time the said Deponent Continued on Board her from the Time of her being Retaken as aforesaid.

[Footnote 3: Larne lies on the northeast coast of Ireland, some twenty miles north of Belfast.]

[Footnote 4: La Guayra on the Venezuelan coast, the port of Caracas.]

[Footnote 5: _Trembleur_, _i.e._, Quaker. Her first appearance is in the journal of William Black, under date of May 30, 1744: "a fine Bermudas Sloop bought the other day for 800 pounds Sterling, and is called the _le Trembleur_, to carry 14 Carriage and 20 Swivel Guns, and 100 Men". _Pa. Mag. Hist._, I. 247.]

[Footnote 6: After the war was over, Bowne settled down to the keeping of a public-house "at the sign of the _Trembleur_", at the corner of Market and Water streets, hence long called "Bowne's corner". _Memorial Hist. Phila._, I. 263.]

_2d._ To the second Interrogatory this Deponent saith that the said Ship _apollo_ at the Time of his being Shipped as Chief Mate of her as aforesaid did belong to Richard Oswald[7] and Company Merchants residing in Glascow in Scotland and subjects of the King of Great Britain as this Deponent was informed by the said Alexander McMullen then Master of the said Ship _Apollo_. And this Deponent further says that he does no[t] Know to whom the Goods, Wares and Merchandizes taken from on Board the said Ship _Apollo_ did belong, but says that he Knew and was well acquainted with James Bowne the Commander of the said British Snow at the Time of her being Taken as aforesaid.

JOHN BROWN.

[Footnote 7: This was that Richard Oswald (1705-1784), Franklin's friend, who signed for Great Britain the preliminary articles of peace with the United States, Nov. 30, 1782.]

_175. Deposition of Diego de Prada y Nieto. August 2, 1745._[1]

[Footnote 1: From the same volume as the preceding, pp. 264-266.]

Diego De Prada y Nieto of Sevilla in the Kingdom of Spain being Sworn

3d. To the third Interrogatory Saith That he Knows the Ship called the _Apollo_ now riding at Anchor in this Port of Philadelphia; That he first saw the said Ship _Apollo_ on the High Seas on the Twenty seventh or Twenty eight day of June last, New stile,[2] about the distance of Twelve or thirteen leagues from the Capes of Virginia; That the Persons then on Board the said Ship were Subjects of the King of Great Britain; That the said Ship _Apollo_ at or about the place and Time aforesaid was Attacked and Taken Prize [by] a Spanish Privateer Snow called the _Neustra Senora De los Dellores y Animas_[3] Commanded by Don Carlos Francisco de Bissava and Navigated by Eighty Mariners all Subjects of the King of Spain; That immediately upon the said Ship _Apollo_ being taken as aforesaid this Deponant with fifteen or Sixteen Spanish Mariners belonging to the Said Spanish Snow were sent by the said Capt. Don Carlos Francisco de Bissava on Board the said Ship _Apollo_ whereof they took possession; That the Command of the said Ship _Apollo_ was given to this Deponent with orders to carry her to Laguira on the Coast of Caraccas in new Spain;[4] That on or about the thirty first day of June last N.S.[5] the said Capt. De Bissava caused to be put on Board the said Ship _Apollo_ sundry Goods, Wares and Merchandizes being the Cargo of a Certain Snow taken by a Spainish Privateer about five days before, two legues from the Coast of Virginia, but the Names of the Owners or Commander of the said Snow this Deponent Knows not but has heard and believes tha[t] she belonged to the Subjects of the King of Great Britain; That the said Depont. with the said fifteen or Sixteen other Spanish Mariners Continued in Possession and had the Care and Conduct of the said Ship _Apollo_ untill the 23d day of July last, New Stile,[6] when she was attacked and Retaken by an English Privateer Sloop called the _Trembleur_ whereof Capt. Obidiah Bowne was Commander; That the said Captain Bowne immediately upon his retaken the said Ship _Apollo_ put on Board her thirteen Men who Conducted and brought the said Ship to this Port of Philadelphia.

[Footnote 2: A Spanish sailor would date by new style; June 27, N.S., was June 16, O.S., the date given in the previous deposition.]

[Footnote 3: _Nuestra Senora de los Dolores y [de las] Animas_, "Our Lady of Sorrows and of Souls".]

[Footnote 4: Rather, in the viceroyalty of New Granada.]

[Footnote 5: June 20, O.S., according to John Brown's deposition.]

[Footnote 6: July 12, O.S. (Brown).]

4th. To the fourth Interrogatory This Deponent Saith That among the People who were put on board the said Ship _Apollo_ by the Spaniards there was one Mullato man who was called Limena whom this Deponent says is a free man, and that he, this Deponent had been informed by several and by the said Mullato himself that since the Commencement of the War between England and Spain he was Taken and Carred in to Jamaica and there sold as a Slave and that he run away from the English and got among the Spaniard And this Deponent further heard that he belonged to a Privateer Commanded by Don Pedro De Parieveck and that having quarreld with one of the Officers on board the same, the said Commander by a Letter desired the said Captain Don Carlos Francisco de Bissava Commander of the said Spanish Privateer Snow called the _Neustra Senora de los Dellores y Animas_ to receive the said Mullato on board the same and that he was received aboard accordingly and was to draw an equall share with the Whitemen and did receive ten pieces of Eight Advance money being the sum the Whitemen also receivd and the said Mullato was looked upon by the People on Board the said Privateer as a freeman and by some of them was well known.

DIEGO D PRADA LONE NIETO.

THE _PRINCE CHARLES OF LORRAINE_.

_176. Deposition of Benjamin Munro and William Kipp. April 23, 1746._[1]

[Footnote 1: Rhode Island Archives, volume lettered "Admiralty Papers, 1746-1750", p. 45. Capt. Simeon Potter of Bristol (a town in Massachusetts till January, 1747, in Rhode Island after that date) was one of the most noted and successful of the privateers of his time. His raid on French Guiana in November, 1744, though not enormously profitable nor of much military importance, makes a very picturesque story, chiefly because of the vivid account we have of it from one of its victims, Father Elzear Fauque, an intelligent Jesuit, who was serving the mission at Oyapoc, and was carried away as a prisoner by Potter when he sacked and destroyed that settlement. Father Fauque's narrative, a letter to an officer of his society, dated from Cayenne, Dec. 22, 1744, is in the _Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses_, XXVII. 172-250 (Paris 1749), VIII. 387-454 (ed. 1781), IV. 493-533 (ed. 1819), II. 34-50 (ed. 1838). There is an English translation in Bishop W.I. Kip's _Historical Scenes from the Old Jesuit Missions_ (N.Y., 1875), pp. 153-205, reprinted in Professor W.H. Munro's _Tales of an Old Sea Port_ (Princeton, 1917), pp. 48-93, in which Potter's life is also told. The admiralty case arose from questions respecting disposal of the booty. Prince Charles of Lorraine was brother-in-law of Maria Theresa, and commanded her army against Frederick the Great. According to Father Fauque, the privateer so named carried 10 cannon, 12 swivel-guns and 61 men. _Lettres Edifiantes_ (ed. 1819), IV. 494.]

Benjamin Munro and William Kipp of Lawfull Age Testifieth and Saith that the said Munro was Master of the Sloope _Prince Charles of Lorain_ whereof Simeon Potter was Commander as a Private Man of Warr and that We took and Plundred a Small Place near Cyan[2] called Yopock[3] and then Proceeded to Cyan where said Potters Lieutenant and Thirty Two men Landed took and Plundred a Place called Muekell yeau.[4] We Landed on Cyan with Ten men where We were taken by One hundred and Thirty Soldiers where Three of Our Men were Killed and Four wounded and then We were carried to Cyan Fort where Capt. Potter sent a flagg of Truce on Shoar with a Fryar[5] and some Soldiers that were taken at Yopock whereupon the Governour of Cyan[6] Immediately gave us Our Barge againe to go on board and half an Ox for fresh Provisions and then We went to go on board of Our Vessel but missed of her in the Night and so We Proceeded to Surranam[7] where We were all Put into the Fort and keept untill the Masters of the English Vessels there Petitioned for us to Come out and in a few Dayes after Capt. Potter arrived in the River with his Priveteer and Came up to Surranam to the Governour[8] to Desire Liberty of him to Wood and Water but they gave no Liberty in Ten or Twelve Dayes and then Ordered that the English Men should bring Wood and Water on Board but the Thing was Attended with so much Dificulty that We were Obliged to Sell some small Plunder on board of Our Own Vessell to Defray our Charges and also that while We were at Surranam Three of Our Slaves Ran away from Us and that the Governour keept and Detained them from us then we Sailed for Barbadoes in Order to Carreen and Refitt Our Vessell and that when We came to Sea we found Five Men and no more on Board who talked Dutch and were dressed in Sailors Apparel who did their Duty as Such and Said that they belonged to Dutch Vessells in Surranam and when we arrived at Barbadoes We Landed our Prize Goods and Slaves where they were Condemned and Sold at a Publick Vendue.

BEN MUNRO. WM. KIPP.

Bristol ss: BRISTOL Apr. 23d 1746.

[Footnote 2: Cayenne the chief town of French Guiana. For the pronunciation, see doc. no. 63, note 20.]

[Footnote 3: Oyapoc, on a river of the same name, lies some 80 miles to the southeast of Cayenne, toward the Brazilian boundary.]

[Footnote 4: Macouria, a lady's plantation a little northwest of Cayenne. Father Fauque, _ubi sup._, pp. 519-520.]

[Footnote 5: Father Fauque was not a friar, but a Jesuit.]

[Footnote 6: M. d'Orvilliers, father of the celebrated admiral of that name. La Condamine, returning by way of the Amazon and of Oyapoc from his celebrated geodetic expedition to Peru, had spent five months with him at Cayenne earlier in this year. _Relation Abregee_, pp. 209-214.]

[Footnote 7: The Dutch then possessed both what is now Dutch and what is now British Guiana. In 1744 their possessions constituted three colonies, Surinam, Berbice, and Essequebo, of which Surinam, the present Dutch Guiana, was the most important. The fort spoken of was at the capital, Paramaribo.]

[Footnote 8: Jan Jacob Mauricius, governor of Surinam 1742-1751; see account of him in Harris and de Villiers, _Storm van 's Gravesande_, II. 538-539.]

Personally appeared the above named Benj'n Munro and Will'm Kipp, (being bound to Sea), and made Oath to the truth of the above written evidence: taken in Perpetuam Rei Memoriam before us two of his Majs. Justices of the peace in and for the County of Bristol:[9] Quorum Unus,

JONA: WOODBURY. JOSEPH RUSSELL.

[Footnote 9: At this date a county of Massachusetts. With this narrative we can compare Captain Potter's own brief account of the affair, as given in the _Pennsylvania Gazette_ of Feb. 19, 1745, being an extract from a letter written by him to his owners, sent to that journal from Newport: "We came to an Anchor at Y'opoch River, took a Craft by which we had an Account of a considerable French Settlement up that River, with a Fort of six Carriage Guns and 50 Soldiers, excluding Officers: We went with the Prisoners we took into the Craft (bound) before us as our Guides: At one o'clock in the Morning we landed a small Distance from the Fort, gave three Huzza's and entred the same Sword in Hand, took it without the loss of one Man, kept Possession thereof 8 Days, took in Plunder 9 Indians, 2 Negroes, a Mulatto Wench, 50 Small-Arms, 5 Casks of Powder, and a small Quantity of Plate, and took 10 Prisoners. We then steered for Surinam and sent up for Liberty to refit, but were refused by the Governor thereof: How far this is consistent with the Treaties between England and Holland, I for my part must leave to others to determine."]

_177. Deposition of Daniel Vaughan. September 1, 1746._[1]

[Footnote 1: Rhode Island Archives, volume lettered "Admiralty Papers, 1746-1750", following doc. no. 176.]

Daniel Vaughan, late Lieutenant the Sloop _Prince Charles of Lorain_, Capt. Simeon Potter, on a Cruising Voiage Anno 1744, on oath declared that an Indian man Named Jeffery Potter was one of the Hands of said Sloop during her Cruize; that on said Cruize the Sloops Company made an Attack on a French Settlement called Yapoke and took out of said Settlement Seven Indians, three Negroes, twenty large Spoons or Ladles, nine Large Ladles, one Gold and one Silver hilted Sword, one Gold and one Silver Watch, two Bags of Money the Quanty uncertain, a number of Chest and Trunks of Goods and Merchandize and waring apparell, a Number of Gold Rings, Buttons and Buckles, a Number of Silver Candlesticks and Church Plate both Gold and Silver,[2] a Number of Swords, about Sixty small arms for Cannon, Shot of all Sorts, about Fifty halfe Barrals of Powder, a Quantity of Beafe, Flower and other Provisions and Sundry other things wch. this Deponent cannot enumerate; that after the taking of said Goods etc. from Yapoke sd. Sloop and Company sail'd for Surrinam where Capt. Potter put a Quantity of sd. Merchandize up at Vendue on board a Vessel in the Harbour and purchased the most of them himself and ship't them to Rhode Island on his own account; then said Sloop Sailed for Barbadoes on wch. passage the men demanded that Capt. Potter would Share the Money taken, according to the Articles, to which Capt. Potter answered that he would share none until his Return for all the Men were indebted to the Owners more than that amounted to and Swore at and Damn'd them threatning them with his drawn sword at their Breasts, which Treatment Obliged the Men to hold their Peace and when said Sloop arrived at Barbadoes Capt. Potter without consulting the Men put part of the afore mentioned Effects into the Hands of Mr. Charles Bolton and kept the other part in his own Hands and Supply'd the Men only with Rum and Sugar for their own drinking, and further this Deponent saith that Capt. Potter refusing to let the men have their Shares and his Ill Treatment of them by beating them occasioned about twenty-four to leave the Vessel whose Shares Capt. Potter retained in his Hands and further this Deponent saith not. DANIEL VAGHN. Sworn to this 1 Day of September A.D. 1746, Capt. Potter not notified living out of the Government, befor EBEN'R RICHARDSON Just: apece.[3]

[Footnote 2: Father Fauque greatly laments the loss of these. Professor Munro, _History of Bristol_, p. 180, says that some of the silver which Captain Potter brought home from Oyapoc is still in the possession of descendants of his family.]

[Footnote 3: Bristol had not yet become a part of Rhode Island. Ebenezer Richardson was a justice of the peace in Newport; _R.I. Col. Recs._, V. 335. Thomas Ward was elected secretary of the colony of Rhode Island in May, 1747 (_ibid._, V. 215).]

A true Copy as one file in the Case Patd. agst. Potter examd.

by THO. WARD, Clk.

THE _ELIZABETH_.

_178. Deposition of William Dunbar. May 7, 1747._[1]

[Footnote 1: Rhode Island Archives, same volume as the preceding, p. 15. This deposition follows in that volume the libel of John Sweet of Newport, commander of the privateer _Defiance_, against Paas's sloop, captured by him.]

Novemb'r 26th 1746 Being at the Island Orcheilla[2] in Company with Captn. Rous in the _Trelawney Galley_ of Jamaica, Saw a Sloop coming from the Eastward, at 9 P.M. took her, they Informed us it was the Sloop _Elizabeth_, John Paas Mastr. from Martinico, were Bound and belonged to Curacoa, Cargoe Sugar and Coffea. when John Paas came on board the Privateer all the Papers he Could produce was a Sea Brief[3] and a Paper containing an accot. of the Cargoe he then had on Board, we Inquired for the rest of his Papers, he answered he had left them in Martinico, we told him such mistakes were not at all likely, and therefore must Send him into Port. he made Use of many horrid Imprecations, and many times offered to Swear, his Vessell and Cargoe was a Dutch Property and that neither french nor Spaniards were anyway Concerned in either. when we Told him he must go in his Sloop for Rhode Island, his answer Generally was, what Signifies my going with the Sloop without my papers, do but first lett me go to Curacoa and furnish myself w'th papers and then I will follow my Sloop. and his Sloop being Leaky we Concluded to heave her down and stop her leaks before we Sent her homeward. after we had Cleaned her and got the Cargoe on Board, found Concealed in the under part of the Boats Chock,[4] a Sett of french Papers Expressing who the Cargoe belonged to. John Paas Imediately retracted what he had formerly Said, Acknowledged that Vessell and Cargoe did belong to the french. Some time afterwards we had Some discourse Concerning the Illicit Trade that is Carried on by the Inhabitants of Curacoa. John Paas Told me a Sure way of knowing a real dutch Vessell and Cargoe from a Counterfeit one, which is by a paper Carried by all Dutch Vessells (but wanted where french or Spainards are Concerned) expressing the Owners and Master Name, where bound to, a Particular account of all the Cargoe on Board.[5] this Paper is Sworn to by the Owners, afterwards Signed by the Governour and other Officers, with the Island Seal affixed to it.

WILL. DUNBAR.

[Footnote 2: Orchilla, a small island in the Caribbean, north of Venezuela and 200 miles east of Curacao.]

[Footnote 3: See doc. no. 129.]

[Footnote 4: Blocks of wood, shaped to the under side of a boat, on which a boat rested when on the deck of a ship.]

[Footnote 5: See doc. no. 128, note 12.]

The above Eviden[ce] was sworn to in Court the 7th Day of May 1747.

* * * * *

_179. Petition of Edward Winter. May, 1749._[1]

[Footnote 1: Mass. Archives, vol. 64, pp. 333-335.]

Province of the } To his Excellency William Shirley
Massachusetts Bay } Esqr. Govr: and Commander in
chief in and over sd. Province[2] the
Hon'ble the Council and House of
Rep'ves in General Court Assembled
May ---- 1749.

[Footnote 2: Shirley was governor of Massachusetts from 1741 to 1756. His correspondence, edited by Charles H. Lincoln, has been published in two volumes by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.]

The Petition of Edward Winter of Boston Blacksmith Humbly Sheweth,

That in the Year 1744 there were nine persons committed to the County Goal[3] in Boston, being charged with committing divers acts of Piracy, Hostility etc. on the high Seas and soon after they were put into Goal, they attempted to get off their Irons and make their Escape but being discovered were prevented, and thereupon your Petr: was ordered to Search and Examine their Irons several times in a week, which he accordingly did from the 12th day of January 1744 to the 23d of July 1746, 253 times, and charged the Province for the same the small price of one shilling a time, amounting in the whole to L12. 13. 0 bills of the last tenor,[4] and put in his Bill to the Committee appointed by the special Court of Admiralty who try'd said Prisoners, to Examine the Acco'ts of Charges that had arisen on said Prisoners, but the same was not allowed by them, they apprehending the Pet'rs Bill sho'd be paid by the County (tho' all other charges upon 'em the Province paid) and said Committee accordingly recommended it to the Court of Sessions to pay the same, to whom your Petr. has since appl'd but they absolutely refused paying it, so that your Petr. unless that he is relieved by this Hon: Court is like to suffer greatly.

[Footnote 3: Gaol.]

[Footnote 4: Massachusetts began the issue of provincial paper money in 1690, and continued it till 1748. Its bills of credit were distinguished, according to the form of these promises to pay, into three varieties: old tenor (issues of 1690-1737), middle tenor (1737-1740), and new tenor (1740-1748). New tenor bills, here spoken of, were at this date valued at about one-tenth of the corresponding sum in specie.]

Your Petr. therefore prays your Excellency and Honours will be pleased to take the premises into Consideration, and as all the other charges were paid by the Province, he prays he mayn't be the only sufferer, but that you'l be pleas'd to order Payment of his Acco't out of the Treasury accordingly.

And as in Duty Bound he shall pray etc.

EDWARD WINTER.

In the House of Rep'tives June 28: 1749.

Read and ordered That there be granted and allowed to be payd to the Petitioner Edw'd Winter out of the Province Treasury the Sum of Twelve pounds Thirteen shillings In full for his Services In Sd. Petition mentioned.

J. DWIGHT, Spkr.

In Council June 29 1749 Read and Concurr'd.

SAM HOLBROOK, D'ty Sec'ry.
Consented to.
W. SHIRLEY.[5]

[Footnote 5: The order is printed in _Acts and Resolves_, XIV. 285.]

_180. Commission of a Vice-Admiralty Judge. September 23, 1752._[1]

[Footnote 1: From the volume in the clerk's office of the United States district court at Charleston, S.C. called "Admiralty Records of South Carolina, Book E-F", p. 1. A commission issued to a vice-admiralty judge, Lucas Santen, New York, 1683, has already been inserted in this volume, as doc. no. 51, but that, besides being issued under a proprietary, and so not wholly typical, was not a commission to Santen _as_ admiralty judge but a special commission for the trial of piracy. Another typical specimen, to Richard Morris, New York, Oct. 16, 1762, may be seen in E.C. Benedict, _The American Admiralty_, third ed., pp. 79-84; fourth ed., pp. 76-80. Benedict states that he has also seen the commissions of Roger Mompesson, Apr. 1, 1703, of Francis Harrison, Feb. 13, 1721, and of Lewis Morris, Jan. 16, 1738, who served as judge in New York till 1762. All three were destroyed in the fire at the Albany Capitol.]

South Carolina.

George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, and so forth

To James Michie, Esquire.[2]

[Footnote 2: James Michie, a South Carolina lawyer, was admiralty judge from 1752 to 1758, speaker of the assembly 1752-1754, and chief-justice for a brief period in 1759. He died July 16, 1760. _S.C. Hist. Mag._, X. 160. His predecessor James Graeme (also chief justice) had died in late August, 1752.]

We, reposing especial Trust and Confidence in the Loyalty, Integrity and Ability of you the said James Michie, and your skill and knowledge in our Laws Civil and Maritime of our Kingdom of Great Britain as well as of our province of South Carolina in America, have constituted and appoint you to be Judge of our Court of Vice Admiralty in our province of South Carolina in America aforesaid, with full Power and Authority to sit, hear and Determine all Causes whatsoever competent to the Jurisdiction of the said Court, To have and to hold, use, exercise and enjoy the said Office of the Judge of the Vice Admiralty in our province of South Carolina in America aforesaid, with all the Fees, profits, Perquisites, Privileges, Advantages and Emoluments incident thereto, in as full and ample manner as any of your Predecessors Judges of the said court have holden the same.

This Commission to continue during Pleasure.

Given under the great Seal of the said Province at CharlesTown in the Council Chamber the twenty third Day of September and in the twenty-sixth year of our Reign 1752.

Witness our Trusty and Well beloved James Glen, Esq: Governor in Chief and Captain General in and over our said Province.[3]

[Footnote 3: James Glen, a Scot, was appointed governor of South Carolina in 1738, commissioned in 1739, came out to the colony in 1743, and was governor till 1756.]

By his Excellency's Command.

WILLIAM PINCKNEY, Dept. Secry.[4]

[Footnote 4: Maj. William Pinckney (1703-1766), deputy secretary and afterward commissary general of the province; grandfather of Governor Charles Pinckney. In the volume in which this commission is found, it is indexed as James Michie's commission from Governor Glen, the document which follows (no. 181) as his commission from England. Sometimes, especially in the earlier period, admiralty judges in the colonies were commissioned by the respective governors acting under warrants from the lords of the admiralty empowering them so to do (_e.g._, doc. no. 69); more often they were commissioned directly by those lords, under the great seal of the admiralty. Docs. nos. 180 and 181 illustrate the two forms.]

Recorded in the Secretary's Office in
Book II, folio 286.

_181. Commission of a Vice-Admiralty Judge. June 16, 1753._[1]

[Footnote 1: South Carolina Admiralty Records, vol. E-F, p. 55. See doc. no. 180, note 4.]

George the Second by the grace of God of great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, To our beloved James Michie Esquire, Greeting. We do by these Presents make, Ordaine, nominate and appoint You the said James Michie Esquire to be our Commissary[2] in our Province of South Carolina and Territories thereunto belonging in the room of the former deceased, hereby granting unto you full Power to take Cognizance of and proceed in all Causes Civil and Maritime and in Complaints, Contracts, Offences or suspected Offences, Crimes, Pleas, Debts, Exchanges, Policies of Assurance, Accounts, Chartreparties, Bills of Lading of Ships and all Matters and Contracts which [in] any Manner whatsoever relates to Freights due for Ships hired and let out, Transport Money or maritime Usery (otherwise Bottomary) or which do any Ways concern Suits, Trespasses, Injuries, Extortions, demands and affairs Civil and maritime whatsoever, between Merchants, or between Owners and Proprietors of Ships and all other Vessells whatsoever imployed or used or between any other Persons howsoever had, made, began or contracted, or [any] Matter, Cause or Thing, Business or Injury whatsoever done or to be done as well in, upon or by the Sea or public Streams, or fresh Water, Ponds, Rivers, Creeks and Places Over flowed whatsoever within the Ebbing and flowing of the Sea or high Water Mark as upon any of the Shores or Banks adjoining to them or either of them, together with all and singular their Incidents, emergencies, Dependencies, annexed and Connexed causes whatsoever, and such Causes, Complaints, Contracts and other the Premises abovesaid or any of them howsoever the same may happen to arise, be contracted, had or done, To hear and determine (according to the civil and maritime Laws and Customs of Our High Court of Admiralty of England) in our said Province of South Carolina and Territories thereunto belonging whatsoever, and also with Power to Sit and Hold Courts in any Cities, Towns and Places in our Province of South Carolina aforesaid, for the hearing and determining of all such causes and Businesses together with all and singular their Incidents, Emergencies, Dependencies, annexed and connexed Causes whatsoever, and to proceed judicially and according to Law in administring Justice therein, And moreover to compell the Witnesses in case they withdraw themselves for Intrest, Fear, Favour or ill Will or any other Cause whatsoever, to give Evidence to the Truth in all and every the Causes above mentioned according to the Exegencies of the Law, And further to take all manner of Recognizances, Cautions, Obligations and Stipulations as well to our use, as at the Instance of any parties for Agreements or Debts and other Causes and Businesses whatsoever, and to put the same in execution and to cause and command them to be executed. Also duly to search and inquire of and concerning all Goods of Traitors, Pirates, Manslayers, Felons, Fugitives and Felons of themselves[3] and concerning the Bodies of Persons drowned, killed or by any other means coming to their Death in the Sea or in any Port, Rivers, Public Streams or Creeks and Places overflowed. And also concerning Mayhem happening in the aforesaid Places, and Engines, Toyls and Nets prohibited and unlawful and the Occupiers thereof, And Moreover concerning Fishes Royal, namely Whales, Hoggs, Grampusses, Dolphins, Sturgeon and all other Fishes whatsoever which are of a great or very large Bulk or Fatness, by Right or Custom any Ways used belonging to us and to the Office of our High Admiral of England, and also of and Concerning all Casualties at Sea, Goods wrecked, Flotson and Jetzon, Lagen, Thares [?], Things cast overboard and wreck of the Sea, and all Goods taken or to be taken as Derelicts[4] or by chance [found or] to be found, And all other Trespasses, Misdemeanors, Offenses, Enormities and maritime Crimes whatsoever done and committed or to be done and committed as well in and upon the high Sea as all Ports, Rivers, Fresh Waters and Creeks and Shores of the Sea to high Water Mark, from all first Bridges towards the Sea, in and throughout our said Province of South Carolina, and Maratime Coasts thereunto belonging, howsoever, wheresoever or by what Means so ever arising or happening, and all such Things as are discovered and found out as allso all fines, Mulcts, amercements and Compositions due and to be due in that Behalf To tax, moderate, demand and collect and levy and to cause the same to be demanded, levied and collected, and according to Law to compose and command them to be paid, and also to proceed in all and every the Causes and Business above recited, and in all other Contracts, Causes, Contempts and Offences whatsoever, howsoever contracted or arising (so that the Goods or Persons of the Debtors may be found within the Jurisdiction of our Vice Admiralty in our Province of South Carolina aforesaid) according to the Civil and Maritime Laws and Customs of our said high Court of Admiralty of England anciently used, and by all other lawful Ways, Means and Methods according to the best of your Skill and Knowledge, And all such Causes and Contracts to hear, examine, discuss and finally determine (saving nevertheless the Right of appealing to our aforesaid High Court of Admiralty of England, and to the Judge or President of the said Court for the time being, and saving always the Right of our said high Court of Admiralty of England, and also of the Judge and Register of the same Court, from whom or either of them it is not our Intention in any thing to derogate, by these Presents) and also to arrest and cause and command to be arrested all Ships, Persons, Things, Goods, Wares and Merchandizes for the Premisses and every of them and for other Causes whatsoever concerning the same wheresoever they shall be met with or found within our Province of South Carolina aforesaid and the Territories thereof, either within Liberties or without, And to compel all manner of Persons in that behalf, as the Case shall require, to appear and to answer, with Power of using any temporal Coertion and of inflicting any other Penalty or Mulct according to the right Order and Courses of the Law, summarily and plainly, looking only unto the Truth of the fact. And we impower you in this Behalf to fine, correct, punish, chastise and reform and imprison and cause and command to be imprisoned, in any Gaols being within our Province of South Carolina aforesaid and maritime places of the same, the Parties guilty and Violators of the Laws and Jurisdiction of our Admiralty aforesaid and Usurpers, Delinquents, and contumacious Absenters, Masters of Ships, Mariners, Rowers, Fisher men, Shipwrights and other Workmen and Artificers whomsoever exercising any kind of maritime Affairs as well according to the aforesaidmentioned civil and maritime Laws and Ordinances and Customs aforesaid and their Demerits As According to the Statutes and Ordinances aforesaid and those of our Kingdom of Great Britain for the Admiralty of England in that behalf made and Provided, And to deliver and absolve, to discharge and Cause and Command to be discharged, whatsoever Persons imprisoned in such cases, Who are to be delivered, and to promulge and interpose all manner of Sentences and Decrees and to put the same in Execution, with Cognizance and Jurisdiction of whatsoever other Causes, Civil and Maritime, which relate to the Sea or which any Manner of ways respect or Concern the Sea or passage over the Same or Naval or Maritime Voyage performed or to be performed or the Maritime Jurisdiction above said, with power also to proceed in the same According to the Civil and Maritime Laws and Customs of aforesaid Court anciently used, as well those of meer Office Mix'd or promoted[5] as at the Instance of any Party, as the Case shall require and seem Convenient. And we do by these presents, which are to continue during our Royal Will and pleasure only, Further give and grant unto you James Michie Esq., Our said Commissary, the Power of taking and receiving all and every the wages, fees, Profits, Advantages and Commodities whatsoever in any manner due and anciently belonging to the said Office, According to the Custom of our High Court of Admiralty of England, Committing unto you our Power and Authority Concerning all and Singular the Premises in the several places above Expressed (Saving in all the Prerogative of our said High Court of Admiralty of England aforesaid) together with power of Deputing and Surrogating in your place for and Concerning the premisses one or more Deputy or Deputies as often as you shall think fit. Further we do in Our Name Command and firmly and Strictly Charge all and Singular Our Governors, Commanders, Justices of the Peace, Mayors, Sheriffs, Marshalls, keepers of all our Goals and Prisons, Bailiffs, Constables and all other our officers and Ministers and faithful and Leige Subjects in and throughout our aforesaid Province of South Carolina And Territories thereuntobelonging That in the Execution of this our Commission they be from time to time Aiding, Assisting and yield due Obedience in all things as is fitting, unto you and your Deputy Whomsoever, under pain of the Law and the Peril which will fall thereon. Given at London in the High Court of Our Admiralty of England aforesaid under the Great Seal thereof the Sixteenth Day of June in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven and fifty three and of our Reign the twenty sixth.

SAML. HILL, Register.[6]

[Footnote 2: Civil law judge.]

[Footnote 3: Suicides.]

[Footnote 4: Flotsam, goods found floating on the water from a wreck; jetsam, goods thrown overboard from a ship which has perished; legan, heavy goods thrown overboard with a line and buoy to mark where they have sunk; derelicts, vessels abandoned on the seas.]

[Footnote 5: _I.e._, cases where there was no one corresponding to the plaintiff in a suit at common law, but where the judge proceeded, as an exercise of his own duty (mere office) or on being promoted (incited) thereto by an informer.]

[Footnote 6: Register of the High Court of Admiralty.]

_182. Warrant to try Prizes. June 5, 1756._[1]

[Footnote 1: South Carolina Admiralty Records, vol. E-F, p. 115. This warrant is there entered in the records of the admiralty court for Nov. 22, 1756, the judge, James Michie (see the two preceding documents), presiding. Great Britain had declared war against France on May 18, 1756. A similar warrant is in Anthony Stokes's _View of the Constitution of the British Colonies_ (London, 1783), p. 280.]

By the Commissrs. for Executing the Office of Lord High Admiral of Great Britain and Ireland etc.

Whereas his Majesty had declared Warr agt. France we do in Pursuance of His Majesty's Commissn. under the great Seal of Great Britain dated fourth day of this instant June (a Copy whereof is hereunto Annexed) hereby will and require the Vice Admiralty Court of South Carolina, and the vice Admirall, or his Deputy, or Judge of the said Court, or his Deputy, now, and for the time being, to take Cognizance of, and Judicially to proceed upon all and all manner of Captures, Seizures, Prizes and reprizals of all Ships and goods already Seized and taken, and which hereafter may be seized and taken, and hear and determine the same and according to the Course of Admiralty and Law of Nations, to adjudge and Condemn all such Ships, Vessels and Goods as shall belong to France or the Vessels and subjects of the French King, or to any other inhabiting within any of his Countries, Territories or Dominions, and all such other Ships, Vessels and Goods as are or shall be liable to Confiscation pursuant to the respective Treaties between his Majesty and other Princes, States and Potentates which shall be brought before them for Trial and Condemnation, And for so doing this Shall be their sufficient Warrant. Given under Our Hands and Seal of the Office of the Admiralty this fifth day of June 1756 and in the twenty ninth year of His Majestys Reign.

ANSON.[2] BATEMAN. R. EDGCUMBE.

[Footnote 2: Lord Anson, the celebrated admiral, was at this time first lord of the admiralty. The other commissioners signing were John, second viscount Bateman, an Irish courtier, and Richard Edgcumbe, afterward the second Baron Edgcumbe, celebrated as a dissipated wit.]

To the Vice Admiralty Court of South Carolina and the Vice Admiral or his Deputy or the Judge of the said Court or his Deputy, now, and for the time being.

By Command of their Lordships
J. CLEVLAND.[3]

[Footnote 3: John Clevland, secretary to the Admiralty 1751-1763.]

_183. Standing Interrogatories. 1756._[1]

[Footnote 1: From Anthony Stokes's _View of the Constitution of the British Colonies_ (London, 1783), pp. 284-288; already in print, but inasmuch as the most learned of American admiralty judges told the editor of this volume that he had never seen a set of the standing interrogatories, that were used at this period, it seems not superfluous to print one here. Later sets, more elaborate, as used in 1798, may be found in Christopher Robinson's _Admiralty Reports_, I. 381-389, and in Marriott, _Formulare Instrumentorum_ (London, 1802), pp. 130-148. Since in civil-law procedure witnesses were not examined orally in open court, but all testimony was obtained in the form of written depositions, it was advisable in prize proceedings, in order that examinations might be thorough and searching, to employ standard sets of questions, ready-made. Anthony Stokes (1735-1799), from whose book the present specimen is taken, was an English or Welsh lawyer, practised law in Antigua and St. Christopher 1763-1769, and was chief-justice of Georgia, 1769-1776, 1779-1782, then retired to England as a loyalist. His book contains many specimens of documents used in proceedings before the vice-admiralty courts in the colonies.]

_Antigua._ _Interrogatories_ administered to
witnesses _in preparatorio_, touching
In the Court of Vice and concerning the seisure and taking
Admiralty. of a certain Schooner, named
_Princess of Orange_, alias _Flying
Fish_, whereof Casparus Wyneburgh
was Master, by the private
Schooner of War _Mary_, whereof Edward Richards
is Commander.

1. Where was you born, and where do you now live, and how long have you lived there, and where have you lived for seven years last past? are you subject to the Crown of Great Britain, or of what Prince or State are you a subject?

2. When, where, and by whom was the schooner and lading, goods and merchandises, concerning which you are now examined, taken and seised, and into what place or port were the same carried? whether was there any resistance made, or any guns fired against the said schooner, or persons who seised and took the same, and what and how many, and by whom?

3. Whether was you present at the time of the taking or seizing the schooner and her lading, goods and merchandises, concerning which you are now examined, or how and when was you first made acquainted thereof? whether was the said schooner and goods taken by a man of war, or a private man of war, and to whom did such man of war, or private man of war belong? had they any commissions to act as such, and from and by whom, and by what particular vessel, or by whom was or were the said schooner seized and taken? to what kingdom, country, or nation did the said schooner so seized and taken belong, and under the colours of what kingdom, country, or nation did she sail at the time she was so seized and taken? was the said schooner, which was taken, a man of war, privateer, or merchantman?

4. Upon what pretence was the said schooner seized and taken? to what port or place was she afterwards carried? whether was she condemned, and upon what account, and for what reason was she condemned, and by whom, and by what authority was she so condemned?

5. Who by name was the master of the vessel concerning which you are now examined, at the time she was taken and seized? how long have you known the said master? who first appointed him to be master of the said schooner, and when did he take possession thereof, and who by name delivered the same to him? where is the said master's fixed place of habitation with his wife and family, and how long has he lived there? what countryman[2] is he by birth, and to what Prince or State subject?

[Footnote 2: _I.e._, of what country.]

6. What number of mariners belonged to the said schooner at the time she was taken and seized? what countrymen are they, and where did they all come on board? whether had you, or any of the officers or company, or mariners, belonging to the said schooner or vessel, any part, share, or interest in the said schooner concerning which you are now examined, and what in particular, and the value thereof, at the time the said schooner was so taken, or the said goods seised?

7. Whether did you belong to the schooner or vessel concerning which you are now examined, at the time she was taken and seized? how long had you known her? when and where did you first see her? of what burthen was she? how many guns did she carry? and how many or what number of men did belong to, or were on board the said schooner at the time she was taken, or at the beginning of the engagement before she was taken? and of what country building was she? what was her name, and how long had she been so called? whether do you know of any other name she was called by? and what were such names, as you know or have heard?