nos. 184-196, are derived from the files of the vice-admiralty court
which during the colonial period sat in New York. They are preserved
in the offices of the United States district court in that city. In
the case of the colonial admiralty courts which sat in Boston,
Philadelphia, and Charleston, only the record-books of those courts,
from which several of our documents were obtained, have survived, and
of the other courts apparently nothing; but from the New York
admiralty court we have, besides records, a copious mass of papers
relating to the cases, preserved by an exceptionally careful assistant
register. By the care of Hon. Charles M. Hough, U.S. circuit judge,
these papers have been arranged, mounted, and bound in model fashion.
In interpreting the papers here printed, the editor has been much
assisted by an opportunity to read a manuscript of Judge Hough's
concerning them.
The case of the _Virgen del Rosario_, more exactly the cases of
Richard Haddon _v._ 10 Doubloons, etc., of Ybanez _v._ L2409, and of
the King _v._ Thomas Miller and Sampson Simpson, give excellent
illustrations of the chicanery with which prize cases could be
conducted and of the manner in which through admiralty courts the ends
of justice could be defeated. The materials are copious. The history
of the capture is sufficiently set forth in docs. no. 187 and no. 188.
The legal history of the case may be summarized as follows. Sept. 20,
1756, Nathaniel Marston and Jasper Farmar petition governor and
council for a privateer's commission for the _Peggy_ or _Charming
Peggy_, whereof Richard Haddon was to be commander, Christopher Miller
lieutenant; _Cal. N.Y. Hist. MSS._, II. 659. Sept. 29, 1756, the
commission is granted. Dec. 7, 1756, the _Peggy_ captures the schooner
_La Virgen del Rosario y el Santo Christo de Buen Viage_, plunders
her, and lets her go. (It will be remembered that Great Britain was
not at war with Spain at this time, but only with France.) Mar. 5,
1757, the _Peggy_ arrives at New York, "having taken as many Prizes
during her Cruize as she could well man"; _Pennsylvania Gazette_, Mar.
10. Mar. 9, Haddon libels the plunder (doc. no. 184). Mar. 31, the
admiralty judge decrees that it shall be his, provided no better
claimant arises within a year and a day, and provided he furnishes
sureties to the register of the court to the value of L2409. 4s. 11d.;
notes of Sir William Burrell on this case in _Reports of Cases
determined by the High Court of Admiralty and upon Appeal therefrom,
temp. Sir Thomas Saulsbury and Sir George Hay_, ed. R.G. Marsden
(London, 1885), pp. 185-186. July 26, 1757, the sureties present their
account of sales (doc. no. 186). Feb. 17, 1758, and Mar. 10, on
pressure from London, where Captain Ybanez has made his complaint, the
advocate general in New York files a claim for money and goods, in the
king's name, to restore them to the Spaniards. Apr. 5, the sureties
demur. Apr. 19, the judge dismisses the advocate general's claim.
Sept. 27, 1758, Ybanez files his own claim or libel (doc. no. 188),
but the judge rules Feb. 10, 1759, that his time had expired (Marsden,
_loc. cit._). Dec. 19, 1760, the Lords Commissioners of Appeals in
Prize Causes reverse the colonial court, and condemn the captor in
costs and damages (_ibid._, and doc. no. 195). July 4 and 26, 1761,
the New York judge declares that, while the Lords of Appeal had
apparently reversed his decree of Mar. 31, 1757, on Haddon's libel,
they had not reversed his decree of Feb. 10, 1759, on that of Ybanez,
the decree actually appealed from (court papers). But so the matter
had been dragged on until, Jan. 4, 1762, Great Britain declared war
against Spain, and it may be considered certain that Ybanez never
recovered anything; perhaps he did not deserve to, for pretty clearly
he had been violating or evading the laws of his own country.
Meanwhile, July 14, 1758, the advocate general, on account of
irregularities on Haddon's part violating his commission as a
privateer, had sued his bondsmen (King _v._ Miller and Simpson). Their
counsel moved for a commission to take evidence in Havana, which was
granted by the court, Sept. 2, 1758; hence docs. nos. 189, 191-194.
June 27, 1761, on all the evidence now collected, the court decreed
forfeiture of the bond. July 7, 1761, the sureties appealed (doc. no.
196), but there is no record evidence that their appeal was ever
perfected, or that they ever paid. See doc. 196, note 1.]
Province of New York } To the Honourable Lewis
Court of Vice Admiralty } Morris Esqr[2] Commissary
and Judge of the Court of
Vice Admiralty for the province
of New York.
[Footnote 2: Lewis Morris (1698-1762)--son of Lewis Morris the
governor of New Jersey and father of Lewis Morris the signer of the
Declaration of Independence, of Richard Morris the judge, and of
Gouverneur Morris--was admiralty judge in New York from 1738 to 1762.
His own record of his life, from his family Bible, is in _N.Y. Gen.
and Biog. Record_, VII. 16-18.]
The Lybell of Richard Haddon of the City of New York Marriner[3]
Commander of the private vessell of Warr called the _Peggy_ in behalf
of himself and the Owners and Company of the said Schooner _Peggy_ in
all Humble Manner Sheweth unto your honor that his most Gracious
Majesty George the Second, by the Grace of God of Great Brittain
france and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, Vfd. by his Commission
under the seal of the Court of Vice Admiralty of New York Bearing date
the Twenty Ninth Day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand
Seven hundred and fifty Six writeing as is therein Recited did thereby
Grant Commission to and Lycence and Authorize Jasper Farmer[4] and
Nathaniell Marston[5] of the City of New York Merchants to Sett forth
in warr Like manner the said Schooner called the _peggy_ under the
Command of the said Richard Haddon, therewith by force of Arms to
Attack, Surprize, Seize and take by and with the said Schooner and the
crew thereof any place or fortress upon the Land or any Ship or
Vessell, Goods, Amunition, Arms, Stores of Warr or Merchandize
belonging to or possessed by any of his said Majesties Enemies in any
Sea, Creek, Haven or River and Such other Ships, Vessells and Goods
which are or shall be Lyable to Confiscation pursuant to the treaties
between his Said Majesty and Other princes, States and potentates and
to bring the same to such port as should be most convenient in Order
to have them Legally Adjudged in his said Majesties high Court of
Admiralty of England or before the Judges of such other Admiralty
Court as Shall be Lawfully Authorized within his Majesties Dominions,
which being Condemned it Should and might be Lawfull for the said
Richard Haddon to sell and Dispose of Such Ships, Vessells, and Goods,
Amunition, Arms, Stores of Warr or Merchandise so Adjudged and
Condemned in Such sort and Manner as by the Course of the Admiralty
hath been Accustomed as by the said Commission may more fully Appear,
and the said Richard Haddon Doth further Show unto your Honour that in
pursuance of his Said Commission on or About the Seventh Day of
December Last past being on the High Seas within the Jurisdiction of
this Court in the said Schooner _Peggy_ with his Company and Crew on
Board the Same in or About the Latitude of twenty-one Degrees and
Eighteen Minutes North Longitude Eighty Seven[6] Degrees fifty Seven
Minutes West from London he did meet with, sett upon and take a
Certain Schooner Belonging to the Subjects of the french King Enemies
of our Said Lord King George the Second, having on Board ten
Doubleloons,[7] five thousand seven hundred and Sixty four Dollars,
one hundred and five pistereens,[8] and Some Small Silver as also one
Bracelett, twenty Gold rings, Some Silver Buckells, six Swivell Guns,
Some Shott, one Cask of Powder, Some Cutlasses and one Kegg of Indigo
being the Money, Chattles, Goods and Effects of the Subjects of the
french King, Enemies of our Said Lord King George the Second, which
money, Bracelett, Rings, Buckells, Swivell Guns, Shott, powder,
Cutlasses and Indigo Belonging to the Subjects of the french King and
Enemies of our Said Lord King George the Second the said Richard
Haddon hath brought into this his Majesties port of New York in the
said Schooner _Peggy_ in Order to have the Same Legally Condemned by
the Sentence and Decree of this Honourable Court (But the said
Schooner being unfitt to Come upon a Winters Coast and he the said
Richard Haddon having a Great Number of prisoners Delivered her to a
Number of them to Carry them to some french port After takeing out of
her the Money, Goods and Chattles aforesaid) Wherefore the said
Richard Haddon Humbly prays your Honour that the said Money,
Bracelett, Rings, Buckells, Swivell Guns, Shott, Powder, Cutlasses
and Indigo Aforesaid belonging to the Subjects of the french King and
Enemies of our Said Lord the King may by the Sentence and Adjudication
of this Honourable Court be Condemned as Lawfull prize to the Use of
the said Richard Haddon and the Owners and Company of the said
Schooner _Peggy_ According to the Common Right of Nations and the Law
of Arms in Such Case used.
RICHD. MORRIS Pr.[9] for the Lybellent.
[Footnote 3: Richard Haddon, mariner, was a New Jersey man, but became
a freeman of New York City in 1749; _N.Y. Hist. Soc. Fund Pubs._,
1885, p. 167. An extract from a letter of his, written during this
same cruise, Dec. 29, 1756, and conveying valuable information he had
picked up respecting the proposed expedition of the French up the
Mississippi to the Illinois country, is printed in _N.Y. Col. Docs._,
VII. 219; it was an enclosure in a letter from Governor Hardy of New
York to Secretary Pitt, Feb. 26, 1757, printed in Miss Kimball's
_Correspondence of William Pitt_, I. 12; _cf._ p. 31.]
[Footnote 4: Jasper Farmer, merchant, owner in several privateers of
the time, and militia captain, was killed a few months later, Apr. 23,
1758, by one whom he was trying to impress.]
[Footnote 5: Also an owner in several privateers; will (1778) in _N.Y.
Hist. Soc. Fund Pubs._, 1900, p. 50.]
[Footnote 6: A scribe must have misread the figure 81, which appears
in other documents, into 87. In reality, 87 deg. 57' W., in the latitude
named, would locate the capture on dry land, in Yucatan. It took place
near the Isle of Pines, south of the western part of Cuba.]
[Footnote 7: A doubloon was a Spanish gold coin, equal to $8.24.]
[Footnote 8: A pistareen or peseta was equal to about 19 cents.]
[Footnote 9: Proctor. Richard Morris (1730-1810), son of the judge
(note 2, above), and at this time practising in the court, succeeded
his father as admiralty judge in 1762 (commission Oct. 16, see doc.
no. 180, note 1), and served as such till 1776, when he took the
American side. From 1779 to 1790 he was chief justice of the Supreme
Court of New York.]
[_Endorsements:_] New York Court of Vice Admiralty.--
Richd. Haddon in Behalf of himself the Owners and Comp'y of the
Schooner _Peggy_ _v._ 10 Doubleloons, 5764 Dollars, 105 Pisterreens,
one Bracelett, 20 Gold rings, Some Silver Buckells, Some Small Silver,
six Swivell Guns, Some Shott, one Cask of Powder, Some Cutlasses and
one Bagg of Indigo.--Read and filed Wednesday the 9th of March 1757.
Proclamations Wednesday the 9th, Thursday the 10th and Fryday 11th
March. Sentence Thursday 31st of March.
_185. Deposition of Francisco Raphe. March 31, 1757._[1]
[Footnote 1: The document is endorsed as filed on the same date.]
Province of New York ss.
The Deposition of Francisco Raphe Having been before Sworn and now
Examined on the part and behalf of Richard Haddon Commander of the
private Vessel of War the _Peggy_, Against Ten Doubleloons, five
Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty four Dollars, One Hundred and five
Pisterreens, one Bracelet, Twenty Gold Rings, Some Silver Buckles,
Some Small Silver, Six Swivel Guns, Some Shot, one Cask of Powder,
Some Cuttlasses and one Keg of Indigo.
1. To the first Interrogatory this Deponent saith that his Name is
Francis Rafe, and is twenty Six Years of Age, that he is a Native of
Sierra[2] in Greece and Subject to the Grand Turk, by Ocupation a
Mariner.
[Footnote 2: Presumably the island of Psyra in the Aegean, now called
Psara.]
2. To the second He says, that two Days after the Vessel he was on
board of Sailed out of Cuba they were taken by Capn. Haddon, which was
about December last, that he does not know the Vessels Name of which
he was aboard for she had no Regular Commander, no Dispatches or
Papers of any kind from any Port or Place whatsoever And he believes
that had said Vessel been taken by any Vessel of any Nation she would
have been a lawfull prize, and had she been taken by a Spanish Guarda
Costa, the whole Ships Crew would have been Hanged as Pirates, that
there were on board of all Nations almost, as Genoves, French and
others, In Number Seventy two, and that one of the Chief in Particular
was a Frenchman Subject to the French King. That He knows no further
to Declare in Relation to any other Interrogatories, but only that He
absolutly from all the Knowledge he can form thinks her to be a just
and Lawfull prize.
FRANCISCO RAPHE.
Examined the 31st March
Anno Dom 1757
(GARRET NOEL, Spanish Interpreter)[3]
RICHD. NICHOLS Reg'er.[4]
[Footnote 3: "Spanish interpreter of the province of New York"; _Cal.
N.Y. Hist. MSS._, II. 662, and _Cal. Council Minutes_, p. 443. Elder
in the Presbyterian Church; _Cal. N.Y. Hist. MSS._, II. 698, and _Doc.
Hist. N.Y._, III. 300. Schoolmaster; _N.Y. Hist. Soc. Fund Pubs._,
1885, p. 177. "Mr. Garret Noel, for many years a respectable
bookseller in New York, died at Elizabethtown, N.J., September 20,
1776, aged 70"; _ibid._, 1899, p. 370.]
[Footnote 4: Register of the court of admiralty till his death, Aug.
19, 1775. "During a residence in New York of 60 years he followed the
Profession of Law. He was of a respectable family in Wales". _Ibid._,
1899, p. 296, where his will is given.]
_186. Account of Sales. July 26, 1757._[1]
[Footnote 1: The document is not dated; the date may be supplied from
doc. no. 188, p. 550, _infra_.]
Sales of Sundrys takeing and Brot. in by the Privateer Schooner
_Peggy_ Richd. Haddon Commr.
1 Brasslett L 2. 0. 0
20 Gold Rings Case Mattle[2] @ 8/ 8. 0. 0
Some Odd Silver Buckles 2. 0. 0
Some Small Silver 1.12. 7
6 Swivle Gunns @ 40/ 12. 0. 0
Some Shott 9. 6
Cagg Powder 2.12. 0
Some Cuttlasses 18. 0
1 Kegg Indigo 10. 3. 4-3/4
--------------- 39.15. 5-3/4
5764 Dollars @ 8/ L2305.12. 0
10 Doubleloons @ 112/ 56. 0. 0
105 Pistereens 1/6 7.17. 6
--------------- 2369. 9. 6
---------------
L2409. 4.11-3/4
---------------
[Footnote 2: Metal? The valuation indicates alloyed gold. The slanting
mark after 8 is for shillings, and the shilling in this account is the
New York shilling, equivalent to 12-1/2 cents.]
Errors Excepted
THOS. MILLER.[3]
[Footnote 3: Thomas Miller was a nephew of Jasper Farmer; C.F.
Billopp, _History of Thomas and Ann Billopp Farmer_, pp. 45, 46.]
_187. Deposition of Don Felipe Ybanez.[1] September 2, 1758._
[Footnote 1: In some of the documents the name is found written, by
ignorant scribes, Philip y Banes, and therefore it is found under
Banes in some indexes. Ybanez, arriving in Jamaica soon after the
capture, complained to Vice-Adm. George Townshend, commanding on that
station, of the "piratical behavior" of Haddon. Townshend wrote to the
secretary of the admiralty, enclosing affidavits. Holdernesse,
secretary of state, sent on May 20, 1757, a circular to the colonial
governors, printed in _N.C. Col. Rec._, V. 756, expressing his
Majesty's indignation at such actions toward a neutral, and ordered
the governor of New York to proceed against Haddon. The _Calendar of
Council Minutes_, p. 434, shows the letter to have been received, July
16. On Sept. 16 Secretary Pitt sent a circular to the governors with
strict commands against molesting Spanish subjects; Kimball, _Corr. of
William Pitt_, I. 105. On Feb. 13, 1758, Lieutenant-governor James
DeLancey writes (_ibid._, I. 181) that this circular had been received
Jan. 19, and that a proclamation had at once been issued. He adds,
"Capt. Phillip Ybannes who was plundered by Capt. Richard Haddon is
now here and I have put him in a way to recover the loss he has
sustained and if he meets with Justice in the Admiralty he cannot fail
of a recompence."]
Province of New York.
Court of Vice Admiralty.
The Deposition of Don Phelipe Ybanes being before Sworn and now
Examined on the part of our Lord the King on the Lybel of William
Kempe, Esqr.[2] his Majes'ys Advocate General for this Province of New
York Against Thomas Miller and Sampson Simpson[3] Defendants.
[Footnote 2: Attorney general 1752-1759, advocate general 1753-1759,
d. 1759. He filed his claim on behalf of the crown Feb. 17 and Mar.
10; the judge dismissed it Apr. 19, 1758, on the ground that the king
had no interest in the goods. Marsden, p. 185; doc. no. 188, and other
papers.]
[Footnote 3: Samson or Sampson Simson, d. 1773, son of Rabbi Joseph
Simson and uncle of that Samson Simson who founded the Mt. Sinai
Hospital, was the chief Jewish merchant in New York, owner of several
privateers, and later one of the founders of the Chamber of Commerce.
At this time he was _parnas residente_ (president) of the Congregation
Shearith Israel, till 1825 the one Jewish congregation in New York.
_Publications of the American Jewish Hist. Soc._, II. 83, III. 81, X.
109-117, XI. 155, XXI. 74, XXV. 90. Dr. Benjamin Kennicott, in _The
Ten Annual Accounts of the Collation of Hebrew MSS. of the Old
Testament_ (Oxford, 1770), p. 161, mentions information from President
Cooper in New York "that Mr. Sampson Simson, a very worthy and
benevolent old Gentleman, of the Jewish persuasion, living in that
city, is in possession of a MS. of very great antiquity, containing
the whole Hebrew Bible"--on which see Ezra Stiles, _Literary Diary_,
III. 3, 32.]
1st. This Deponent saith that his Name is Phelipe Ybanes Aged thirty
seven years Born at St. Lucar[4] in Old Spain by Ocupation a Mariner
and subject to the King of Spain.
[Footnote 4: At the mouth of the Guadalquivir. Columbus sailed thence
on his third voyage, in 1498.]
2ly. That his first knowledge of Richd. Haddon and the Schooner
_Peggy_ was on the sixth or Seventh Day of December 1756. That he
first knew the Schooner called the _Virgin of the Rosary and Santo
Christo_ in the year 1756 when he bought her in Jamaica. That she
belonged to Port Trinity[5] on the Island of Cuba immediately before
the 6th and 7th Days of December 1756. He this Depon't being then
Commander of said Schooner having his Resident in the Havana with his
Family. That he was on board said Schooner on the 6th and 7th days of
December 1756 as Commander and Owner. That said Schooner was not then
Equipped to use Force in any manner but only as a trading Vessel. That
she had on board three small Guns unloaded and Six Swivel Guns, three
of which were Loaded with Ball in Case of Necessity to make Signals
but all in the Hold for Ballast, and fourteen Hangers,[6] which was
all the Arms on board. That he this Deponent was sole Owner of said
Schooner at that time. That when he this Deponent was met with by
Richd. Haddon on the 6th or 7th Day of December 1756, he[7] came from
Port Trinity but last from Port Banes[8] Eight Leagues from the Havana
in the same District where he touched and took in for Jamaica, where
he was Bound, two Passengers both Eng'h Subjects named Henry
Myerhoffer[9] and Willm. Abbot[10] Beside which he took in Eight
Spaniards. That they then made to the Number of Sixteen Spaniards on
board and two English, seven of which were Mariners. The Names of the
Spaniards were Don Phelipe Ybanes Capn. and Owner, Don Francisco
Garcia, Pasqual de Cordova, Don Geronimo de la Cal, Cayetano Peres,
Pablo Antonio Corea, Marcelino Marero, Silvestre Manuel de Castro,
Miguel de Fuentes, Henry Myerhoffer, and Wm. Abbot English Passengers,
Juan Lorenso Boatswain, Matheas Antonio, Antonio Malacallo, Bedro
Valderama, Antonio Gonis, Bernardo Martines, Antonio Navarette,
Mariners. That the Spanish Passengers were Residents at the Havana
with their Families and so were the Seamen Except one who is a
Resident at St. Agustin. That the motive of the Spanish passengers
going in said Schooner was to trade at Jamaica. That said Schooner had
no more Mariners on board than is Customary nor so many as is quite
Necessary for such a Vessel. That there was no such person on board
said Schooner as Francisco Raphel[11] at the time she was taken by
Richd. Haddon nor any French Subjects.
[Footnote 5: Trinidad, near the middle of the south side of Cuba.]
[Footnote 6: Small short swords.]
[Footnote 7: The deponent.]
[Footnote 8: Cabanas, 35 miles west of Havana.]
[Footnote 9: A German living in Georgia, see doc. no. 194, paragraph
5.]
[Footnote 10: Also a resident of Georgia (_ibid._); constable of
Frederica some years before, _Col. Rec. Ga._, VI. 210.]
[Footnote 11: See doc. no. 185.]
3ly. That all the Papers was the Licence and some Letters for some
Merch'ts at Kingston in Jamaica. That said Licence was for said
Schooner to go from Port Trinity to Port Mansanillo[12] which Licence
and said Papers was taken from said Don Phelipe Ybanes by said Richd.
Haddon by Force. That he this Deponent as soon as he came on board the
Privateer shewed Richd. Haddon his Licence.
[Footnote 12: Manzanillo is on the south coast of Cuba, two hundred
miles east of Trinidad, and thus on the way to Jamaica! It should be
mentioned that export of provisions from Cuba to Jamaica was forbidden
by Spanish regulations.]
4ly. That at the time of the Seizure of said Schooner, the Cargoe
consisted of the following particulars--Six Thousand Nine Hundred and
Seventy five Spanish Heavy Dollars,[13] Six Hundred and Sixteen
Dollars in Dobloons, two Hundred and Eighty Dollars in Gold Trinkets,
a Bag[14] of Indigo [of] 125 lbs., the greatest part of the Schooners
Provisions, the Spanish Colours, about 50 lbs. Gun Powder, Six Swivel
Guns, about twenty Balls, a Box Sweetmeats Value Forty Dollars, and
fourteen Hangers--all which belonged to this Deponent and other
Spanish Subjects now in New York.
[Footnote 13: _Pesos fuertes_, Mexican hard dollars.]
[Footnote 14: Elsewhere _kagg_, keg.]