Essex County, Massachusetts - The Commercial History, 1888 (part 4 of 4)

On the 15th of June, 1784, the barque "Light Horse" was sent by Mr. Derby to St. Petersburg with a cargo of sugar, and opened the American trade with that place.

In November, 1784, he despatched the ship "Grand Turk," of 300 tons. Captain Jonathan Ingersoll, on the first voyage from Salem to the Cape of Good Hope. Although this voyage was not very successful, it gave Mr. Derby an insight into the wants and prices of the Indian market, and Nov. 28, 1785, he cleared the same vessel under command of Ebenezer West, for the Isle of France, with the purpose to visit Canton, went to the Isle of France, Batavia and China, and returned to Salem in June, 1787, with a cargo of teas, silks and nankeens, making the first voyage from New England to the Isle of France, India and China.

In December, 1787, Mr, Derby again despatched his ship " Grand Turk " on a voyage to the Isle of France under the charge of his son, Elias Hasket Derby, Jr. The " Grand Turk " was sold at a great profit, and the son remained at the Isle of France until the arrival, about a year afterwards, of the ship " Atlantic," when he proceeded to Surat, Bombay> and Calcutta, and first displayed our ensign at those ports. He bought, at the Isle of France, the ship "Peggy," sent her to Bombay for cotton and then back to Salem, where she arrived June 21, 1789, with the first cargo of Bombay cotton. One of his vessels was the first to display the American flag at Siam and another made the first voyage from America to Mocha.

In February, 1789, Mr. Derby sent, for the first time, the ship " Astrea" on a direct voyage to Canton. American ships were now following the lead of the "Grand Turk," and we find fifteen there in 1789, five of them belonging to Salem, and four to Mr. Derby. In 1790 he imported into Salem 728,871 pounds of tea. In May, 1790, the brig "William and Henry," Captain Benjamin Hodges, owned by Gray & Orne, entered this port with a cargo of tea, which was among the first of such cargoes imported in an American bottom. When Mr. Derby first engaged in the India trade there were no banks, and he rarely purchased or sold on credit. While his large ships were on their voyages to the East he employed his brigs and schooners in making up the assortment for cargoes by sending them to Gottenburg and St. Petersburg for iron, duck and hemp; to France, Spain and Madeira for wine and lead; to the West Indies for spirits ; and to New York, Philadelphia and Richmond for flour, provisions, iron and tobacco. In the brief space of fourteen years (from 1785 to 1799), he made one hundred and twenty-five voyages, by at least thirty-seven different vessels, of which voyages fortyfive were to the East Indies or China. Among the officers of his ships, who were afterwards distinguished, were the Hon. Nathaniel Silsbee, late United States Senator from Massachusetts and Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch.

In 1798 the nation appeared to be on the eve of a war with France, and was without a navy. John Adams was President, and the administration, in June, 1798, passed an act authorizing the President to accept such vessels as the citizens might build for the national service, and pay for them in a six per cent, stock. Subscriptions were opened in Salem, and Mr. Derby and Mr. William Gray each subscribed ten thousand dollars, and William Orne and John Norris each five thousand dollars, and in a brief period some seventy-four thousand, seven hundred dollars were subscribed. Mr. Enos Briggs, who had built many of Mr. Derby's fastest ships, was instructed to build a frigate, to be called the "Essex." The keel was laid April 13, 1799, and September 30th following she was successfully launched. She proved the fastest ship in the navy, and captured property to the amount of two million dollars. Admiral Farragut served on the " Essex " as a midshipman.

Mr. Derby made one more brilliant voyage before h,e closed his career, although he did not live to ascertain its results. Hostilities between France and the United States had commenced when Mr. Derby sent a ship of four hundred tons, called the " Mount Vernon," equipped with twenty guns, manned by fifty men and loaded with sugar, to the Mediterranean. The cost of the cargo was forty-three thousand two hundred and seventy-five dollars. The vessel was attacked by the enemy, but escaped, and arived safely in America with a cargo of silks and wines, and realized a net profit of one hundred thousand dollars. Before her arrival Mr. Derby died, September 8, 1799, and left an estate which exceeded a million dollars, and was supposed to be the largest fortune left in this country during the last century.

The mansion in which Mr. Derby lived while acquiring his fortune still stands on the corner of Washington and Lynde Streets, and was, for a long time, occupied by another Salem merchant, Robert Brookhouse. Mr. Derby erected an elegant and costly edifice on the site now occupied by Derby Square, and laid out walks and gardens from Essex Street to a terrace which overhung the South River. The mansion was finished, but was occupied by Mr. Derby but a few months before his death. For some twelve years thereafter it was in the possession of his oldest son, but with the embargo and war there came a check to the prosperity of Salem, and no one was willing to incur the expense incident to living in such a palatial structure. The buildings and gardens were closed for years, and finally gave place to the square and market which now bear the name of Derby.

Crowninshield is another family name whose members contributed to the commercial prosperity of Salem. John Crowninshield was born in 1696, was a Salem captain in the West India trade about 1724 and died in 1761. He was the father of George Crowninshield, who was born in Salem in 1734, and who married a sister of Elias Hasket Derby. George Crowninshield built a mansion-house on Derby Street, which was demolished to make room for the present Custom- House in 1816. After the Revolution, and until the embargo, he was engaged in commerce with his sons, and in the War of 1812 was successful in privateering, the most famous of his vessels being the " America." He died in 1815.

His son George was the owner of the famous pleasure yacht, the " Cleopatra's Barge," in which he visited the ports of Europe. It was the first American vessel to cross the ocean solely on a pleasure excursion. He returned in October, 1817, and on the 26th of the following November, while the yacht was lying at the port of Salem, he died suddenly in her cabin at the age of fifty-one.

Jacob Crowninshield was a member of Congress, and was appointed Secretary of the Navy in 1805, but declined on account of ill health. Benjamin W. Crowninshield was Secretary of the Navy from 1814 until 1818, and a member of Congress from 1823 until 1831. He built and lived in the house which is now the Home for Aged Women, on Derby Street. He died in 1851,

The Pickmans were among Salem's successful merchauts. Col. Benjamin Pickman, who was born in 1706, was largely interested in the West India trade, and as the principal article of export to those islands was the product of the fisheries, he engaged extensively in the prosecution of that industry. His fish-flakes extended from North Street through Federal to Boston Street, and down to the river. He amassed a large fortune in this business, and, in recognition of the service rendered him by the codfish, he had a carved and gilded effigy of that fish placed on the side of each stair in the principal hall of his house, which he built in 1750, and which still stands on Essex Street, next the East India Marine Building. The front of this house is now hidden by a block of stores. Col. Pickman died in 1773. His sons, Benjamin and William, were merchants of Salem, and his grandson, Dudley L. Pickman, a son of William, who was born in 1779, and died in 1846, was largely engaged in the East India trade, and was an eminently successful merchant.

Silsbee is a name prominent in the annals of Salem's commerce. Nathaniel Silsbee, an eminent master mariner and confidential agent of Elias Hasket Derby, was born in Salem November 9, 1748. At a very early age Mr. Silsbee was entrusted with the charge of a vessel and cargo to the West Indies, and subsequently he was owner of several vessels employed in that trade. He commanded the " Grand Turk " on a voyage to the West Indies and afterwards to Spain. In the course of a few years he embarked in business on his own account, and soon acquired an independent fortune, which unfortunately was lost by reverses in business. He died June 25, 1791, leaving three sons, each of whom were masters and supercargoes of ships while in their teens, and became eminent and successful merchants. Nathaniel, born in 1773; William, born in 1779 ; and Zachariah F., born in 1783.

The eldest son, Nathaniel, followed his father in the command of the ships of Elias Hasket Derby, and in 1793, at the early age of twenty was on a voyage to the Isle of France as captain of the new ship " Benjamin," of one hundred and sixty-one tons. From the Isle of France he proceeds to the Cape of Good Hope, returns to the Isle of France, and brings his ship home with large profits. In 1796 Mr. Derby dispatches him in the ship " Benjamin " to Amsterdam, and thence to the Isle of France, with a credit of ten thousand dollars for his own private adventures. After selling his cargo at a great profit he purchases a new ship of four hundred and fifty tons and returns to Salem, with a full cargo of East India goods for his owner, and such favorable results for himself as to enable him to commence business on his own account, in which he soon achieves a fortune.

After the attainment of a competency, Mr. Silsbee devoted many years to the civil service of his country. He was chosen a member of Congress in 1816, and served in the House until 1821, and in the United

Captain Nathaniel West and his elder brother, Ebenezer, and his younger brother, Edward, were prominent in the early commercial days. Ebenezer was, for nearly four years, during the Revolution, a prisoner of war, and was exchanged shortly before peace was declared. He subsequently had command of E. H. Derby's famous ship, the " Grand Turk," and in her made the first voyage from New England to Canton. Edward, while in command of his brother Nathaniel's ship " Hercules," was seized at Naples in 1809, but had the good fortune to obtain her release, in order to transport Lucien Bonaparte and family to Malta, thus saving his shij) from confiscation. In 1775, Nathaniel, at the age of nineteen, being in command of a merchant vessel in the West India trade, was captured by a British frigate and compelled to Serve as midshipman in the British navy. Not long after he escaped and went to Spain, where he embarked for Salem in the privateer " Oliver Cromwell," Captain Cole, of this port. He made several cruises in the " Oliver Cromwell," and took many prizes. He participated with the famous Captain Haraden in several contests, and made successful cruises as captain of the privateer " Black Prince," carrying eighteen guns, and one hundred and fifty men. On one occasion, with Captain Nathaniel Silsbee as his lieutenant, he put into Cork, on a dark night, and cut out and took away a valuable prize.

Captain West subsequently embarked in commerce, and pursued it with continued success until he had amassed a large fortune. In 1792 he built and despatched the schooner " Patty," under command of his brother Edward, and she was the first American vessel to visit Batavia. His ship "Minerva" was the fir.-t Salem vessel to circumnavigate the globe. His ship " Hercules,'' under his brother Edward's command, on the conclusion of the war with Great Britain, in 1815, was the first vessel to sail from the United States for the East Indies, under the terms of the treaty. He was born in Salem January 31, 1756, and died here December 19, 1851. In person he was of fine figure and of majestic mien and gait. He never forgot the dignity Avhich belonged to his years and station. He was a gentleman of the old school in manners and dress, and adhered with scrupulous tenacity to the costume ot his early years,

William Gray was a prominent merchant of Salem. He was born in Lynn, June 27, 1760, moved to Salem at an early age, and entered the counting-room of Richard Derby. He became one of the largest ship owners in Salem, and followed the lead of Mr, E. H. Derby in sending ships to Canton and ports in the East Indies. In 1805 Salem had fifty-four ships, eighteen barks, seventy-two brigs and eighty-six schooners, five ships building and forty-eight vessels round the cape. In 1807 sixty ships, seven barks, forty-two brigs, forty schooners and three sloops in the merchant service, and one hundred fishermen and schooners; and of these William Gray owned fifteen ships, seven barks, thirteen brigs and one schooner, or one-fourth of the tonnage of the place.

From 1801 to 1810, inclusive, the duties collected at Salem amounted to $7,272,633.31, and these were the years of Mr. Gray's greatest activity.

His former mansion, is now the Essex House. About 1808 he left the Federal party and joined the Democrats, upholding Jefferson in the Embargo Act of that year. Party feeling ran high, and Mr. Gray, finding a growing coolness towards him among many of his former associates, left Salem in 1809 and moved to Boston, where, in 1810 and 1811, he was chosen lieutenant-governor, and where he died November 3, 1825. During his life he accumulated a great property. As a merchant he was industrious, far-seeing and energetic ; as a citizen patriotic and publicspirited, and he may well be classed among Salem's "princely merchants."

Joseph Peabody was another eminently successful merchant, who lived to see the decline of that commercial prosperity to which he had contributed so largely. He was born in Middleton December 9, 1757, and during the Revolutionary War he enlisted on a privateer, and made his first cruise in E. H. Derby's " Bunker Hill,'' and his second in the " Ranger." In 1782 he made a trip to Alexandria in the "Ranger" as second officer, and on his return the vessel was attacked by the enemy, and Mr. Peabody was wounded. After peace was restored he was promoted to a command in the employ of the Messrs. Gardner, of Salem, and soon realized a sufficient sum to purchase the vessel known as the "Three Friends." He retired from the sea in 1791, and engaged actively in commerce. The brig " Three Friends," Joseph Peabody, master, entered from Martinico in June, 1791, with a cargo of molasses and sugar consigned to Mr. J. Gardner, and this was probably his last voyage. During the early years of the present century he built and owned a large number of vessels, which in every instance he freighted himself His vessels made thirty-eight voyages to Calcutta, seventeen to Canton, thirty-two to Sumatra, forty-seven to St. Petersburg and thirty to other ports of Europe. He shipped, at different times, seven thousand seamen, and advanced thirty -five to the rank of master, who entered his employ as boys.

The disastrous effects of the embargo and war were shown in the diminution of vessels in the foreign trade of Salem from one hundred and fifty-two, in 1807, to fifty-seven in 1815. In 1816 forty-two Indiamen had sailed and sixteen returned since the war. In 1817 Salem had thirty-two ships, two barks and eighteen brigs in the India trade ; and from 1808 to 1817 the arrivals from foreign ports were nine hundred and thirty six, which yielded an annual average of duties of three hundred and seventy-eight thousand five hundred and ninety dollars. In 1821 one hundred and twenty -six vessels were employed in foreign commerce, fifty-eight of them in the India trade, the largest being the ship " China," H. Putnam, master, three hundred and seventy tons.

A few facts relating to the connection of Mr. Peabody about this time with the China trade are interesting. In 1825 and 1826, the " Leander," a little brig of two hundred and twenty-three tons, brought into Salem cargoes from Canton, which paid duties amounting, respectively, one to $86,847.47 and the other to $92,392.94. In 1829, 1830 and 1831, the " Sumatra," a ship of only two hundred and eightyseven tons, brought cargoes from the same port, paying duties of $128,363.13, in the first case; $138,480.- 34, in the second, and $140,761.96 in the third, the five voyages paying duties to an aggregate of nearly $587,000. No other vessel has entered Salem paying $90,000 in duties. Both brig and ship were owned by Mr. Peabody, and were commanded on each voyage by the same gentleman. Captain Charles Roundy, a good type of that class of master mariners whose energy and fearlessness carried the name of Salem to the remotest ports, and whose uprightness and business integrity made that name an honored and respected one in those far-off countries. Mr. Peabody died at Salem, January 5, 1844.

Nathaniel L. Rogers was an enterprising and prominent merchant of Salem, and opened the American trade with Madagascar, Zanzibar and Australia. He was born in Ipswich, August 6, 1785, and died July 31, 1858. Associated with him in business was Richard S. Rogers, another successful merchant, who was born in 1790, and died in Salem June 11, 1873.

Robert Brookhouse was engaged in trade with Madagascar, Patagonia, the Feejee Islands and largely with the West Coast of Africa. He was very successful as a merchant, and accumulated a large property. He was born December 8, 1799, and died June 10, 1866. After his death his son Robert, with William Hunt, Joseph H. Hanson and Nathan A. Frye, continued the trade with the West Coast of Africa.

These brief notices of a few of the prominent merchants of Salem should not be closed without some reference to the last of their number, whose vessels arrived in her harbor from ports beyond the Cape of Good Hope.

John Bertram was born on the Isle of Jersey, February 11, 1796, and died in Salem March 22, 1882. Mr. Bertram came to Salem at an early age ; and in December, 1813, we find him sailing from Boston in the schooner " Monkey " as cabin boy. He arrived in Charleston, S. C, early in 1814, and left there in an American privateer in March. The privateer was captured, and he was taken to Bermuda and confined in the Bermuda and Barbadoes prison-ships. Having been born on the Isle of Jersey, and being familiar with the French language, he was released, as a Frenchman, after which he shipped on an American schooner and started for home, but was again taken prisoner, and carried to England, where he arrived in April, 1815, after peace had been declared.

In 1824, with P. I. Farnham and others, Mr. Bertram chartered the schooner "General Brewer," and, in company with Captain W. B. Smith, sailed for Saint Helena. When a few days out, he met the brig "Elizabeth," of Salem, Story, master, bound also for Saint Helena. Captain Story came on board the " General Brewer," and took tea with Captain Bertram ; and each was desirous that the other should not know his destination. They each announced themselves as bound for Pernambuco. Captain Bertram suspected, however, that the "Elizabeth" was bound to Saint Helena, and he was extremely anxious to arrive there first, and dispose of his cargo. As night came on, in order to lighten his vessel, he had his entire deck-load of lumber passed aft and thrown overboard, and by crowding on all sail, day and night, he arrived at Saint Helena, disposed of his cargo, and was coming out of the harbor, just as the "Elizabeth" arrived. From Saint Helena, Captain Bertram went to Pernambuco, on his way to Salem. After his return home, he purchased the "Velocity," 119 tons burden, and, with Captain W. B. Smith, again set sail for Saint Helena. He went from there to the Cape of Good Hope, and thence to the Rio Grande and the Coast of Patagonia, at which latter place he remained, engaged in trading for hides, while Captain Smith made trips up and down the coast in the "Velocity." After being at Patagonia for some time. Captain Bertram and Captain Smith both sailed for Pernambuco in the "Velocity," and there found Captain Thomas Downing, of Salem, in the brig " Combine," of 133 tons burden. They purchased the "Combine" of Captain Downing, and Captain Bertram returned in her to Patagonia. Captain Smith came back to Salem in the "Velocity," and arrived there in August, 1826, with a cargo of two hundred and eight thousand two hundred and ninety-one pounds of beef, consigned to Peter E. Webster. After trading for awhile on the coast. Captain Bertram returned to Salem in the "Combine," arriving December 14, 1826. He afterwards made another trip to Patagonia in the " Combine," returning to Salem in July, 1827, with one hundred and thirtyfive thousand one hundred and twenty-two pounds of beef. He was on the coast of Patagonia for about three years.

On his final return to Salem the firm of Nathaniel L. Rogers & Bros, oflfered him an interest in the ship " Black Warrior," of 231 tons burden, and he sailed in command of her from Salem in December, 1830, for Madagascar, Zanzibar and Mocha. Captain Henry F. King, of Salem, was with him on this voyage, serving as his clerk. He loaded with a large quantity of gum-copal in bulk, and established a trade there which continues to the present time. He returned from this voyage March 31, 1832. Mr. Bertram was connected in this business in the early years with Michael Shepard, Nathaniel Weston and Andrew Ward.

From 1845 to 1857 he was trading with Para. He sent, in December, 1848, one of the first vessels from Massachusetts to California after the gold discovery, and the favorable accounts he received from her induced him to send three vessels from Salem the next spring with full cargoes, and two others shortly after. He also engaged in the California trade with Messrs. Glidden & Williams, of Boston. AVhile Captain Bertram was engaged in the California trade he built, with others, the ship "John Bertram," 1100 tons, at East Boston, and she was launched in sixty days from the time of laying her keel, and in ninety days was on her way down Boston harbor with a full cargo on board, bound for San Francisco. Although many predicted that a vessel built so hastily would not last long, their predictions have not been verified, and the ship is still afloat, sailing under a foreign flag. She sailed for San Francisco on her first voyage January 10, 1851. Captain Bertram has been connected with the building and management of several railroads in the West. He founded, and has maintained at his own expense, the " Old Men's Home," and he was largely instrumental in establishing the Salem Hospital. As a merchant, he was enterprising and energetic; as a citizen, public-spirited and charitable. His name worthily closes the long list of eminent merchants who have given Salem a history unparalleled in the annals of American commerce.

The foregoing notices of Salem merchants are by no means complete, and doubtless some, equally worthy of extended mention, are omitted. The names of others, particularly of those of the latter period of our commerce, will be found in tbe accounts of the different trades. It is not possible, in the limits of a single chapter, to do full justice to all, but the sketches just given will serve as an example of the class of men who made the name of Salem famous in the commercial annals of the State and nation.