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NAVAL
OFFICER RECORDS
by Eleanor M. V. Cook
For research on Georgetown
I have used two record series of the Naval Officer - (General File) 1761-1795
[MSA S205] and (Ship Manifests) 1760-1790 [MSA S206]. Both series
are arranged by district.
For District 9, the port
of George Town (the one which later became part of the District of Columbia),
the general files contain miscellaneous papers among which is "Accounts
of Exports and Imports at the Several Districts in the State of Maryland
in the Year 1786" [MdHR 20,422-314]. The naval districts and their ports
are listed, except for number 5:
District
1, North Potomack
District
2, Patuxent
District
3, Annapolis
District
4, Baltimore
District
6, Vienna, Dorchester County
District
7, Oxford, Talbot County
District
8, Chestertown, Kent County
District
9, George Town
North Potomack sounds as
if it might be near George Town, which was as far north as vessels could
travel on the river. However, one folder [MdHR 20,422-320] contains a list
signed by Richard Lee, Naval Officer of North Potomack. Philip Lee, son
of Colonel Richard Lee, emigrant founder of the Virginia Lee family, was
appointed Naval Officer of the North Potomack District. His oldest son,
Richard Lee, was educated in England and upon his return to Maryland served
in the same office as his father. He lived on his estate, Blenheim, located
near Hoes Ferry that ran between Maryland and Virginia. Richard Hooes ran
a ferry from the Virginia shore to Cedar Point. Cedar Point Hundred was
situated within Port Tobacco Parish. From this information found in The
History of Charles County, Maryland, |
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it
appears that North Potomack District was located near Port Tobacco.
The
general file series contains lists of vessels that entered or departed
from George Town from 1785 to 1788. The records give the date of arrival
or departure, name and type of vessel, where it came from or was bound,
number of men in the crew, names and residences of the master and owner,
cargo on board, and information about the vessel, such as its size and
where it was made. Almost all vessels were one of four types. The larger
ones were ships, with three masts, and brigs, with two masts, both of which
had square sails and usually sailed to ports in Europe. The smaller vessels
were schooners, with two masts, and sloops, with one mast, both of which
had triangular sails, much like those on a modern sailboat. Schooners and
sloops visited ports along the eastern seaboard and in the West Indies.
The
ship manifests series consists of cargo lists, signed by the master and
presented to the Naval Officer. They give date, type of vessel, where from
or bound, cargo, sometimes the marks identifying cargo, and name of shipper
and/or consignee. Tobacco shipments destined to ports in Europe list the
warehouses that stored the commodity. The warehouses included Bladensburgh,
Upper Marlboro, Frederick Town, George Town, Portobacco, St. Marys, Alexandria,
Colchester, and Quantico.
The
pattern of shipping between George Town and Alexandria show that ships
and brigs often found it more convenient to stop at just one of the two
ports, instead of both. Some manifests show cargo consigned to Virginia
residents unloaded at George Town and then taken by sloop or schooner to
Alexandria. Other records list sloops and schooners bringing from Alexandria
to George Town cargo that would have come from overseas - sugar and molasses,
for instance. |
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