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PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF GLEN S. FOSTER ROBERT SALMON (1775-AFTER 1845) AMERICAN SCHOONER UND...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:150,000.00 - 175,000.00 USD
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF GLEN S. FOSTER ROBERT SALMON (1775-AFTER 1845) AMERICAN SCHOONER UND...
property from the estate of glen s. foster ROBERT SALMON (1775-after 1845) American Schooner under Sail with Heavy Seas signed with initials and dated "R.S. 1834" (lower right) inscribed "No. 799/Painted by R.Salmon 1834" (on reverse) oil on panel 16 x 241/8 in. (41 x 61.3 cm) painted in 1834 estimate: - $150,000-175,000 provenance Glen S. Foster, new york Literature washington d.c., Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center Jerry Wilkinson, history of the u.s.s. 'alligator,' Keys Historeum, www.keyshistory.com John Wilmerding, robert salmon, painter of ship and shore, 1971, Peabody Museum of Salem and Boston Public Library, Appendix A, Salmon's Catalogue of Paintings, registered as no. 799, p. 94 In light of recent research, the topsail schooner in American Schooner Under Sail with Heavy Seas appears to be U.S.S. Alligator or a vessel of this class. The U.S. Schooner Alligator, 86' length, 24' 7" beam, 10' 4" draft, 198 tons, speed eight knots, mounted twelve six-pound smooth bore guns. She was the last of the five twelve-gun schooners specifically built to combat and stop pirates and slave traders. Designed by William Doughty, the U.S.S. Alligator's keel was laid June 26, 1820 and the Boston Navy Yard launched her November 2, 1820. She was commissioned in March 1821, and had a brief but remarkable career. Master Commandant R.F. Stockton was placed in command, and U.S.S. Alligator set sail on April 3, 1821, for the west coast of Africa with Dr. Eli Ayres on board. The two men were on a mission of great importance. Stockton and Ayres sailed on behalf of the American Colonization Society. The American Colonization Society had been established in December 1816 in Washington, D.C. The Society sought the repatriation of African Americans to African soil. Among the American Colonization Society's members were Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Thomas Jefferson, John Randolph, and other eminent statesmen of the period. Dr. Eli Ayres of the U.S.S. Alligator was to select and acquire territory for free men to colonize on their native continent. At Cape Mensuado Stockton and Ayres met the local chieftain, King Peter, and by bartering purchased, a suitable tract of land, which would become the Republic of Liberia.