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128

Samuel Adams

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD
Samuel Adams

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Auction Date:2012 Jul 18 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
American statesman (1722–1803) and signer of the Declaration of Independence from Massachusetts who was one of the organizers of the Boston Tea Party and one of his state’s most ardent supporters of the patriotic cause. Manuscript DS, three sides of two adjoined pages, 7.25 x 12.25, November 13, 1795. A statement of property seized from William Winthrop, an American citizen, by the privateer sloop the Harlequin. One endorsement, signed at the conclusion by Winthrop, reads, in part: “Statement of the Property of William Winthrop, a Citizen of the United States of America, captured by the Privateer Sloop Harlequin, May 6, 1795, and condemned in the island of Bermuda, June 19, 1795 in his Britannia Majesty’s Court…The Sloop Dispatch and other Appurtenances—1666.75. Premium of Insurance 1750 dollars…on said Sloop from Boston to West Indies & back, exclusive of the risk of being captured by any Cruizers belonging to the Powers at War.”

A longer endorsement on the reverse of second integral page reads, in part: “That on the Twelfth day of August in the year of our Lord, One Thousand seven hundred and ninety five, We the Subscribers, namely Joseph Hood, Timothy Gay and Jacob Rhoades, all of Boston…at the request of William Winthrop, late sole owner of the Sloop Dispatch…have carefully arrived and considered the value of said Sloop Dispatch, with her Mast, Yards, Sails, Boats, Tackle & Appurtenances is, in our judgement worth the sum of One Thousand Six hundred Sixty Six dollars three quarters of a dollar. And we do further declare…the said Sloop Dispatch…would have sold in the port of Boston for the above mentioned sum…The above mentioned vessel is the same that was captured the sixth day of May last on her voyage from Guadelupe to Boston, by the Harlequin Privateer of Bermuda, Capt. John Miller, & carried in there, 7 tried, & condemned, as appears by the copy of the proceedings of the Court of Vice Admiralty of that island, and by Capt. Young’s protest; and which said Sloop Dispatch, said Capt. Young, there purchased on his own account, and arrived with her at this Port of Boston.”

Signed at the conclusion by Hood, Gay, and Rhoads. The third endorsement is written and signed by notary Samuel Barrett, attesting that Woods, Gay, and Jacobs appeared before him and attested to their statement. Boldly signed under the seal in black ink by Adams, acknowledging that Barrett has affixed his seal to the document, and countersigned at the bottom by John Avery. Document has been professionally silked. Some light rippling around seal, some scattered light toning, slight show-through from docketing on reverse, and a couple trivial pencil marks, otherwise fine condition. The white seal is worn, but intact. Provenance: 2010 Sotheby’s.

By the middle of the eighteenth century, the island colony of Bermuda, with copious trade and fishing regulations, depended on privateering to supply many of their basic needs. With twice as many privateers at sea than any of the continental colonies, privateering became a lucrative and fairly easy business for the high-speed Bermudian sloops and large crews. American William Winthrop’s ship Dispatch was seized by the Bermudian sloop Harlequin on May 6, 1795 and taken to port where seven were “tried, & condemned” under Bermudian law. It is unclear what became of the seven, but the ship was purchased and returned to Boston by one Capt. Young. This document is a Statement of the Property of William Winthrop, a Citizen of the United States, captured by the Privateer Sloop Harlequin. An interesting account, boldly endorsed by Samuel Adams as Governor of Massachusetts.
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