Impressment Concerns
Did your ancestor sail the high seas?
If he did, he probably carried on his person a seaman's protection certificate.
Why?
Impressment of American seamen to work, against their will, on foreign ships was a growing concern in the early republic.
The chief concern to the American government was impressment of sailors in to the British Royal Navy. Prior to the Revolutionary War, there was an issue with British press gangs taking American sailors, against their will, to serve in the Royal Navy. The theory held by the British was that the sailors were, in fact, British subjects, and, thus, must fulfill their duty as royal subjects to serve in the navy. After the Revolutionary War, one would think that impressment was no longer a concern, however, that was not the case. The press gangs that existed before the war escalated their impressment efforts the early 1800s. [1]
Protection Certificates
On 28 May 1796, the fourth Congress enacted "An Act for the relief and protection of American Seamen." This statue put in place several measures to assist sailors impressed and to prevent future impressment of sailors. One such measure created a system of keeping books within each district that recorded the names of each registered seaman. After registering, the seaman would be issued a certificate proving he was a citizen of the United States of America. The information printed on the certificate was standard, and prescribed by this law. The certificate said: [2]
Because the language contained in the protection certificate was prescribed by law, it offered printers the opportunity to sell blank forms to attorneys, notaries public, or other individuals in need of such a product. The image depicts one such advertisement addressed "To Gentlemen of the Law" by Wm [William] Elliot located at 114 Water Street, New York. His advertisement contained a variety of blank forms including forms for seaman's protection. [3]
The protection certificate depicted was issued on 13 May 1808 by Joseph Whipple, [customs] collector of the district of Portsmouth, New Hampshire to seaman Henry Shapley Jr.; described as aged 40, height of 5 feet 5 3/8 inches, dark complexion, dark coloured hair, and grey eyes. Henry was born in Gosport, New Hampshire. [4]
It is interesting to note, that Joseph Whipple was the first customs collector of New Hampshire, appointed by President George Washington. Joseph Whipple had fought in the Revolutionary War and was described as the "First white man to climb Mount Washington and to settle in Crawford Notch, N.H." [5]
While some elements of the description were prescribed by law, the collector could also make a more detailed physical description of the seaman.
In a protection certificate, issued on 3 June 1837 for William Smith, the standard information was collected: born in Boston, age 19, 5 feet 6 inches, brown hair, and fair complexion. A further notation was made "and has on his right arm between the elbow and wrist in Indian Ink the figure of a man and a woman, with a Cupid hovering over them and an anchor beneath them with the band on which is 'Love W.S." [6]
It was to the seaman's benefit to have the protection certificate be as detailed as possible. If applicable, the certificate may include a description of physical injuries or scars. If the man had a detailed tattoo, that was noted, as described above, and sometimes the tattoo image was drawn on the certificate. In fact, a protection certificate was one of the few records that would provide evidence of tattoos on sailors. [7]
The certificate would only be provided to the sailor after the collector ascertained the authenticity of the birth information to ensure United States citizenship. This would likely entail the individual swearing to his accurate birth information in the presence of a notary public. He would then present this notarized document to the customs collector and in exchange, after paying a fee, would be issued the protection certificate. The seaman may have brought a witness with him to attest to his identity. [8]
Did Protection Certificates Work?
A sailor's life was not an easy one. Sailors found work where they could, often employed on a ship that might take them away from their home port for years. Taking advantage of this situation, British press gangs played a little fast and loose with the rules.
British press gangs considered "...foreign seamen as naturalized Britons and liable to impressment if they had sailed on British merchant ships or lived in a British territory for two years, or married a British subject." With this kind of open-ended interpretation, press gangs could meet their legal obligation to only press in to service British subjects. [9]
The 1796 law was an attempt by Congress to provide increased protection measures for American seamen. But did the law provide the protection needed? Not always. Once sailors realized that this document could perhaps prevent their impressment, some sailors decided to sidestep the proper procedure in obtaining the certificate from customs officers and instead create a forged document. British naval officers quickly became wise to this practice and began to question the validity of documents not issued through the U.S. Customs Office. [10]
Another provision of the 1796 act was to create agents for the seamen, to be posted in Great Britain and other foreign ports. If a sailor was impressed unlawfully, his family often worked with the local agent to provide evidence of American citizenship. This evidence may have included birth records, parental marriage records, witness statements, or other documents that would prove citizenship. [11, 12]
Impressment of American sailors lessened after the War of 1812, as the United States became a more dominant power. Interestingly, use of protection certificates continued through the early 20th century.
Value to Genealogists
The information on the protection certificate is of great value to genealogists. If you are fortunate enough to find a protection certificate for your ancestor, you may find the following information:
age (thus estimated birth year)
hair color
height
eye color
complexion color
markings on skin, tattoos
descriptions of injuries or scars
birth city
birth state
name of a witness (who may have been a relative)
at what port he was located when certificate was issued
confirmation of his occupation as a sailor
later issued certificates may include a photograph or fingerprint
As protection certificates were carried with the sailor, one can imagine that the document itself became worn, or, over the years, was lost. Luckily, there are several extant collections of certificates available to genealogists, which are listed in the repositories below.
Repositories with Collections of Seaman's Protection Certificates
Here are a few places to start your research:
Ancestry ($): https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1928/
Ancestry ($): https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/49313/
FamilySearch: https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/uri=https://familysearch.org/recapi/sord/collection/2191222/waypoints
FamilySearch: https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2300674
Mystic Seaport Museum: https://research.mysticseaport.org/databases/protection/
National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/files/research/naturalization/405-seamen-protection-certificates.pdf
National Archives: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2788575
Sources
[1] Denver Brunsman, "Subjects vs. Citizens: Impressment and Identity in the Anglo-American Atlantic," Journal of the Early Republic 30, no. 4 (2010): 557-86, especially 559, 569; image copy, JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/stable/40926065 : accessed 3 February 2021).
[2] U.S. Congress, Statutes at Large, 4th Cong., vol. 1, ch. 36 (1796), 477-478, "An Act for the relief and protection of American Seamen"; image copy, Library of Congress, Statutes at Large (https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/ : accessed 3 February 2021).
[3] "To Gentlemen of the Law," (New York) Mercantile Advertiser, 21 February 1810, issue 6013, p. 2, col. 1, HTML edition, archived; Genealogy Bank ( https://genealogybank.com : accessed 3 February 2021).
[4] "Seaman's Protection Certificate for Henry Shapley, Jr., May 13, 1808," database with images, Digital Commonwealth (https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/xw42p7939 : accessed 4 February 2021), citing USS Constitution Museum "USS Constitution Museum Certificates Collection."
[5] Michael N. Ingrisano, Jr., The First Officers of the United States Customs Service, Appointed by President George Washington in 1789 (Washington DC : Dept. of Treasury 1987); U.S. Customs and Border Protection (http://www.cbp.gov/about/history/print : accessed 3 February 2021), 3.
[6] "U.S., Citizenship Affidavits of US-born Seamen at Select Ports, 1792-1869," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : viewed 4 February 2021), declaration date 3 June 1837, William Smith; citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), "Proofs of Citizenship Used to Apply for Seamen's Certificates for the Port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1792-1896," Publication M1880, Roll 36.
[7] Ira Dye, "The Tattoos of Early American Seafarers, 1796-1818," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 133, no. 4 (1989): 520-54, especially 523; image copy, JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/stable/986875 : accessed 3 February 2021).
[8] "Subjects vs. Citizens," 574.
[9] "Subjects vs. Citizens," 572.
[10] "Subjects vs. Citizens," 577.
[11] "An Act for the relief and protection of American Seamen."
[12] "Subjects vs. Citizens," 574.
Images
"Seaman's Protection Certificate for Henry Shapley, Jr., May 13, 1808," database with images, Digital Commonwealth (https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/xw42p7939 : accessed 4 February 2021), citing USS Constitution Museum "USS Constitution Museum Certificates Collection."
"Steal - Rob - and Enslave," (Richmond) Virginia Argus, 25 May 1812, image 3, col. 3, HTML edition, archived; Library of Congress, Chronicling America ( https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024710/1812-05-25/ed-1/seq-3/ : accessed 3 February 2021).
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Copyright 2021, Debora Ellen Blodgett
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