There are several things that interest me about this 1787 “Bill of Health” issued by Massachusetts Naval Officer/customs official Joseph Hiller for the (first) Salem ship Grand Turk, an item that comes up for auction next week (in a lot that includes a personal dinner invitation to the ship’s captain, the son and namesake of America’s first millionaire, Elias Hasket Derby, from the Marquis de Lafayette). The first thing that caught my attention is the seal, which is quite faint in this scan so I doctored it a bit (and you can click on the document to examine it in more detail):
I still can’t really make it out, but it’s clearly not the official Massachusetts or US seals, both of which had been adopted by this time. The Commonwealth seal was a Nathan Cushing-designed, Paul Revere-engraved version of the older Massachusetts Bay Colony seal, with a Native American at its center but the unfortunate wording “come over and help us” left out. Instead, what I can barely see here is the faint outline of a pine tree, a symbol which was adopted by the Massachusetts navy after the Battle of Bunker Hill, and later incorporated into the new state’s naval and maritime flags. For naval-officer Hiller, this was obviously the ultimate seal of authority, the seal of his office, rather than his commonwealth or country.
Library of Congress.
The other thing that intrigues me about this document is its dating, or more precisely, the wording of its dating: the sixth day of December in the twelfth year of American Independence, and in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty-Seven. It is double-dated, in standardized format, with reference not only to conventional western dating but also to the American Revolution. Very interesting: I knew that the French Revolutionaries recognized the importance of the calendar as a nationalistic medium, but I had no idea that the Americans did–I wonder how many other official documents utilized this wording, and for how long?
I haven’t even addressed the content of this document: clearly Derby could not sail his ship to to the Isle de France (Mauritius) until it had received a clean bill of health from the authorities. The Grand Turk, the first of several Salem ships bearing that name, was at this time perhaps the most famous ship in New England, if not the new nation, having returned from a voyage to China and the East Indies earlier in 1787. Mauritius was becoming the gateway to this potentially lucrative trade, and its French governors were clearly aware of its emerging importance. I know of no global plague pandemic at this time (the last one was in the port of Marseilles in 1721) but the document uses the phrase Pestilence or contagious Distemper which is not plague-specific. Smallpox was rampant in New England at this time so that was probably the primary concern.
John Lodge, A Correct Map of the African Islands of Bouron and Mauritius or the Isle of France, The Political Magazine, London, 1781; Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library.
Having received his clean bill of health from Naval Officer Hiller, Derby embarked for the east. Shortly after the Grand Turk arrived in port on the Isle de France, its fame (and size) attracted an offer that apparently could not be refused, and the ship was sold to a French merchant. More Salem ships would follow in its pioneering path, and more Grand Turks would be launched, but the exploits of the first one would be remembered not only because of surviving documents like this form, but also through its starring role as the original Old Spice ship.
Hull Pottery Old Spice Shaving Mug, 1930s, and lots of other examples of “Old Spiceiana”, available here.
January 6th, 2014 at 8:29 am
The wording of the date is, indeed, intriguing.
Since the Google Ngram supports wild card searches, I thought it would be simple enough to search for “the * year of American Independence” and see what turned up. Unfortunately, Ngram wildcard searches are limited to 5 words, so I had to make do with “the * year of American.” Searching from 1777 to 1900 turns up a small cluster of predictable results, with phrase such as “the fiftieth year of American” and “the centennial year of American” clustering right where one might assume. The other top six phrases are “the first year …” (which peaks in the late 1880s), “the thirteenth year” (which peaks shortly after 1870), “the second year,” and “the Centennial year” (the Ngram is case sensitive). Most of what seems to be turning up, however, are histories, rather than government documents, so this really doesn’t cast much light on your question.
I also tried setting the date span to 1776-1825 and did individual searches for the phrase “first year of American Independence”, “second year, etc.” That also turned up nothing. I suspect that a more targeted search of government documents might be more productive, but since I’m not an Americanist, I’m not sure what databases might be worth searching.
January 6th, 2014 at 8:35 am
I tried a similar search and came up with nothing, James: just histories, no sources. I’m in the same boat as you–it’s not my era or area so I’m hoping some Americanists weigh in here.
January 6th, 2014 at 9:56 am
Since I shave with a mug and a brush, I looked on eBay for an OId Spice Shaving mug. There seems to be many, some very old…
January 6th, 2014 at 10:57 am
Oh yes, they are apparently very collectible. I learned a lot putting together this little post!
January 6th, 2014 at 12:04 pm
I’ve seen the double dating even on contemporary documents; it is customary on ceremonial proclamations issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. See for examples:
http://www.mass.gov/governor/constituentservices/recognition/issuedproclamations/
January 6th, 2014 at 12:30 pm
Wow, Brian, interesting! I wonder if this is just a Mass. thing?
January 6th, 2014 at 1:13 pm
It’s not universal, since I just looked at proclamations from Iowa and California, the former of which used “in the year of our Lord” only, and the latter just used the Gregorian calendar date without describing the era in any way.
January 6th, 2014 at 1:32 pm
On the other hand, New Hampshire does use the double dating. And you might recall it is also used on the original U.S. Constitution, in other words before the French adopted the notion.
January 6th, 2014 at 2:19 pm
I think it is worth distinguishing between the practice of using a double system of dating and French revolutionary calendar, which was intended to supplant previous calendars. I suspect the convention of referring to the “third year of American independence” and so on was a modification of the convention of dating proclamations according the reign of monarchs (e.g., the sixth of George III).
January 6th, 2014 at 4:58 pm
I agree, James. Like so many other things, the French Rev. is more revolutionary. But still, this language reinforces the break that has occurred.
January 6th, 2014 at 4:04 pm
This one isn’t much clearer, but same signature and a seal.
http://merv2.tripod.com/hiller-155.jpeg
January 6th, 2014 at 5:40 pm
Thanks, Sean–the seal looks a bit more embossed to me.
January 8th, 2014 at 1:57 pm
One important note — this certificate (and the invitation, which has come up for auction before) are for Elias Hasket Derby, Junior, the son of the merchant. He was the captain of the Grand Turk for this voyage. The customs document was a standard one, and without it you would not be allowed into a port without spending time in quarantine. Quarantine could last for months, so not having this document could impede trade badly.
January 8th, 2014 at 2:02 pm
Thanks Emily–you’re the expert! Making the corrections now– I did not that these documents came up before.
February 1st, 2014 at 8:38 am
As a follow-up to the discussion of proclamation, I’ve posted a mock proclamation for Groundhog Day: http://sillyverse.com/2014/02/01/the-governors-proclamation/
February 1st, 2014 at 8:41 am
Thanks, Brian–I forgot all about this big holiday!