Four Language Passport for the Whaling Ship James Monroe, Signed by Martin Van Buren as President

The Ship James Monroe was a well-known whaler out of New Bedford, and it is often mentioned in papers of the era. In 1821 Nathaniel Palmer discovered the South Orkney islands while aboard the ship. In 1833 the notice appeared that “The fine ship James Monroe, of 425 tons burthen, was purchased last week by Captain Alexander Jonkins.” The next year a newspaper showed that whaling could be a hazardous occupation, reporting: “Arrived at this place, on Thursday the 4th inst. the Whale Ship, James Monroe, Capt. Coffin, from the South Atlantic Ocean, with 11,50 barrels of oil. It is also our painful duty to record the death of Walter Wescott, son of Solomon Wescott, Esq. of this city, one of the crew of the James Monroe, who was killed by a Whale…” And a biography of Herman Melville states that: “The day that Melville’s ship [the Acushnet] arrived at Fairhaven from Mattapoisett, the ship James Monroe had sailed for the Pacific Ocean, and three whalers, the Erie, the Eagle, and the George, lay in the harbor fitting out. Across the Acushnet River in New Bedford, nine whalers were at anchor.”

Benjamin Cushman was an experienced whaling captain with a notorious temper. He had viciously beaten one sailor numerous times aboard his ship Arab in 1839, while on a voyage to the Indian Ocean off the African coast. The sailor actually took him to court, a rare enough event in an era when it was generally acknowledged that captains had primacy at sea; and the court was so outraged at Cushman’s conduct that it awarded the sailor the sum of $150. We estimate the amount represented by the $150 as one month’s captain’s work, as the profit from a two or three year whaling voyage might result in a $4,000 captain’s share. So it was a strong slap on the wrist, but even more a blow to the captain’s reputation and potential marketability of his services. At least that’s how Cushman apparently saw it, as he appealed. The case was heard by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, who in May 1840 sustained the verdict and soundly chastised Cushman.

So it was a strong statement when the owners of the Ship James Monroe hired Cushman for their 1841 whaling voyage.

Document signed, as President, Washington, December 2, 1840, being a passport providing that “Leave and permission are hereby given to Benjamin Cushman, master or commander of the Ship called James Monroe of the burthen of 425 tons, lying at present in the port of New Bedford bound for the Pacific Ocean and laden with utensils for a whaling voyage, to depart and proceed…on his said voyage…” The document is countersigned by Secretary of State John Forsyth, and also signing is William H. Taylor, Deputy Custom Inspector for the Port of New Bedford. The passport is in four languages (English, Spanish, French, and Dutch), as befits a ship’s traveling in international waters. The ship is recorded as having stopped at the Galapagos Islands on this voyage, confirming its Pacific Ocean destination.

Passports for whaling ships signed by Van Buren as President are rare. A search of public sale records going back over 40 years shows none having reached that marketplace since 1991.