Papers of John Adams, volume 19
r.sq
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tr.22
d.1787
I do myself the honor to inclose to your Lordship a Letter this moment received, from the Master of a Vessel belonging to the United states of america— His Name is John Douglass, commander of the ship 4 friends, american built & the property of Andrew Van Truyl Merchant of NewYork1
He informs me, that as 2 of his people were going on Shore for Provisions for the day, they wer seized by the Press-gang and forced on Board his Majesty’s Brig dispatch then laying off execution Docks— That the Gang then came on board his Vessell and attempted to open the Hatches when his chief Mate opposed them and informed the officer that they were American Citizens— That altho’ the officer of the press then went away there is reason to believe, that another disagreable Visit will be made before Morning, which will distress him exceedingly as his ship is compleated for sea & bound to NewYork—
The Names of the two Men pressed, are Joseph Cowley a Native of the City of NewYork, the other is a negro Man called Primus, the property of Mr. Andrew Van Truyl, Merchant of NewYork, but a native of the City. It is my duty my Lord to make this representation to His Majesty’s Ministers and to request that orders be given for the restoration of these Men to the Master of their Vessell and further to propose to your Lordships Consideration, whether it be not expedient that some general order should be given, upon this occasion
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to the officers of his Majesty’s navy, to give a particular attention to American Vessels & seamen least, Perplexities & inconveniencies of this Kind should be multiplied—2
with great respect / I am &c—
LbC in WSS’s hand (Adams Papers); internal address: “The Marquis Carmathen / &c— &c—”; notation: “Copy sent to Mr. Jay—”; APM Reel 112.
The enclosure, not found, concerned the property of New York City dry goods merchant Andreis (Andrew) Van Tuyl (1751–1826). Van Tuyl’s ship, the Four Friends, sailed for New York City in mid-October and arrived by 19 Jan. 1788 (Rory L. Van Tuyl and Jan N. A. Groenendijk, A Van Tuyl Chronicle: 650 Years in the History of a Dutch-American Family, Decorah, Iowa, 1996, p. 208; London World and Fashionable Advertiser, 16 Oct. 1787; New York Daily Advertiser, 24 Jan. 1788; New York Independent Journal, 19 Jan.).
The text of the Admiralty’s 21 Sept. 1787 press warrant appeared in the Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser, 25 September. According to newspaper reports, British press gangs operating on 21 Sept. had stripped many of the ships along the Thames River. The British Navy’s impressment of American sailors persisted throughout JA’s diplomatic tenure in London, and far beyond it. JA sought to address the issue in his first 22 Sept. letter to John Jay, and in his 25 Sept. and 3 Oct. letters to Carmarthen, all below. On 25 Sept., JA wrote a second letter to Carmarthen, protesting the seizure of sailor Richard Draper Green of the Nonpareil, Capt. Robert Cushing. Green was from Boston and likely a relative of the loyalist Margaret Green Draper, who had been the publisher of the Massachusetts Gazette (vols. 2:170, 18:23; London World and Fashionable Advertiser, 24 Sept.). She evidently wrote a letter to JA, not found, while she was in London petitioning for Green’s release, and JA enclosed it with his second letter of 25 Sept. to Carmarthen. Though he received no formal reply from the British ministry on the subject, JA wrote again to Carmarthen on 17 and 19 Oct., disputing the impressment of Jacob Grainger, a crewman on Capt. George Folger Jr.’s ship, Rebecca (LbC’s, APM Reel 112; London General Evening Post, 22–25 Sept.).