Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period Part 78

_185. Deposition of Francisco Raphe. March 31, 1757._[1]

[Footnote 1: The doc.u.ment is endorsed as filed on the same date.]

Province of New York ss.

The Deposition of Francisco Raphe Having been before Sworn and now Examined on the part and behalf of Richard Haddon Commander of the private Vessel of War the _Peggy_, Against Ten Doubleloons, five Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty four Dollars, One Hundred and five Pisterreens, one Bracelet, Twenty Gold Rings, Some Silver Buckles, Some Small Silver, Six Swivel Guns, Some Shot, one Cask of Powder, Some Cuttla.s.ses and one Keg of Indigo.

1. To the first Interrogatory this Deponent saith that his Name is Francis Rafe, and is twenty Six Years of Age, that he is a Native of Sierra[2] in Greece and Subject to the Grand Turk, by Ocupation a Mariner.

[Footnote 2: Presumably the island of Psyra in the Aegean, now called Psara.]

2. To the second He says, that two Days after the Vessel he was on board of Sailed out of Cuba they were taken by Capn. Haddon, which was about December last, that he does not know the Vessels Name of which he was aboard for she had no Regular Commander, no Dispatches or Papers of any kind from any Port or Place whatsoever And he believes that had said Vessel been taken by any Vessel of any Nation she would have been a lawfull prize, and had she been taken by a Spanish Guarda Costa, the whole s.h.i.+ps Crew would have been Hanged as Pirates, that there were on board of all Nations almost, as Genoves, French and others, In Number Seventy two, and that one of the Chief in Particular was a Frenchman Subject to the French King. That He knows no further to Declare in Relation to any other Interrogatories, but only that He absolutly from all the Knowledge he can form thinks her to be a just and Lawfull prize.

FRANCISCO RAPHE.

Examined the 31st March Anno Dom 1757 (GARRET NOEL, Spanish Interpreter)[3]

RICHD. NICHOLS Reg'er.[4]

[Footnote 3: "Spanish interpreter of the province of New York"; _Cal.

N.Y. Hist. MSS._, II. 662, and _Cal. Council Minutes_, p. 443. Elder in the Presbyterian Church; _Cal. N.Y. Hist. MSS._, II. 698, and _Doc.

Hist. N.Y._, III. 300. Schoolmaster; _N.Y. Hist. Soc. Fund Pubs._, 1885, p. 177. "Mr. Garret Noel, for many years a respectable bookseller in New York, died at Elizabethtown, N.J., September 20, 1776, aged 70"; _ibid._, 1899, p. 370.]

[Footnote 4: Register of the court of admiralty till his death, Aug.

19, 1775. "During a residence in New York of 60 years he followed the Profession of Law. He was of a respectable family in Wales". _Ibid._, 1899, p. 296, where his will is given.]

_186. Account of Sales. July 26, 1757._[1]

[Footnote 1: The doc.u.ment is not dated; the date may be supplied from doc. no. 188, p. 550, _infra_.]

Sales of Sundrys takeing and Brot. in by the Privateer Schooner _Peggy_ Richd. Haddon Commr.

1 Bra.s.slett 2. 0. 0 20 Gold Rings Case Mattle[2] @ 8/ 8. 0. 0 Some Odd Silver Buckles 2. 0. 0 Some Small Silver 1.12. 7 6 Swivle Gunns @ 40/ 12. 0. 0 Some Shott 9. 6 Cagg Powder 2.12. 0 Some Cuttla.s.ses 18. 0 1 Kegg Indigo 10. 3. 4-3/4 --------------- 39.15. 5-3/4 5764 Dollars @ 8/ 2305.12. 0 10 Doubleloons @ 112/ 56. 0. 0 105 Pistereens 1/6 7.17. 6 --------------- 2369. 9. 6 --------------- 2409. 4.11-3/4 ---------------

[Footnote 2: Metal? The valuation indicates alloyed gold. The slanting mark after 8 is for s.h.i.+llings, and the s.h.i.+lling in this account is the New York s.h.i.+lling, equivalent to 12-1/2 cents.]

Errors Excepted

THOS. MILLER.[3]

[Footnote 3: Thomas Miller was a nephew of Jasper Farmer; C.F.

Billopp, _History of Thomas and Ann Billopp Farmer_, pp. 45, 46.]

_187. Deposition of Don Felipe Ybanez.[1] September 2, 1758._

[Footnote 1: In some of the doc.u.ments the name is found written, by ignorant scribes, Philip y Banes, and therefore it is found under Banes in some indexes. Ybanez, arriving in Jamaica soon after the capture, complained to Vice-Adm. George Townshend, commanding on that station, of the "piratical behavior" of Haddon. Townshend wrote to the secretary of the admiralty, enclosing affidavits. Holdernesse, secretary of state, sent on May 20, 1757, a circular to the colonial governors, printed in _N.C. Col. Rec._, V. 756, expressing his Majesty's indignation at such actions toward a neutral, and ordered the governor of New York to proceed against Haddon. The _Calendar of Council Minutes_, p. 434, shows the letter to have been received, July 16. On Sept. 16 Secretary Pitt sent a circular to the governors with strict commands against molesting Spanish subjects; Kimball, _Corr. of William Pitt_, I. 105. On Feb. 13, 1758, Lieutenant-governor James DeLancey writes (_ibid._, I. 181) that this circular had been received Jan. 19, and that a proclamation had at once been issued. He adds, "Capt. Phillip Ybannes who was plundered by Capt. Richard Haddon is now here and I have put him in a way to recover the loss he has sustained and if he meets with Justice in the Admiralty he cannot fail of a recompence."]

Province of New York.

Court of Vice Admiralty.

The Deposition of Don Phelipe Ybanes being before Sworn and now Examined on the part of our Lord the King on the Lybel of William Kempe, Esqr.[2] his Majes'ys Advocate General for this Province of New York Against Thomas Miller and Sampson Simpson[3] Defendants.

[Footnote 2: Attorney general 1752-1759, advocate general 1753-1759, d. 1759. He filed his claim on behalf of the crown Feb. 17 and Mar.

10; the judge dismissed it Apr. 19, 1758, on the ground that the king had no interest in the goods. Marsden, p. 185; doc. no. 188, and other papers.]

[Footnote 3: Samson or Sampson Simson, d. 1773, son of Rabbi Joseph Simson and uncle of that Samson Simson who founded the Mt. Sinai Hospital, was the chief Jewish merchant in New York, owner of several privateers, and later one of the founders of the Chamber of Commerce.

At this time he was _parnas residente_ (president) of the Congregation Shearith Israel, till 1825 the one Jewish congregation in New York.

_Publications of the American Jewish Hist. Soc._, II. 83, III. 81, X.

109-117, XI. 155, XXI. 74, XXV. 90. Dr. Benjamin Kennicott, in _The Ten Annual Accounts of the Collation of Hebrew MSS. of the Old Testament_ (Oxford, 1770), p. 161, mentions information from President Cooper in New York "that Mr. Sampson Simson, a very worthy and benevolent old Gentleman, of the Jewish persuasion, living in that city, is in possession of a MS. of very great antiquity, containing the whole Hebrew Bible"--on which see Ezra Stiles, _Literary Diary_, III. 3, 32.]

1st. This Deponent saith that his Name is Phelipe Ybanes Aged thirty seven years Born at St. Lucar[4] in Old Spain by Ocupation a Mariner and subject to the King of Spain.

[Footnote 4: At the mouth of the Guadalquivir. Columbus sailed thence on his third voyage, in 1498.]

2ly. That his first knowledge of Richd. Haddon and the Schooner _Peggy_ was on the sixth or Seventh Day of December 1756. That he first knew the Schooner called the _Virgin of the Rosary and Santo Christo_ in the year 1756 when he bought her in Jamaica. That she belonged to Port Trinity[5] on the Island of Cuba immediately before the 6th and 7th Days of December 1756. He this Depon't being then Commander of said Schooner having his Resident in the Havana with his Family. That he was on board said Schooner on the 6th and 7th days of December 1756 as Commander and Owner. That said Schooner was not then Equipped to use Force in any manner but only as a trading Vessel. That she had on board three small Guns unloaded and Six Swivel Guns, three of which were Loaded with Ball in Case of Necessity to make Signals but all in the Hold for Ballast, and fourteen Hangers,[6] which was all the Arms on board. That he this Deponent was sole Owner of said Schooner at that time. That when he this Deponent was met with by Richd. Haddon on the 6th or 7th Day of December 1756, he[7] came from Port Trinity but last from Port Banes[8] Eight Leagues from the Havana in the same District where he touched and took in for Jamaica, where he was Bound, two Pa.s.sengers both Eng'h Subjects named Henry Myerhoffer[9] and Willm. Abbot[10] Beside which he took in Eight Spaniards. That they then made to the Number of Sixteen Spaniards on board and two English, seven of which were Mariners. The Names of the Spaniards were Don Phelipe Ybanes Capn. and Owner, Don Francisco Garcia, Pasqual de Cordova, Don Geronimo de la Cal, Cayetano Peres, Pablo Antonio Corea, Marcelino Marero, Silvestre Manuel de Castro, Miguel de Fuentes, Henry Myerhoffer, and Wm. Abbot English Pa.s.sengers, Juan Lorenso Boatswain, Matheas Antonio, Antonio Malacallo, Bedro Valderama, Antonio Gonis, Bernardo Martines, Antonio Navarette, Mariners. That the Spanish Pa.s.sengers were Residents at the Havana with their Families and so were the Seamen Except one who is a Resident at St. Agustin. That the motive of the Spanish pa.s.sengers going in said Schooner was to trade at Jamaica. That said Schooner had no more Mariners on board than is Customary nor so many as is quite Necessary for such a Vessel. That there was no such person on board said Schooner as Francisco Raphel[11] at the time she was taken by Richd. Haddon nor any French Subjects.

[Footnote 5: Trinidad, near the middle of the south side of Cuba.]

[Footnote 6: Small short swords.]

[Footnote 7: The deponent.]

[Footnote 8: Cabanas, 35 miles west of Havana.]

[Footnote 9: A German living in Georgia, see doc. no. 194, paragraph 5.]

[Footnote 10: Also a resident of Georgia (_ibid._); constable of Frederica some years before, _Col. Rec. Ga._, VI. 210.]

[Footnote 11: See doc. no. 185.]

3ly. That all the Papers was the Licence and some Letters for some Merch'ts at Kingston in Jamaica. That said Licence was for said Schooner to go from Port Trinity to Port Mansanillo[12] which Licence and said Papers was taken from said Don Phelipe Ybanes by said Richd.

Haddon by Force. That he this Deponent as soon as he came on board the Privateer shewed Richd. Haddon his Licence.

[Footnote 12: Manzanillo is on the south coast of Cuba, two hundred miles east of Trinidad, and thus on the way to Jamaica! It should be mentioned that export of provisions from Cuba to Jamaica was forbidden by Spanish regulations.]

4ly. That at the time of the Seizure of said Schooner, the Cargoe consisted of the following particulars--Six Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy five Spanish Heavy Dollars,[13] Six Hundred and Sixteen Dollars in Dobloons, two Hundred and Eighty Dollars in Gold Trinkets, a Bag[14] of Indigo [of] 125 lbs., the greatest part of the Schooners Provisions, the Spanish Colours, about 50 lbs. Gun Powder, Six Swivel Guns, about twenty b.a.l.l.s, a Box Sweetmeats Value Forty Dollars, and fourteen Hangers--all which belonged to this Deponent and other Spanish Subjects now in New York.

[Footnote 13: _Pesos fuertes_, Mexican hard dollars.]

[Footnote 14: Elsewhere _kagg_, keg.]

5ly. That said Richd. Haddon when he met with the said Spanish Schooner fired a Ball at her notwithstanding she had her Spanish Colours Flying and had brought to to speak with said Haddon and the Reason that induced said Deponent not to make the most of his way from said Privateer was that he knew the two Crowns of England and Spain to be in Friends.h.i.+p. That the Privateer Boat came on board said Spanish Schooner with a Lieut. Christop'r Miller[15] by Name and seven more Seamen. That he this Deponent shewed said Lieut. his Licence telling him at the same time that they were Spaniards and the Vessel and Cargoe Span'h property, From whence they came and whither Bound. That said Lieut. and People seemed very Civil and Regular till they discovered the Money which as soon as they had done, they Insisted on the Spaniards having run away with it and gave that as a pretence for Seising it which they did and carryed the same away by Force with other particulars already mentioned by this Deponent. That said Richd.

Haddon did order this Deponent and all the People (except two or three) on board the Privateer and there treated them as Prisoners, said Haddon being on board. That he this Deponent told said Haddon from whence he came and where he was bound to and that he was a Subject of Spain and declared that Himself was Commander of said Schooner when she Sailed from the Havana and that he shewed said Haddon his Licence and other Papers. That said Haddon did not declare that he would carry the said Schooner to the Havana, on the contrary this Deponent and the People belonging to the Spanish Schooner were very desirous of it and requested of him to carry them there. That said Rd. Haddon's Lieut. and People did by Force and Violence Seize said Money and Effects and carry them away against the Consent and Solisitation of this Deponent and people belonging to said Spanish Schooner. That said Span'h Schooner was at that time in good Order and well Conditioned both as to her Hull, Sails and Rigging and fitt to come to New York. That this Depont. desired of sd. Rd. Haddon that the Money might be Counted but sd. Haddon Refused it. That when this Deponent and People were brought on board the Privateer they were all of them Searched and Money and Effects taken from the Several following Persons. From Miguel Fuentes 1 pair Silver Buckles and 1 pair Gold b.u.t.tons, From Don Geronimo de la Cal 1 pair of silver Buckles and a Ring, From Pablo Antonio Corea 1 pr Silver Buckles, From Cayetano Peres 1 pair Silver Buckles and four Dollars. All these were taken from the People beside the Money and Effects brought from on board the Spanish Schooner. That said Rd. Haddon never told them that he would proceed to New York in order to Lybel the Money and Effects aforesaid but on the Contrary Endeavoured to Conceal his Name and from whence he came as much as possible from this Deponent and his people.

That there never was any Agreement between this Deponent and his People with Rd Haddon or anything like it relating to the Money and Effects aforesaid. That said Richd. Haddon's Lieut. Chrsr. Miller by Name, with some of the Mariners belonging to said Privateer, did treat this Deponent and Comp'y belonging to said Spanish Schooner with threatning and abusive Language on Returning them on board said Spanish Vessel. That said Rd. Haddon did not offer to bring this Depont. and People to New York, for as was declared before He did not mention New York nor did this Deponent and People know he came from thence. That said Rd. Haddon did take from on board said Spanish Schooner and carry away with him in the said private Vessel of War, two Pa.s.sengers by Names Henry Myerhoffer and Willm. Abbot both subjects of Great Britn. That this Deponent did Request said Richd.

Haddon to carry him to some Eng'h Port but was refused. That he this Deponent did Request from said Richd. Haddon a Receipt or Certificate Acknowledging that he the sd Rd. Haddon had taken from on board the said Span'h Schooner the Money and Effects aforesaid, which said Deponent Requested in order to shew as a proof of what had happened to him. That the said Richd. Haddon did thereupon give this Deponent a Receipt or Certificate, but afterwards said Receipt was Demanded from him by the said Christopher Miller which this Deponent Refusing to Return, said Chrisr. Miller did by Threats, Force and Violence take said Receipt or Certificate from this said Deponent as they were in a Boat in their Return on board said Spanish Schooner.

[Footnote 15: A nephew of Jasper Farmer; C.F. Billopp, _History of Thomas and Ann Billopp Farmer_, pp. 45, 46.]