Fiscal History of U.S. Whaling, 1862–1872


July 1868 “Sea Letter” issued at New Bedford, stating bona fides of the whaleship Elizabeth Swift,
“bound for Pacific Ocean,” in French, Spanish, English and Dutch,
 to “Most Serene . . . Lords, Emperors, Kings,  Republics, Princes, etc., etc.” 
Handstamped signature of President Andrew Johnson, signed by Secretary of State William Seward,
with Great Seal of the United States, certification by notary public, 
stamp tax at 5¢ general Certificate rate.

   The Elizabeth Swift was abandoned off the coast of Alaska in the “Disaster of 1871,” its  company evacuated on a perilous journey of some sixty miles to the rescue ships. This Sea Letter must have been carried on that journey by Master George Bliven.

   The rarity of the document, coupled with the fate of the ship, make this one of the premier Whaling and Polar collectibles extant, and one of the top items of Civil War era fiscal history.

   The purpose of this exhibit is to trace the paper trail of the U.S. whaling industry via revenue-stamped documents from 1862–72, the period of comprehensive Civil War era stamp taxes. Its storyline is the time course of this unlikely enterprise ― turning whales into money ― from preparation through departure and the chase, and finally selling and shipping the oil.
   Whaling was still vibrant in the early 1860s, despite the fact that whalemen were forced to venture further and further afield in search of their prey, notably far into the western Arctic Ocean. By the early 1870s, though, whaling’s scope and importance had been drastically reduced. Two calamities occurred on the seas: 
  • destruction of 21 ships by the Confederate raider Shenandoah in 1865  
  • “the Disaster of 1871,” loss of 32 ships trapped by ice in Alaska.
Documents from ships lost in both disasters are included here.
 
   Featured are items of high philatelic importance: the only documents of the Civil War tax era with stamps of three countries are here; and the Manifest $3 rate and incoming bills of exchange from Chile, New Zealand and Hawaii are known only for whaling documents! The storytelling elements are remarkable not only for the fiscal history rarities included, but for the historical significance of five key items:
  • 1864 outbound manifest of the William Thompson, burned by the Shenandoah June 22, 1865
  • 1864 bill of exchange of the Jireh Swift, fired on by the Shenandoah June 22, 1865, the final shot of the Civil War, and burned. 
  • 1868 presidential passport of the Elizabeth Swift and 1869 bills of exchange of the Elizabeth Swift and Massachusetts, crushed by ice in the “Disaster of 1871”


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