Catalogue description Captured ship: Ariel (master Stephen Decatur Sr). History: an American merchant ship...

Captured ship: Ariel (master Stephen Decatur Sr).

History: an American merchant ship (300 tons, no guns, 10 men, 5 boys and 24 passengers - 18 men and 6 women), bound from Bordeaux to St Thomas in the West Indies, laden with wine and sundries; taken on 10 or 11 June, 1793 at about 45° N by the privateer Union (Alexander Nicholson commanding) in sight of the privateer Mary (John Pince commanding), and brought into Liverpool. Owned by American mariner Stephen Decatur [father of US Naval commodore Stephen Decatur Jr] and American merchants Daniel Smith, Francis Gurney and John Clement Stocker of Philadelphia, and Charles Davidson of Baltimore.

Passengers:

Etienne Auguste Perpignan, Jacques de Beaujeu, Pierre Pouble, Jean Gervaise Dumec, Mary Dumec, Anne Marguerite Dumec, Noel Dumec, Jean Bentejac, Soline Dupoy Bentejac, Jeanne Bentejac, Menage Duval, A. Jonquierre, Jean Antoine Lacombe, Felicite Barreau, Marie Francois Barthelamy, Michel Francois Guenette Desrueller, Henri Oré, Antoine Berger, Altide Durortec, Jean Depuy, Gabriel Santial, Jean Pouyes, Lazaux Dufourg.

Documents:-

Court Papers:

• [CP 1-CP 11]: standing interrogatories, nine examinations, commissioners' affidavit;
• [CP 12]: examination of Stephen Decatur, the master;
• [CP 13-16]: attestation and claim of the master for the ship and cargo, 5 July 1793, with a translation of the passport;
• [CP 17]: schedule of master's claim, 2 April 1794;
• [CP 18-19]: attestation and monition concerning claim by the Mary, John Pince commanding, for joint capture, 6 July 1793;
• [CP 20-24]: attestation and monition for James Maury, US consul at Liverpool, to present to the court two bills of lading given to him by Decatur after the Ariel arrived at Liverpool, and attestation of Maury enclosing the two bills, marked AA and BB, August - September 1793;
• [CP 25-28]: commission of unlivery, attestation and two inventories of cargo, 16 August 1793, and 11 February 1794;
• [CP 29]: attestation as to perishing state of the cargo;
• [CP 30-45]: relating to the claim of Jacques de Beaujeu, a passenger, for restoration of his pocket-book and certain property in his trunk:
  • CP 30-31: attestation and claim;
  • [CP 32-33]: attestation and inventory;
  • [CP 34-34A]: two schedules of items claimed;
  • [CP 35]: list of affidavits etc relating to claim;
  • [CP 36-45]: affidavits etc relating to claim (originally numbered 1-8):
    • [CP 36]: affidavit originally numbered 1;
    • [CP 37]: monition originally numbered 2 (missing);
    • [CP 38-40]: three affidavits originally numbered 3-5;
    • [CP 41-42]: attestation and monition relating to the claim, 14 July 1795, originally numbered 6;
    • [CP 43]: attestation and exhibit, originally numbered 7;
    • [CP 44-45]: affidavit in French and translation, originally numbered 8;
• [CP 46]: commission of appraisement and sale, May 1794;
• [CP 47-48]: inventory and appraisement, and schedule of ship's goods marked 'A', May 1794;
• [CP 49]: copy of return to commissioners relating to appraisement in schedule 'A';
• [CP 50-51]: three examinations of claimants marked A, B and C, taken in Philadelphia, with attestation, December 1794;
• [CP 52-53]: two attestations and copy of invoice;
• [CP 54-58]: inventory and appraisement, account of sales, schedule and commission;
• [CP 59-73]: receipts relating to the appraisement and sale, originally numbered 1 to 15;
• [CP 74]: account of part of the cargo, delivered on bail to George Barclay & Co, 9 January 1796;
• [CP 75-76]: Decatur's power of attorney appointing the American consul in London his attorney;
• [CP 77-81]: attestation and claim for the possessions of three passengers, with exhibits and translation;
• [CP 82-84]: allegation, exhibit marked 'A', and copy of exhibit A;
• [CP 85-87]: commission, with attestations and answers of Nicholson and Pince, the captors, 1796-1799;
• [CP 88]: decree for answers, May 1796;
• [CP 89-92]: attestation, allegation and requisition for the owners in Philadelphia to answer questions from the allegation;
• [CP 93-100]: attestation and seven examinations on articles in the allegation taken at Philadelphia, 29 April 1797;
• [CP 101-104]: four attestations from Philadelphia, April-May 1797;
• [CP 105-108]: affidavit of George Barclay, and account of proceeds of cargo taken on bail, marked A, and appraisal, February-May 1800;
• [CP 109]: attestation of William Forbes, principle owner of the Mary, privateer, that the articles of agreement were on board the Mary when she was captured by the French and there were no duplicates, 25 March 1801;
• [CP 110-CP 111]: two attestations as to ship's papers originally numbered 1-3, Alexander Nicholson, 1 July 1793, and Thomas Greene, 13 September 1793;
• [CP 112-CP 113]: attestation as to papers, and translations of ship's papers, marked A-G and 1-60 [now numbered SP1-SP 60 and SP A-SP G];
• [CP 114] translations of ship's papers, marked no. 1, now numbered SP AA1;
• [CP 115-CP 116]: translations of two letters belonging to Beaujeu sent to the court after the capture, now numbered SP 62-SP 63.

Ship's Papers:

• SP 1-SP 61: ship's papers, marked 1-61, translated in CP 113;
• SP 62-SP 63: two letters belonging to Beaujeu, translated in CP 115-116;
• SP A- SP G: ship's papers, marked A-G, translated in CP 113: memorandum book in French belonging to passenger Etienne Perpignan including receipt for wine sold and stored on board, 1792, receipt for payment for passage from Decatur to Orré, permission from Bordeaux custom house, receipt for payment for passage from Decatur to Poublé, ship's account book with doodles of faces, two receipts for payment for passage from Decatur to Dumec;
• SP AA1-SP AA3: numbered 1-3, receipt for payment from Bordeaux custom house, in French (translated in CP 114), and two invoices for goods;
• SP BB1-SP BB8: evidence marked 1-8: copy of ship’s license, American and French passports for journey from Philadelphia to Bordeaux, articles of agreement for crew wages, two invoices for goods shipped on board for Decatur and the owners, cargo manifest, and Port of Charleston clearance.

Personal Collections / Passengers' Papers (not actually numbered yet):

• [1] paper belonging to passenger Jacques Bentejac;
• [2-60] papers of passenger Etienne Auguste Perpignan, resident of Saint-Domingue:
  • [2-33] Perpignan's own papers, 1787-1793;
  • [34- 39] papers of Ettiennette Mizza, a widow;
  • [40-60] papers from the village Agen in Bordeaux to St. Domingue, including:
    • [40-51] papers relating to the Dian and Crespy families;
    • [52- 60] papers relating to the Rebel family.