Hunt's Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review

EARLY COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF SALEM-MR. DERBY'S ANCESTORS-HIS EARLY LIFE-ENTERS THE MERCANTILE PROFESSION-LOSSES BY PRIVATEERS-INDIGNANT LETTERS ON THE SUBJECT THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR-PRIVATEERING-PRIZES-CAPTAIN HARADEN-HIS SUCCESSFUL CRUISES-LIST OF PRIVATE ARMED SHIPS FITTED OUT FROM SALEM-TONNAGE OF SALEM-MR. DERBY'S SUCCESS DURING THE WAR-TRADE WITH THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE-TRADE WITH THE ISLE OF FRANCE, INDIA, AND CHINA-WITH BATAVIA AND CANTON-DUTIES-PETITIONS CONGRESS-FIRST DAWN OF THE WAREHOUSING SYSTEM-HIS SUCCESS-FLEET OF SHIPS THE FRIGATE ESSEX-WAR WITH FRANCE THE KETCH JOHN-VOYAGE OF THE MOUNT VERNON-ITS SUCCESS-MR. DERBY'S DEATHHIS WILL, ETC., ETC.

SALEM, fifteen miles east of Boston, is one of the most ancient settlements in the State, and, before the Revolution, was distinguished for its enterprise and commercial spirit. Embarking early in the fisheries, and coastwise trade; building at first boats, sloops, and schooners, it gradually increased the size of its vessels, and sent them to the West Indies, Madeira, and the Mediterranean. Fish-oil, lumber, and provisions, were exchanged for sugar, coffee, rum, and molasses, and these again were bartered for wine, fruit, silk, and iron, or bills of exchange on London. When the war of the Revolution checked the foreign trade, new models were adopted, and, in place of a navy, private armed ships were sent forth to encounter the British on the deep. Many of these met with brilliant success, in their conflicts on the ocean.

At the close of the Revolution, some of these were converted into Indiamen, and the ships of Salem were among the first to bear our flag to the Cape of Good Hope, the Isles of France, Bourbon, Surat, Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Batavia, and Canton; and the fame of Salem was widely diffused through the great marts of Europe and Asia. When the port of Boston was closed, before the Revolution, Great Britain, in her anger, proposed

to transfer its trade to Salem, and make it the entrepot and capital of the State.

But Salem declined the boon. It would not profit by oppression, although it had a fine harbor, and could have extended its piers to water deep enough to float ships which could not enter the harbor of Boston. Its wharves were then accessible to small vessels only, and its citizens were more alive to the wrongs of their country, than to their private advantage. When our volunteers had expelled the British army from Boston, it again became the seat of government.

Its ruined piers and edifices were rebuilt; capital returned to it; a navyyard and fortresses were constructed; canals and railways were made, to connect it with the interior, and Salem, which had begun to rival it in commerce, upon the death of its leading merchants, was gradually overshadowed, and almost absorbed by the growth of the metropolis.

It is still, however, distinguished for wealth, enterprise, and refinement, and still holds in reverence the memory of those merchants, who, in the last century, laid the foundations of its prosperity.

Among them, no one is remembered with greater respect than Elias Hasket Derby. None have surpassed him in enterprise, or contributed more to improve the shipping, or extend the commerce of the country. No one has done more to rear up masters and merchants for its guidance. Living at a period when banks were unknown-having few early advantages, he carved out, by his own genius, the way to wealth, and while achieving one of the largest fortunes made in America, during the eighteenth century, he had the satisfaction to build up with it the fortunes of his native town, so that when he died, in 1799, although he had studiously avoided public life-rarely, if ever, held an office-his loss was mourned as a public misfortune.

The subject of this memoir was of English extraction. His ancestor, Roger Derby, born in 1643, emigrated to America in 1671, from Topsham, near Exeter, in the south of England.

He was a member of the society of Friends, and left home to enjoy religious freedom. He settled first in Ipswich, but being fined once or twice for non-conformity, he removed to Salem, where he met with more liberality. Here he embarked in trade, reared a large family, and acquired a respectable property.

At his decease, in 1698, it appears, by his inventory, that he possessed a house, wharf, and warehouse; a stock of goods, some specie, and a silver tankard, which probably accompanied him from England, and, by his will, he settled his real estate upon his sons, Samuel and Richard.

His son Richard, born 1679, engaged in maritime affairs, but dying in 1715, at the early age of thirty-five, has left no record behind him, except that of his marriage, in 1702, with Martha, the daughter of Elias Hasket of Salem.

With respect to this somewhat peculiar name, the following entry appears upon the records of the General Court of Massachusetts:

DECEMBER 4th, 1703.

Col. Elias, son of Capt. Stephen Hasket, of Salem, has lately removed to Boston, from this town. He had been for some time governor of Providence.

His station must have been at Providence, in the Bahamas; for it is a tradition in the family, that Elias Hasket, the subject of our memoir, was

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Hunt's Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, Količina 36