President George Washington Signs an International Ship’s Passport For a Vessel Destined for the Wine Trading Hub of Oporto in Portugal

In the early days of the American republic, ships leaving U.S. ports for foreign shores were required to have passports, and both the president and secretary of state signed these documents. Between January 2, 1794 and August 20, 1795, passports signed by Washington as President were also signed by Edmund Randolph as Secretary of State.

Document Signed as President, Washington, August 29, 1794, being a passport in English, French and Dutch giving permission to “Joshua Eldridge, master or commander of the Schooner Salem Packet…lying at present at the Port of Alexandria and bound for Oporto, and laden with Indian corn and flour, to depart and proceed with this said vessel and cargo.” The document is countersigned by Secretary of State Edmund Randolph, and acting Port Collector Vincent Gray, and has been notarized by Alexandria mayor Robert Mease.  Gray was the surveyor for the District of Alexandria and inspector of the revenue for the port of Alexandria. The original cancellation has been archivally mended.

Oporto is the home of Port Wine, and back then was the hub of that trade.  It is almost certain that this vessel, once it arrived at Oporto and had unloaded its American cargo, would have returned to the U.S. with port for enthusiastic Americans, who loved that type of wine, which traveled well across the Atlantic Ocean.

The Salem Packet may well have been the ship of name that was captured by the British in August 1781 in Boston Bay, and then taken back by the American ship Mohawk. It is on a registry of ships dated June 1782. As for Eldridge, a ship’s captain of that name was a Tory who left Massachusetts during the Revolution, then returned afterwards. Unless there were two captains at the same time with the same name, that would have been him, and shown how former Tories were reintegrated into American society after the Revolution.