President Thomas Jefferson Exercises Executive Clemency and Pardons Sailors For “Exciting a Revolt on Board the Ship Eliza”

Jefferson greatly expanded the pardon power used by his predecessors; Signed by Madison as well

Before the advent of refrigeration, pepper to season food was so valuable that it could be used as currency. Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia. In the early years of the 19th century, pepper was discovered growing wild there, and the rush was on to harvest it. Salem, Mass. was then a center for American trade, and many vessels based there were engaged in trade in Asia. One of those was the ship Eliza, James Cook master, which registered 500 tons and left for Sumatra in 1806.

On October 1, 1807, the Eliza returned to Salem carrying the extraordinary cargo of 1,012,148 pounds of pepper. It proved a red letter day for the customs office, as the duty paid to the U.S. government on this cargo was $66,903.90, the largest amount on any Sumatra cargo on the Salem books. That would be about $68 million today.

But all was not well onboard ship. Some of the sailors attempted to convince others to act contrary to the captain’s orders, and three of them were charged with inciting a revolt. They were convicted, but there must have been very extenuating circumstances, as their conviction was for a misdemeanor rather than a felony, and their punishment was light: 30 days in jail and a fine of $20 each (they could have been ordered to serve 3 years and pay $1,000) . They served the time, but could not pay the fine and languished in prison. They wrote the President, requesting executive clemency.

“Most respectfully represent and petition – Barnabas Howland, John Huffington Junior, and John Gross, all of now of Salem in the County of Essex and within the District of Massachusetts mariners that at the Circuit Court for the first Circuit begun and holden at Boston within and for the Massachusetts District on the twentieth day of October AD 1807. they were upon indictment found guilty of endeavoring to excite a revolt on board the Ship Eliza James Cook master and were sentenced to thirty days imprisonment to pay a fine of twenty Dollars each and costs of prosecution and that they should stand committed till the same sentence be performed; by virtue of which sentence they have been confined & imprisoned in Salem Goal, where they now are; They further represent that they are poor and friendless, and have no relatives in the United States of sufficient ability to aid or assist them in the payment of the said fine and costs of prosecution; and that if the same be not remitted they must lie in said Goal during a long and inclement winter exposed to all the hardships of poverty superadded to the miseries of a cold and comfortless abode; They therefore pray that the mercy of the Court in awarding their sentence mildly may not be rendered ineffectual in consequence of the poverty of the petitioners, and that it may please your Excellency to remit and pardon so much of the sentence aforesaid as respects the fine and costs of prosecution as aforesaid—And as in duty bound will every pray &c.”

Jefferson was sympathetic, and endorsed the bottom of their petition, “Dec. 25. 1807. Let a pardon issue. Th: Jefferson.” This paper is in the National Archives.

This is the very pardon document Jefferson ordered issued. Document signed as President, Washington, December 28, 1807. “Whereas Barnabas Howland, John Huffington Junior, and John Gross, mariners late on board the Ship Eliza of Boston, at a Circuit Court of the United States for the Massachusetts District for the term of October last, were severally convicted of a misdemeanor in endeavoring on the high seas with force and arms to excite a revolt on board the said Ship Eliza, and were thereupon sentenced by the said Court to be imprisoned for the space of thirty days, pay a fine of twenty dollars each, and the costs of prosecution. And Whereas the said Barnabas Howland, John Huffington Junior and John Gross have undergone the imprisonment, and from poverty are unable to pay the fine and costs adjudged as aforesaid. Now Know ye that for diverse good causes and considerations me thereunto moving, do pardon, remit and release to the said Barnabas Howland, John Huffington Junior and John Gross the fines aforesaid, together with the costs of prosecution; requiring that all prosecutions and other proceedings on account thereof be forthwith stayed and discharged. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents this twenty eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord 1807; and of the Independence of the United States of America, the thirty second.” The pardon is countersigned by Secretary of State James Madison, and the seal of the United States is still intact.

On the verso the local marshal has written, “In obedience to this act of grace and pardon, I have caused to be discharged from their confinement in the gaol of Salem within this district: Barnabas Howland, John Huffington Junior and John Gross, and have, and do, stay all further judicial proceedings against them.”

What was the sailor’s offense, to be treated with such leniency? The book Salem Vessels and Their Voyages perhaps gives us the answer. It states that at the time the Eliza came into port and then sought to leave after discharging its cargo, “Recent intelligence from England had excited apprehensions of an immediate war between that country and America”. People, the book relates, were panicky, and ships were ordered held at Salem during the crisis. Not everyone approved of staying in port, as some were fearful of being bottled up there by the Royal Navy. A Captain Cartwright left port on his own volition and was almost fired upon from Salem fort for insubordination. It seems quite possible that the sailors onboard the Eliza were strongly urging a similar course to their colleagues, trying to escape while they could, over the captain’s objection. When the crisis past, the offense was seen more as panic than insubordination.

This signed pardon is a great rarity. Jefferson pardoned 119 people as president, and since some of these pardons involved multiple people (such as this one with three), it is doubtful that he signed more than 100 separate pardon documents. By way of contrast, he signed thousands of land grants. So this is likely his most uncommon signed document, outside of cabinet and Supreme Court appointments. A search of public sale records going back 40 years fails to turn up even one having reached the market, nor can we recall seeing any. The lack of listings for Jefferson pardons, even in institutional holdings, indicates that few have survived the years.

It is important to note that Jefferson’s grant of clemency to over 100 people was a significant and precedent-setting number, as his predecessors had issued less than 25 each. Following Jefferson’s lead, Madison pardoned almost 200.