James Madison Letter Signed as Secretary of State Regarding an American Vessel Captured by the French in the Caribbean in 1799

Saybrook, Connecticut merchant Jonathan Warner was active in trade with the West Indies. He and his co-owner Gideon Leet claimed damages of $18,818.10 in the seizure of the Brig Matilda at St. Bartholomew in 1799 by French ships.

The Brig Matilda was bound for St. Bartholomew in 1799, carrying beef, pork, flour, stock, corn, meal, lumber, lard, beans, and cheese when bad weather forced it into the British island of Anguilla for repair. It was captured near St. Bartholomew by two French privateers and brought to St. Martin where the ship and cargo were condemned because Canfield had sold horses and tack at Anguilla and taken on a load of sugar. From 1809 to 1826 Warner heard nothing about this claim. In 1836 he and co-owner Gideon Leet received $23,947.33 under the 1831 U.S. claims treaty with France

The Swedish colony of Saint Barthélemy existed for nearly a century. In 1784, one of Louis XVI’s ministers ceded the French Caribbean island to Sweden in exchange for trading rights in the Swedish port of Gothenburg. Swedish rule lasted until 1878 when the French repurchased the island.

Letter Signed as Secretary of State, Washington, March 15, 1805 to Gideon Leet of Saybrook, Connecticut regarding the capture of Leet’s ship by the French some years before. “It appears that shortly after the receipt of the papers respecting the Matilda, a representation was made to the Government of Sweden, through its Consul residing here, with a view to obtain indemnity for the injury. This gentleman, in answer to a request for information, observes, that the case has been taken up by his government and that no determination had been made, according to his last advices. But considering the delay which has already taken place, and that the business may perhaps be more effectively pursued by our Minister at London, it will be hereafter confided to him.”