Historical note:

Customs Service

            The United States Custom Service was created by an act of the Congress dated 31 July 1789 (1 Stat. L, 24) as a branch of the Treasury Department. It was responsible for the collection of duties on imports, the registering and licensing of vessels, the enforcement of all regulation restricting import and export of goods, and the enforcement of laws governing the entry and clearance of seamen and ships' passengers.

            A supplementary Customs Act (1 Stat. L, 24-29) provided for the establishment of custom districts and ports of entry, the appointment of customs officers, and regulations for the collection of duties. This act created fifty-nine custom districts in eleven states. No provision was made for Rhode Island, which had not yet ratified the Constitution of the United States.

            The Act of 14 June 1790 (1 Stat. L, 127) created the Rhode Island custom districts of Providence and Newport. Both towns were constituted Ports of Entry and for each were appointed a collector, a naval officer, and a surveyor. There were seven Ports of Delivery-- Pawtuxet, in the Providence district, and North Kingstown, East Greenwich, Westerly, Bristol, Warren, and Barrington in the Newport district.

            In 1799 the boundaries of the Providence district were defined to include all of the waters and shores from the southern part of Warwick Neck to the southern end of Rumstick Point, and up to Providence.

Customs Officials

            Each district employed a variety of officials including a collector, naval officer, surveyors, weighers, gaugers, and inspectors. Appointments were made by the President of the United States, and were usually accompanied by considerable infighting and intrigue. The position of District Collector, because of its attendant political influence and control over the maritime commerce of the district, was a particularly valued job and one of the most honored and lucrative of government appointments.

            The Providence Custom House Collector, as chief officer of the district, was responsible for collecting duties and keeping records of all financial transactions for reporting to the Treasury Department. He was required to enforce the revenue laws and impose fines, penalties, and forfeitures. He was responsible for the appointment and paying of the other custom officials; for the admeasurement and documentation of American merchant vessels; licensing of fishing vessels; registration of American seamen and ships' passengers entering and clearing the port; maintenance of custom buildings and property; collection of funds for and administration of the Maritime Hospital and records of the Pension Agency; and the placement of harbor stakes and buoys.

            The Naval Officer, equal in rank with the Collector, was required to keep copies of all manifests and entries; to estimate custom duties; to keep separate records; and to countersign certain of the Collector's accounts.

            The Surveyor, under the supervision of the Collector, kept a daily record of all vessels arriving. He was assisted by the inspectors, weighers, and gaugers in estimating impost and tonnage duties on goods. The surveyor also supervised cargo lading for drawback, the collection and payment of bounty allowances and fees on goods, and the admeasurement of foreign vessels for tonnage duty. Records of entries and clearances at the two ports of delivery for Providence, East Greenwich, and Pawtuxet were kept by the surveyors of those two ports and are listed in this inventory.

            The salaries of collectors of customs districts were paid from specified fees and a commission on the amounts paid by the district into the Treasury Department. Naval officers, surveyors, weighers, gaugers, and measurers were paid entirely from fees. Inspectors were paid a fixed sum per day.

Custom House Activities

            Although the basic functions of the Providence Custom House remained relatively unchanged during the nineteenth century, its duties became more complex and specialized as the volume of maritime commerce grew. The Treasury Department required the custom collectors to keep increasingly detailed accounts of the custom house's activities and its importation statistics.

            After the war between Britain and France was declared in 1793, the customs districts were required to regulate exports in addition to imports. Between 1798 and 1809, the customs enforced the various embargo and non-intercourse laws, issued special clearances or permits and reported any violations of the laws.

            The Marine Hospital, providing for the care of sick or disabled seamen, was founded in 1798, and the customs officials were required to collect hospital dues from vessels arriving from foreign ports and to make reports of these dues to the Treasury.

            After 1819, the customs districts were required to collect passenger lists from all incoming vessels from foreign ports for the preparation of United States immigration statistics.

            In addition to the above activities, the customs district was charged with keeping the records of the naval and army pension agency. The collectors were designated as pension agents in 1790 and were directed to pay the military pensions which had been granted by the states and which had been assumed by the United States.

            Other functions of the customs district were to warehouse goods imported in a custom warehouse until duty could be paid (established in 1846); to keep the official records of the sale of vessels, after 1850; and to regulate steamship commerce. Although steamship trade began in the 1830s, the first steamboat inspectors were appointed in 1852 and were required to issue licenses after inspections and to enforce safety regulations.

Shipping Trade Patterns

            The port of Providence had a large percentage of its vessels engaged in foreign trade during the early years of maritime commerce. Between 1787 and 1841, a period of fifty-four years, several of the biggest Providence shipping companies, such as Brown & Ives and Edward Carrington and Co., engaged in the profitable China and East Indies trade. Trade with the East and Europe at this time was secondary in comparison with the Caribbean and Latin America. Custom House impost records between 1800 and 1830 list some 1,432 vessels from the West Indies and Latin America; 459 from Europe; 40 from Canada; 86 from Asia; and 21 from Africa.

            After 1830, foreign trade consisted primarily of imports from Canada. Prior to this, trade between Providence and Canada had averaged scarcely three vessels a year. Because of the rapid growth of railroads and factories and the demand that was created for coal and lumber, after 1830 Canada became the major supplier for these raw materials which could be gotten relatively easily and cheaply.

            Coastwise trade, which in the early years had distributed the foreign goods that had been imported to Providence, in later years carried domestic produce and manufacture, including dairy products, to nearby ports in Massachusetts and Connecticut. After 1830, the Providence coastal trade lost much of its earlier variety and became more concentrated on general cargo trade, especially with New York, for Rhode Island consumption rather than redistribution, and also concentrated on raw materials imports for local consumption, such as coal, cotton, and lumber.

            Although Providence was never an active fishing port, there was a slight revival of whaling and fishing after 1830 which had all but disappeared by 1845.

            In 1853, the Providence Custom House moved from its original building at 71 South Main Street to its present building on Weybosset Street which it originally shared with the Post Office and the Court House. In 1913, as a response to the decline of maritime activity, the three Rhode Island Districts of Bristol/Warren, Newport, and Providence were consolidated into one custom district with its headquarters in Providence.

Bibliography

Andros, R.S.S. The United States Customs Guide; being a compilation of the laws relating to the             registry, enrollment, and licensing of vessels; entry and clearance in the foreign and             coasting trade; navigation; commercial intercourse; seamen in the merchant service; the             entry of merchandise for consumption and for warehousing, etc. etc. Boston: T.R.

            Marvin Publisher. 1859.

            (Andros was a Deputy Collector of the Custom House in Boston. This book is located in

            Harvard's Widener Library)

Albion, Robert G. New England and the Sea. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press.

            1972.

National Archives Inventories of the Customs Service holdings. 1 folder of photocopies of the Inventories is available relating to the Providence and Bristol/Warren Districts. (In the general collections vertical file)

Grieve, Robert. "The Sea Trade and Its Development in Rhode Island," State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. from, Field, Edward, editor, State of R.I. and Prov. Plant. at the End of the Century: A History. Boston and Syracuse: The Mason Publishing Co., 1902.

Schmeckbier, Lawrence. The Customs Service-- Its History, Activities and Organization. 1924

Tanner, Earl C. "The Providence Federal Customhouse Papers as a Source of Maritime History since 1790." New England Quarterly. March, 1953. vol. 26.

Rich, Anita H. and Larkin, Judith F. Three Centuries of Custom Houses. Published by National Society of Colonial Dames, Washington, D.C. 1972.

Shipping records dated prior to 1790 can be found in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Service, in Washington and at the Federal Records Center, Waltham, Massachusetts. Records created after 1900, and some earlier records, are located at the Federal Records Center.

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Scope and content:

The Rhode Island Historical Society holdings of the records of the U.S. Custom House at

 Providence, Rhode Island span the years 1790-1900. Included are nearly complete runs of summary records and less complete runs of records of initial entry. The material is arranged in series by record type, and thereunder chronologically. Researchers will find especially useful the crew lists and registers of seamen's protections, the alien reports and passenger lists, the Maritime Hospital records, and the abstract reports of commerce submitted to the Treasury Department. Basic intellectual access to the records will be through the records of entries and clearances.

            These records document the shifts and changes in foreign and coastwise trading and demonstrate the decline of maritime commerce after 1830.

Series List

Correspondence, 1789-1887.                                                  Series  1          Page    X

Entries and Clearances, 1789-1879.                                                   2                      X

Registers, Enrollments and Licenses, 1790-1890.                              3                      X

Foreign Manifests, 1790-1896.                                                          4                      X

Coastwise Manifests, 1790-1896.                                                      5                      X

Impost Records, 1790-1892.                                                              6                      X

Tonnage Books, 1790-1890.                                                              7                      X

Inspector's Returns and Surveyor's Reports, 1799-1872.                   8                      X

Exportation and Bond Records, 1790-1853.                                      9                      X

Embargo and Non-Intercourse Bonds, 1798-1814.                            10                    X

Warehouse Records, 1849-1898.                                                        11                    X

Wreck Reports, 1874-1895.                                                                12                    X

Crew Lists and Shipping Articles, 1803-1884.                                   13                    X

Register of Seamen's Protections, 1796-1870.                                   14                    X

Alien Reports of Passenger Lists, 1798-1870.                                   15                    X

Sale of Vessels, 1850-1865.                                                               16                    X

Sea Letters and Mediterranean Passports, 1800-1846                        17                    X

Marine Hospital Records, 1798-1870                                                 18                    X

Pension Agency Records, 1838-1870                                                 19                    X

Custom House Business Records, 1790-1869                                    20                    X

Business Records and U.S. Treasury Accounts, 1790-1875               21                    X

Pawtuxet Port of Delivery Records, 1794-1866                                 22                    X

East Greenwich Port of Delivery Records, 1789-1874                      23                    X

Miscellany                                                                                          24                    X 

Documents from other districts                                                          25                    X

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Provenance:

            Most of this record group was given to the Rhode Island Historical Society by the incumbent Collector pursuant to a resolution of Congress dated 28 June 1902. Official correspondence and records have also been restored to these records from the personal papers of former collectors Olney, Coles, and Danforth.

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Processing note:

Additional materials were found in the library and appear to have been collected by furniture historian Joseph K. Ott. They were identified, sorted and interfiled with the appropriate series within the Customs House Papers during 2006-2007 by volunteer Katie Chase.

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Inventory:

Series 1: Correspondence, General and U.S. Treasury Department

Sub-series A: incoming, 1789-1887.

"General" includes letters from local merchants, customs house collectors in other districts, and various other government officials. "Treasury" includes letters from the Secretary of the Treasury, the Comptroller, the Revenue Service, and the Office of the Register, regarding the Custom Service.

            Box 1, Folder 1-22.                                        1789 - 1794

            Box 2, Folder 23-66.                                      1795 - 1807 

            Box 3, Folder 67-106.                                    1808 - 1818

            Box 4, Folder 107-121.                                  1819 - 1823

            Box 5, Folder 122-163.                                  1824 - 1837

            Box 6, Folder 164-201.                                  1838 - 1855

            Box 7, Folder 211-231.                                  1855 - 1889

Sub-series B: Outgoing, 1790-1851.

"General" includes letters from the Collector and Deputy Collector primarily, and from other officers at the Custom House. Also includes in-house correspondence. "Treasury" consists primarily of letters from the Collector to the Secretary of the Treasury and other Treasury officials. Includes also letters from Deputy Collectors and other local officials. Includes also 3 letter books, 1809-1829, of Collector Thomas Coles, and one letter book, 1829-1837 of Collector Walter Danforth.

            Box 1, Folder 1-11.                                        1790 - 1793 

            Box 2, Folder 12-26.                                      1794 - 1798

            Box 3, Folder 26-27.                                      1799 - 1854

            Letter books (3)                                              1809 - 1829 

            Letter book                                                     1829 - 1837

Series 2: Entries and Clearances, 1789-1940

Records of entries into and clearances out of the port of Providence, listing vessels as either coastwise or foreign. Shows date of entry and clearance, name and rig of vessel, nationality if foreign, name of Master, tonnage, number of crewmen, destination or last port of call, cargo, name of owner, and duties and fees paid. This series will provide the primary point of access to the Customs House records for most research.

            Volume 1.                                                       June 20, 1789 - 1790 "A Register of the Vessels, Masters and Owners Names, the Amount of Their Tonnage & Light Money, with the Place Whither Bound"

            *                                                                      1790 - 1794 (foreign and coastal)

            *                                                                      1795 - 1800 (foreign and coastal)

            *                                                                      1801 - 1805 (foreign and coastal)

            Volume 2.                                                       1806 - Jun 1810

            Volume 3.                                                       Jun 1810 - 1818

            Volume 4.                                                       1819 - 1827

            Volume 5.                                                       1828 - Mar 1837

            Volume 6.                                                       Apr 1837 - Apr 1848

            Volume 7.                                                       Dec 1848 - Jul 1864

            Volume 8.                                                       Jul 1864 - 1879

            Volume 9.                                                       (no volume 9 - formerly a reel of microfilm)

            Volume 10.                                                     1870 - 1879, U.S. Vessels cleared for foreign ports

            Volume 11.                                                     1870 - 1879, foreign vessels cleared

            Volume 12.                                                     1870 - 1879, entries of foreign vessels

            *                                                                      1870, 1873, 1875, 1877 - 1879, 1890 (foreign)

            *                                                                      1870 - 1879, 1886-1890 (coastal)

            Volume 13.                                                     1894 - 1907 (foreign)

            Volume 14.                                                     1908 - 1915 (foreign)

            Volume 15.                                                     1915 - 1925 (foreign)

            Volume 16.                                                     1925 - 1932 (foreign)

            Volume 17.                                                     1932 - 1939 (foreign)

            Volume 18.                                                     1935 - 1940 (coastal)

* Originals at the National Archives. Microfilm copy available in the Reference Reading Room.

Series 3: Registers, Enrollments, and Licenses, 1783 - 1890

A vessel engaging in foreign trade was required to register. Vessels engaged in coasting trade and fishing were required only to enroll. A license was issued valid for one year on an enrollment. Vessels under 20 tons required only a license. Boxed documents are originals that would have traveled with a ship. Volumes contain office copies.

Sub-series A: Registers, 1783-1864

            Box 1, folders 1-9                                           Fragments, 1973 - April 1790

            Volume 1.                                                       July - December 1790

            Volume 2.                                                       1802 - 1803

            Volume 3.                                                       1804

            Volume 4.                                                       (no volume 4)

            Volume 5.                                                       1806 - 1807

            Volume 6.                                                       1808 - 1809

            Volume 7.                                                       1810

            Volume 8.                                                       1811 - 1814

            Volume 9.                                                       1815

            Volume 10.                                                     1816 - 1817

            Volume 11.                                                     1818 - 1819

            Volume 12.                                                     1820 - 1821

            Volume 13.                                                     1822 - 1823

            Volume 14.                                                     1824 - 1825

            Volume 15.                                                     1826 - 1827

            Volume 16.                                                     1828 - 1829

            Volume 17.                                                     1830 - 1831

            Volume 18.                                                     1832 - 1833

            Volume 19.                                                     1834 - 1835

            Volume 20.                                                     1836 - 1837

            Volume 21.                                                     1838 - 1839

            Volume 22.                                                     1840 - 1841

            Volume 23.                                                     1842 - 1843

            Volume 24.                                                     1844 - 1845

            Volume 25.                                                     1846 - 1847

            Volume 26.                                                     1848 - 1849

            Volume 27.                                                     1850 - 1854

            Volume 28.                                                     1854 - 1858

            Volume 29.                                                     1858 - 1864

            Volume 30.                                                     Register Oaths and Bonds 1854 - 1864

Sub-series B: Enrollments of Vessels In Coasting Trades and Fisheries, 1790 - 1872.