Historical note:

            Charles Leonard Hyatt was born in Bedford, England circa 1776. He came to the United States as a young boy, before 1783. By 1798, he had settled in Providence, R.I., and shipped out from Providence as a seaman. In 1814 he and local merchant Sullivan Dorr became co-owners of two brigs, the Charles and the Thomas, with Hyatt serving as the master. The Thomas was captured by the British in 1815, and the Charles was sold in 1817. Hyatt's was then hired in October of 1817 to captain the ship Two Catherines, on a two-year trading voyage. The Two Catherines was owned by a partnership of Samuel G. Arnold, Joseph S. Martin and Richard J. Arnold, who sent along supercargo Horatio Jerauld as their trading representative. Capt. Hyatt died at sea on August 14 1819, aboard the Two Catherines. He left a widow, Mrs. Ann Hyatt. Providence shipping magnate Edward Carrington served as executor of Hytatt's estate.

Bibliography:

Seaman's Protection Register, Volume 2, page 8, in the Providence Customs House Records, Manuscripts Division, Rhode Island Historical Society

Ship Registers and Enrollments of Providence, R.I., 1773-1939. Providence, R.I.: National Archives Project, 1941.

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Scope and content:

            The correspondence is all mercantile, with little or no personal content. Most of the earliest correspondence from 1811 to 1814 is from trading partner J. Richards of the Boston firm Richards & Jones. Several letters from 1816 onward are from Providence merchant Sullivan Dorr. Other prominent correspondents include Brown & Ives, 10/24/1817 (and several in 1825 re Hyatt's estate). Also of interest are the detailed trading instructions offered to Hyatt and his supercargo Jerauld by Arnold, Martin & Arnold on 10/25/1817.

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Provenance:

These papers became part of the Edward Carrington Papers in 1820 when Carrington served as the executor of Hyatt's estate. The Carrington House passed into the possession of the Rhode Island School of Design, which donated the Carrington Papers to the Rhode Island Historical Society in 1960. The Hyatt Papers were broken out from the Carrington Papers as a distinct collection circa 1985.

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Inventory:

Folder 1. Cargo manifest, 1817 (ship Two Catherines)

Folder 2. Crew lists: brig Thomas, 1815 (2); brig Charles, 1816

Folder 3. Correspondence, 1807-1813

Folder 4. Correspondence, 1814

Folder 5. Correspondence, 1815-1817

Folder 6. Correspondence, 1818-1819

Folder 7. Financial papers, 1807-1815

Folder 8. Financial papers, 1816

Folder 9. Financial papers, 1817 -1819 and undated

Folder 10. Insurance certificates, 1815-1817

Folder 11. Shipping documents, 1807-1817

Folder 12. Estate - Correspondence, 1820-1822

Folder 13. Estate - Correspondence, 1823-1824

Folder 14. Estate - Correspondence, 1825-1827, 1845 and undated

Folder 15. Estate - Financial papers, 1819-1823 and undated

Folder 16. Estate - Inventory, 1820; auction, 1823

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Subjects:

Brown & Ives.

Carrington, Edward, 1775-1843.

Charles (Brig)

Dorr, Sullivan, 1778-1858.

Jerauld, Horatio.

Merchants - Rhode Island - Providence.

Thomas (Brig)

Two Catherines (Ship)

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RIHS1822