Captured at Sea and in Ports Abroad Guide

by Roberta Ridley

“Registers of Applications for the Release of Impressed Seamen 1793–1802” is among the one-reel wonders of the microfilm collection that may contain a missing piece to your ancestral puzzle.

From the end of the American Revolution until the conclusion of the War of 1812, the U.S. government was concerned with the impressment of seamen on American ships and with their repatriation. American seamen were essentially being kidnapped by the British (and occasionally the French or Spanish) and detained or forced into service in foreign navies. “If the impressment occurred within a foreign port, masters of U.S. ships were to ‘make a protest’ to the American consul. If the impressment occurred on the high seas, it was to be reported to the collector of customs at the first U.S. port at which the vessel arrived.” The vessel master’s protest stated the name, place of residence and citizenship of the person impressed or detained, the manner of the impressment, and by whom it was made. An account of these impressments or detentions was to be submitted to the Secretary of State.

This reel contains four volumes of registers relating to applications for release of impressed seamen and covers an inclusive date span of July 19, 1793 through May 1, 1802. The substantive content varies. Volumes 1, 3, and 4 include an index arranged roughly alphabetically by the first letter of the seaman’s surname. Volume 2 is arranged chronologically by date of the application for release. The information provided about each seaman may include: native state, American ship from which he was taken, the British ship on which he was carried off and the name of its captain, date of impressment, evidence of citizenship, and result of the application.

Was a seafaring ancestor really lost at sea, or captured and taken into government service with the British or the French? Continue your missing ancestor search in the single reel on impressed seamen. (Microcopy # M–2025 Roll 1)

Article taken from the Genealogy Gems[1]: News from the Fort Wayne Library
No. 23, January 31, 2006 </font size>