The Senator Ross

Outfitting the Senator Ross : the first armed ship to patrol the Mississippi

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An excellent manuscript document describing in great detail the articles necessary to outfit an armed galley. Built in 1798, the galley Senator Ross was designed to patrol the Mississippi to protect American commerce. This was one of two of the first recorded armed ships ever to have been constructed in Pittsburgh. Manuscript document signed "Isaac Craig D[eputy] Q[uarter] M[aster] G[eneral]", one page, legal folio (8"x 13"), Pittsburgh, March 30, 1799, ordering Assistant Quarter Master James G. Heron at Fort Fayette to "issue for the use of the Galley Senator Ross the following Articles-"listing everything needed to outfit an armed galley to patrol the Ohio River. The order specifies "Fifty six pounds of Oakham | Fifty Gallons of Tar | Six Gallons of Linseed Oil | Forty five pounds of Rosin | Twenty eight pounds of White lead | Twenty eight pounds, Red lead | Fourteen pounds Black paint or Oil & Lampblack | One quart of Spirits Turpentine | One pound of Litharge | Two pounds chalk | Two lbs Boat nails | Two lbs 10d. nails | eleven lbs Spikes | Seventy eight lbb, 2 1/4 inch rope | Eighty nine lb, 1 inch rope | One Camp kettle | One Scrubbing brush | tow sweeping brooms..."Also specified are the "American Colours"which were to be composed of "One Ensign | One Jack | One Pendant"Docketed on verso "Red the within Clinton Butler". As there are no official records of the service of this ship, making this one of the only known extant records of this ship to exist. The galley, fifty feet in length, armed with one gun, was named for James Ross (1762-1847) who had served as a commissioner to negotiate with the insurgents during the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 and was key in achieving a largely amicable settlement to the dispute. Elected to the United States Senate the same year, (serving to 1803), he moved to Pittsburgh in 1797 and lived there for the remainder of his days. The Senator Ross was built by John Walker at a boatyard jointly owned by Isaac Craig (who signs this document) and Stephen Bayard who were also both officers at Fort Pitt. Two armed galleys to patrol the Ohio and Mississippi were completed that year, the Senator Ross and President Adams. According to an observer "On Saturday the nineteenth, precisely at 2 p.m., the first galley was launched at this place,"Tarleton Bates wrote to his brother Frederick on May 25, 1798. "It was said to be a very beautiful launch, she slid a most unusual distance, I believe 126 feet."This same boatyard has been credited by some historians as the builder of the boat that conveyed the Lewis and Clark expedition. Light creases, folds lightly toned on verso, else very fine condition. Professionally encapsulated for preservation.

• USD 2,000.00 > other currencies
• ordernr.: 39630-001

• bookseller: University Archives (USA)