Sloop Agnes Collection

15 December 1794
Manuscript Collection #843
Portions of this collection are digitized (1 item)
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Physical description
0.001 Cubic Feet, 1 item, 1 p., consisting of a printed ship's manifest form
Preferred Citation
Sloop Agnes Collection (#843), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
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Manifest duplicate (15 December 1794) of the Sloop Agnes, bound from Edenton, North Carolina, to New York, New York, carrying barrels of tar, turpentine, and pitch, Thomas Hunter and William Williams, shippers.

Biographical/historical information

The Sloop Agnes was a small 79-1/2 ton sailing ship that sailed between North Carolina and New York, making stops at Williamsburg and Philadelphia and other places along the way. An advertisement in the Virginia Gazette on 29 April 1775, described it as being engaged in the country trade, meaning that it stopped at any location where it might take on or deliver passengers or cargo.

The cargo that the Agnes took aboard in Edenton on 15 December 1794, consisted of naval stores - tar, turpentine, and pitch - which were refined from the plentiful pine trees of the region and were typical of exports from the Eastern North Carolina region during the colonial and early national era. Colonial shipbuilders and sailors used such naval stores to make hulls, rigging, and sails waterproof and to protect them from salt water.

The term "sloop" probably derives from the Dutch term "sloep", which probably derives from French term "chaloupe." Sloops are sailing ships having one mast and fore-and-aft rigging. A sloop has a single head-sail; if a more than one head-sails, it should be called a "cutter."

Sources:

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation website: https://www.history.org/History/todayin1770s/index.cfm?SelectedMonth=04&SelectedDay=20

American Sailing Association website: https://asa.com/news/2015/05/20/whats-in-a-rig-sloop/

Dictionary.com website: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sloop

Scope and arrangement

The Sloop Agnes Collection consists of a single printed form that recorded the ship's arrival and business in the port of Edenton, North Carolina. Signed on 15 December 1794, the document also recorded the ship's cargo of tar, turpentine, and pitch; the names of its master and owners; and the names of the cargo's buyers. The document was signed by the Deputy Collector of the port as a witness.

Administrative information
Custodial History

October 16, 2001 1 item, 1 p. 0.0003 cubic feet; Manifest (12/15/1794) of the Sloop AGNES, Harmon Webb, master, bound from Edenton [NC] to New York [NY] carrying 476 barrels of tar, 75 barrels of turpentine, and 4 barrels of pitch, Thomas Hunter and William Williams, shippers and Thomas Jones and Robert Lennox, consigners. Vendor: Mike & Kelly Stiles.

Source of acquisition

Purchased from Mike & Kelly Stiles, Kewadin, MI, 8/7/2001.

Processing information

Encoded by Apex Data Services, March 2002; Processing completed by Jonathan Dembo, 5/1/2019.

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Metadata Rights Declaration
Key terms
Topical
Shipping--North Carolina--Edenton
Sloops--North Carolina--Edenton
Turpentine industry and trade--North Carolina--Edenton