Doc. N o . 36.
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schooner P e r r y and cargo ; and I, the said notary, at the request afore said, did, and do h e r e b y , solemnly protest against the same in manner and form aforesaid. T h i s done and protested at the city of Baltimore. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and affixed my notarial seal, the twelfth day of J u l y , in the year of our Lord one [L. S.] thousand eight hundred and nineteen. J N O . G I L L , Notary Public.
CLAIM OF SAMUEL C H U R C H ' S
REPRESENTATIVES.
P H I L A D E L P H I A , June
1, 1 8 3 9 .
To His Excellency GENERAL B O Y E R , President of the island of its dependences, and all the forces by sea and land—
Hayti,
GREETING :
Although a stranger to your E x c e l l e n c y , 1 take the liberty of address ing you, trusting from your well known character of a brave, just, and hu mane President, that your Excellency will not refuse your attention for a few moments to the painful and distressing subject herein contained. My brother, the late Samuel Church, junior, merchant of this city, did,, in the year 1 8 0 8 , fit and send out from this port a schooner called the John of Boston, commanded by Captain Cusbing, said schooner being loaded with rice and bound hence to Kingston, Jamaica. My youngest brother, Justice Church, also a native of this city, was supercargo of said schooner. This vessel was captured by a brig of war belonging to Chris tophe, and carried into P o r t - d e - P a i x , where by his orders she was altered into a vessel of war, and the crew (with the exception of two s e a m e n , who made their escape) w e r e immediately put into prison. My brother suffered but a few days, when death relieved him from sickness, pain, and an unjust imprisonment. T h e s e w e r e the cruel facts made known to us by one of the seamen who escaped and returned to this city. My brother, Samuel Church, junior, immediately selected a respecta ble citizen of this place, together with the seaman above named, to go out to your island, and endeavor to prevail on Christophe to give up the property. T h e gentleman, after arriving there, was persuaded to aban don the attempt; being told that if he mentioned the affair or m a d e k n o w n the object of his visit to Christophe, his life would be the forfeit. T h e derangement produced by this unfortunate event in my brother's bu siness proved fatal to him and melancholy in the extreme to his family. My father, who was aged and past doing any kind of business, was an endorser for my brother to a very considerable amount. T h i s circum stance induced the latter to set out for Hayti himself, w h e r e , through the interest and influence of some powerful friends here and some few in that place, he hoped to be able to get either his property restored to him or the value of it in the produce of the island. T h e vessel and cargo were valued at seventeen thousand nine hundred dollars ( $ 1 7 , 9 0 0 . ) T h e brig on board of which my brother took passage was lost in a storm at sea, and every one perished. My father's property was sacrificed to.