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George W. Storer Brazil Squadron Papers
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
George W. Storer (1789-1864) served in the United States Navy for more than fifty years, including a term as commander-in-chief of the Brazil Squadron from 1847 to 1850, which, in part, had the goal of preventing American ships from transporting enslaved Africans.
Born in 1789 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, George Washington Storer was the son of Samuel and Mary Storer. Legend has it that George Washington visited when he was a baby and stated that he hoped that Storer would be a better man than his namesake. Storer began his naval career in 1809 as a midshipman, but rose in rank to lieutenant in 1813, master-commandant in 1828, captain in 1837, and commander-in-chief of the Brazil Squadron in 1847, serving in that capacity until 1850. He commanded a ship named the U.S.S. Brandywine for over three years in the waters around Rio de Janeiro. Following his service in the Brazil Squadron, Storer was on leave of absence from 1851 to 1854, and then, from 1855 to 1857, served as governor of the Philadelphia Naval Asylum, the first government-funded hospital and home for elderly and destitute United States sailors. In 1857 he served as president of the Naval Court of Inquiry #3, which followed an 1855 act of Congress amending "An Act to Promote the Efficiency of the Navy," under which more than 200 naval officers were dismissed from duty. Storer retired from the Navy in 1862, and died two years later, in 1864.
Storer was appointed a captain in the Brazil Squadron in 1837 which tended to a variety of American interests in the South Atlantic relating to diplomacy with Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina, as well as playing an important role in enforcing the long-standing ban on American participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Because Brazil was the last nation which permitted the importation of enslaved people, Rio de Janeiro was a stop for ships transporting captives from Africa. During Storer's tenure as commander of the Brazil Squadron, from 1847 to 1850, the fleet, frequently working with the British Navy, captured four slave ships. Storer, as Commander in Chief of the Brazil Squadron, served under three secretaries of the Navy: John Y. Mason, William B. Preston, and William A. Graham.
Storer married Mary Leah Blunt (1798-1868) in 1819, and they were the parents of Samuel Storer (1820/1-1898), Robert Blunt Storer (1825-1847), Jacob Jones Storer (1826-1902), Lincoln Lear Storer (1828-1849), and Mary Washington Storer (born 1830). Storer's occupation became a tradition in the family: both Robert and Lincoln worked on the water and died at sea; and Samuel and his wife, Sarah Parker Rice Goodwin (1832-1867), had a daughter Mabel (1861-1926) who married Lieutenant Stephen Decatur (1855-1934) in 1884.
This collection documents much of George Washington Storer's long career in the United States Navy as captain, lieutenant, and commander-in-chief of the Brazil Squadron. It also offers a wide-ranging look at American naval operations in South America in the mid-19th century and, in particular, the role of the United States Navy, primarily during the 1830s and 1840s, as a peacekeeper and a deterrent to the trade in enslaved Africans.
Materials documenting Storer's naval service as a lieutenant and captain from 1817 to 1845 consist of correspondence, ship information, and records pertaining to his service. Similar materials from 1847 to 1851 document Storer's duties as commander-in-chief of the Brazil Squadron and its role in suppressing the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the South Atlantic. Additional orders, court martials, correspondence, and records pertain to Storer's service as Governor of the Naval Asylum at Philadelphia and President of Court of Inquiry #3 from 1852 to 1858 during the later years of his naval career. There is also a small amount of personal and family papers of George W. Storer, Jacob J. Storer, Robert Storer, and Samuel Storer, which provide insights into the domestic aspects of Storer's life.
The collection is arranged into four primary file groups corresponding to Storer's various roles.
The majority of the papers were purchased at auction with support of the Kenneth R. Maxwell Fund in 2012 (AM 2013-29).
An additional letter book documenting Storer's role as commander-in-chief of the Brazil Squadron, which had been separated from the papers, was purchased in 2018 (AM 2018-94).
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed by Holly Mengel in 2012. Finding aid written by Holly Mengel in 2012.
Finding aid updated by Kelly Bolding in April 2018.
No appraisal information is available.
People
Organization
Subject
- Courts-martial and courts of inquiry -- United States -- History -- 19th century
- Diplomats -- United States -- Correspondence
- Slave trade -- Africa -- History -- 19th century
- Slave trade -- United States -- History -- 19th century--Sources
Place
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Author
- Holly Mengel; Kelly Bolding
- Finding Aid Date
- 2012
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
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Collection Inventory
Materials documenting Storer's naval service as a lieutenant and captain from 1817 to 1845 include correspondence; ship information; and official United States Navy records, such as circulars, orders, and regulations. As an officer rising in rank within the United States Navy, Storer corresponded with many naval officers, including James Biddle, John Downes, Lawrence Kearny, Charles Morris, and J.K. Paulding (Secretary of the Navy). He also corresponded with American consuls, R.M. Hamilton (Montevideo) and Alexander Lyler (Bahia). It appears that Storer took great pride in his work in the Navy, creating records documenting his own service as well as those who served with him. For several ships on which he served and the Portsmouth Navy Yard, there are lists of officers and crew, and orders.
Arranged alphabetically by genre of material.
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Correspondents include Theodore Bailey, Commander [W. Boerman], Lieutenant Colonel G. Bomford, Robert [Herketh], Dr. Horner, William Johnson, Lawrence Kearny, J.Y. Mason, Sam Pearce, Joseph Taverner, and Lemuel Wells.
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Materials documenting Storer's naval service as commander-in-chief of the Brazil Squadron from 1847 to 1851 document the many facets of the duties of the Brazil Squadron. Although its primary task was "protecting American interests and trade," (Canney, page 111), the Brazil Squadron tended to a variety of American interests including diplomacy with Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina; and increasingly, after 1847, the enforcement of the long-standing ban on the American participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. There is correspondence with prominent naval officers and diplomats, information regarding ships (both United States Navy ships and slave ships), and a few official United States Navy records. In regards to diplomacy, Storer corresponded with H.H. Cocke, R.M. Hamilton, W.A. Harris, Thomas J. Morgan, and David Tod, all of whom were American diplomats in South America. In addition, Storer became involved in a case of a British youth who stowed away on one of his ships; a mob which attacked American citizens on the Brazilian island of Santa Catarina; and the ongoing Siege of Montevideo. There is also a letter book containing drafts of Storer's outgoing correspondence from July 1847 to July 1849 regarding naval operations in South America and, in particular, those of his ship, the U.S.S. Brandywine.
This material also includes numerous documents which relate directly to the efforts against the slave trade. Storer's 1847 initial orders from the Secretary of the Navy, John Y. Mason, include a mandate for "the repression of the slave trade," to "use every effort to arrest and bring to well merited punishment all persons who on the open seas may disgrace the American flag by making it in any way subservient to the pursuit or protection of this most nefarious commerce." Most dramatic is a long November 1848 letter from John I. Taylor reporting on the discovery of a slave trading port at Cabo Frio, Brazil. Several letters describe ships that were searched or impounded by the Americans or British, often drawing lengthy protests from the Brazilians, including files relating to the successful capture of the slaver Laurens by the USS Onkahye on January 23, 1848 and correspondence and reports relating to suspected, and on occasion, actual slave ships Casco, Flora, Imogen, Kingston, and Paulina.
Works Cited:
Canney, Donald L. Afica Squadron: The U.S. Navy and the Slave Trade, 1842-1861. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, Inc., 2006.
Arranged alphabetically by genre of material.
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Included in this folder is a letter, dated February 12, 1849, from Mason to Storer regarding the capture of a slave vessel by the ship Perry under Storer's command: "Your dispatch ... in relation to the American Barque Ann D. Richardson ... has been received. Burn's letter to his friend in Rio Janeiro has been opened and read, and contains the strongest evidence of his guilt. Your course in the premises, as indicated in your dispatch, is approved by the Department."
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Included is a letter by Preston to Storer, dated April 16, 1849, stating, "the Department ... exhorts you to exercise continued diligence and watchfulness in the suppression of the slave trade. Additional force, of the character requested by you, will be dispatched to join your command."
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Included is a letter by Schomberg, Commander in the British Navy, to Storer concerning John Murray, the American captain of the Paulina, detained by the British on suspicion of slaving. The letter, dated January 21, 1850, describes at length how Schomberg's men searched Murray's vessel and found "her slave deck and fittings complete, and a set of Brazilian papers ... obtained, of course, by false representations."
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Correspondents include Robert S. [Catheant], Charles Magill Conrad, Thomas Crabbe, Jacob Crowninshield, J.W. Davis, Charles Fales, [I.] Galloway, James Higgins, George Hoke, Edward Hudson, William Hunter, Revendy Johnson, M. Keever, Edward Kent, John K. Mitchell, Gorham Parks, [illegible] Pearson, Ruschenberger, [C. Sinclair], John I. Taylor, and J.W. Watson.
The letter from John I. Taylor reports of the discovery of a slave trading port at Cape Frio (Cabo Frio), Brazil, and is dated November 9, 1848.
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Includes a summary of comments of Captain Thomas Patrick of the Barque Kingston upon being searched by a British vessel investigating the slave trade, dated April 8, 1850; an undated extract from Wilson's Recollections on the West Coast of Africa on slave trader practices; and a copy of undated testimony of Samuel R. Appleton regarding the Brig Imogen which was suspected of slaving. Some materials are undated.
Physical Description1 folder
Of particular note are Storer's mentions of his ship's encounters with other vessels believed to be engaging in the slave trade. Storer's letter of May 27, 1848, instructs the commander of the U.S. steamer Allegheny to follow a ship suspected of carrying enslaved Africans: "...the Barque 'Louisa'... cleared this day for the coast of Africa with a cargo consisting of various articles, and in sufficient quantities, to be deemed suspicious." In a letter and order dated September 5, 1848, Storer spells out the problem in clear language to John A. Davis, the commander of the U.S.S. Perry: "I have reasons for believing that vessels engaged in the slave trade under the American flag, sometimes land their cargos on the coast between Cape Frio and the latitude of St. Salvadore. You will therefore cruise with the U.S. Brig Perry under your command along that part of the coast outside the Abrolhos Banks for two weeks, keeping a good look out for suspicious looking vessels under American Colors...." He then relates specific instructions for search and seizure of such vessels, careful to make sure that such activities do not violate the jurisdiction of Brazil. Storer tells Davis to "use every effort to arrest, bring to well merited punishment all persons who on the open seas may disgrace the American flag by making it in any way subservient to the pursuit and protection of this most nefarious commerce."
The front flyleaf contains the ownership inscription of David Tod, U.S. Ambassador when the Brazilian-American Claims Treaty was signed on January 27, 1849. The inscription reads: "David Tod, esquire / Envoy Extraordinary / and Minister Plenipotentiary / of the United States / Rio de Janeiro." Indeed, David Tod was the American representative who signed the claims document along with the Emperor of Brazil. The United States received 530,000 milreis to cover indemnifications against American interests which in dollar equivalents of 1850 was over one million dollars at the time. This ledger was likely used as evidence and then returned to Storer.
While the entries are not in complete chronological order, the letter book contains an index towards the end.
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Materials documenting Storer's naval service as Governor of the Naval Asylum at Philadelphia and President of the Court of Inquiry #3 from 1852 to 1858 document the later years of George W. Storer's naval career. For several years, Storer was on leave, but he appears to have been anxious to return to service. On July 1, 1854, he received orders from James C. Dobbin, Secretary of the Navy, to serve as governor of the Naval Asylum at Philadelphia, a hospital and home for retired sailors which was located on the Schuylkill River. During his service as governor, Storer had a dispute with William H. Gordon, an officer with whom he worked, regarding Gordon not following an order. This dispute is documented with letters from both Storer and Gordon to Dobbin. In 1857, the Secretary of the Navy, Isaac Toucey, ordered Storer to serve as president of the Court of Inquiry #3, which resulted from an 1855 congressional act attempting to promote efficiency in the Navy by removing more than two hundred officers from service. Material largely consists of orders to testify for particular officers, but does include lists of officers affected by the Court of Inquiry.
Arranged by genre of material.
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Personal and family papers consist of a few personal materials of George W. Storer, including correspondence about a library and grocery accounts, and materials belonging to his sons, Jacob J. Storer, Robert Storer, and Samuel Storer. Robert Storer served in the Navy and included are an official leave of absence and an order, as well as a letter from his father. While extremely small in quantity, this material provides a more personal and intimate view of George W. Storer and his role as a father, rather than a naval officer. Of interest is a letter from Samuel Storer at the time of his wife's death when he was in Sitka, Alaska.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
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