1803 IMPORT CERTIFICATE FOR TEA - Rhode Island
(5 1/8 x 8 ½") Original printed certificate verifying the importation "into this District on the first of April, 1803, by Brown and Ives, in the Arthur, Jenckes, a Vessel of the United States, from Canton, one Chest of Hyson-skin Tea, numbered and marked as per Margin, containing Sixty one Ibs"
For the Port of Providence - District of Rhode Island. Signed by the Collector and by Inspector William Barton. The certificate is numbered and embossed (on left) with the official seal of the "Rhode Island Supervisor's Office". The back is blank.
William Barton (1748-1831) was an officer in the Continental Army. He fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill. In 1777, as a major in the Rhode Island state troops, he planned and led a raid on British headquarters, capturing Major General Richard Prescott. For this exploit, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and honored by resolution of the Continental Congress. When Rhode Island ratified the US Constitution in 1790, Barton was sent to New York to notify George Washington. Fort Barton in Rhode Island was named after him.
Brown and Ives were among the early merchant pioneers of Providence. The house of Brown and Ives owned seven or eight vessels and made the nucleus of its wealth by the tea and silk trade with China.
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