Very Rare William Henry Harrison Four-Language Sea Letter Signed as President

Partially Printed Document Signed as President, counter-signed by Daniel Webster as Secretary of State. [signed in Washington, D.C. between March 4 and April 4, 1841]. Four-language Sea Letter for Hydaspe, accomplished (filled out) in New Bedford, Massachusetts, dated April 20, 1841 and signed by Deputy Collector of Customs William H. Taylor. Includes two blind embossed paper seals. 1 p., 21 1/2 x 16 1/4 in. Partially-printed sea letter in French, Spanish, English, and Dutch authorizing the Hydaspe, under the command of Francis Post, to leave New Bedford, Massachusetts, for a whaling voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Signed by William Henry Harrison during his one-month long presidency. Only approximately a dozen William Henry Harrison presidential signed documents are known in private hands. An incredible rarity.On March 4, 1841, a cold, wet day, Harrison, without hat or overcoat, rode on horseback to his inauguration, and delivered the longest inaugural speech of any American president. He became ill three weeks later and died of pneumonia on April 4, having been president for 31 days. He was the last United States president born as a British subject and the first to die in office. Our census counts fewer than 40 known Harrison presidential signed items of all types, ranging from letters and free franks to fragments of documents and clipped signatures. Of those, ours is one of only 22 intact presidential signed documents. Sea letters were signed in blank, and sent to the ports to be filled out. This one was used in New Bedford on April 20, sixteen days after Harrison's death. The Hydaspe left New Bedford four days later with a crew of more than twenty. It returned just shy of four years later, on April 14, 1845, with 1,016 barrels of sperm oil, 821 barrels of whale oil, and 8,000 pounds of baleen (whalebone). The ship circumnavigated the earth, sailing throughout the Pacific and along the southern coasts of Australia and Africa, taking on six additional crew members in Tahiti in 1843 and eleven more in Maui, Hawaii (then called the Sandwich Islands), in 1844. A whaleboat crew deserted near Australia; at least three of the deserters were captured. Historical BackgroundThesea letter, including a statement of cargo and destination, signed by the President, gained currency after 1789. Through decades of maritime use, such letters became accepted as proof of nationality and provided some protection for the vessel and its owner and crew. Even with the sea letter's plea for safe passage, maritime trade was a hazardous endeavor due to piracy, privateering, impressment, and other dangers.It was customary for a sitting president and his secretary of state to pre-sign routine papers and uncompleted documents, sending them to where they were needed to be filled out and issued. In this case, the deputy customs collector and the notary public at New Bedford completed the document and affixed the date just sixteen days after the president's death.Excerpt"leave and permission are hereby given to Francis Post master or commander of the Ship called Hydaspe of the burden 312 & 62/95 tons, or thereabouts, lying at present in the port of New Bedford bound for Pacific Ocean and laden with Provisions, Stores and Utensils for a whaling voyage to depart and proceed with the said Ship on his said voyage, such ship having been visited, and the said Francis Post having made oath before the proper officer that the said Ship belongs to one or more of the citizens of the United States of America, and to him or them only."In witness whereof, I have subscribed my name to these presents and affixed the seal of the United States of America thereto, and caused the same to be countersigned by W. H. Taylor DepColl at New Bedford the 20 day of April in the year of our Lord 1841"By the President [signed] W. H. Harrison "Danl Webster Secretary of State."William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) was born in Virginia into a prominent planter. (See website for full description). …