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1817 letter from Boston lawyer William Prescott Jr. to Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story. Legal topic related to merchant vessels docking on Cape Cod (see below).
Judge Story, the youngest person ever nominated to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, was part of many important decisions. including the Amistad.
Boston 13 March 1817
Dear Sir,
Judge Davis (1) has transmitted petitions in two of the cases where penalties have been recovered for stopping at the Vineyard. He told me he would write you on the subject. Let he should forget to do it I take the liberty to give you notice of it and to request you to explain to the Secretary the circumstances under which theses penalties were incurred. There are I believe as many as thirty actions pending in this District and against the most correct masters that sail from our Ports.
I procured and delivered to the District Judge certificates of all the considerable merchants in this place & Salem of the practice and the necessity of stopping at the Ports on the other side of the Cape, and of the inconvenience hazard and impracticability of entering their vessel or reporting to the Collector as the law now requires. Five minutes conversation with you will enable the Secretary to act understandingly on the subject.
Your session and – you winter labours will be drawing towards a close when this reaches you. Altho I know labour is not very irksome to you I congratulate you on the near approach of a short respite. If you can find any way of sending the reports of your Court after 6th --- without incommoding yourself it will much oblige me
I am very resp. Wm Prescott
(1) John Davis (1761–1847), served as Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts from 1801 until 1841.
Addressed to Hon Judge Story Washington Dist. Columbia then city struck out and then forwarded to Boston Mas
Two overlapping postmarks BOSTON MS and WASHINGTON
Folded to form a letter. Tears where opened.
Joseph Story ( 1779 – 1845) was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1812 to 1845, during the Marshall Court and early-Taney Court eras. He is most remembered for his opinions in Martin v. Hunter's Lessee and The Amistad case, and especially for his magisterial Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, first published in 1833. Dominating the field in the 19th century, this work is a cornerstone of early American jurisprudence. It is the second comprehensive treatise on the provisions of the U.S. Constitution and remains a critical source of historical information about the forming of the American republic and the early struggles to define its law.
WIKIPEDIA
William Prescott Jr.
Born in Pepperell, Massachusetts, son of Colonel William Prescott (the Revolutionary War commander at Bunker Hill). By 1817, he was well established in Boston as a lawyer and banker. He had already represented Massachusetts at the Hartford Convention (1814–1815), a major political/legal gathering during the War of 1812. His legal practice and civic involvement continued through the 1820s and 1830s.
Judge John Davis, U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, presided over maritime and customs cases in the early 1800s, including disputes involving merchant vessels docking at Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. Some of these admiralty cases, especially those involving seizures, customs duties, or international maritime law, were appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Customs & Tariff Disputes
Ships docking at Vineyard Haven, Edgartown, or Cape Cod ports were subject to federal customs inspections.
Disputes over duties or alleged smuggling often began in Davis’s court.
Prize & Seizure Cases
During and after the War of 1812, merchant vessels were seized for violating embargoes or carrying contraband.
These cases were common in Massachusetts waters.
Maritime Contracts & Salvage
Disputes over cargo delivery, salvage rights after shipwrecks, or charter agreements.
Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard were notorious for wrecks, making salvage claims frequent.
