November 22,
1845 document from
Bion Bradbury (1811-1887),
Customs Collector at the
District of Passamaquoddy, in
Eastport, Maine, to the Customs Collector in the
District of Alexandria, then, apparently, considered part of Washington, D.C.
The document concerns the Schooner Lucinda Snow of Boston, whose master was then William Hall.
The
schooner Lucinda Snow came to grief after a voyage to the Gulf of Mexico, where her cargo was unloaded in
Galveston, and she was then chartered by the
U.S. Government for use during the
Mexican-American War. During the
"great norther" of May 2, 1846, the schooner was cast upon the island of
Sacrificios near
Vera Cruz, Mexico, and later became the subject of a
lawsuit.
Bradury, a native of Biddeford, Maine and graduate of Bowdoin College, was an attorney, before, in 1844, being appointed Customs Collector for the Passamaquoddy District. He served in the Maine State Legislature and ran several times for governor, but was not successful, although, according to a contemporary note in pencil on the document, he did serve as Lieutenant Governor at one time.
See a
photograph of him circa 1880, on the Maine Memory Network. From the
July 2, 1887 issue of the
Portland Daily Press:
If you have information on Bion Bradbury, William Hall or the Schooner Lucinda Snow, please leave a comment for the benefit of other researchers.
And if you know of a way for Google Maps to show sea routes, please let me know.
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