As a measure of protection for sailors, Seamen’s Certificates of Protection were issued beginning in the early 1800s. Declarations by witnesses of the seaman’s citizenship, and abstracts, registers, and indexes of applications for these certificates are contained in this database. The amount and type of record varies by individual port. Additional records in the database have information about merchant seamen crew lists and shipping articles. Similar to the applications for Seamen’s Certificates, these lists and shipping articles can note the date the seaman was signed to the crew; “paid” articles record the date and payment made when the seamen departed the vessel.
Ports included in this database:
- Bath, Maine
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Portsmouth, New Hampshire
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