1871 PHILADELPHIA SHIP’S BILL OF SALE—THREE-MASTED BARK “DAISY”—NOVA SCOTIA BUILT WITH CUSTOM HOUSE SEALS
Original American maritime bill of sale transferring an ownership interest in the three-masted bark Daisy from Philadelphia merchants Samuel S. Scattergood and Charles H. Stackhouse to Captain John Linden of Baltimore, Maryland. Philadelphia, November 16, 1871. Large partly printed and manuscript document with engraved sailing-ship vignette, vessel-registration transcript, owners’ signatures, two red seals, embossed Treasury and Custom House seals, and official recording endorsements.
For the stated consideration of one thousand dollars, Samuel S. Scattergood transferred to John Linden an additional one-eighth interest in the Daisy, together with the same proportion of her:
“Masts, Yards, Sails, Rigging, Anchors, Cables, Boats, Tackle, Apparel and Appurtenances.”
Charles H. Stackhouse joins Scattergood in executing the instrument. Both men have signed beside individual red serrated seals.
The document incorporates an extensive transcript of the Daisy’s federal registration, identified as Permanent Register No. 113. The vessel was a wooden, square-sterned bark constructed at Tusket, Nova Scotia, in 1869. She was temporarily registered at Norfolk, Virginia, on September 25, 1869, before receiving permanent registration at Philadelphia on March 29, 1870.
The Daisy was a substantial three-masted ocean-going merchant vessel of approximately 383 registered tons, measuring about 138 feet in length and 28 feet in breadth. Her official description records one deck, three masts, a billet head, and no galleries. John Linden, the Baltimore purchaser named in this bill of sale, is also identified as the vessel’s master.
The form was printed by John C. Clark & Son, 230 Dock Street, Philadelphia, and is ornamented with a finely engraved image of a fully rigged sailing ship. The document retains its embossed Treasury and Philadelphia Custom House seals, official recording panel, manuscript ownership history, and contemporary docketing:
“Bill of Sale
Samuel S. Scattergood
Chas. H. Stackhouse
to
John Linden
⅛ of Bark ‘Daisy’
1871.”
Samuel S. Scattergood was a prominent Philadelphia commission merchant and importer associated particularly with the Mediterranean fruit trade. His ownership of the Daisy illustrates the 19th-century practice by which merchants divided commercial sailing vessels into fractional shares, distributing both the investment and the considerable risks of transatlantic commerce among several owners.
Condition: Original filing folds with light toning, scattered staining, ink show-through, minor edge wear, and several small areas of weakness or separation at fold intersections. The manuscript registration is closely written and occasionally faint but remains substantially legible. Both red applied seals are present, the embossed government seals remain visible, and the engraved ship vignette displays attractively. No major textual loss observed.
An unusually complete and visually appealing Reconstruction-era maritime document recording the ownership, construction, dimensions, registration, and sale of a Nova Scotia-built American merchant bark operating through Philadelphia, Norfolk, and Baltimore.
Original American maritime bill of sale transferring an ownership interest in the three-masted bark Daisy from Philadelphia merchants Samuel S. Scattergood and Charles H. Stackhouse to Captain John Linden of Baltimore, Maryland. Philadelphia, November 16, 1871. Large partly printed and manuscript document with engraved sailing-ship vignette, vessel-registration transcript, owners’ signatures, two red seals, embossed Treasury and Custom House seals, and official recording endorsements.
For the stated consideration of one thousand dollars, Samuel S. Scattergood transferred to John Linden an additional one-eighth interest in the Daisy, together with the same proportion of her:
“Masts, Yards, Sails, Rigging, Anchors, Cables, Boats, Tackle, Apparel and Appurtenances.”
Charles H. Stackhouse joins Scattergood in executing the instrument. Both men have signed beside individual red serrated seals.
The document incorporates an extensive transcript of the Daisy’s federal registration, identified as Permanent Register No. 113. The vessel was a wooden, square-sterned bark constructed at Tusket, Nova Scotia, in 1869. She was temporarily registered at Norfolk, Virginia, on September 25, 1869, before receiving permanent registration at Philadelphia on March 29, 1870.
The Daisy was a substantial three-masted ocean-going merchant vessel of approximately 383 registered tons, measuring about 138 feet in length and 28 feet in breadth. Her official description records one deck, three masts, a billet head, and no galleries. John Linden, the Baltimore purchaser named in this bill of sale, is also identified as the vessel’s master.
The form was printed by John C. Clark & Son, 230 Dock Street, Philadelphia, and is ornamented with a finely engraved image of a fully rigged sailing ship. The document retains its embossed Treasury and Philadelphia Custom House seals, official recording panel, manuscript ownership history, and contemporary docketing:
“Bill of Sale
Samuel S. Scattergood
Chas. H. Stackhouse
to
John Linden
⅛ of Bark ‘Daisy’
1871.”
Samuel S. Scattergood was a prominent Philadelphia commission merchant and importer associated particularly with the Mediterranean fruit trade. His ownership of the Daisy illustrates the 19th-century practice by which merchants divided commercial sailing vessels into fractional shares, distributing both the investment and the considerable risks of transatlantic commerce among several owners.
Condition: Original filing folds with light toning, scattered staining, ink show-through, minor edge wear, and several small areas of weakness or separation at fold intersections. The manuscript registration is closely written and occasionally faint but remains substantially legible. Both red applied seals are present, the embossed government seals remain visible, and the engraved ship vignette displays attractively. No major textual loss observed.
An unusually complete and visually appealing Reconstruction-era maritime document recording the ownership, construction, dimensions, registration, and sale of a Nova Scotia-built American merchant bark operating through Philadelphia, Norfolk, and Baltimore.
