Pickering, Timothy, 1745-1829 to Gorham Parsons

Pickering, Secretary of State, writes to Parsons, a Boston merchant who requested that the United States restore his ship, the Eliza, with her cargo of brandy. Cites the details of the Eliza's case, stating that the vessel was sailing for Gibraltar in 1795 and "was captured by a corsair of Tunis and carried into that place." Refers to a truce between the Dey of Algiers (Baba Hussein) the Bey of Tunis, (Hammuda ibn Ali) and United States Consul to Tunis and Tripoli, Joseph Donaldson, Jr. States that to redeem the vessel, Joel Barlow, United States consul to Algiers, paid 11,885 Spanish dollars. Barlow had declared that "The said shooner and brandy and such provisions, as may be on board, are therefore the property of the United States," and these orders were recognized by Captain Greaves and Mr. Rand, aboard the Eliza. As United States property, the Eliza had thus assumed freight bound for Algiers under the care of a Tunisian merchant named Molina. Molina later reported to Barlow that Captain Greaves altered the course of the vessel and had "flogged him every day ... saying he would take vengeance on him for what the Americans had suffered in Barbary." Pickering declares that the vessel and brandy will not be restored to Parsons, stating "It is apparent the United States will at all events be losers by the vessel."