The brig Hetty in Saint Domingue
On September 23, 1789 the brig Hetty departed Philadelphia, having registered with the U.S. Customs House as being bound for the "West Indies."
The Hetty was owned in thirds by Philadelphia merchants John Godfried Wachsmuth, Sampson Harvey, and William Davis, who also served as her captain. In 1788 Dutch émigré merchant Etienne Dutilh had gained an interest in Wachsmuth's share when the two became partners.
September 23, 1789
On board as the Hetty made its way down the Delaware were Davis, a mate, four crew members, and a cook. The vessel's hold was packed with 650 barrels of "super fine" flour and 30 firkins of lard, all of which were shipped by Wachsmuth.
October 15, 1789
Twenty-three days later, the brig arrived at Cap Français, the leading commercial port of the French colony of Saint Domingue.
Over the next 10 days, Davis completed the business of selling her wares and purchasing a return cargo. In all, he spent 1868.5 livres (equivalent to £84.18.5 in Pennsylvania currency), buying provisions for the return trip and paying fees to guards and porters, loading costs, duties, and a series of "gratifications" to various officials of the harbor.
By October 25, the Hetty was loaded with nearly 37,000 pounds of coffee in bags and barrels, as well as 9 pipes of brandy and 150 barrels of salt. She departed the next day.
November 16, 1789
After a 21-day passage, Davis returned to Philadelphia with his cargo. In addition to each partner's portion, four other merchants—Jonathan and William Montgomery, Abraham Collins, John Shaw, and the firm of Nottnagel and Montmollin—held shares. After paying the crew and other charges, Davis, Harvey, and Wachsmuth each netted £52.15.5 in freight costs—and this was before they sold the coffee, brandy, or salt.
This one voyage can stand in for thousands of others taken between Philadelphia and ports in Saint Domingue in this period. Taken together, this trade made up an important part of the early American republic's economy, and was the means by which Americans learned of the events that historians would later describe as the Haitian Revolution.
This site offers users access to a dataset that captures many aspects of this trade. It covers the period between 1789 and 1819. Portions of these data stand behind some of my published work treating the ways in which political discourse in the nascent United States was shaped by the unfolding events in Saint Domingue/Haiti. My hope in offering it here is that other scholars will find it useful, perhaps sparking their further research, and at the very least saving them some time.