Four Language Passport for the Whaling Ship Sarah, Signed by Millard Fillmore as President: Its captain died at sea off New Zealand, his wife by his side

The noted whaling ship Sarah was out of Nantucket but often docked in the whaling hub of New Bedford. A book speaks of this ship, and reveals the length of its journeys and value of its cargo, stating that “In1830 the whaling ship Sarah returned home to Nantucket Island, carrying 3,500 barrels of valuable whale oil after a voyage of nearly three years.” This amount of whale oil would have been worth about $90,000 back then, equal to millions of dollars today.

Ezra Smalley was a whaling captain originally from Nantucket, and he was booked to captain the Ship Sarah on its voyage in 1851.

Document signed, as President, Washington, July 14, 1851, being a passport providing that “Leave and permission are hereby given to Ezra Smalley, master or commander of the Ship called Sarah of the burthen of 370 tons, lying at present in the port of Mattapoisett [near New Bedford, Massachusetts] bound for the Pacific Ocean and laden with Provisions, stores and utensils for a whaling voyage, to depart and proceed…on his said voyage…” The document is countersigned by Secretary of State Daniel Webster, and also signing is William T. Russell, Collector for the Port of New Bedford. The passport is in four languages (English, Spanish, French, and Dutch), as befits a ship’s traveling in international waters. The ship is recorded as having stopped at the Galapagos Islands on this voyage, confirming its Pacific Ocean destination.

This voyage on the Sarah was to be Smalley’s last. The New York Times reported on June 3, 1852, that “Captain Ezra Smalley, of the ship Sarah…died at sea on board his ship, on the 2d of January, 1852, off New Zealand…” His wife, it said, was by his side, telling us that at least some captains took their wives with them.

Passports for whaling ships signed by Fillmore as President are rare. A search of public sale records going back over 40 years shows none having reached that marketplace since 1989.