Series I. Registers, Enrollments, and Licenses

Federal customs duties performed at Ipswich include registering vessels engaged in foreign trade; enrolling vessels over 20 tons that participated in domestic coastwise trade and fishing; and granting one-year licenses to all vessels involved in coastwise trading and fishing.

This series contains 92 registers dated 1797-1830. Entries include: register number; temporary or permanent designation; name and residence of owner; name, rigging, and home port of vessel; its place of construction, date, and specifications; place and date of issue, and date of registration.

To register or enroll a vessel, the owner and master were required to bond themselves to obey federal customs regulation and take an oath attesting to the accuracy of the information contained in their application. The oaths of owners recorded at Ipswich date from 1804-1868. Masters are included from 1804-1829. Oaths indicate: owner's name and residence; name, rigging, and tonnage of vessel; place and date of construction; master's name; and the date of the oath.

Actual enrollment papers are not known to exist; however enrollment bonds dating from 1820-1841 are included in the collection. Bonds specify: the names and residence of the owner and master; the amount and date of bond; and the name, rigging, and tonnage of the vessel. Bonds between 1832-1835 include the length of the vessel.

Three small volumes containing abstracts of license records date from 1797-1829. The volumes detail licenses granted and surrendered at Ipswich for cod fishing, mackerel fishing, and coasting. Entries include: date, number, and place of enrollment; date of license; rigging, name, home port, and tonnage of the vessel; names of the owner and master; license bond date and amount; names of bond principals and sureties; and place, date, and cause of surrender of license.

License bond records are available for 1827-1830, 1837-1844, and 1849-1868. The bonds indicate: vessel name, owner, master, rigging, tonnage, and home port; the bond amount; and the type and number of the vessel license.

Additionally, four volumes detail oaths given by masters for licenses from 1828-1834, one from 1854, and 1860-1868. Included is vessel name, rigging, and home port, and master's name, and the date of the oath.