Scope and Content Note
The papers of James Leander Cathcart (1767-1843) span the years 1785-1817 and consist of a three-volume narrative account of his years in captivity, a journal, three letterbooks, and a letter dated 7 December 1798 from Cathcart to the firm of Willings and Francis.
The narrative account describes the capture of the schooner Maria of Boston by Algerians off Cape St. Vincent, 25 July 1785, and Cathcart’s subsequent eleven-year imprisonment in Algiers during which he became chief Christian secretary to the Dey of Algiers. The manuscript, based on journals which Cathcart kept, also describes living conditions for Christian slaves, the culture and customs in Algiers, arrivals of ships, relations between the Regency and other countries, and negotiations for the release of Christian prisoners. The second volume begins with page 129, although the narration in volume one ends with page 187. Entitled, “Negotiations in Barbary,” it deals with negotiations between the United States and Hassan Bashaw, Dey of Algiers, from the arrival of Joseph Donaldson in September 1795 to the arrival of Joel Barlow in March 1796, and includes a sketch of United States relations with France, 1793-1796, and a note on Ramadan. The volume was planned to conclude with Cathcart’s arrival in Philadelphia on the Independent, 13 September 1796, but ends with a summary of events occurring between 28 March and 1 April 1796 because of a lack of time and means for publication. The third volume consists of a few pages covering events from 25 October 1795 to 2 November 1795. The manuscript was edited by Cathcart’s daughter, Jane Bancker (Cathcart) Newkirk, and published as The Captives, (La Porte, Ind.: Herald Print, 1899).
The “Journal of Remarkable Occurrences in the City of Algiers Anno Domine 1792” is a record of Cathcart’s observations for that year except for the months of April and May. It also contains several lists of slaves and ships captured by the Algerians, including Americans captured between 1785 and 1795, indicating what became of them and any pay which they received.
The earliest letterbook relates to Cathcart’s appointment as special diplomatic agent accompanying William Eaton to Tunis and covers the period 5 April 1799 to 17 April 1801, with notes indicating that Cathcart left Tripoli 24 May 1801 following Bashaw’s declaration of war on the United States and arrived at Leghorn, Italy, on 2 June 1801. The volume contains letters and papers relating to negotiations with Tripoli and includes correspondence with Thomas Appleton, William Eaton, John Marshall, Richard O’Brien, Timothy Pickering, and William Loughton Smith. The second letterbook continues the account of the negotiations from 1 June 1801 to 11 May 1803 and consists primarily of diplomatic correspondence between Eaton, then United States consul at Tunis, and Secretary of State James Madison through 18 August 1802. Other items in the volume are letters of 1803 regarding Cathcart’s appointment as Eaton’s successor and a copy of the treaty between the United States and Tunis concluded in August 1797 acknowledging the alterations in Articles 11, 12, and 14 negotiated by Cathcart and Eaton in March 1799. The third letterbook spans the period 29 January 1816 to 7 March 1817 while Cathcart was United States consul at Cádiz and mainly contains his diplomatic correspondence with Francisco Javier de Oms (Marques de Castelldorius), George William Erving, and James Monroe. Receipts and accounts of funds dispersed by Cathcart on behalf of American sailors are also included.
The first letterbook and letters in the second volume through 28 March 1802 were compiled and published by Cathcart’s daughter, Jane Bancker (Cathcart) Newkirk, as Tripoli: First War with the United States (La Porte, Ind.: Herald Print, 1901). Material from this collection has also been published in the American Antiquarian Society Proceedings, v. 64 (1955).