Ship’s Passport Signed by President John Tyler and Secretary of State John C. Calhoun, for the Whaler MOCTEZUMA, Which Operated in the Indian and Pacific Ocean for Three Years Under This Passport

The Ship MOCTEZUMA was built in New York in 1835 and operated out of New Bedford, MA. Its Master was William E. Tower. It had two decks, three masts, square stern, and a billet head (a decorative piece of woodwork that adorns the bow of a ship. In many cases it is a figurehead or a bust). Its purpose was whaling. It left on a whaling voyage to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific on July 10, 1844, and would return January 9, 1847. The day before departing, it obtained this ship’s passport.

Document signed, as president, July 9, 1844, authorizing the Ship Moctezuma, William E. Tower, Master, of the burden of 436 and 41/95, carrying “Provisions, stores and utensils for a whaling voyage”, and bound for the Indian Ocean, “to depart and proceed.” The seal is intact, and the document is countersigned by Secretary of State John C. Calhoun. We know that it also visited the Pacific Ocean, as the ship’s log book still survives, and it anchored outside Honolulu in April 1845 with 370 barrels sperm oil and 630 barrels whale oil.

Whaling ship’s passports are much sought after and increasingly uncommon, and with the original log book online, this voyage can be thoroughly researched.