Tobias Lear as Commercial Agent in Santo Domingo

TOBIAS LEAR. Autograph Endorsement Signed, November 23, 1801. 2 pp., 7" x 12.125". Original wax and paper embossed seal intact; tape repairs to tears have left stains; one small hole; general toning; good.

Tobias Lear, former private secretary to General George Washington, witnessed this statement by three masters of American vessels in Santo Domingo as to damage to cargo aboard the Eleanor of Baltimore. President Thomas Jefferson had appointed Lear as the commercial agent of the United States at Cape Francois in the French colony of Saint Domingue, occupying the western third of the island of Hispaniola.

Excerpts

"We the undersigned Masters of American Vessels in the Port of Cape Franc[ois] being call'd on Survey on board Schooner Eleanor of Baltimore by Peter Wickham Master of said Schooner before breaking Bulk. On breaking out the Cargo we find the undermentioned Packages to be damaged by leakage in the Combings of the Main-hatchway and of some parts of the Deck which appear to us to have been occasion by the straining and working of the Vessell in heavy weather.
[List of boxes and trunks]
"Thomas Charles Howe / Peter Gisse / P Sorensen"

"I, the Undersigned, General Commercial Agent of the United States of America, in the Island of Saint Domingo, residing in the City of Cape Francois, do certify to all whom it may concern, that Thomas Charles Howe, Peter Gisse & P Sorensen, who have signed the within declaration, personally appeared before me, and declared that the facts therein stated are just and true.
"In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name, and affixed the seal of my office, at the City of Cape Francois, this twenty third day of November 1801.
"Tobias Lear."

Historical Background
Slaves in the French colony of Saint-Domingue had been in rebellion for a decade when Tobias Lear arrived as the new commercial agent of the United States in early July 1801. In a January 1802 letter to President Thomas Jefferson, Lear predicted a French response was still six months away, but a French armada sent by Napoleon Bonaparte to suppress the rebellion arrived one week later. The French fleet captured Cape Francois from Haitian leader Toussaint L'Ouverture, and Lear attempted to help Americans there during the subsequent French embargo. Not wanting to annoy the French during negotiations over the Louisiana Purchase, President Jefferson urged Lear to be cautious, and Lear returned home to Virginia in May 1802.

After achieving some victories, the majority of the French army died from yellow fever within a few months; ultimately, more than 50,000 French soldiers died in an attempt to retake the colony. They managed to capture L'Ouverture and transported him to France, where he died in prison. The slave forces finally achieved a decisive victory in November 1803, and Haiti proclaimed itself independent in January 1804. In the following months, the Haitians massacred between three and five thousand whites remaining in the country. In 1807, the self-proclaimed King Henry Christophe renamed Cap-Francois as Cap-Henri, but after his death in 1820, it became Cap-Haitien.

Tobias Lear (1762-1816) was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and graduated from Harvard College in 1783. At the recommendation of Benjamin Lincoln, Lear served as personal secretary to George Washington to handle his extensive correspondence, oversee Mount Vernon's accounts, and tutor Washington's adopted children. Lear married Mary (Polly) Long in 1790, and they had one child before Polly died in the 1793 yellow fever epidemic. In 1795, Lear married Frances Bassett Washington, the recent widow of the President's nephew, but she died of tuberculosis in 1796. In 1803, he married Frances Dandridge Henley, Martha Washington's niece. He and his family were part of the presidential households in New York and Philadelphia, and he served Washington from 1784 until the former President's death in 1799. Lear also served during the administration of Thomas Jefferson as a commercial agent to Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and a consul general in North Africa during the First Barbary War (1801-1805) and for James Madison during the Second Barbary War (1815). He apparently committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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