Right Hon. Earl Russell, &c., &c., &c.
Mr. Dudley to Mr. Adams.
United States
Consulate, Liverpool
April 2,
1864.
Sir: You will find enclosed copies of
two affidavits, one of Catharine Pratt, the other of Catharine
Dow, wives of two of the men who were taken from Liverpool and
enlisted on the confederate steamer Rappahannock, now at Calais.
These affidavits show that the house of Jones & Co., 28
Chapel street, Liverpool, are implicated as well in enlisting
the men for this vessel as they were for the steamer Japan, now
called the Georgia.
The husbands of these women are now in Liverpool. They tell me
Mr. Morse took their statements; hence I have not.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. Charles Francis Adams, Minister of the United States.
Deposition of Catharine
Pratt.
I, Catharine Pratt, of Llewellyn street, Liverpool, in the
county of Lancaster, make oath and say: I am the Avife of
John Pratt, of 9 Llewellyn street aforesaid, fireman. On the
7th February last my husband informed me that he was going
to London to join a steamer bound for the West Indies, and
on the following night he left Liverpool for London with
Welsh, Cunningham, Buchanan, and others. I learned from the
wife of one of the engineers who had gone with my husband
that they had gone from London to Calais to join the steamer
Rappahannock, and I wrote to my husband to let me know where
he was going to, and I received a letter from him that he
had joined the Rappahannock for 12 months, not to exceed two
years, at £16 19s 10d. a month, and had got
one month’s advance, and directing me to call at Jones &
Co.’s office, Chapel street, Liverpool, where they would pay
me the advance and the half pay. I called at Jones’s office
on the 28th of March last, in company with Mrs. Welsh and
Mrs. Dow, and we saw the cashier, and Mrs. Dow told him that
we had called for our half pay, when he referred to a roll
of paper and said that our names were down, but that he
could not pay us then, as he had not received orders from
Paris, and directed us to call again on the 31st March. We
called again on the 31st March, when we saw Mr. Jones, and
told him that we had called for our pay, when he said that
he had not received orders from Paris yet to pay us, and did
not give us any definite answer when we were to call again
for it.
The mark of × CATHARINE PRATT.
[Page 581]
Sworn at Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, the 2d day of
April, 1864, this affidavit having, in my presence, been
previously read over to the deponent, who appeared perfectly
to understand the same, and made her mark thereto in my
presence. Before me,
HENRY C. DUNCAN, A Commissioner to
Administer Oaths in the
County.
Deposition of Catharine Dow.
I, Catharine Dow, of 5 Llewellyn street, Liverpool, in the
county of Lancaster, make oath and say, as follows: I am the
wife of John Dow, fireman. On the 7th February last my
husband informed me that he was going to London to join a
steamer bound for the West Indies, and on the following
evening he left Liverpool for London, in company with Welsh,
Cunningham, Buchanan, and others. Not having heard from my
husband, I made inquiries of the wife of one of the
engineers who had gone with him, who informed me that they
had gone from London to Calais to join the steamer
Rappahannock, and I wrote to my husband to let me know where
he was going to, and received a reply informing me that he
had joined the steamer Rappahannock for 12 months, not to
exceed two years, at £619s. and 10d. a
month, and had received one month’s advance, and directed me
to call at Jones & Co.’s office, Chapel street,
Liverpool, where I would be paid. I called at Jones’s office
about the 28th of March, in company with Mrs. Welsh and Mrs.
Pratt, when we saw the cashier, when we told him that we had
called for our half pay, when he referred to a roll of paper
and said that our names were down, but that he could not pay
us then, as he had not received instructions from Paris to
do so, and directed us to call again on the 31st of March.
We called again, as directed, on Thursday last, the 31st
March, when we saw Mr. Jones, and told him that we had
called for our husband’s half pay, when he said that he had
not yet received orders from Paris to pay it. We then asked
him when we should call again for it, but he did not give us
any definite answer.
CATHARINE DOW.
Sworn at Liverpool aforesaid this 2d day of April, 1864,
before me,
HENRY C. DUNCAN, A Commissioner,
&c., &c
