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The information given in this database is entered here as it is on the document or documents in the Maine Maritime Museum collections. The spelling of the mariner’s name may be wrong, the arithmetic may be wrong, and some descriptions may be thoughtless or not politically correct, but they are shown as found. We have attempted to standardize the names and descriptions of vessels and the spelling of place names. We have tried to include in notes fields important information that does not fit in the standard fields.

Document Types

Account book entry

Generally, this is from a page of an account book kept by the vessel's captain, keeping track of advances paid to individual seamen, slops purchases, and other details relating to their pay.

Account of wages

A detailed accounting of wages paid to individual seamen, kept on separate loose pages by the captain.

Advance note

An unusual document with which the master (captain) promises to pay a mariner a certain amount of advance wages after the ship sails.

Articles of agreement

The formal contract between the ship and its crew, with a signature from everyone aboard, written into a printed form. One copy was made for the Custom House, and another was kept aboard the vessel. The printed form often contains on the back a full transcription of all U.S. laws relating to the treatment of seamen, in tiny print.

Consular bill

A document prepared on a printed form by the U.S. Consul in a foreign port, interceding on behalf of crew members to obtain their pay

Consular certificate

A document on a printed form, whereby a U.S. Consul in a foreign port makes additions or corrections to a vessel's original crew list or articles of agreement

Consul document

A document in a printed form constituting a crew list prepared by a U.S. Consul's office in a foreign port

Crew list

A complete list of all crew members of a vessel, usually compiled by the master (captain) to provide to the Custom House.

Customs bulletin

A daily bulletin issued and distributed by the C.V.R. Bureau - Customs Intelligence, related to problems in the documentation of individual mariners and other travelers, in the World War I period

Disbursements account

An account kept by the captain of all the vessel's expenses in a particular port, in some cases including the pay of individual mariners. This was done to provide to the vessel's owners, so they could work out the profit or loss on a voyage.

General account

A full financial account of a voyage, given to the owners by a captain. These do not generally contain information on individual mariners' pay.

Health certificate

Or bill of health, certifying that the crew of a vessel have been examined by a port medical officer and that the vessel may depart on its voyage

Hospital money return

List of all crew members of a vessel and the time they served aboard, to show the amount of money to be paid from their wages for the support of the federal Marine Hospital Service. Intended to be turned in at a U.S. Custom House

Legal testimony

Copy of evidence given in a legal case

Letter

In some cases, letters mention individual mariners.

Medical bill

Invoice for services in a port, relating to a specific mariner

Note

A handwritten note which cannot be otherwise described

Outward foreign manifest

A Customs document listing cargo aboard an outward bound vessel, but in many cases also listing officers and crew

Payroll

An accounting of crew pay for a certain time period or voyage; this is a 20th-century term

Portage bill

A full financial account of the payroll for a specific voyage, written by the master (captain) and generally given to the managing owners. Lists all mariners aboard, with details of their pay.

Portage book

A notebook kept by the master (captain) recording the financial details of the employment of each mariner

Postcard

Postcards can also mention a sailor's name.

Protest

A note of protest filed by the master (captain) at the port of arrival, describing damage to vessel and/or cargo, being the first step in filing an insurance claim. Often contains sworn testimony from named crew members other than the captain.

Receipt

Obvious; in this case, often a receipt for pay, signed by the mariner.

Register of out-patients

Some manuscript collections relate to the functioning of a marine hospital, operated by the federal government for the benefit of seamen. Mariners all had small amounts deducted from their pay to support these hospitals.

Sea journal

A personal version of a vessel's official log-book; a diary kept at sea.

Seaman's time book

A standard form book, used by masters (captains) to keep track of individual mariners' time served aboard the vessel for the purpose of determining amount of hospital dues owed, for the support of the Marine Hospital Service. Lists all crew aboard, their rating or position, dates of shipment and discharge, and months and days employed. The books were to be brought to the Custom House where the dues were paid by the master and the page of the voyage stamped by the Customs Collector.

Seamen's protection certificate

An early form of passport, especially designed for seamen. Generally pre-photography, and contains a written description of the mariner, intended to prove citizenship and prevent the impressment of America seamen into foreign navies. Issued at Custom Houses from 1796 until 1940.

Shipmaster's account current with crew

A book of printed forms for masters (captains) to use in keeping detailed financial accounts of crew members' wages.

Shipping agent's record book

Most large ports had a variety of shipping agents, each of whom maintained an office where mariners could go to learn what jobs were offering, and sign on a ship. We have only one of these record books, from a Boston firm. In it, the agent kept a list of every mariner he supplied to every ship, with names, wages, and the name of the boarding house the sailor was living in at the time.

Shipping commissioner's account of wages

A document intended to be signed by all crew members to confirm that they had received their wages and releasing the master from further demands or claims

Slops accounts

Most captains maintained a supply of clothing, tobacco, and other necessaries to sell to mariners. A detailed account was kept of everything purchased, because at the end of the voyage, the amount was deducted from the mariner's wages.