Letter From Samuel Chace to William Vernon, Caleb Gardner, and Peleg Clarke

DateDecember 11 1797

Event TypeNarrative

DescriptionA letter from Captain Samuel Chace sent from the Cape of Good Hope to William Vernon, Caleb Gardner, and Peleg Clarke in Newport. The letter describes the past five months Chace has spent traveling with a cargo of 238 enslaved people, including the outbreak of smallpox onboard the vessel, which led to being turned away at every port. The letter concludes with Chace’s plan to sail to Montevideo along with the captain and cargo from an unspecified Spanish slave ship.