Early Relations hcHvccn the United States and China. 67 



firms became more and more prominent. The troublous times 

 of 1826, while wrecking other houses, seem to have afl^ected 

 them but little. 



Of the Rhode Island cities only one can boast of a large trade. 

 At least two voyages seem to have been made from Newport to 

 China,"" and a few were fitted out by the D'Wolfs of Bristol for 

 the Northwest Coast trade,"* but Providence had the lion's share. 

 Beginning with the "General Washington" in 1789,''" sixty-eight 

 voyages from Canton terminated there, nearly twice as many as 

 at Salem."'' The number increased to 1803, and then with the 

 exception of 1810 gradually decreased to 1812. After the war 

 there was a sudden increase again, with a decline in 1820, a 

 second rise in 1822, and an entire break from 1827 to 183 1 caused 

 by the failures of 1826. From this break the trade never fully 

 recovered. A few more voyages were undertaken by a single 

 firm, but even these came to an end in 1841, and as in the case 

 of Salem the China trade passed into the hands of larger ports 

 and larger firms."' 



"■■ By the "Semiramis," Mason, Reminiscences of Newport, pp. 149, 153. 

 "^ Tufts' Acct. of Vessels in the Sea Otter and N. W. Trade. 

 '''' Log book of the "General Washington," 1787-1790. MS. in John 

 Carter Brown Library. She went out in 1787. 

 '"'They are as follows by years: 1789. i; 1791, i; 1793, 3; 1795, 



1796. I ; 1797, I ; 1798, 2 



1804. 2 ; 1805, 3 ; 1806, 2 



1816. 2; 1817, 2: 1818, 2 



1825, I ; 1826, 2 ; 1827, I 



1799, i; 1800, 3; 1801, i; 1802, 2; 1803, 6 



1808, i; 1809, i; 1810. 4; 181 1, I ; 1812, i 



1819, 5; 1820, i; 1822, 3; 1823, 3; 1824, I 



1831, I ; 1832, I ; 1833, I ; 1835. i ; 1838, i 



1841, I ; Total, 68. The years not mentioned had no voyages. Providence 

 Custom House Impost Books. 



"' The main Providence firms were Brown and Ives, organized in 1795 

 (Weeden, Early Oriental Trade of Providence, p. 240), and its prede- 

 cessors, Brown, Benson, and Ives, and Brown and Francis. It was Brown 

 and Francis who sent out the "General Washington" on its first voyage ; 

 Brown and Ives sent ships intermittently through the years, imported the 

 largest single cargoes which came to the port from Canton ; appeared 

 among the consignees in nearly half of the voyages, and had a part in 

 the ship "Hanover," in 1838, the next to the last of the Providence-Canton 

 voyages. (Providence Custom House Impost Books, passim.) The 

 other firms in the trade, mostly dating from before 1800, were John Corlis, 

 Clark and Nightingale, John I. Clark, Edward K. Thompson, Benjamin 

 Hoppin and Son (or T- C. Hoppin), and Edward Carrington and Com- 

 pany. Of these, Edward Carrington and Company was the most impor- 



