William Pote (1766-1847) of Freeport, Maine was the son of Capt. Greenfield Pote (1736-1797) and Jane Grant (ca.1737-1786). He came from a nautical family. His father, Capt. Greenfield Pote, was a ship captain and ship owner with ties to the Shaker community through a brother, Thomas Pote, who had joined the Shakers. It was Capt. Greenfield Pote's schooner "Shark" that the Shakers hired in 1784 for a pilgrimage to their founder's home.

William Pote's "Day Book" begins in 1788, the year of his marriage, and continues until 1844, three years before his death. It consists of 196 pages of ledger entries, including19 letters written between 1793-1835 that are interspersed among the ledger entries. There are also 9 inserts, including four pages from a 1776 "Falmo[uth], New England" account book with references to Capt. William Pote, Jr., and Gamaliel Pote.

Although many ledgers record exchanges of agricultural products, manufactured goods, labor, and personal "notes," this ledger makes it possible to compare maritime products and wages with agricultural ones. Wages for seamen (ship's master and various sailors), washing fish, salting fish, and hauling "mussel mud" can be compared to wages for digging potatoes, harvesting corn, planting, and ploughing. Fish (mackerel, polluck, hake, cod, & haddock), eels, and clams appear next to entries of corn, potatoes, butter, and meat. Rum, sugar, molasses, and tea reflect William's share of the cargoes he carried. Salt in large and small quantities (some of it locally produced) is also exchanged.

The references to the Pote family's shipping interests are of special value since they deal with both local fishing and international shipping. Of the 225 individuals listed in the ledger, nineteen are ship captains, and another ten to fifteen are seamen. The ledger mentions seventeen different vessels. The earliest acounts (1789-1790) cover William's voyages to the West Indies -- St. John (4 months), St. Eustatia (2 months, 3 days), Guadelupe (1 month, 27 days), and Demarary [Guyana] (4 months, 22days) -- with shorter trips to Boston and Philadelphia, and 5 months of "coasting.

Particularly well documented is the European voyage of the "Columbia" from Nov. 1792, when William Pote became Master of the ship, until her sale in New York in April of 1794. The combined ledger entries and copied letters to his wife Dorcus and to his father Capt. Greenfield Pote (the ship's owner), describe the voyage from America to Liverpool, then to Cork, and on to Bordeaux, eventually returning to New York. The ship was caught in France during an embargo and later faced a difficult arrival in New York when cables and anchors had to be cut to save the ship and its cargo. The length of each leg of the voyage was recorded, as were the wages for himself and his seamen, prices of supplies bought in various ports, and cargoes bought and sold. The day book provides keen insight into the problems and risks involved in international shipping in 1793-94.

The Portland Mineral Company is first mentioned in March 1802 when they were billed for boarding and feeding men, and the "keeping of horses." The company's name appears frequently through July of 1802 in connection with "water works construction," timbers and bricks used to make a furnace, a "trip hammer," a 25' x 20' structure, and a "Mill Dam."

Passing reference is made to the Otter Creek Salt Works, counterfeiters, algerine pirates (spelled allgirines in the day book), hauling of "mussel mud," recipes for curing blindness in animals, school house repairs (including the rum for those doing the repairs). Four estate inventories are recorded. Capt. Greenfield Pote's estate entries include the division of right to a "fish house" and fish hauls (probably from his ship "Shark"), as well as the running of his farm until the estate is finally settled.

Note: Please consult the Manuscripts Division for a finding aid for the William Pote Day Book. It includes a list of the names of all people and ships mentioned in the book.

M-4073
Cat. 1/7/02 mhp

Subject index to the William Pote Day Book

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