U.S. Customs Service (Port Huron, Mich.) records

Collection

Identifier: GLMS-0084

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

This collection documents activities of the United States Customs Service office at Port Huron, MI from 1866 to 1958. Bills of sale and enrollment information appear in largest quantities. The issuance of licenses to individual officers on boats and to boats following inspections is documented. Records of harbor entrances and clearances by vessels reflect patterns of vessel traffic at Port Huron.

Dates

Creation: 1866-1972
Digitized: 2013-2014

Extent

36 Reels (36 reels of 35mm microfilm)

Creator

United States. Bureau of Customs (Organization)

Scope and Contents

This collection documents the issuance of certificates and sale of vessels and other documents recorded at the Port Huron, Michigan, office of the US Customs Service for the years 1866-1960. The financial and legal files in this collection document a portion of the regulatory work of the U.S. Customs Service over nearly a century.

Document types:

Master carpenter's certificates: Contains district place, and date of issuance, name of master carpenter, place and year of build, vessel name and rig, owner, dimensions, tonnage, number of decks, number of masts, and building material.

Enrollments: Contains enrollment number, date, and district of issuance, owners, master, when and where built, most recent prior enrollment data and reason for surrender, vessel name, rig, dimensions, tonnage, number of decks, number of masts, and type of head and stern.

Certificates of Registry: Contains registry number, date, and district of issuance, owners, master, when and where vessel was built, most recent prior registry/enrollment data and reason for surrender, vessel name, rig, dimensions, tonnage, number of decks, number of masts, and type of head and stern. The document was issued to vessels engaged in foreign trade.

Licenses: Contains vessel rig, name, tonnage, license number and date of issuance, and where, when, and why surrendered.

Certificate of Record: Contains document number and issuance date, vessel builder, place and year of build, master, owner, number of decks, number of masts, type of head and stern dimensions, rig, and tonnage. Record was designed for ships built for foreign-flag interests.

Certificate of Ownership of Vessel: Contains date of document issuance, vessel rig, name, tonnage, type of documents issued and document numbers, owner, and mortgage/lien data.

Bills of Sale: Contains participants, amount of consideration, date, latest enrollment data, and the following vessel data: official number, rig, name, year and place of build, tonnage, dimensions, number of decks, number of masts, and type of head and stern.

Mortgages: Volumes contain name, rig, and tonnage of vessel, name of owners, place of residence, mortgage amount and conditions, relevant dates involved in completing transactions.

Agency History

The United States Customs Service, created by an act of July 31, 1789, became part of the Department of the Treasury when that Department was established in September of 1789. The service has been responsible for the enforcement of numerous laws and regulations pertaining to the import and export of merchandise, collection of tonnage taxes, control of the entrance and clearance of coastwise and fishing trades, and the protection of passengers. A Bureau of Customs was established March 3, 1927, to supervise these activities and in 1942 it assumed the responsibilities of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation relating to the registering, enrolling, licensing, and admeasurement of merchant vessels. This responsibility was assigned to the Coast Guard in 1967.

The act that established the Customs Service in 1789 also provided for the creation of collection districts in various coastal, river, Great Lakes, and inland ports. A Collector of Customs in each district was responsible for the enforcement of all rules and regulations including the protection of American seamen and passengers and the forwarding of basic data on immigration, imports, and exports. A Naval officer in each district, coordinate in rank with the Collector, was required to keep separate accounts and copies of all manifests and entries and to countersign certain of the daily record of all vessel arrivals and clearances, and was assisted by inspectors, weighers, and gaugers in the collection and payment of bounty allowances and fees and the admeasurement of foreign vessels for tonnage duties.

Port Huron, Michigan was under the jurisdiction of the Collector of Customs at Detroit, Michigan until April 13, 1866 when the customs district of Port Huron was established. John P. Sanborn was appointed and confirmed as Collector in March 1867.

Conditions Governing Access

No known access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Collection is in the public domain.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Existence and Location of Originals

Original records are held by the Dossin Great Lakes Museum in Detroit, Michigan, and the Museum of Art & History in Port Huron, Michigan.

Related Materials

For absrtacts of enrollments for Port Huron, consult MMS 575-2, Master abstracts of enrollments issued at Port Huron, Marquette, and Grand Haven, Michigan, and Duluth, Minnesota, 1866-1911.

For more information on the work and history of the Customs Service, see National Archives Record Group 41, Records of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The records in this collection were loaned the Center for Archival Collections for microfilming in 1989 by the Dossin Great Lakes Museum in Detroit, Michigan, and the Museum of Arts & History in Port Huron, Michigan.