Clipper Ship Owner George Sutton Solicits Cargo For His Line

GEORGE SUTTON, Clipper Ship Line For San Francisco, writes a single page, 5 ½ x 9, ALS, New York, February 18, 1867, to Magoun & Sons, Boston ship builders urging the company to use his services to load clipper ships. The letter is written on Sutton’s stationary, “Clipper Line for San Francisco to Wall Street.”

“Dear Sirs. The writer happened to think of the good clipper Thatcher Magoun & thought she might be on her way home to make ready to come. If she comes to this port we want to load her. Why not!

“Please let us know your views & we will do the right thing in the right way. We have thus far met with success in loading & believe we have given satisfaction to all parties. We can get as much money in the ship as any one in this city & give as good dispatch. When the Herald gets here please have it understood that we want her also. It would be a matter of pride to do handsomely for any vessel belonging to you. Awaiting your reply & trusting it will be no annoyance to you. I am Truly Yours, &c, Geo D Sutton.”

Sutton was apparently soliciting ship owners to consider having his company load outgoing vessels from New York.  In this letter, Sutton was reaching out to one of the best known and respected ship building companies that had been started in Medford, MA, by Thatcher Magoun (177-1856). Magoun & Sons specialized in large clipper ships and brigs, including the mentioned Herald, which most likely was the 1,294 ton clipper Herald of the Morning, active in the California trade after her launch in 1854. She was one of only a few ships in the 1850s that made the trip from an Atlantic port to California in under 100 days. The other vessel mentioned was the Thatcher Magoun, named after the shipbuilder, that was launched in 1855. She made several trips to San Francisco from Boston in her early years, and many more from New York in the 1860s. One one notable voyage, the Thatcher Magoun left New York in July 1868 with three locomotives on board destined for San Francisco to be used on the California Pacific Railroad. She reached her destination in 117 days. From the number of clipper cards advertising the loading of the Thatcher Magoun and Herald of the Morning by George D. Sutton’s Clipper Line for San Francisco in New York, Sutton’s efforts must have paid off.

Folds. Overall excellent.

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