Detail of Giveen’s annotations showing his ship Humphrey Purington on route from Newport (Wales) for Portland in 1848. Above, a notation for his ship Charles S. Pennell that reads, ’20 days out from New York’. [MSM2024.59]
Sixteen nautical charts, discovered walled up in a downtown Brunswick business’s upstairs room, were recently donated to the Maine State Museum. The charts, used by Brunswick sea captain and shipping agent Robert T. Giveen (1808-1862), were published between 1831 and 1858, and detail shipping between European and American Atlantic and Gulf ports. The donor purchased the Brunswick property in 1974 and found the charts during a 1994 remodel. Set aside in another room, the charts remained untouched until coming to the museum last year.
Several charts annotated by Capt. Giveen include notes on navigating waterways and ports as well as information on trade rates and the price of coal. One chart stands out from the rest, providing a detailed look at the activities of Capt. Giveen during the mid-1800s. An 1832 chart of the North Atlantic published by E. & G.W. Blunt of New York is heavily annotated by Capt. Giveen detailing voyages from America to Europe and back over several decades as he commanded his ships the Charles S. Pennell, Gilbert, and Humphrey Purington.
Label for Robert Giveen attached to his 1832 North Atlantic Ocean chart.
Maine and the Slave Economy
Giveen was an accomplished sea captain, who with his father-in-law Clement Martin, operated a successful shipping company out of Brunswick, Maine. With the company’s fifteen vessels, the ship agents primarily distributed tobacco and cotton from Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana, as well as sugar and other goods from Matanzas and Havana, Cuba. A unique document, Giveen’s chart lays out the distribution of primarily slave economy goods between American and European ports throughout the mid-nineteenth century.
Title section for the 1832 chart published by E. & G.W. Blunt, New York.
Atlantic slave trade goods fueled global economies with cotton, tobacco, and sugar, and helped sustain Maine’s own vibrant textile mills with Southern cotton, and its shops with rum and sugar. Giveen, like many other ship agents, relied heavily on these trade routes which diminished with the Civil War, forcing many merchants to find new routes and new cargo to carry. As Maine scholars begin to understand more about the state’s connections to the Atlantic slave trade and slave economy, documents like Giveen’s charts shed new light on Maine’s involvement and the extent of these global markets.
Colluding with the South
At the onset of the American Civil War in June 1861, Jefferson Davis seized all Northern ships at port in New Orleans. Davis’s action was in response to the Union blockade of Confederate ports established by President Lincoln. Giveen was in command of the Charles S. Pennell, which was briefly detained but released, and the ship set sail for Spain with its cargo of tobacco. On the voyage, Giveen encountered fellow Brunswick sea captain John Curtis in command of the Windsor Forest. Curtis, sympathetic to the South, was attempting to smuggle weapons, primarily muskets, to the Confederacy via Havana. Giveen warned Curtis of the blockade, requiring the Windsor Forest to change plans and head north. Following these events, Giveen wrote that “The Slidell & Mason affair has settled their feelings in favor of the Southern Confederacy. And the blocking up of southern harbors with Granite Ships is considered an act of barbarism.”
With the loss of the Southern U.S. markets, Giveen remained in Europe after the 1861 incidents. In early 1862, he attempted to sell his ship Charles S. Pennell in Genoa, Italy and in June wrote to his wife that his health was not good. On return passage from Trapani, Italy to Maine, Capt. Giveen died aboard the Charles S. Pennell on September 11, 1862, at age 53.
Navigating History
Giveen’s charts help us better understand Maine’s economic ties to slavery and the slave economy that bolstered industry throughout the United States and Europe. Through the charts, we can view the reach of Maine’s merchant shipping at a time leading up to the Civil War and better understand the war’s effects on this industry.
Giveen’s annotated 1832 chart was heavily used, with considerable damage and staining throughout. The museum has sent it out for conservation treatment to ensure that this unique document will be available for future researchers seeking to better understand Maine’s merchant shipping history and the voyages of Capt. Giveen.
Many of Giveen’s charts include added colors to lighthouses and lightships for quick identification while navigating near land.
