Day-by-Day / May 28, 1803

May 28, 1803

Cloth goods, tea, and soap

On behalf of the expedition, Israel Whelan, U.S. Army Purveyor of Public Supplies in Philadelphia, buys wool blankets, pants, watch coats, and stockings. Receipts for today also include a tent, flannel shirts, Hyson tea, Castile soap, and 176 pounds of black powder.

Wool Watch Coat

gray wool coat with navy blue collar, cuffs, and buttons

© 2023 by Lyle Gleason.

Watch coats were issued by the U.S. military at the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Like a capote, they are made from trade blankets, but they have a collar instead of a hood. The above coat was created by Kris Townsend and Lyle Gleason based on the research of Gene Hickman.

Cloth Goods

Purveyor’s Office 28 May 1803

Sir:

By request of Captain Lewis the articles mention’d at foot are sent to be pack’d at the Arsenal in a suitable Cask . . . . Fifteen coatees will be sent out also when made up.

B. M. [Benjamin Mifflin]

1 Common Tent
15 Blankets
15 Watch Coats
15 Pr. Wool overalls (blue)
30 Pairs stockgs.		 20 frocks
30 prs linen sheets
45 Flannel shirts
48 Calico Shirts

P. Kelly[1]“Supplies from Private Vendors,” in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), … Continue reading

Benjamin Mifflin was assistant to Israel Whelan and may have owned a mercantile in Philadelphia.

Clark distributed flannel shirts at Pleasant Camp on 16 September 1804.

Also related: The Expedition’s Tents | Outfitting the Expedition

Tea

Israel Whelen bot. of Pricilla Logan
1803  
May 28 2 lbs. Hyson Tea @ 12/6 £1.5 
Cannister £1.8.6 [$3.80] [2]Ibid., 82.

Perhaps Lewis learned to enjoy Hyson tea from Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson’s grocery list of 6 February 1803 included 6 pounds of “young hyson.”[3]“List of Groceries for Monticello, 6 February 1803,” Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-39-02-0395 accessed 15 May 2022. [Original source: … Continue reading Hyson, also known as Lucky Dragon Tea, was popular in the American colonies, but taxed at a higher rate than most other teas. During the Boston Tea Party, nearly a fourth of the 300 destroyed chests held hyson tea. The tea is sometimes sold in the gift shop at Monticello.[4]“Hyson,” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyson; “The Shop: Monticello” archived at web.archive.org/web/20170813200846/http://www.monticelloshop.org/206642.html both accessed … Continue reading

Castile Soap

Philada. 28 May 1803
Israel Whelen Esquire Bot. of Beck & Harvey  
123 lbs. English Cannister Powder at 90 cts pr. lb. 110.70
53 lbs. dbl. Seal Ditto in papers at 85 cts. 45.05
  155.75
17 6/12 lbs. Castile Soap 1.68
  $157.43

[Endorsement:] Of this Bill there are chd. to Ord. Dept. [Ordinance Department] $155.75.[5]Jackson, 87.

Originally from the Castile region of Spain, castile soap is made from olive oil and removes glycerin and lye by adding a salty brine during the boiling. This results in a soap that gets harder with time.[6]“Castile Soap,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castile_soap accessed 5 June 2022.

Related: Outfitting the Expedition | Lewis in Philadelphia

 

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Notes

Notes
↑1 “Supplies from Private Vendors,” in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 77.
↑2 Ibid., 82.
↑3 “List of Groceries for Monticello, 6 February 1803,” Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-39-02-0395 accessed 15 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 39, 13 November 1802–3 March 1803, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012, p. 463.]
↑4 “Hyson,” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyson; “The Shop: Monticello” archived at web.archive.org/web/20170813200846/http://www.monticelloshop.org/206642.html both accessed 5 June 2022.
↑5 Jackson, 87.
↑6 “Castile Soap,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castile_soap accessed 5 June 2022.

Discover More

  • The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.

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Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).