A New England Merchant Seized by Spanish Pirates in California: George Washington Eayrs
Presentation by Marie Christine Duggan, Professor of Business Management
In 1803, G.W. Eayrs left Boston as crew on the Hazard, a ship bound for Canton (China) and California, which was then part of New Spain. By 1807, Eayrs was known as Don Jorge, and captained The Mercury, financed by Benjamin Lamb in Boston.
Don Jorge was a steady, reliable source of supply on a circuit from Canton to Sitka (then Russian Alaska) to Santa Barbara and Los Cabos. “Bring up 50 yards of rhubarb-colored satin,” a priest wrote, aiming to outfit his frontier church in style.
In 1810, the Spanish Empire broke into civil war, and Eayrs became the ONLY source of supply for the 20,000 people living at missions, ranches, and forts in California. He earned more money than he had ever imagined. Yet that profitability enticed a rival out of Lima to seize his ship in California in 1814.
Figuring out why the Spanish pirate seized Captain Eayrs’ ship revealed a transpacific network of Spanish merchants whose journeys between Manila and San Blas had hitherto been hidden. That research took the author to Mexico City, California, and Boston on her 2022-23 sabbatical.
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