Manuscript business ledger of Captain Henry Kermit (c. 1754-1812) detailing his mercantile and business activities, maritime voyages and ventures to the West Indies and to Canton.

Capt. Henry Kermit, owned a store and wharf in New York and lived at 19 Wall Street until he constructed a home at 84-85 Greenwich Street around 1801 or 1802.

The Kermit's were a mercantile family, headed by Captain Henry Kermit and his two sons, Henry and Robert. Henry Kermit was a shipmaster and merchant and his sons, were both merchants and ship owners. Robert Kermit is best remembered as the managing owner of the Red Star Line of Liverpool packets, which he purchased in 1836. The various family businesses ran from at least the 1780's to the 1860's.

Two ships commanded by Kermit himself have their expenses recorded in the ledger, the Brig Morning Star and the ship Betsy. He records expenses for the upkeep of the ships, as well as for outfitting voyages, as well as labor expenses. The Morning Star was used in the West Indies trade and for a number of voyages to Amsterdam.

The ledger also includes expenses for voyages to Canton including the ships Devotion, Friendship, Orange, etc. Kermit was a partner with the large firm of Gouverneur and Kemble (see above) in the ship Devotion.

The ship Morning Star was the subject of an attempted mutiny by members of its crew against Kermit in 1790, fortunately for him he succeeded in foiling the plot and saving the lives of his passengers and himself.

The 1800 Census of New York has Kermit enumerated in New York's second ward. Besides his wife and children it appears that Kermit owned two slaves.