Remarks on a Voyage in 1801 to the Island of Guam, was written by William Haswell, the First Officer of the barque Lydia.

The Lydia is the first documented American ship to visit “Guam (native Guahan).” She left Boston in March of 1801 to Manila and was hired to take the newly appointed governor of the Marianas, Don Vicentez Blanco to Guam. Blanco was to relieve Governor Manuel Mooro (Muro). The Lydia arrived in 5 January 1802 and departed Guam 16 February to Manila.

Haswell came from a family of seafarers. His father and uncle served in the English Navy. Haswell’s older brothers were sailors in the United States Navy. The crew of the Lydia included Captain Moses Barnard, two officers, a cook, a steward and six men. Accompanying Don Vicentez Blanco was his wife, three children and two young female servant and 12 male servants. Additional passengers were a priest, his servant, a judge, and his two servants.

This publication is a personal account of Haswell’s interactions with the local (native) community during the Spanish Era and is rare glimpse into the lives of the people and their colonizers.