vin Balis,
Alderman of New-York City.
W. P. Hallett,
Clerk of the Supreme Court of State of New-York.
Edwin Croswell,
State Printer, Albany, New-York.

_Catskill, New-York, December 30, 1839_

EARLY LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

On the twenty-seventh day of April, 1779, in the town of Colchester, in
the State of Connecticut, I was launched into the world, and entered on
the tempestuous voyage of life.

While yet an infant at the breast, FATE snatched me from my mother's
arms, viewed me with a scornful eye, and exclaimed, "I doom this babe _a
slave to hardships, dangers, and disappointments_."

The following pages will show how far the prophecy has been fulfilled.
My father, Samuel Dunham, was a Warrant Officer in the American Navy
during the Revolutionary War, and followed the sea during almost his
whole life-time. Whether the occupation of my father before me has had
anything to do in shaping my course in life, the author is not wise
enough to say, but leaves it to those who make greater pretensions than
himself.

In the year 1785, the Author emigrated, along with his father, to where
the village of Catskill now stands. The whole village contained but
seven houses, and was cut up into cultivated fields and gardens. My
father having bought half an acre of ground situated about where the
Greene County Hotel now stands, built himself a small house. After
living in Catskill about one year, my uncle sent for me to come to
Connecticut and live with him, which I did. I returned to Catskill in
the Spring of 1793, and then went as an apprentice to the Messrs. Thomas
O'H. & Mackay Croswell, Printers, who then published a small newspaper
called _The Catskill Packet_. I lived with the Croswell's about six
years and a half, where I was well treated. Having a great desire to see
some of the world, I went to Charleston, South Carolina, where I found
employment in a Printing Office for a few months. During that winter I
witnessed a large funeral procession in that city in commemoration of
the death of General Washington. In the Spring of 1800, I returned to
Catskill, and found some employment in the coasting trade, on the Hudson
River. During the summer and the winter following, I made three voyages
to Charleston and Savannah, and then returned to Catskill and worked at
the Printing business about two years. I then made one voyage to the
Island of St. Croix as a seaman. During this time I was married, in