[Passport for a U.S. Naval Officer to Enter Mexico]

Veracruz: November 7, 1842. Good plus.. Broadside form, completed in manuscript, approximately 12.5 x 8.5 inches. Previously folded, with minor wear and soiling along old folds. A couple of small chips at right edge. Even tanning and scattered foxing. A passport granted to one Smith Thompson, an "Oficial de la Marina Americ[an]a, para que pueda transladarso à Mexico con el objecto de pasear," dated November 7, 1842. An interesting side notes states that he carries "armas para su defensa en el camino." The passport was issued at Veracruz, the main port of entry to Mexico from the eastern seaboard. It is remotely possible that this is the Smith Thompson who served as Secretary of the Navy under Monroe, although at this point in his life he had been a Supreme Court Justice for nearly twenty years.