My Search for the First American Consulate and the Original Mount Washington

By Lawrence Peskin, AIMS Fellow/Morgan State University

Most discussions of the U.S. presence in Tangier do not really go back before 1821. This is readily understandable. Everyone wants to know about the interzone years and the fascinating flock of “accidentals” (Elena Prentice’s term) who arrived here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Additionally, the “donation” of the American Legation in 1821 makes for an easy starting point to the story of Americans in Tangier since that building has always been the center of American activity. I put donation in scare quotes because so far as I can tell the present building was not actually begun until the 1840s and a lot of it was built much later, as is discussed clearly in an exhibit in the old consular office of that very building.

My own research revolves around the first “American” consul, James Simpson. American is in scare quotes because Simpson was in fact a Scotsman who never came to America and had no connection to the U.S. beyond his job and his wife, who travelled there as a young child while her father’s regiment attempted to put down the Revolution. Simpson served from 1797-1820, and since he had the misfortune of dying just before the “donation” of the legation building and before the arrival of any accidentals, little has been written about his term other than the well-known diplomatic negotiations between Morocco and the U.S.

The biggest unaddressed mysteries, at least from the perspective of local history, are the locations of Simpson’s homes. He had two: the official U.S. consulate and a country estate. When I came to Tangier I was not sure of the location of either, and now that my time here is coming to an end, I am still not entirely enlightened, although I have developed some solid theories. At least they seem solid to me. Any old Tangier hands who might want to provide supporting or contradicting information would be very much appreciated.

The town house is the easier of the two to locate. For Simpson, though, it was nothing but trouble. All sources describe it as a very small structure located in the garden of the Swedish consulate. Some imply that it was attached to the consulate, and one observer, the former captive (and Simpson friend) James Riley wrote that it had been built as a kitchen. Simpson’s successor, John Mullowny, believed it had originally been constructed to house Swedish seamen in Tangier. Either way, it was quite small. Riley wrote that when Simpson’s son’s family came to visit there was no space for them and they were forced to rent rooms in a Jew’s house nearby. Simpson unsuccessfully pestered the US government for a new house until the end of his life.

Several scholars, including Susan Gilson Miller, locate the old Swedish consulate at the site of the current Spanish church, La Purissima on Rue Siaghine, the main artery in the Medina. An 1808 map drawn by the French official Antoine Burel clearly shows the relationship between the American and Swedish houses. Note that these structures are very close to the Petite Socco, which is the large square to the right. Incidentally Miller’s map (not pictured) shows some very large homes owned by Jews located just to the west of the Swedish consul which are good candidates to have been the lodging place for Simpson’s visitors.

I believe the Swedish consulate is still there, crammed in between the church and the ancient Dar Niaba building (which became the French consulate in 1816). Today the first floor houses the Alamacanes Alcalasa store, but looking to the upper stories, it is easy to see that it is a large European style house. In Simpson’s day there were substantial gardens (now presumably partially occupied by the Spanish church). It looks to me as though the former site of the American consulate, to the rear of the house, has been completely taken up with dense medina houses. Certainly there are no streets or alleys allowing access to the site today. If my conjectures are correct, the original American consulate, which served the US for roughly 25 years, has vanished without a trace.

Locating Simpson’s country home proved a good deal more challenging. Simpson patriotically named the house Mount Washington. He had exchanged letters with the first president and presumably admired him. Two later councils, Felix Matthews and Maxwell Blake successively lived in a villa on the “Old Mountain” to the west of Marchand heading toward Park Rmilat which they called Mount Washington. According to Blake’s son, Matthews built the house. It commands a spectacular view of the Strait of Gibraltar, a glass photo of which exists in the Legation’s collection.

A few old-time American expats still remember the Mount Washington designation for this site. But today, I am told, the house is owned by a Kuwaiti princess. It is now surrounded by Moorish style gates, though you can still see the view through some of the screening.

I initially assumed this was the site of Simpson’s Mount Washington estate, which was always described as being located in this rough vicinity. However, I no longer believe this to be the case.

The most important evidence is an 1808 map of the environs, by Antoine Burel, the same French official who drew the map showing the original American consulate. Although it is hard to be entirely certain, it seems to me that this map shows Simpson’s villa to be significantly to the west of the current Mount Washington and most likely at the current site of Park Rmilat. Incidentally, this is almost the exact location of a villa built toward the end of the 19th century by the very famous American, Ion Perdicaris. I make this deduction based primarily on the distance from the Jew’s River (modern day Route de la Plage Mercala). On the map below, Mount Washington (jardin du consul d’Amerique) is the large gray area to the left. Matthews’ Mount Washington would be located on the road branching off the Rivière des Juifs, just to the left of the “jardin du consul Anglais”.

Of course, old maps are often inaccurate, and it is hard to read them absent the modern streetscape.  Burel’s map of the medina does seem to be pretty good though, as is his general landscape. But there is still room for doubt.

Written sources are somewhat equivocal. Estimates of the distance from Mount Washington to the old city vary. Mullowny has it at 2 miles, which would be close to the Matthews/Blake house. But Simpson has it as a half hour ride from town, which, assuming a gait somewhere between walking and trotting would put it at 3-4 miles, closer to Park Rmilat. Riley described it as near Cape Spartel, which, while very vague indeed, seems to imply a greater distance from town than the Mathews/Blake location.

The most complete description comes from a British traveler Sir Arthur de Capell Brooke, who visited Tangier around 1830. He describes a “steep and lofty ascent” to the top of a mountain, which could be either location, though considering that there is still a good way to ascend after reaching the Mathews/Blake Mt. Washington, sounds a bit more like Park Rmilat. Brooke describes the property as deserted and desolate, though very beautiful. He asserts the property was still owned by Simpson’s widow, which is highly doubtful considering she was dead and the family was deeply in debt. By the late 1860s when Matthews acquired Mount Washington this property would probably have been in very bad shape unless an intermediate owner had restored it. It’s possible that, if this was in fact the Matthews site, he honored the first Mount Washington by essentially re-christening the property after years of abandonment. But it’s just as possible that, if the Simpson property were in fact higher up at Park Rmilat, that it disappeared into obscurity and Matthews either coincidentally used the same name (there are many Mount Washingtons around the world, including the neighborhood where I live in Baltimore) or perhaps some memory of the earlier estate remained and he merely transferred the name to a new site. I’ve also found a few indications that at one time the entire region rising above the Jews’ River (today La Vielle Montagne or Sidi Masmoudi) may have been known as Mt. Washington.

As you can see, this mystery does not appear to be easy to resolve although it has been great fun to pursue. I would be very appreciative if anyone could provide me with further information.

Bibliography
Despatches of American Consuls in Morocco (US State Department)
John Blake, The Bigger Circle (Tangier, 2009)
Jacques Caillé, La Mission du Capitaine Burel au aroc en 1808 (Paris, 1953).
Sir Arthur de Capell Brooke, Sketches in Spain and Morocco (London, 1831)
Martin Malcolm Elbl, Portuguese Tangier (1471-1662) (Canada, 2013)
Susan Gilson Miller, “The Beni Ider Quarter of Tangier in 1900: Hybridity as a Social Practice” in Miller and Mauro Bertagnin Eds. The Architecture and Memory of the Minority Quarter in the Muslim Mediterranean City(Cambridge, 2010)
James Riley, Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the Brig Commerce (New York: 1817)
James Riley, Sequel to Riley’s Narrative (Columbus, 1851).