The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXIV, Part 1-2, 1976 - Khamkoo

58 Benjamin A. Batson
Little of substance transpired during Chandler's tenure in office.
In 1859 American shipping suffered "a great falling off" and an American
trading company in Bangkok sold out.6I The Civil War, and particularly
the activities of Confederate cruisers, which resulted in many American
merchantmen switching to the safety of foreign flags, completed the
demise of American trade with Siam. It was also during Chandler's
term that Mongkut sent his famous letter to Washington offering to send
Thai elephants to start herds in America. Lincoln's brief refusal of the
elephant offer brought protests from Chandler, who thought Mongkut's
offer deserved serious consideration. 62
Aaron J. Westervelt was the first consul appointed in the United
States.actually to serve in Siam. His father was Jacob A. Westervelt,
a New York shipbuilder and "an able and honest reform Democrat"
who bad been mayor of New York City from 1852 to 1854. The elder
Westervelt built clipper ships in the 1850's, and presumably had an
interest in the Asian trade; when young Westervelt was appointed he
had already spent two years in Siam. If Chandler can be believed,
Westervelt's stay in Bangkok in 1858-59 had not been a success.
Chandler wrote to the Department of State charging that Westervelt
"was the most abusive man to the natives I ever met," was a coward,
and had left behind "his native woman and child ... without support."
In addition, Chandler claimed, "It is not possible for a man with his
antecedents t::J have any real sympathy with the present administration."63
Westervelt arrived in Siam early in 1862 and left before the end
of 1863, and his brief tenure as Bangkok Consul was noteworthy mainly
for the flood of criticism, both contemporary and subsequent, which it
produced. E.V. Chandler, a nephew of J.H. Chandler who bad served
61) BanglwkDespatches, June 30, 1859.
62) The letters of Mongkut and Lincoln are in Moffat, Mongkut, pp. 91-95. The
original Thai text of Mongkut's letter is in King Mongkut, Phraratchasan ..• ;
pp. 153-157. Chandler's complaints, written after Westervelt ha