What was a "Customs House agent"?

Question:

What was a "Customs House agent"?

One of my wife's ancestors spent many years as a "Customs House agent" in New Orleans. Trying to find out whether this was a federal, state or local position, and where to find records concerning it. Any ideas??

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I am pretty sure that Nathaniel Hawthorne held this occupation at one point in his pre-novelist career. There is discussion and source material regarding this in some of the literary criticism based around his works.