Charles was born of March 9, 1804 in New Bedford MA. He was the son of Capt. Peter Butler (about 1773-1832) and Alice Hathaway Butler (1773-1836). Their older son, John Hathaway Butler, later became a whaling master (AM0786). Charles lived on a family farm near New Bedford until October 1827 when he and his brother moved to New London to further careers in whaling. Charles married Sarah Ann Swift (born in February 1813), daughter of Capt. Asa and Sarah Swift of Fairhaven MA, on April 8, 1836 in Fairhaven. About the time of his marriage, Charles and Sarah moved their residence to Fairhaven. Their only son, Charles Russell Butler, was born August 9, 1849, a few months before his father’s death. They also had three daughters. Charles was taken ill in San Francisco after delivering the brig LADY ADAMS and died there from consumption on December 23, 1849. His will made in San Francisco three days before his death left all of his estate to Sarah. Estate files in Bristol County MA show his estate was valued at $7,531. Charles Russell Butler died in 1940 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Fairhaven.
Charles started his career at sea at age 15, serving on the crew of AUGUSTUS(AS0053) commanded by his father for its 1819-1820 voyage. His brother John was also on the crew. Then followed service as crew on COLUMBUS (AS0110) for its 1821-1823 voyage, DRAGON (AS1156) for its 1823-1824, voyage, DAWN (AS1193) under the command of his brother for its 1824-1827 voyage, and WABASH (see below) also under his brother for its 1828-1829 voyage. In August 1824 Charles’ name appears in the Abstract of Citizenship Affidavits of US-born Seamen, effectively a Seaman’s Protection Certificate. They befriended Benjamin Brown, a New London businessman and agent, and soon began acquiring small ownership interests in whaling voyages.
Charles served as master of four voyages on two ships with New London as home port:
WABASH (AS2572): (ship, possibly built Baltimore MD in 1810, lost at Montauk in April 19, 1834). Sailed in June 1829, destination not known, returned in late June 1830. AV15235. Sailed again in July 1830, again no destination shown, returned in April 1831. AV15236. Ephraim M. Frink was the agent for both of these voyages.
ARMATA (AS0912): (ship, 414 tons, built in New York in 1811, rebuilt in New London in 1832). Sailed in August 1832 for the Pacific, returned in December 1835. AV01242. Sailed again in July 1836 for the Indian Ocean, returned in April 1838. Dennis Wood Abstract 1-028 recites “had lost mate & boats crew by a whale”. AV01243. Abner Bassett was the agent for both voyages.
Following his service on WABASH and ARMATA, Charles served as master of three ships with home ports in New Bedford or Fairhaven: PACIFIC (AS0532) for its 1838-1840 voyage, PLATO (AS0621) for its 1840-1842 voyage, and BALTIC (AS0951) for its 1843-1846 voyage. PLATO and BALTIC were both wrecked during his captaincy, PLATO near Montauk Point NY on October 14, 1842 with the loss of five men and BALTIC on June 15, 1846 near Behring Island off the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia. While he did not sail on any more whaling voyages, he served as master of the brig LADY ADAMS in 1849 transporting men from Callao, Peru to San Francisco in 1849where he died of consumption on December 23, 1849.
Dr. Raymond Butler Weiss, a descendant of Capt. Peter Butler, did extensive research on the life and experience at sea of Charles and John. AOVW contains links to him (AZ530 and AZ753). With the generous approval of Dr. Weiss, the author has drawn on his written material that added new details and information about the Butler family and the careers of the Butler brothers and he offered suggestions to the author’s final drafts.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw (Mystic Seaport Museum) August 2024