Christopher was born about 1817. The place of his birth and the name of his parents were not located. He married Caroline Fitch, daughter of Adonijah (1772-1838) and Anna (Fox) (1786-1864) Chapel. The date and place of the marriage of Christopher and Caroline was also not located. They had one child, Mary F. Chapel, born on September 15, 1850, died on June 12, 1891. Census records show the family living in Montville CT in 1850 and Norwich CT in 1860 and 1870. Christopher is described in those records as “sea captain” once and “mariner” twice. Christopher died in St. Helenain the South Atlantic on October 20, 1870. His and Caroline’s deaths are memorialized on a gravestone at Yantic Cemetery in Norwich (available on Find A Grave). The Boston Daily Advertiser (12/10/1870 contained the following obituary: “The family of CaptChristopher B. Chapel of Norwich, received intelligence on Wednesday, of his death at the Island of St. Helena Oct. 20. Capt. Chapel was an old whaling captain, and has sailed for 20 or 30 years past from New Bedford and New London. At the time of his death he was in command of the barque E.B. Phillips, of New London, in which he sailed Aug 22, 1868. He was homeward bound.” His will dated June 6, 1860 left the income of his estate to Caroline during Mary’s minority and then divided the estate equally between them when she reached age 21. The assets of his estate included “Interest in Barque E. B. Phillips” ($8,000) and “Personal effect in St. Helena” ($278).
Christopher was master of six voyages on five ships with New London as home port:
McLELLAN (AS1913): (ship, 376 tons, length 110’, built in Bath ME in 1825, crushed by ice in Davis Straits on June 20, 1852). Sailed to Davis Straits March 3, 1849, returned October 17 of that year. AV09494. Sailed again on March 7, 1850, returned October 22 of that year. Both Starbuck and Decker say that “…..Perkins” was master of the 1850 voyage. AV09495. Perkins & Smith was the agent for both voyages.
HANNIBAL (AS1529): (ship, 441 tons, length 117’, built in New York NY in 1821, abandoned in Cumberland Inlet in 1861). Sailed November 6, 1856, returned November 11, 1859. Dennis Wood Abstract 3-550 records the ship sailing to Spitzenbergen and Cumberland Inlet. Affixed onto that report is a small clipping recording that Christopher’s wife became a passenger in the Azores for part of the voyage. Benjamin Brown & Sons was the agent. AV06137.
GEORGE HENRY (AS1456): (bark, 308 tons, length 105’, built in Waldoboro ME in 1841). Sailed March 19, 1863 for Hudson Bay and was wrecked in Hudson Straits July 16, 1863, thus ending the voyage. Williams & Havens was the agent. AV05688.
ISABELLA (AS0423): (schooner, 192 tons, length 85’, built in Derby CT in 1845, lost in Hudson Straits on July 20, 1884). Sailed March 6, 1865 for Baffin Bay, returned November 9, 1866. Dennis Wood Abstract 4-354 records “Chapman” as master. Richard Chapell was the agent. AV07175
E.B. PHILLIPS (AS0426): (bark, 144 tons, condemned and sold in Cape Verde Islands in 1865). Sailed August 22, 1868 for the Indian Ocean, returned May 16, 1871. Christopher died in St. Helena on October 20, 1870 while on this voyage. He was succeeded by — Chester, identified in AOWV as AM0948, as replacement master. Christopher had an ownership interest in this voyage (see reference above to his estate). Williams & Havens was the agent. AV03980.
Between his voyages on HANNIBAL and GEORGE HENRY, Christopher served as master of SYREN QUEEN (AS2469), home port Fairhaven MA, for its 1860-1861 voyage.
In addition to his several voyages as master, Christopher had a busy life as a crew member, sailing on eight voyages, all but one (the second COLUMBUS) before he became a master: JONES (AS1723 for its 1832-1833 voyage; ANN MARIA (AS0879) for its 1833-1834 voyage; COLUMBUS (AS0143) for its 1839-1840 voyage; FRANCES (AS1393) for its 1841-1842 voyage; ARMATA (AS0912) for its 1842-1844 voyage; COLUMBIA (AS2775) for its 1844-1846 voyage; McLELLAN (see above) for its 1848 voyage; and COLUMBUS (AS1125, another COLUMBUS) for its 1854-1856 voyage. All of these ships had New London as home port except FRANCES from Stonington CT.
Christopher sailed on seven voyages as master and eight voyages as a crew member between 1831 and 1870 and unfortunately died during a voyage.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw (Mystic Seaport Museum) September 2024