Erastus was born in Montville CT on April 13, 1834. His parents were Erastus (1792-1880) and Fitche (1796-1860) Church. He married Helen (or Hellen) Sawyer of Montville on June 10, 1859 in Montville. They had several children, including Walter (1855- ), Irving (1860-1938), Winifred (1867- ), and Oscar (1892-1955). Census report for Montville for 1850 shows the household consisting of his parents, Erastus (age 16, “mariner”), brother Charles (age 13), and Nicholas (age 10). The household had the same residents ten years later, but Erastus is now “seaman.” The 1890 census shows Erastus age 66 (“sea captain”) and Hellen age 62. His brother Charles was also a whaling master (AM0961). Erastus died on March 5, 1911 in Montville, survived by Hellen, Irving, Winifred, and Oscar. He buried in Comstock Cemetery in Montville. Hellen survived him, dying in 1911.
Erastus sailed on numerous whaling voyages before he came a master. He was a master of three ships with New Bedford as home port and only on with New London as home port, and the latter one was late in his career. A Biography (see Sources) describes these voyages, several of which cannot be verified in other sources. The following are voyages, all on ships with New London as home port, can be verified byother sources and are noted, without dates, in the Biography: JEFFERSON (AS1695) for its 1853-1855 voyage (the crew list shows him as age 19); IRIS (AS1659) for its 1856-1859 voyage; GEORGIANA (AS1470 for its 1860-1861 voyage; GEORGE HENRY (AS1456) for its 1863 voyage; PIONEER (AS2196) for its 1864-1865 voyage (during which the ship was lost in Hudson Strait when driven on the shore by ice); E.B. PHILLIPS (AS0426) for its 1868-1871 voyage; and GOLDEN WEST (AS1483) for its 1873-1874 voyage. AOWV shows Erastus serving on the crew of CHARLES COLGATE (AS1079) for its 1877-1883 voyage. However, the dates of this voyage conflicts with the dates of the voyages of FRANKLIN and ADELIA CHASE (see below), also shown in AOWV.
With this experience as crew, in several cases as mate according to the Biography, Erastus sailed as master of one voyage on three ships with New Bedford as home port: FRANKLIN (AS1406) for its 1878-1879 voyage; ADELIA CHASE (AS0706) for its 1880-1882 voyage; and GEORGE AND MARY (AS0259) for its 1885-1886 voyage. He later served on the crew of TAMERLANE (AS0656), home port New Bedford, for its 1888 voyage
Erastus later served as master of his only voyage on a ship with New London as its home port:
MARGARETT (AS0762): (schooner, 107 tons, length 92’, built in Essex MA in 1889, abandoned and scrapped in 1926). AOWV shows it sailed on a sealing voyage in 1907, returned in 1908. Colby does not show any voyages by MARGARETT or by Erastus. Decker does not show this voyage. Starbuck’s reports end before this date. AV08952.
The Biography add some interesting information about Erastus, not verified. He served as mate on GEORGIANA, GEORGE HENRY, PIONEER, and CHARLES COLGATE. The New London Day (3/8/1906) records him saying that he “would rather be mate than master.” The Biography says that he estimated late in his life that he estimated that he sailed past Cape Horn about 100 times. It also records that, after he ended his whaling days, he was engaged in the coal trade along the East Coast between Norfolk VA and Portland ME, and later engaged in farming and the ice business.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text. Also, Ancestry.com containsbiography of Captain Erastus Church, found in Ancestry.com, author unknown and accuracy not verified (referred to in text as “Biography”
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
December 2024