The only information that could be found about William comes from crew lists forships on which he served. They show that he was born in Connecticut about 1818 and was a resident of Staten Island, Brooklyn, or New Haven, depending on the voyage. With only this limited information, no other information could be found on online resources.
William was master of four voyages on three ships with New London as home port:
VESPER (AS2557): (ship, 321 tons, length 111’, built in Newbury MA in 1826, condemned and sold in Hilo HI in 1861). It sailed on September 27, 1844 for the NW Coast, returned on July 22, 1846. AV15126. It sailed again on September 15, 1846 for the same area, returned on June 1, 1849. AV15127. William & Barnes was the agent for both voyages. Mystic Seaport Museum holds a journal for the 1844-1846 voyage (Log 955) and a scanned version is available on AOWV under AV15127.
ELECTRA (AS1261): (ship, 348 tons, length 107’, built in Kensington PA in 1811, lost at Nunivak Island on July 1, 1863). It sailed on June 1, 1850 for the NW Coast, returned on March 31, 1854. William left the ship under circum–stances not discovered, to be replaced by” —Fish ?”(AM1847). The crew list for this voyage in AOWV shows William W. Smith as original master, perhaps a misprint. Decker shows “Fish” as master. Colby does not show this voyage. William & Barnes was the agent. AV04116.
MOGUL (AS1958); (ship, 395 tons, length 114’, built in Medford MA in 1823, although a note in Connecticut Ship Database shows that after 1847 records show it was built in New Bedford). Decker and Starbuck show “Clark” as master. It sailed on September 20, 1953 for the NW Coast, returned on May 18, 1857. William & Barnes was the agent. AV09946.
William served as master on one more voyage: OCEAN (AS2073), home port New Haven CT, for its 1858-1863 voyage.
New London Crew List does not show that William served on the crew of any ships.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
December 2024