Joseph Comstock (AM1280)

​A multigenerational family history (the Comstock Genealogy), the accuracy of which was not verified, records that Joseph was born on September

 25, 1820 in Groton CT. He was the son of Thomas Comstock, a sea captain, (1781
-9/17/1854) and Sabra Comstock. He married Margaret Brownley (1837-1881) on May 14,1857. They had two children, Belle (born 1859) and Fred (born 1865). 1870 and 1880 census reports for Port Gamble and Port Blakely in the Seattle area provide some confirmation for the birth dates of Belle and Fred. The family spent his later years in the Puget Sound area. Joseph died from cancer in Seattle on March 9, 1902, survived by his two children. He was buried in Lake View Cemetery in Seattle. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (3/10/1902) contains a lengthy and glowing obituary, beginning: “Capt. Joseph Comstock, the first white man to land on Nome’s beach, and one of the old New London whaling masters….”

 

​The Comstock Family in America source (see Sources) records: “Joseph Comstock was a sea captain. He sailed to Alaska in 1845 and on July 1, 1850, while he was first master of the “Meteor” [AS1937, see below] under Capt. Sylvester Kennedy, put in at what is now Nome. In 1851 he brought his wife and daughter around the Horn, and to San Francisco. In 1853 he was in Puget Sound near where he later surfaced.” Note that in 1851, when he allegedly took his family around Cape Horn, Joseph had not married Margaret and Belle had not been born. METEOR made a voyage to the Northwest Coast from 1848-1851 under Capt. Kennedy and may well have stopped at Nome in July 1850. By what ship the family rounded Cape Horn is not disclosed, but many ships were making that voyage in those years to get to the California gold fields.

​Joseph was master of one voyage on one ship, home port New London according to multiple sources (Connecticut Ship Database, Decker and Colby), although AOWV lists Montville CT (a few miles from New London) as home port:

.TAMOREE (AS2472): (schooner, 130 tons, length 80’, built in Orrington ME in 1839). It sailed on April 29, 1856 for the So. Atlantic. Return date not listedin Decker, and master shown as —- Comstock. Starbuck does not record this voyage.

​Joseph served on the crew of four ships for four voyages. Except as indicated, all had New London as home port: METEOR (AS1937, home port Groton CT) for its 1842-1844 voyage; TENEDOS (AS2481) for its 1844-1847 voyage, with his brother Henry (AM6010) as master; MERRIMAC (AS1935) for its 1847-1850 voyage; and DOVE (AS1228) for its 1857-1858 voyage. New London Crew Lists show Joseph serving on the crew of four other ships, but those voyages could not be verified.

​New London Crew Lists shows that Joseph was master of ELLEN (AS1283) with November 20, 1854 as the date of the crew list. AOVW shows ELLEN making four voyages in the period 1852-1863. For none of those voyages does Joseph appear as master.

​Joseph’s brother, Henry Comstock (AS6010), was a New London whaling master.

Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text. Also, the Comstock Genealogy: Descendants of William Comstock of New London”, and a similar History and Genealogy of the Comstock Family in America, both found in Ancestry.com.

George Shaw

American Institute for Maritime Studies

Mystic Seaport Museum

January 2025