Not much is known about Erastus. He was born about 1795, parentage and place not known. He died in W. Mystic CT on August 16, 1837. His gravestone, shown in Find A Grave, in Packer-Burrows Cemetery in W. Mystic.
The New London (CT) Probate District records for his estate provide the information below that in the author’s opinion identify Mary Ann Fish as his wife. However, no records of their marriage were found. She signed the probate bond for the estate. One of the estate assets was “house & garden” on Green St. in New London valued at $1,500. Because his estate was determined to be insolvent, the Court of Probate directed the sale the property. The New London Gazette (4/25/1838) contains a notice of public sale with the phrase “unlading the widow’s dower” [dower was a widow’s right to a portion of her deceased husband’s estate (see Sources)]. The probate records show that Mary Ann was the high bidder at the auction. The “unlading” phrase removed the dower right so that she acquired clear title to the property. The quoted language would have been required only if Mary Ann was the widow of Erastus. There is no record that Erastus and Mary Ann had any children.
Erastus was issued a Seaman’s Protection Certificate #5377 on May 16, 1812 in New London. He was then 18. The New London Crew List records that he served on the crew of several ships beginning in 1824: COMMODORE PERRY (AS1137, home port New London) for its 1824-1825 voyage, CONNECTICUT (AS1144, home port Norwich CT) for its 1825-1827 and 1827-1830 voyages, and MENTOR (AS1923, home port New London) for its 1829-1831 voyage.
Erastus served as master of three (possibly four) voyages of one ship with New London as home port: JONES (AS1723) (ship, 336 tons, length 98’). JONES was “a British ship captured in 1814 during the War of 1812” and was broken up in 1842 (Colby, p.7). The first voyage was from April 23, 1831 to February 6, 1832, the second was from April 15, 1833, return date not found, the third voyage was from 1834 (sailing date not found) to March 12, 1835. AOWV shows an 1833 voyage that neither Decker, Colby nor Starbuck record.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text. The author obtained the information about dower from internet sources believed to be reliable; any researcher should verify this information.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
July 2025