Limited information could be found about Schuyler. He was born on October 24, 1794 in Southampton NY. He was the son of Joshua Halsey Jr (1771 – 2/27/1830) and Experience Payne Halsey (1775 – 9/22/1835). He married Mary Howell who was born about 1795. No record could be found of any children. The 1840 census for Southampton shows Schuyler and Mary residing in Southampton. Their gravestone in North End Graveyard in Southampton records relevant information about their deaths: “Died in California October 1, 1849 Schuyler B. Halsey of South Hampton Age 53.” Mary’s comparable information appears below his: “Mary, Widow of Schuyler B. Halsey Died April 26, 1878, Age 83 y’s 6 mo & 6d’s”.
Schuyler served as master for three voyages on two ships with New London as home port:
JOHN AND ELIZABETH (AS1707): (ship, 296 tons, length 91 ft., built in Hanover MA in 1825, condemned in Hawaii in 1885 and broken up). It sailed on October 18, 1836, returned on March 29, 1838. After a little more than three months in port, it sailed on July 6, returned on May 14, 1840. The So. Atlantic was the destination for both voyages. Dennis Wood Abstract 1-281 covers both voyages. Mystic Seaport Museum holds the logbook for both voyages. Haven & Smith was the agent for both voyages. AV07650 and AV07651.
CHARLES HENRY (AS1083): (ship, 265 tons, length 96 ft., built in Boston MA in 1826, lost in 1847). It sailed on September 8, 1840 for the So. Atlantic, returned May 25, 1842. Wood Abstract 1-127. Haven & Smith was the agent. AV02690.
The Connecticut Ship Database and Colby record the loss of CHARLES HENRY. The Database records “Surrendered in Sag Harbor NY in September 3, 1847, vessel lost”. Colby (p. 18) provides more detail about the loss: “At the end of the two-year voyage, [an earlier captain’s] wife also survived a shipwreck, walking ashore when the Charles Henry stranded near Montauk [Pt. NY] in a fog in August 1847”.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
December 2025