Benjamin, often known as ‘B.F.”, was born in Riverhead NY in 1822. His parents were Uriah and Alice Homan. B.F. married Mary Louise Hill on September 1, 1857. She was born on November 19, 1831 in Danbury CT. They had two children: William (born 9/17/1863) and Edward (born 5/8/1872, died 12/23/1874). The Riverhead census reports for 1860 (US), 1865 (NY), and 1870 (US) paint a confusing and inconsistent picture of the family. 1860: B.F. is age 30 and “sailor”, “Fanny” is 25 and “seaman’s wife”, both living with his parents and two younger siblings; 1865: B.F. is 43 and “sea captain”, Mary is 33, and William is 2, all living with her parents, William and Sopha Hill; 1870: B.F. is 47 and “seaman”, Mary is 40, and “Willie” is 6. Some of the dates seem incorrect. Was Fanny a nickname for Mary? B.F. died on April 22, 1880 of stomach cancer. Mary died on April 22,1910. They are buried in Riverhead Cemetery in Riverhead. The Brooklyn Eagle (5/3/1880, p.4) reports that B.F. “had been in the whaling business continually for forty years, commencing in 1840, and ending last Fall, when he left the ship Hunter, of New Bedford, in San Francisco. He was a master for twenty-four years”.
AOWV shows that B.F. was master for three voyages on three ships, all with New London as home port. He was a replacement master on two voyages.
DELAWARE (AS1198): (bark, 300 tons, length 107 ft, built in Damariscotta ME in 1848, lost of Ballenas Bar, Lower CA in December 25, 1860). Caleb Holt (AM2657) was the master when DELAWARE sailed for the N. Pacific on July 14, 1852. He was succeeded by B.F., then by Theophilus Brown (AM0679), and then Isaac Allyn (AM0118). DELAWARE returned on May 8, 1857. Dennis Wood Abstract 3-539 makes no mention of the frequent change of commands. Williams & Barnes was the agent. AV03659.
AGATE (AS0795): (brig, 187 tons, sold in Honolulu in 1859, broken up there in 1861). Charles Allen (AM0057) was master when AGATE sailed on April 6, 1856. He was succeeded by Isaac Allyn, then B.F., then Allen Comstock (AM1278), then John Lawton (AM4855), then —Frazier (AM2032), and finally John Eldridge (AM1732). AGATE returned on March 26, 1859. C.A. Williams was the agent. Wood Abstract 3-577 makes no mention of the frequent change of commands. AV0031.
MONTEZUMA (AS1970): (ship, 424 tons, length 112 ft., built in Philadelphia in 1822, sunk as part of Stone Fleet #2 in 1862). MONTEZUMA sailed on September 29, 1857 for the N. Pacific and returned on August 22, 1861. Wood Abstract 3-564. Williams & Barnes was the agent.
Colby does not list DELAWARE or AGATE under B.F.’s name on the list of New London whaling masters.
B.F. sailed as master or replacement master for six voyages on two ships with home ports in New Bedford or San Francisco: CORNELIUS HOWLAND (AS0103, New Bedford) for its 1863-1867, 1867-1871, and 1874-1876 voyages; HUNTER (AS0288) for its 1875-1878 voyage (New Bedford) and 1878-1879 and 1879 voyage (both San Francisco).
B.F.’s whaling career was not without incidents. The New York Herald (2/1/1867, p. 4) contains a long article describing two court cases brought by a crew members of CORNELIUS HOWLAND alleging cruelty by the captain (B.F.). In one case he allegedly “knocked the party down with a log of wood” (settled for $300 plus costs). In the other case, a crew member alleged that he lost his toes during winter conditions because the captain (B.F.) “kept the man on deck for the greater part of twenty-four hours, his feet being wrapped in a piece of old canvas”. When the man went below to remove his bandages “his toes dropped off” (award of $1500 plus costs). The Hawaiian governor ordered the harbor master not to ship any more men on any ship commanded by B.F. He first refused to pay the award and threatened to leave the ship in the hands of the government.
The Norwalk CT Gazette, quoted in the New York Evening Post (7/8/1871, p.1), writes that B.F., “an Arctic navigator, now a resident of that town”, has a harpoon head that he took from a whale harpooned of the north coast of Alaska on August 15, 1870(probably during the 1867-1871 voyage of CORNELIUS HOWLAND). One of his crew was aboard the New Bedford whaler ANSEL GIBBS (AS0046) when its crew first harpooned that same whale off the coast of Greenland “and the harpoon wrenched off”, presumably leaving the harpoon head in the whale. The article concludes, “[t]his proves an open polar sea, and a northwest passage, for the Arctic whale never leaves the region of ice”.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text. A Genealogical Record of the Hill Family (found online) is the source of information about the marriage of B.F. and Lucy and their children
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
April 2026