Charles was born in S. Kingston RI on September 2, 1814. His parents were Christopher ( – 1857) and Hannah Perry ( – 1832) Hull. Charles married Lucy Lincoln Perry “of Windham CT”, born in 1828. No record was found showing where or when they were married.
They had two children, Charles and Louis. The 1860 census for Lebanon CT shows Charles (age 48, “Gentleman”), Lucy (age 32), Charles (age 3) and Louis (age six months). All that is known about their son Charles is that he died in St. Michael’s in the Azores at age 30. Based on census information, he was born about 1857 and died about 1887. Louis was born in Lebanon in 1861 and died in 1931 in Minneapolis MN. The Descendants of Joseph Hull (p.414) (found online) confirms some of the information about Charles, Lucy and the two sons.
Charles died in Lebanon on May 3, 1863. A tall monument in Yantic Cemetery in Norwich CT memorializes him. On a higher and prominent level above his engraved name and dates appears in bold letters “Capt. HULL”. The Hartford Courant (3/9/1863, p.2) reports: “Capt. Charles Hull, of Lebanon, died quite suddenly in his residence on the 3d inst. He has been engaged in the whale industry, and has made a number of successful voyages. One his last sea voyage he lost his ship, which went down ashore near Pernambuco, in South America”. The author could not identify this ship.
Charles served as master for several voyages on one and possibly two ships with New London as home port:
GEORGIA (AS1468): (ship, 343 tons, length 102 ft., built in New York NY in 1805, surrendered and broken up in 1849). She sailed on July 17, 1841 to the Indian Ocean, returning on June 1, 1843. Lyman Allyn was the agent. She sailed next on August 29, 1843 for the NW coast, returning on April 25, 1846. Dennis Wood Abstract 1-213 for these two voyages. She next sailed on June 23, 1846 for the Pacific, returning on May 5, 1848. Wood Abstract 2-273 for the third voyage. Thomas Fitch II was the agent for the last two voyages. Colby does not record the 1846 voyage. AV05755, AV05756, and AV05757.
CHARLES (AS1090), sailing in 1846, appears in AOWV with no other information about the ship or the voyage. Neither Colby, Decker, or Starbuck record this voyage.
Charles also served as master for one voyage on one ship with Mystic CT as home port:
ROMULUS (AS2312): (ship, 366 tons, length 111 ft., built in Brunswick ME in 1830). She sailed on August 27, 1848 for the NW coast, returning on January 19, 1851. Wood Abstract 2-583. Charles Mallory was the agent. Decker does not record this voyage, presumably because of the Mystic home port. AOWV records for ROMULUS “sailed from Cold Spring, 1860, thought slaving”.
Before beginning his career as a master, Charles served as a member of the crew on TUCARORA (AS2518) for its 1835-1836 voyage.
Charles’s brother Elisha Hull (AM2772) was also a New London whaling master.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text. The Minneapolis Star Tribune (11/23/1931, p.1) provides a lengthy obituary about Louis Hull.
.George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
May 2026