Joseph (often referred to as J.T., even on his gravestone) was born on March 22, 1830 in Connecticut, town not shown. His parents were Gardner Hull (6/8/1797 – 7/2/1853) and Martha (Bates) Hull (6/14/1800 – 6/11/1849). Both of them were born in Rhode Island and are buried in Yantic Cemetery in Norwich CT. They had nine children. Joseph married Mary Hawkins (10/29/1848 – 5/31/1875). They had one child, Torrey (Joseph’s middle name), born in Norwich, died there on July 2, 1915. Mary and Torrey are also buried in Yantic Cemetery.
The 1850 census for Norwich records Joseph (age 20, “farmer”) living with his father (his mother then deceased). Joseph is listed as “sea captain” in the 1968 Norwich city directory. The 1870 census for Griswold CT shows him (age 39, “farmer”) and Mary (age 23). The 1880 census for Lebanon CT reports Joseph (age 50, “sea captain”) and Torrey (age 7); Mary is then deceased. Based on the census information, Torrey would have been born in about 1873, about two years before Mary’s death.
AOWV records Joseph’s only service as a master as a replacement master on one voyage on PEARL (AS2158): (bark, 195 tons, length 91 ft., built in Medford MA in 1838). PEARL sailed from New London, its home port, on November 1, 1862 for the Pacific, returning on April 1, 1865. The master when she sailed was William H. Bush (AM0776); when he left the ship, he was succeeded by Joseph who in turn left her, to be succeeded by Edwin P. Thompson (AM5010). Dennis Wood Abstract 4-316 makes no mention of the change of command. Joseph’s name does not appear on the crew list when PEARL sailed. AOWV records that she was burned by SHENANDOAH on April 3, 1865 off Ascension Island and that the crew were taken ashore. The cited abstract adds an opinionated gloss to the description: “Burnt by the English Rebel Pirate Shenandoah on her passage from Honolulu to the Arctic Ocean in June 1865”. The dates and location are inconsistent, and it is unclear which ship was on “her passage”. Williams & Haven was the agent. AV11341.
Prior to serving as master, Joseph was a member of the crew on one and probably two reported voyages on CATHARINE (AS1054). AOWV shows that she sailed on October 19, 1858 and returned to New London two weeks later. She then sailed again three weeks later. AOWV show these as two separate voyages. Wood Abstract 3-535 details that this was really one voyage, interrupted at the beginning for repairs caused by storm damage. New London Crew lists shows Joseph as a crew member for the first short voyage; no crew list is shown for the continuation of the voyage, suggesting that the same crew, including Joseph, served on both voyages. CATHERINE returned on June 26, 1865.
New London Crew Lists show a Joseph Hull, probably a different one, as crew member on three ships (NEPTUNE (AS2032), HELVETIUS (AS1568), and ARMATA (AS0912)). Based on his age shown in the list for those voyages he would have been born in 1819, 11 years before his confirmed birth date.
Joseph died on October 25, 1887 of cancer in Lebanon CT. He is buried with the rest of his family in Yantic Cemetery in Norwich. He and Mary have adjacent gravestones. The Hartford Courant (10/281887, p. 6) reports that “[Joseph] began following the seas at an early age, making several voyages and retiring a few years later with a fortune”. The Willimantic CT Journal of the same date (p. 2) adds to his story: “the deceased entered upon a seafaring life at the age of 20, shipping from New London on a whaler, and returning from a three year cruise as first mate. On the second voyage he advanced to captaincy. His third cruise extended over a period of eight years, being in the Pacific ocean.” The first two voyages cannot be identified; the long one was that aboard CATHARINE. His marriage to Mary and the birth of their son Torrey occurred after his return from this voyage.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
May 2026