Elias was born on December 1, 1823 in New London. He was the son of Capt. Henry Hempstead and Nancy (Barber) Hempstead. Their gravestones in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New London (sec. 2) record their dates: Henry: 4/26/1788 – 2/8/1883 and Nancy: 8/17/1790 – 1/13/1873. Henry’s Find A Grave site shows that Henry and Nancy had ten children, at least four of whom became New London whaling masters: Elias, John (AM2558), Denison (AM2557),and Benjamin (AM2556). Denison’s obituary adds his brothers Henry and George as whaling captains, but neither is shown in AOWV).
Elias married another New Londoner, Ellen Destin, born 1832, on October 1, 1857 in New London. No record could be found that they had any children. Ellen accompanied Elias on at least one of his whaling voyages and perhaps other maritime adventures. She sailed with Elias on the 1858 voyage of Philip 1st (see. Below). An 1872 Hawaii passenger lists records Elias “and his wife” returning from Guano Island to Honolulu. His obituary notes that at one time he was active in the guano trade, which at that time was focused on the Pacific coast of South America.
The 1880 census for New London records Elias and Ellen resident in New London, his occupation “seaman”.
Elias died suddenly on May 25, 1884 in a house in which he was boarding in Washington DC at age 60. His death certificate, describing him as ‘retired sea captain”, shows that he died from rheumatism and heart disease. Ellen died on November 20, 1896 at age 64. They are buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New London (sec 10), memorialized by adjacent gravestones. Unlike the gravestones of his brothers, his does not describe him as “Capt.”.
Elias had two periods serving as master on two different ships, both with New London as home port:
HARMONY (AS1541): (bark, 316 tons, length 95 ft., built in New York NY in 1840, condemned and broken up in Honolulu in 1862). When HARMONY sailed in 1852 for the No. Pacific, the master was William Baker (AM0269. He died at sea on August 3, 1853. He was followed by three replacement masters: Leonard Brownson (AM0701), William Allen (AM0102), and the Elias. HARMONY returned on May 16, 1852. Colby and Starbuck do not record this voyage. Mystic Seaport Museum holds the logbook for this voyage. Thomas Fitch II was the agent. AV06204.
PHILIP 1st (AS2183): (bark, 294 tons, length 100 ft., built in Rochester MA in 1825, sold and registered in Honolulu in 1861). PHILIP sailed on September 8, 1858 for the No. Pacific with Elias as master. Dennis Wood Abstract 3-627 describes what happened: “Ar[rived] at St. Helena, Jan’y 4, 1859…to land Capt. H who was sick, to cruise 3 weeks in charge of mates.” AOWV records that Christopher Cook (AM1293) replaced Elias. At some unknown time and place the presumably cured Elias resumed command replacing Christopher. The New London Crew List for this voyage records the names of the three mates, and Christopher is not among them. Wood continues, “at Honolulu Oct. 13, nothing this season, Sold at auction at Honolulu Oct. 18, 1861 for $5,200”. After mentioning the sale of PHILIP, Decker notes “sailed between Hawaii & San Francisco”. George Huntley was the master. AV11567.
Elias was issued Seaman’s Protection Certificate #46 in New London on June 20, 1840, the certificate recording him as age 16. He then began a period serving as a crew member on three ships, all with New London as home port: BOSTON (AS0999) for its 1840-1841 and 1841-1845 voyages and PALLADIUM (AS2137) for its 1843-1845 voyage (note the conflicting dates). Elias’s brother Benjamin (AM 2556) was master for the second voyage of BOSTON. One can speculate whether having the two brothers on board with one the master was awkward for both of them.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text. See also Joan Druett, She Was a Sister Sailor, p. 415.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
February 2026