Albert was born in Rhode Island, probably in the Westerly area, in October 1916 and died September 8, 1907, place not discovered. His parents were Nathan Barber, Jr. (17850-1828) and Dorcas Babcock (1786-1860), both residents of Westerly. He married Eunice Ann Hall of Westerly on June 12, 1848 in Stonington CT. Her parents were John Pendleton Hall and Nancy Babcock, possibly of Westerly as well.
The US Census for 1850 for Westerly shows Albert, described as a “mariner”, living with Eunice and a son Albert aged one month. Albert and Eunice thereafter had six or possibly seven children. Rhode Island records show Hendrick Barber born to Albert and Eunice on March 13, 1849, but Hendrick is not listed in the census. Other records show five children born after the 1850 census, none named Albert.
Albert was master for one voyage on CALEDONIA (AS1024): (ship, 445 tons, built in Philadelphia, PA in 1809). Departed July 3, 1846 for the Pacific, returned April 25, 1848. Her agent was Charles P. Williams. (AV02186). AOWV lists New London as home port for all of her voyages. However, Starbuck, Colby and Dennis Wood Abstracts (2-132) show her home port as Stonington, CT. Decker does not list this voyage. The log book for this voyage, held at Mystic Seaport Museum, is lengthy and detailed and refers to the ship as “of Stonington” throughout. Paper records for CALEDONIA at Mystic Seaport Museum show her registered at Stonington on August 9, 1843 and re-registered there on October 5, 1848, a period covering the length of this voyage
Albert was later master of six voyages on five vessels with home ports other than New London. CAVALIER and TYBEE were listed with Stonington as home port; BENJAMIN TUCKER, ADELINE, and OCEAN with New Bedford as home port.
CAVALIER (AS0125), 1848-1851, AV02485. Note: Dennis Wood Abstract 2-148 shows as master “Barber”, but it is scratched out and replaced with “or Dexter”. A possible explanation is that AOWV shows that Barber “left the ship” under circumstances not shown. That notation may explain how Albert could have been master of the first voyage of TYBEE that departed during the time of CAVALIER’s voyage.
TYBEE (AS2521), 1849-1851 (AV14211) and 1851-1855 (AV14212). BENJAMIN TUCKER (AS0063), 1855-1859 (AV01786). ADELINE (AS0002), 1860-1865 (AV00259). OCEAN (AS0515), 1865-1869 (AV10692)
Note: AOWV shows the master of TYBEE’s 1849-51 voyage as “Albert Barber”, no middle initial and assigns AM0283 to him. The other voyages described above show the master as “Albert D. Barber) and assigns AM0284 to him. The available information is that Albert D. Barber and Albert Barber are one in the same and should have a single AS number, preferably AS0284. The author believes that, as recommended by this report, the AOWV records will be changed to show (i) that Albert D. and Albert are one in the same and will have a single AS number, AS0284 and (ii) that CALEDONIA was homeported in Stonington, not New London. Barber should not be considered a New London whaling master.
Sources: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw (Mystic Seaport Museum) May 2023
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