Simeon was born in 1820 in Montville CT. He was the son of Prentiss (1790-1849) and Prudence (Fargo) (1795-1881) Church. He married Eliza ——-, born 1840, on July 12, 1858 in Ledyard CT. There is good documentation for three children: The gravestone lists Jennie (4/25/1861-11/6/1940) married to Clarence Boynton), Wayland (born 1872) married to Grace, and Ina (1860-1861). An unverified family history on Find A Grave shows Simeon marrying Jane Lamb in 1856 who died later that year and lists him as the father of thirteen children from his two wives, including Jennie, Wayland, and Ina, the only documented ones. Montville census reports show his occupation as “farmer” in 1860, “retired seaman” in 1870, and “farmer” in 1880. Simeon died on May 22, 1882 in Montville. Eliza died in 1916. Their gravestone is Comstock Cemetery in Montville ( found in Find A Grave). His obituary in The Day (New London) (May 23, 1882) describes him as “one of the oldest and best known whaling captains of New England.”Simeon was master of 12 voyages on eight ships with New London as home port:
MARCIA (AS1840): (schooner, 128 tons, length 76’, built in Brookhaven NY in 1839, lost in Dominica, West Indies on December 29, 1856). Sailed on August 4, 1851 to Desolation Island, returned on May 4, 1853. E.V. Stoddard was the agent. AV08879.
ALERT (AS0834): (Bark, 398 tons, length 113’, built in Boston MA in 1828, burned by ALABAMA in 1862. Sailed on October 7, 1853 for Desolation Island, returned on June 18, 1856. Williams & Haven was the agent. AV00450. Sailed again for Desolation Island on July 23, 1856, returned on May 21, 1858. AOWV and Colby show Simeon as the master, but Decker shows that Erastus Church (AM0966) as master. E.V. Stoddard was the agent. AV00451.
E.R. SAWYER (AS1240): (schooner, 127 tons, 79’ in length, built in Essex MA in 1853). Sailed on June 10, 1858 for Heard’s Island, returned on May 16,1860. The master at the beginning of the voyage was Henry W. Whipple (AM5294) who left the ship at a time and under circumstances not known. His replacement master is shown in all of the sources only as “— Church”). Colby shows four other masters with Church as their last name sailing from New London, and none of them appears to have sailed on E.R. SAWYER. AOWV attributes Simeon’s master number to the replacement master. E.V. Stoddard was the agent. AV03950.
MONTICELLO (AS1978): (ship, changed to bark in 1860, 356 tons, length 106’, built in Rochester MA in 1841, abandoned in Pt. Belcher AK on September 14, 1871). Sailed on September 4, 1860 to Desolation Island, returned July 30, 1861. Richard H. Chappell was the agent. AV10044.
CLIPPER (AS1115): ( schooner, 96 tons, length 68’, built in New London in 1854. Sailed 1863. This voyage is not reported in Decker, Colby or Starbuck. AV03000.
GOLDEN WEST (AS1483): (schooner, 99 tons, length 82’, built in Newburyport MA in 1853, condemned in Magellan Strait in 1880). Sailed on December 1, 1865 to Desolation Island, returned on May 26, 1868. AV05875.
Sailed again for Desolation Island on June 30, 1868, returned on April 17, 1871.
Simeon left the ship under circumstances not discovered, to be replaced by Benjamin Rogers (AM4129). AV05876. Lawrence & Co. was the agent for both voyages. Mystic Seaport Museum holds the logbook for both voyages.
FLYING FISH (AS1380): (schooner, 74 tons, length 75’, built in Essex MA in 1857). Sailed on August 10, 1872 for the So. Atlantic, returned on May 20 1873. AV05019. Sailed again on July 23, 1873 for the So. Shetland Islands, returned on April15, 1874. AV05020. AOWV lists Simeon as master of the 1873 voyage. However, Colby, Decker and the New London crew list for this voyage confirm that James Church (AM0969) was the master. AOWV, Colby, and Decker agree that Simeon was the master of the 1872 voyage. Starbuck and Dennis Wood Abstracts 4-328 show “—-Church” as master of both voyages. The records of Lawrence & Co. (the agent) confirm that Simeon was master of the 1872 voyage and James the master of the 1873 voyage. The author concludes that James, not Simeon, was the master of the 1873 voyage. Mystic Seaport Museum holds the logbook for both voyages. Lawrence & Co. was the agent for both voyages.
CHARLES COLGATE (AS1079): (schooner, 243 tons, length 99’, built in Patchogue NY in 1850). Sailed in August 1876, destination not shown, returned in 1883. Lawrence & Co. was the agent. AV02657. Starbuck does not report voyages after 1876. Sailed again on August 1, 1887 for the Atlantic, no information found as to its return. AV02660.
Simeon served as member of a crew for one voyage, on ROMULUS (AS2312), home port Mystic CT, for its 1847-1845 voyage.
Looking closely at the dates of departure and return and the destinations for the voyages on which Simeon sailed, it will be seen that from 1851 until 1887, a period of about 36 years, Simeon was at sea for most of that period. Most of the voyages were to Desolation Island and the other islands in the far south of the Indian Ocean, an area of heavy seas, strong and relentless winds, with Antarctica not far to the south.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
December 2024