James was born on August 28, 1788 in New London CT. He was the son of Reuben and Catherine (Thorp) Davis. They had six children—Abigail (born 1785), James, Mary (born 1791), Hannah (born 1794, died 1798), Reuben (Jr.) (born 1796), and Hannah (born 1801). A brief notice in the Hartford Courant (May 7, 1822, p. 3) states that “Capt. James Davis and Miss Abby Sisson, both of New London” were married “at New York.” Find a Grave shows that James and Abby had two children, Abigail (3/22/1829-6/28/1868) and Eliza (Jerman) (6/13/1835-10/14/1874).
James was master for seven voyages on three ships with New London as home port:
COMMODORE PERRY (AS1137): (bark/ship, 270 tons, length 91 ft., built in East Greenwich, RI in 1815, sold 1847, broken up 1848). “The Commodore Perry was the first vessel to be coppered in New London, and was the first copper-bottomed whaling vessel to clear the port” (Colby, p. 5). AOWV records three successive voyages of the COMMODORE PERRY with James as master. These were also the three earliest whaling voyages of the vessel, all bound for the Brazil Banks. The first departed New London on July 23, 1821 and returned on March 26, 1822. AV03160. The second sailed on June 11, 1822 and returned May 19, 1823. AV03161. No specific departure or return dates are given for the 1823-1824 voyage. AV03162. Lee was the agent for all three voyages. The logbooks for all three are held at Mystic Seaport Museum.
JONES (AS1723): (ship, altered to bark in 1839, 338/336 tons, length 98 ft., place and date when built unknown, broken up in New London in 1842?). “The Jones, a British ship captured in 1814 during the war of 1812, made sixteen voyages after joining the New London fleet in 1822” (Colby, p. 7). James was master of two consecutive voyages of JONES, as shown by the crew lists for both, as well as Colby, Decker, and the Connecticut Ship Database. [See entry for Francis Davis (AM1520) in New London Whaling Masters for discussion on conflicting information between AOWV and other sources about the master of the 1826-1827 voyage.] The first voyage with James in command sailed for the Brazil Banks from New London on June 29, 1826 and returned on May 27, 1827. AV07833. The second, bound for the South Atlantic, departed on July 21, 1827 and returned on May 23, 1828. AV07834. T.W. Williams was the agent for both voyages.
CHELSEA (AS1097): (ship, 396 tons, length 106 ft., built in Norwich, CT in 1827, lost at Chatham Island in 1845). AOWV records two successive voyages of CHELSEA with James as master, both bound for Pacific whaling. The 1828-1831 voyage left in August and returned on April 24, 1831. AV02792. The second voyage sailed on June 19, 1831 and returned September 6, 1834. AV02793. T.W. Williams was the agent for both voyages. The logbooks of both are held at Mystic Seaport Museum.
James’s earliest whaling voyages as master were the 1817-, 1819-1820, and 1820-1821 voyages of the brig MARY (AS1901, with a home port of Norwich. The 1819-1820 voyage of MARY was the first vessel sent out by agent T.W. Williams. Under James’s command on that voyage were several crewmen who later became renowned whaling masters themselves (Colby, p. 27). James was issued Seamen’s Protection Certificate #3479 on November 1, 1805 in New London.
James died in New London on October 29, 1836. He, as well as his wife and daughters, is buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in New London. His gravestone, found in Find a Grave, is inscribed “In memory of Capt. James Davis.” The Connecticut Gazette (New London) ran legal notices (1/18/1837, 1/25/1837, and 2/1/1837) to any creditors of “Capt. JAMES DAVIS” to appear on February 2 at the New London Probate Court.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
Maija M. Lutz
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
April 2025