Francis was born in New Bedford about 1817. His father was Isaac in one source, Seth in another; his mother was Temperance, last name not found. Francis married Emily Raymond (born in 1810) on May 13, 1844. Marriage records show him as “mariner”, her as “seamstress”, and both “of New Bedford.” Emily died in 1848. Francis married Mary Jane Jennings (born about 1823 in Newport RI) on June 17, 1852. She sailed with Francis on his last three voyages, described below.
They had three children: Herbert (1853-1930), Willis (1856- ), and Emily (1860-1929). Evidencing their travels together, Herbert was born in Russia, Emily in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). The 1870 census shows Francis, Mary Jane and the three children living in N. Bridgewater MA. AOWV records that Francis was a maker of shoe-making tools in Brockton MA.
Francis died on August 8, 1884 in Brockton MA and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in New Bedford. An obituary (saying he was born in Plymouth MA) states that “at the age of eleven [he] ran away from his home and shipped on board a New Bedford whaler” and “followed the sea” before retiring to Brockton about 1873.
Francis was master of only one ship with New London as home port and that was for a single voyage:
NORTH STAR (AS2059): (ship, 399 tons, length 110’, built in Philadelphia PA in 1828, lost Bedout Island, Western Australia on July 12, 1856). It sailed on July 39, 1850 for the No. Pacific, returned on June 5, 1855. Robert Wilcox Brown (AM0673) was the original master. He left the ship and was replaced by Francis. Decker does not show this voyage. Dennis Wood Abstract 2-502 records the ship’s travels during this voyage. Williams & Barns was the agent. AV10615
Following his service on NORTH STAR, Francis served as master for one voyage on each of three ships with New Bedford as home port: ABIGAIL (AS0001) for its 1852-1856 voyage; as original master of FRANCES HENRIETTA (AS0217) for its 1855-1860 voyage, to be replaced by David West (AM5246) when Francis left the ship; and as replacement master on RAPID (AS0590) for its 1856-1860 voyage when David, the original master, left the ship. The author believes that consecutive issues of Whalemen’s Shipping List for 1860 explain the apparent conflicting dates for HENRIETTA and RAPID. The January 3 issue shows both ships at Ochotsk (Russia) in the last half of September 1859 while Francis was master of HENRIETTA and David master of RAPID; the January 10 issue shows both ships in Honolulu on November 9, 1859 while David was now master of HENRIETTA and Francis now master of RAPID. This information suggests that they switched commands for the homeward voyages. Starbuck records that RAPID “had a series of reversals in 1860 – was fired by the crew, struck on a sunken rock, and ran into the Jeanette; condemned in 1860”.
In addition to serving as a master, Francis served as a crew member for at least four voyages: MARCIA (AS0459) for its 1841-1844 voyage, ERIE (AS2753) for its 1844-1847 voyage, GIDEON HOWLAND (AS0238) for its 1847-1848 voyage, and ANDREWS (AS0034) for its 1863-1864 voyage. Fairhaven was home port for ERIE; New Bedford was home port for the other three ships.
As noted above, Mary Jane sailed with Francis sailed on his last three voyages as master. Prostitution aboard ship while in port was a problem for many a master when his wife was on board, including for Francis when Mary Jane was aboard. Discussing another master who allowed “girls” on deck even if the master’s wife was on board, Druett continues, “…Mrs. Drew of the Frances Henrietta was made of sterner stuff, for the girls were allowed on the decks only when she was not on board the ship.”
Discussing the smell from cutting in escaped dead whales, Druett reports that Francis “was by repute so ‘lucky’ in the manner of finding dead whales that he was popularly known as ‘Stinker’ Drew.”
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text. Also: Obituary: Boston Evening Transcript (8/8/1884); concerning prostitution: Druett, Petticoat Whalers, p. 179; concerning dead whale smells: Druett, She Was a Sister Sailor, p. 104.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
April 2025