AOWV shows William as master of one voyage on one ship with New London as home port:
ERA (AS0712): (schooner, 123 tons as of 1884 (per ship registration) ,length 92’, built in Boston MA in 1847, lost at St. Pierre Miquelon Island in July 1906). AOWV shows ERA sailing with William as master in 1891. The site shows no departure date, no destination, no return date, no crew list, or no agent. AV04577. Neither Decker, Colby nor Hegarty (Starbuck’s successor) shows this voyage with William as master. Whaling Masters (American Guide Series) lists this voyage but shows New Bedford as home port.
Other sources, including AOWV, show ERA sailing under John O. Spicer (AM4626) as master for two voyages for Cumberland Inlet, the first one departing in 1890 and returning later that year (AV04576), the second one departing in 1891 and returning that same year (AV04578). No crew list is shown for either voyage.
A logbook held by Mystic Seaport Museum covers four voyages of ERA, including the 1890 and 1891 voyages. It provides an explanation about William and his reported voyage on ERA. During these short voyages ERA was serving as tender for the whaling stations on Cumberland Inlet.
Logbook excerpts for the 1890 voyage: ERA sailed on July 17, 1890 and returned on October 3 of that year. August 17: “Found Mr. Duval well…”. – apparently he over-wintered at one of the stations. August. 27: “Mr. Daball [sic] come on board” from Signunya Station. He made several short trips with Capt. Spicer. September 18, shortly before heading south for the winter: “Mr. Duvall [sic] will head the starboard watch hereafter acting as second mate.”
Logbook excerpts for the 1891 voyage: ERA sailed on July 8 and returned on September 18. The crew list shows “William Duvall” as second mate, then shows the name of a passenger “to be left with William Duvall at Signunya Station”, apparently to over-winter again.
Connecticut ship registrations record ERA registering on June 13, 1887 with Capt. Spicer as master and registering next on July 12, 1890 , again with Capt. Spicer as master. The subsequent registration was in 1895 with George Comer as master.
There is no record that ERA made a voyage in the 1890-1891 period other than the two under Capt. Spicer described in the logbook. The logbook shows that William, whatever his formal status, was not master for either voyage. The ship registrations reconfirms that William did not serve as master.
The author concludes that William did not serve as master on any voyage of ERA in 1890 or 1891 and that the AOWV records showing him are in error.
No records could be found of any facts concerning William’s birth, death, family, or activities other than participating in the 1890 and 1891 voyages.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text. Also, Hegarty, Returns of Whaling Vessels Sailing from American Ports (update of Starbuck).
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
April 2025