Records about Thomas show his last name variously as Eldridge or Eldredge. His gravestone and the probate papers for his estate show his name with an “E”.
He was born on October 27, 1807 in Mystic CT. His parents were George (1770-1850) and Hannah (Burrows) (1767-1847). Among their other children, George and Hannah had two sons who were captains (not listed in AOWV), Elam (1793–1870) and George (1803-1881). Thomas married Betsey Williams in Groton CT on August 25, 1833. She was born in Stonington CT on February 14, 1812. Seamen’s Protection Certificate #6464 was issued to Thomas, shown as age 18, on September 25, 1825 in New London. Decennial census records for Groton show his occupation as “sailor” (1850), “mariner” (1860), and “shipmaster (1870.
Thomas died on December 30, 1889 in Brooklyn NY of pneumonia and heart failure. An obituary appears in the Evening Bulletin (Providence RI) on January 3, 1890. From the obituary: “When the whaling business was in its glory, Capt. Eldridge was in command of the finest ships engaged in that trade. After the decline of the whaling industry, he was captain of steamers of the Mallory line between New York and Galveston, and was for quite a while commodore of the fleet.” Probate records for his estate in Brooklyn show his name as Eldredge. Betsey survived him, dying on February 4, 1891. They are buried in Elm Grove Cemetery in Mystic CT. The gravestone shows both their names (Capt. Thomas Eldredge for him) and their dates of the birth and death(as above).
AOWV shows that Thomas was master of two voyages on one ship with New London as home port:
BINGHAM (AS0986): (ship, 375 tons, length 101’, built in Philadelphia PA in 1804, withdrawn for the California trade in 1848). It sailed in August 1842 for the South Seas and returned on February 17, 1843. Thomas, the original master, left the ship and was replaced by George Destin (AM 1579). It should be noted that there is a “?” after both names in the AOWV report. The crew list for this voyage shows Thomas’s name at the top of the list but does not show him, or anyone else, as master, and George is not shown in the crew. Dennis Wood Abstract 1-066 showing Thomas as master does not mention Destin. AV01868. It sailed for its second voyage on February 23, 1844 for the NW Coast and returned on March 19, 1846. AV01870. Charles Mallory was agent for both voyages.
Dennis Wood Abstracts 1-066 and 2-074 show BINGHAM as “of Mystic.” Decker shows neither voyage, perhaps because Mystic, not New London, was its home port. In Colby’s list of Mystic masters, Thomas’s name appears as master of the 1842 voyage (Colby does not show the 1844 voyage). Starbuck shows the 1842 voyage under Mystic ships with Destin as master. Whalemen’s Shipping List (3/17/1843) shows under its list of Mystic vessels BINGHAM, sailed August 1842, with Destin as master.The ship register for BINGHAM dated 7/10/1840 records a change of registration from Stonington to Mystic as home port and shows George Destin master, with a note attached dated 8/18/1842: “Thomas Eldredge … is at present master of [Bingham] in lieu of George Destin, late master.” The next register, dated 4/2/1844, shows Thomas master, still with Mystic as home port. Zane’s Whalers Out of Mystic (in Mystic Seaport Museum library) says that George Destin was master of the 1842 voyage and Thomas master of the 1844 voyage. The confusion as to master noted here justifies the “?” after the names of Thomas and George in the AOWV report.
The sources cited above generally conclude that Mystic CT, not New London, was the home port of BINGHAM and, in the author’s opinion, leave uncertainty as to whether Thomas and George were masters, in whole or in part, of the 1842 voyage and in what sequence they served.
AOWV also shows that Thomas was master for three voyages on two ships with Mystic as home port: AERONAUT (AS0826) for its 1852-1853 and 1853-1854 voyages to the So. Shetland Islands and CORNELIA (AS1157) for its 1857-1858 voyage. Dennis Wood Abstracts 2-035 and 3-578 confirm this information. Charles Mallory was agent for both voyages.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
May 2025