William was born on May 9, 1826 on Nantucket Island MA. He was the son of James T. Eldridge (born in 1788, died on April 13, 1866) and Deborah Eldridge (born in 1789, died on December 12, 1853). On April 10, 1853 William married Martha Phinney, born about 1827 and also from Nantucket. Their Nantucket marriage certificate records William as “mariner”. Her parents were Gershom and Martha Phinney. No record was found that William and Martha had any children. Nantucket census records show a family unit of William, and Martha after their marriage, and William’s parents living together until their respective deaths. William’s occupation is shown in the census reports as “mariner” in 1850 and 1860, “seaman” in 1870, and “carpenter” in 1880; no occupation is shown thereafter. Martha died on November 19, 1895, probably on Nantucket. William died there on March 12, 1912. His death certificate recites arterial sclerosis as the cause of death and lists his occupation as “sea captain”. He is buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery on Nantucket.
AOWV shows William as master of one voyage on one ship with New London as home port:
ERA (AS0712): (schooner, 188 tons, length 92’, built in Boston in 1847, lost St. Pierre and Miquelon Islands in July 1906). ERA sailed in 1864 and returned in 1865. AV04560. No other information is provided.
AOWV also shows two other voyages of ERA, one immediately before the 1864 voyage, the other after the 1864 voyage, in each of which voyages Dexter Bellows (AM0429) is shown as master. AV04559 shows ERA sailing and returning in the same year, 1864. AV04561 shows it sailing in 1865 and returning in 1866.
Other sources add information that taken together question whether there was 1864-1865 voyage at all. Decker shows ERA sailing for Cumberland Island on August 31, 1864 and returning three weeks later on September 20, 1864 “because of trouble”. He next shows ERA sailing under Capt. Bellows on May 17, 1865 for Greenland, returning on November 9, 1866. Decker does not show a voyage of ERA between its return on September 20, 1864 (the end of AV04559) and its departure on May 17, 1865 (the beginning of AV04561), leaving no record of the 1864-1865 under William. Starbuck and New London Crew Lists are generally consistent with Decker, showing the short 1864 voyage and the 1865-1866 voyages under Capt. Bellows. Colby does not show William as master of any voyage of ERA (or of any other ship). Dennis Wood Abstract #4-357 treats the three voyages as a single voyage with Capt. Bellows as master, showing ERA’s departure on August 26, 1864 (five days earlier than Decker shows) and returning on November 8, 1866. The final entry in the abstract reads “Whalebone in 24 months 13 days”, the number of days between its sailing and its return.
The author was unable to find any documentation for the 1864-1865 voyage with William as master other than what appears in AOWV. As noted below, the dates of this voyage conflict with another voyage on which William purportedly served as master.
Prior to his supposed voyage on ERA, William served as master for one voyage on each of two ships with New Bedford as home port: NASSAU (AS0492) for its 1860-1863 voyage (for which William was a replacement master ahead of two other masters) and ASIA (AS2738) for its June 4, 1864-1865 voyage. Note that the dates of the ASIA voyage conflict with the dates of the 1864-1865 ERA voyage of William. The name of the master of ASIA shown in AOWV is William W.C. Eldridge, but the master number for that name is the same as William’s master number (AM1742). Starbuck does not show a ship named ASIA except one that sailed in 1789. Whalemen’s Shipping List does not list ASIA on its list of New Bedford whaling ships. As suggested above, ASIA’s voyage may not have happened or was misreported.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
May 2025