Henry was born in 1768, probably in New London. He was the son of Henry and Bathsheba (Rogers) Deshon. Henry Sr. was born in 1729 and died on May 20, 1818. His wife, born in 1734, died July 1803 at age 69 (or July 1805) at age 71. The records are unclear as to how many children they had in addition to Henry. Find A Grave (information not verified) lists three: Grace, (Capt.) James, and Sarah. Henry died on February 10, 1800 at age 33. He is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New London. New London Probate Records shows Henry’s will, describing himself as “Jun”, written four days before his death. It leaves $50 to his sisters Grace, Ruth, and Mary and “I give to my brother John Deshon” my watch and $300 but “if my brother John should not return, what I give to him I will to my honored father & mother Henry & Bathsheba Deshon.” Left unanswered is where John was when Henry made his will: At sea ? – no record found on any crew list. Traveling? Estranged?
There is confusion about Henry’s siblings and there is also confusion about Henry’s service as a master. There is one ship on which he may have served in that capacity:
COMMERCE (AS1131, home port New London): (ship, 223 tons, length 83’, built in Bath ME in 1795). The ship sailed on May 6, 1797 for Brazil or, as Decker says, for “Southern area”, and returned on July 6, 1798. AVOW shows two masters for this voyage: Henry and Stephen Rawson (AM4006), the names of both followed by “+”, meaning there is another name for the master for this voyage. Colby shows Henry as the master for the voyage; Decker does not show any master. Starbuck does not show the voyage. Samuel Philip Lord was the agent. AV03127.
AOWV shows that COMMERCE was lost at Cape Henry (VA) on Christmas Day 1799. The Connecticut Ship Database records “Surrendered, reported at New London, November 30, 1798, vessel captured.” Contemporary (1798) articles from local newspapers in the New London area add facts that further confuse the master identity issue but add a possible explanation for the confusion. (1) Norwich Packet (5/29/1798): “Also left, ship Commerce, Rawlon [sic] of this port, with 500 bbls of oil.” (2) Marine News in Norwich Courier (9/20/1798): “At Bourdeaux, June 6 – Ship Commerce, Deshon, from Savannah to London, condemned.” (3) New London Bee (7/6/1798): “Capt. Deshon, in the ship Commerce of this port. on his homeward bound passage from England, was taken and carried into Rouen by a French privateer and was treated with the utmost politeness.” (4) New London Weekly Oracle (7/11/1798): “Arrived, ship Commerce, Rawson, from a voyage of 15 months, with a full load of oil.”
The author’s conclusion from these articles is that the facts recited above conflate two different ships bearing the name COMMERCE: COMMERCE #1, the one that sailed on the 1797-1798 whaling voyage with Capt. Rawson as master and COMMERCE #2 , the one that was captured by the French while Capt. Deshon was master. The return to port of both ships took place within a very short period of time in mid-summer 1798. Connecticut Ship Database shows two similar sized ships bearing the name COMMERCE: the one built in Bath (described above) and one built in Huntington (NY?) a year later, the latter 16 tons heavier and 18” longer.
The contemporary news confirms to the author that Capt. Rawson was master of 1797-1798 voyage and that Capt. Deshon should not be considered a New London whaling master.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
February 2025