Little is known about the James’s early life other than that he was born in 1818 in Connecticut. He married Mary Lyon of New London CT on June 8, 1847. The New London census for 1850 records James as age 33, occupation “ship master”, Mary age 31, and Robert age two.
James served as master or replacement master for six and possibly seven voyages on six ships, all with New London as home port:
JULIUS CAESAR (AS1737): (ship, 347 tons, length 100 ft., built in Sag Harbor NY in 1812, broken up in 1859). Sailed on May 9, 1843 for the Indian Ocean, returned on June 17, 1844. Dennis Wood Abstract 1-278. N. & W.W. Billings was the agent. AV07951.
LOUVRE (AS1810): (ship, 374 tons, length 116 ft., built in Duxbury MA in 1833, withdrawn in 1847). Sailed on August 1, 1844 for the Indian Ocean, returned on April 6, 1847. Wood Abstract 2-410. Lyman Allyn was the agent. AV08623.
ALERT (AS0834): (ship, 398 tons, length 113 ft., built in Boston MA in 1828, burned by ALABAMA in 1862). Sailed on August 3, 1847 for the Indian Ocean, returned on February 15, 1850. Mystic Seaport Museum has the logbook for this voyage. Wood Abstract 2-036. Williams & Haven was the agent. AV00448.
WILLIAM T. WHEATON (AS2621): (bark, 438 tons, length 120 ft., built in Warren RI in 1844). Sailed on September 4, 1850 for the No. Pacific, returned on March 29, 1855. At some point, time and circumstances not known, James left the ship and was replaced by Henry S. Comstock (AM1279). The fourth mate died in July 1852. Wood Abstract 2-677 reports: “Went ashore on the night of the 29th of March 1855 about 60 miles south of San Francisco and was a total loss. Crew saved”. The abstract shows that Henry had replaced James before the ship was lost. James was also the agent for this voyage. AV15717.
NEPTUNE (AS2032): (ship, 285 tons, length 94 ft., built in New Bedford MA in 1809, altered to bark in 1850, withdrawn in 1857, broken up in Hawaii). Sailed on July 30, 1850 for the Indian and No. Pacific oceans, returned on June 5, 1855). The master at the beginning of the voyage was Isaac Allyn (AM0118). He was replaced first by Samuel Greene, Jr. (AM2313) and then by James who was the second replacement master. Henry Comstock then replaced James., becoming the third replacement master. Williams & Haven was the agent. AV10376.
FRANCIS PALMER (AS2907): (bark, 303 tons, length 112 ft., built in Robinston ME in 1852). Sailed on March 18, 1857 for the No. Pacific, no return date shown. C.A. Williams was the agent. AV16996. AOWV shows a departure in 1858 (AV05191) with W. Stott (AM4723) as master, replaced later by James. Neither Colby, Decker nor Starbuck shows a second voyage. PALMER was sold in Honolulu in 1858.
James served as crew member for at least six voyages on six different ships: BINGHAM (AS0986) for its 1831-1832 voyage; MENTOR (AS1923) for its 1832-1836 voyage; CHELSEA (AS1097) for its 1838-1839 voyage; GOVERNOR ENDICOTT (AS1490) for its 1839-1840 voyage; JULIUS CAESAR (AS1737) for its 1841-1843 voyage from which he moved to master for its next voyage (see above); and ENTERPRISE (AS1311) for its 1842-1845 voyage. Mystic was home port for GOVERNOR ENDICOTT and Stonington CT was home port for ENTEPRISE. New London was home port for the other ships on which he served as crew.
While little is known about the beginning of James’s life, more is known about the sad ending of his life. Commitment records of the Stockton [CA] State Hospital in June 1868 provide a glimpse of him and his family. The records recite that James was committed to that hospital on June 24, 1868. He was then age 50, married with five children, the youngest age five. He had been in California since 1849. His occupation was sea captain. He “has no property”. He died on November 25, 1868. The San Francisco Call Bulletin (11/26/1868) contains his obituary: “Died at Stockton. – Captain James M. Green, once well known as a successful whaling captain out of the port of New London, Conn., afterward a resident of Honolulu, and recently engaged in the ship chandlery business in this city, died yesterday at the Insane Asylum at Stockton, where he was sent several months ago for treatment. Captain G. leave a wife and a large family in this city”. No record was found of a gravestone.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
December 2025