William was born in Bridgehampton NY in 1817. His parents were Jeremiah Haynes (1784-1871) and Mehitabel (Haley) Haynes (1778-1863). The 1850 census for Southampton NY records William Haines (age 33, “seaman”) and Clarissa Haines (age 39) residing together. No record of their marriage or her subsequent death could be found. However, on December 17, 1857 William married Frances Marie Rogers in Bridgehampton. William and Frances had eight children: Elizabeth (1858-1872), Jeremiah (1860-1925), Mehitabel (1861-1942), William (1865-1950), Catherine (1870 – ), David (1872-1963), Constance (1874-1856), and Horatia (1874-1955). The dates of the children (see Sources) are generally consistent with information in census reports for 1860, 1870, and 1880. The 1880 report lists all of the children except Elizabeth who by then had died. William died on October 23, 1886 in Bridgehampton and is buried in Hayground Cemetery in Southampton. Frances died in 1915.
The records of AOWV show only a brief appearance of William in whaling history. He appears in the census reports with an occupation relating to the sea only in the 1850 census (“seaman”), by which time he had completed his voyages on IRIS. The other three reports record him as “farmer”.
He served as master for one voyage on one ship with New London as home port:
IRIS (AS1659): (bark, 245 tons, length 92 ft., built in Kittery ME in 1823, sold in Boston in 1859). IRIS sailed for the Indian Ocean on July 17, 1844 and returned on May 4, 1848. Dennis Wood Abstract 2-341. Frink, Chew & Co. was the agent. AV07130.
Prior to serving as master on IRIS, William served as a member of the crew on its 1841-1844 voyage.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text. The dates of birth and death of William’s parents and his children come from the Agn Family Tree for William Cook Haynes found in Ancestry.com.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
January 2026