Joseph was born in Copenhagen Denmark on August 11, 1821. No information was found about his parents and when he came to the United States. He married Louisa Lester, born on January 16, 1817. The marriage took place in Copenhagen on September 4, 1850. No explanation was found whether Joseph was living there at that time or the circumstances leading to Joseph and Louisa being married there. Her family genealogy (see Sources) records that Louisa’s father, Capt. Walter Lester, born in Norwich CT on March 29 1792, “was a ship master, and for many years sailed from Norwich, where they settled”. Walter appears in AOWV as a shipping agent. No record could be found that Joseph and Louisa had any children. The 1850 Norwich census records Joseph and Louisa living in Norwich. Joseph died on November 11, 1862 in Norwich. As explained in the Springfield (MA) Weekly Republican (11/29/1862, p. 8, reporting on Connecticut news), “Capt. Joseph H. Holm of Norwich, died on Thursday, 20th inst., in consequence of a can of burning fluid a few days previously”. He and Louisa are memorialized in an obelisk gravestone in Yantic Cemetery in Norwich. From the photo of the obelisk in Joseph’s Find A Grave site, it appears that his name and dates are on one side, Louisa’s on the adjacent side. The writing on the stone is illegible from the photo. Louisa died on April 19, 1878.
Before becoming master of a ship, Joseph served as member of the crew for six voyages on six different ships, with one exception, all with New London as home port: BOSTON (AS0999, home port Norwich) for its 1833-1835 voyage, CALEDONIA (AS1024) for its 1835-1837 voyage, JASON (AS1690) for its 1837-1839 voyage, PALLADIUM (AS2137) for its 1839-1841 voyage, AVIS (AS0943) for its 1841-1842 voyage, and HENRY THOMPSON (AS1576) for its 1844-1847 voyage. As will be shown below, Joseph became replacement master of HENRY THOMPSON when the sailing master left the ship.
Joseph was master or replacement master for three voyages on one ship, home port New London:
HENRY THOMPSON: (ship, 316 tons, length 105 ft., built in Duxbury MA in 1829). THOMPSON sailed on three consecutive voyages. (1) September 11, 1844 for the Indian Ocean under the command of Joseph Andrews (AM0146). Joseph was a member of the crew and possibly the mate (his name appears below the master’s name on the crew list). THOMPSON returned on May 23, 1847. Dennis Wood Abstract 2-279 explains: “Touched at Cape Town about Dec. 25. Handed his captain deranged, sailed again under charge of her mate Holmes master” (as best the author can read the handwriting). THOMPSON returned on May 23, 1847 with Joseph as replacement master for the duration of the trip. (2). With Joseph in command, THOMPSON sailed on June 30, 1847 for the Indian and Pacific oceans and returned on June 16, 1850. (3). The next voyage began on October 22, 1950 for the Pacific and Indian oceans. The same abstract records “Reported lost in the ice in Arctic Ocean. Lost in the ice in Behring StsJuly 15, 1857. Lost in the Arctic Ocean in 1857”. Presumably the master and crew came home in another ship. Frink, Chase & Co. was the agent for the three voyages. AV06447, AV06449, and AV06450 respectively.
As can be seen from the schedule of Joseph’s voyages as crew member and master, he was at sea for substantially all of the time from 1833 until the end of his last voyage in 1851. During that period, as master he had to assume command from a “deranged” captain and later suffer the loss of his ship in the ice during his last voyage. One wonders how much time did Louisa get to spend with him?
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text. Hyde Genealogy, p. 1138.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
March 2026