Posted on April 26, 2008 by Greg Stone
Westport’s most gruesome catastrophe befell the crew of the Janet in 1849. While chasing a whale, the master and several members of her crew were separated from the ship and left to drift in their small whaleboat for 2 weeks. Two survivors wrote an account of their ordeal, one written by Captain Francis Hosmer and […]
Continue ReadingPosted on April 26, 2008 by Greg Stone
Westport suffered its share of disasters. The peak of the whaling industry in the 1850’s was matched by the peak in shipwrecks and other disasters. . . .
Continue ReadingPosted on April 24, 2008 by Greg Stone
“My men, you must be well aware that the object of this voyage is to get a cargo of oil,” wrote Captain Edward S. Davoll to the officers and crew of his whaling vessel. . . .
Continue ReadingPosted on April 24, 2008 by Greg Stone
Abbie Maria Dexter Hicks went whaling in 1873. We know this because she kept a diary from June 23, 1873 to September 13, 1874 in a tiny book that measures only 5” by 3” in the collection of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Her husband was Captain Edward E. Hicks. Two months after their marriage […]
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