Gravesite of Owen H. Tilton and Eliza R. Cottle

Owen H. Tilton and Eliza R. Cottle


Great Grandson R. Tilton and great great granddaughter at the family grave site in Tisbury MA

These photos were taken in 2002. Thanks to the Tilton family members for making these photos possible.

Note: Click on images for a larger version.

Ninth week at sea. June 26 to July 2, 1876

Monday June th/26
Begins with light wind and pleasant weather
Ship heading SE by E. saw a Brig to the north
Lat part Squalley with Strong wind and rain shower
saw a Bark stearing S.S.E. ship on diferant tacks
Lat 30-36 N Lon 60-19 W

Tuesday June th/27
Com- with more morderate weather heading SS.E
with pleasant weather and morderate wind
Lat part hazy weather with fresh wind from S.W.
ship heading W.N.W.
Lat 30-21 N

Wednesday June th/28
Com with Cloudy weather at 3 PM. commenced
to rain took in light sails at 6 shortened sail raining
very hard with strong wind. and Thunder.
Lat part rainy with strong wind towards noon Cleared
up some wind from south
Lat 30-20 N Lon 60-12 W

Thursday June th/29
Begins with pleasant weather and wind from south
ship heading E.S.E. saw nothing Lat part pleasant
weather at 6 Am kept off N.E. nothing in sight
Lat 30-40 N Lon 59-35 W

Friday June th/30
Begins with pleasant weather and fine wind from
S.S.E. Saw a schooner. picked up a bl pertrolan [petroleum?]
Lat part weather the same with light wind from SE.
saw a brig heading to south ward
Lat 31 48 N Lon 58-04 W

Saturday July th/1
Begins with pleasant weather and light wind
from SW. ship heading E.N.E. Lat part light
winds and Calms saw one sail to NW. ends with
fine weather
Lat 32-12 N Lon 52-19 W

Sunday July th/2
Com- with pleasand weather and light airs from
S.E. ship heading E.N.E. saw grampases.
Lat part weather the same saw three sails
Ship stearing E by S half S.
Lat 32-34 N Lon 56-10 W
[Grampus: n., orca - http://www.powermobydick.com/Moby138.html#G]

Lucem Diffundo "We Light the World".

Seal of the City of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Additional history of New Bedford and the City Seal can be seen here.

This quote below appeared in a recent article written by the freelance writer Dan Gifford. His entire article about New Bedford and the New Bedford Whaling Museum can be seen here.

New Bedford was the heart and soul of the whaling industry. By the 1850’s, eighty percent of the over 700 whaleships in the American fleet sailed from here. The city’s motto, Lucem Diffundo, “We Light the World,” announced to visitors the importance of New Bedford’s production of whale oil and clean-burning spermaceti candles. Whaling and the international commerce it generated not only supported the nautical trades, but banks, investment houses, and insurance firms, and made New Bedford one of the richest cities in the world.

Dan Gifford is a freelance writer living in Arlington, Virginia. Recent articles of his have appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and AntiqueWeek. Dan is also the Park Expert for VacationCoach.com, where thousands of subscribers can access his advice for visiting national, state, and city parks around the world. Dan is also the founder of the Parkscapes Travel Program offered by the National Parks Conservation Association. Parkscapes is the nation's only non-profit travel program dedicated solely to showcasing our national park system.

Eight weeks.. Two months at sea. June 19 to June 25, 1876

Monday June th/19
Begins with pleasant weather and wind from S.S.E.
Ship by the wind heading E. saw the E.B. Phillips
Lat part weather the same saw one sail, employed
setting up riging ship heading E.
Lat 31 35 N Lon 71-28 W

Tuesday June th/20
Com with light wind from SS.E. and fine weather
Nothing in sight ship heading E.
Lat part weather the same stowed our oil 12 bls
Stearing to Eastward on the wind
Lat 31-58 N Lon 69-35 W

Wednesday June th/21
Begins with pleasant weather and light wind
From S.S.E. heading E. nothing in sight
Lat part weather the same saw one sail
Crew employed about the ship as usual
Lat 32-12 N Lon 67-57 W

Thursday June th/22
Begins with pleasant weather wind from S. ship
heading E by S. saw one sail. heading to Westward
Lat part squalley with rain nothing in sight
Stearing E.
Supposed Lat 32-30 Lon 65-55 W

Friday June th/23
Begins with rainy weather and wind from S
stearing E. caught a porpoise at 6 PM luffed to the
wind and at 10 saw the light on Bermudas At day
light kept off S.E. and at 9 1/2 Am a Pilot boarded
us. sent letters on shore by him then kept off E.
Lat 32-25 N Lon 64-40 W

Saturday June th/24
Begins with pleasant weather and light wind
from N.W. Stearing S.E. by E. Bermuda bearing
W.S.W. 20 Miles distant at 2 P.M. at sundown shortened
sail Lat part weather fine Stearing the same
saw one sail
Lat 31-55 N Lon 62-10 W

Sunday June th/25
Com- with fine weather and light wind from
S.W. Stearing S.E. Lat part wind and weather
the same Stearing S.E. nothing in sight
Lat 31-04 N Lon 60-00 W

Seventh week at sea. June 12 to June 18, 1876

Monday June th/12
Begins with pleasant weather and Strong wind
From ESE ship heading to N.E. Lat part Ship
On diferant tacks Saw two sail Crew employed about
the ship as usual
Lat 30-21 N Lon 73-35 W

Tuesday June th/13
Begins with fine weather and wind from E at
6 P.M. gamed bark—E. B. Phillips of Boston 20 months
out 200 bls Lat part weather the same ship heading
to Eastward
Lat 30-38 N Lon 73-26 W
[Gam: n., a social meeting between the crews of two ships on the open sea. For a complete description see here.]
[Bark E. B. Phillips of Boston, p. 650, Starbucks.
also referenced on p. 654 under New Bedford, as "bought from Boston"]

Wednesday June th/14
Begins with pleasant weather and wind from SE
two sails in sight Lat part weather the same
Saw two Sail Ship heading to Westward
Lat 30-50 N Lon 73-46 W

Thursday June th/15
Begins with pleasant weather and wind from
East saw two sails gamed the Schooner Wm.
Martin of Boston 30 bls. Lat part much the
same one sail in sight
Lat 30-33 N Lon 73-50 W
[Schooner William Martin, p. 656 Starbucks]

Friday, June th/16
Com with Strong wind from E Ship heading
SS.E. saw a sail to south Lat part weather
the same made sail at sunrise as usual
Lat 30-58 N Lon 73-26 W

Saturday June th/17
Begins with pleasant weather and strong
wind from E. at two P.M. kept off W.
one sail in sight Lat part weather about the
same at half past five Am raised whales and
lowered at 8 1/2 Waste boat got one the others
made no stop but left like a streak saw them
only one riling [rising?] after got fast
Lat 30-40 N Lon 73-45

Sunday June th/18
Begins with pleasant weather Cut in our whale
and started the works wind from S.E.
Lat part pleasant weather and light wind heading
E. saw three sail. finished boiling (13 bls turned up)
Lat 31-35 N Lon 78-33 W

"The monotony of a logbook."

In a chapter titled Characteristics of Logbooks, Stewart C. Sherman describes the typical logbook this way.

Typical day by day entries [in a logbook] provide pretty dull reading and only occasionally is the dullness relieved by something eventful. The monotony of a logbook simply reflects the monotony with which one day followed another. Whaleman faced hardship and danger so often that even the logbook entries describing them were casual and off-handed.

The Voice of the Whaleman, With an Account of the Nicholson Whaling Collecton, Stewart C. Sherman, 1965, Providence Public Library, Providence RI.

The monotony of a logbook simply reflects the monotony with which one day followed another.

Although this can surely be true what is also true is the excitement you will likely get from the historical nuggets you will find in the next passage or the next day's logbook entry. So please...read on...read on.

Sixth week at sea. June 5 to June 11, 1876

Monday June th/5
Begins with pleasant weather and light wind from
S at 6 PM got a smart breeze from a squall
with a little rain. Saw a sail to Westward.
Lat part pleasant weather at 5 AM raised whales
lowared and waste boat got one a large lot of them
Lat 32-25 N Lon 74.14 W

Tuesday June th/6
Begins with pleasant weather wind from S
Cut in our whale and started the works [try-works for boiling oil] at
sundown shortened sail as usual Lat part squaly
Saw five sail finished boiling had about 9 bls
had Strong wind from S. with heavy sea
Lat 32-25 N Lon 73.45 W

Wednesday June th/7
Begins with pleasant weather wind Came round
to N. Steared S. Lat part Strong wind Stearing
the same at noon Luffed on the wind to E.
three sail in sight
Lat 30-30 Lon 73-39 W

Thursday June th/8
Begins with Strong wind from N. at 1 P.M.
passed Schooner Mary E. Simmons with a whale
along side. at 5 tacked heading N.W.
Lat part wind Came to E. Ship on diferant
tacks
Lat 30-58 N Lon 73-36 W
[Schooner M. E. Simmons, Provincetown, MA, p.654 Starbucks]

Friday June th/9
Begins with strong wind from E. with pleasant
weather saw a schooner to N. stowed our oil 8 bls
Lat part much the same Saw two schooners
Ship on diferant tacks
Lat 30-55 N Lon 73-34 W

Saturday June th/10
Begins with pleasant weather and strong wind
from E. stearing south West Lat part Strong
wind with Cloudy weather Saw a Schooner.
employed setting up riging
Lat 30-46 N

Sunday June th/11
Begins with Strong wind fom E.S.E. heading
S. one sail in sight. Cloudy weather
Lat part Strong wind heading to eastward saw two
sails weather pleasant
Lat 30-42 N Lon 73-25 W.

Our whaling master, Owen H. Tilton was (is) a record holder.

Again thanks to the great research skills of our "first mate"...... Bev.... we have this interesting find.

From The Story of the New England Whaler by John R. Spears, 1908, Page 168, The MacMillian Company. Digitized by Google

..... the record sperm whale reported at New Bedford was captured by Captain Owen H. Tilton. It produced 154 barrels of oil.

For information on the Google Book Search project visit here.

Here is the original mention made in 1875 by Captain Benjamin Russell of the record set by Captain Tilton. This statement was published in Whales and Porpoises by George Brown Goode, Page 11. Digitized by Google.


Based entirely on the dates in the records I would speculate that the record "154 barrels" would have been set on the Marcella (Starbuck's pg. 630) on the 1869-1873 voyage. Two years later Captain Benjamin Russell makes the statement above. The following year 1876 Owen H. Tilton was the Master on the Tropic Bird (Starbuck's pg. 656).

Our whaling master, Owen H. Tilton, was also a farmer.

Owen H. Tilton was, at times, a farmer during his retirement from the sea.


Again thanks to the great research skills of our "first mate"...... Bev.... we have this interesting find from an 1895 public record document. See the digitized document here.

This and many other old public records, books and other written documents are being saved digitally for future generations by the Google Books Library Project (GBLP). For additional information visit this web site.

Fifth week at sea. May 29 to June 4 1876.

Monday May th/29
Begins with hazy weather Standing to SW.
Wind from S.E. Lat part rainy Saw one Sail
Employed boiling wind from S.E.

Tuesday May th/30
Begins with rainy weather and Strong wind
from S.E. heading E.N.E. finished boiling at
5. P.M. turned up 21 bls. Lat part rainy
with Strong wind from N.E. ship on
diferant tacks
Lat 30 59 N Lon 72 55 W

Wednesday May th/31
Begins with Strong wind and rough Sea
with some rain at sun down took in fore
Topsail Ship heading N.W. Lat part blowing
Strong with rough sea
Lat 31-38 N Lon 73 13 W

Thursday June th/1
Begins with Strong wind from NE. and
rough sea Saw a sail to the south.
Lat part wind light with heavy swell from N
Saw two schooners Stearing S.E.
Lat 31-55 N Lon 73-43 W

Friday June th/2
Begins with pleasant weather and heavy swell
from N Stearing S. Caught a porpoise
Lat part wind light heading to West Stowed our oil
about 20 bls weather pleasant
Lat 32-08 N Lon 73-49 W 45?

Saturday Jun th/3
Begins with pleasant weather and light wind Stearing
S. by W. Lat part wind Came round to S Ship
on diferant tack. Working to south Saw two
sail
Lat 32-00 N Lon 73 22 W

Sunday June th/4
Begins with pleasant weather and wind from
S at night took in light sails heading to East
ward Lat part pleasant weather and light wind from
S heading on both tacks Saw a brig heading to N.E.
Lat 32-05 N Lon 73 44 W