A crew member returns. William L. Cone Jr.

Shortly after I started this blog I received an email asking if we had the crew list for the Tropic Bird 1876-1878. The emailer was hunting for information about her great grandfather William L. Cone.

A quick check of the crew list..... and there he was William L. Cone Jr. a crew member of the Tropic Bird 1876 voyage. See the crew list here.

What an exciting thing to find and to realize ..... that the great granddaughter of a crew member was now "meeting" the great great granddaughter of the Captain. "Meeting" one hundred and thirty three years later from the decks of a whaling ship to the world of the internet. From a voyage on a vast ocean to the world wide web.

Who in 1876 could have imagined that 133 years later two granddaughters would be peeking in on their shared experience aboard the Tropic Bird?

Could Jules Verne 1828-1905 or H.G. Wells 1866-1946 have imagined such a "meeting"?

Meet William L. Cone Jr.

Sandy the great granddaughter of William Lyman Cone Jr. tells us this about her great grandfather

Here's some info on my grandfather that I was able to find in a Cone genealogy book, published 1903, His [Wm. L. Cone] youngest daughter Catherine was my grandmother.

2946. William L Cone, b Oct 29 1854 married Anna L Gillette. Res Millington Conn.

William Lyman Cone, son of William L. Cone (2409) b. Millington, CT Oct 29 1854 married Bertha Burdick June 16 1883. She was born Dec 28 1866. He married 2. Anna Lee Gillette, daughter of Miner H. Gillette and Elizabeth Tiffany Lee, April 26 1889. She was born in East Haddam Dec 31, 1861. At the age of twenty-one he sailed on the bark "Tropic Bird" from New Bedford, on a sperm whaling voyage, and was gone twenty-seven months. Afterwards pursued and completed a course of musical study at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and is at present a music teacher and piano-tuner, and holds the position of Postmaster at Millington.

Children:
3484. Florence, b. Dec 15, 1884
3485. Clarence, b. June 16, 1886
3486. Virginia Gillette, b. Apr 9, 1891
3487. Emily, b Apr 23, 1895
3488. Catherine, b. Jan 19, 1900

An ancestor to be proud of... a whaler, a music teacher, a Postmaster and a parent.

Sea-Fever

By John Masefield (1878-1967)

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

Meet Owen Hillman Tilton.

A special thanks to living members of the Tilton family of Vineyard Haven MA and their ancestors for preserving these and other family photos and documents and for providing access to them for this project.
Email: Capt.O.H.Tilton's gr-gr-granddaughter. Donna.

May th/3 1876. One Hundred Thirty Three (133) years ago today.

Below are photocopies of original documents as written in May 1876. Below the original document is the transcribed version. To see the enlarged version of these original documents click on the document.

Crew List NB Shipping List 5/4/76

Capt Owen H. Tilton
Mate Benj C. Blossom Dartmouth
Jas. (Jos.) Payne Mattapoisett
xxxx Geo. Arnold N.B.
Cooper
& Shipkeeper John Wilcox "
Boat John Connor "
Steerers Jam Greenman "
Steward Henry E. Montague Brooklyn - Deserted 10/8/76 Fayal
Cook Edwd. E. Dixon N.B. - Discharged 6/4/77 Barbados
Antone Eichman -- did not sail --
Frank Joseph -
John Thomas Leo -
Theo. Gerecke
Jos. Mariz -
Pedro Noovis -
Chas. Smith - Deserted 10/9/76 Fayal
Chas. Kanaka -
Chas. W. McKowin - Deserted 10/9/76 Fayal
Anton Ecos - Deserted 10/16/76 Fayal
John Dight -
Ian N. Brush Tisbury
Wm. L. Cone Jr. Eastham
Wm. R. Wolf Sheffield
John J. Armstead Charlestown
______
Log Book Wm Whitman Deserted 3/22/77 St. Helena

Below is a photocopy of the original logbook entries of the Tropic Bird as written in May 1876. Below the original document is the transcribed version. To see the enlarged version of the original documents click on the document.

Remarks On Board Bark Tropic Bird
Capt Owen H. Tilton
Sailed from New Bedford May th/2 1876
Antone Eichmen Not on board To be Certified first port by Consul.


Wednesday May th/3
Commences with light wind from SSE. Ship
heading S.W. at eight P.M. gay head light link
bearing N.E. 12 Miles distant
Lat[ter]-part wind came to E. Stearing S. by W.

Thursday May th/4
Begins with Cloudy weather and wind rising
at four P.M. blowing a gail from N.N.E. at
six lufed to under Close reefed Main topsail
fore topmast staysail and Main Spencer. Mid[dle] part
rain and hail blazing fearful Lat-part
morderated and kept off Stearing S. and Made
Sail Lat[itude] 38.33 N Lon[gitude] 71.-12 W.

Friday May th/5
Begins with pleasant weather and light wind from N
Stearing S. engaged riging Boats at 3 AM tacked
to the East heading E.S.E. at 9 tacked to
west wind light from S. Two sail in sight Struck
Two porpoises but Lost them ends with pleasant
weather and light wind
Lat 37.30 N Lon 71-56 W

Saturday May th/6
Begins with light wind from S Ship heading
S.W. Saw three sail one Schooner with foremast
and Main topmast gorn [gone] Lat- part light wind
heading W S.W. Crew fitting Boats
Lat 37-00 N Lon 72-26 W

Please note that characters enclosed in [square brackets] were add to clarify the log entry. Example: Lat[itude]. Characters (words) in bold are still in question as to their meaning. Example:gorn

Whaling Bark circa 1870.

A special thanks to Laura P. of the New Bedford Whaling Museum for this great piece of the Tropic Bird history. "the bark [Tropic Bird] was built in 1851 in Dartmouth, Mass., by John Mashow. The New Bedford Whaling Museum owns a certificate presented to John Mashow in recognition of his ability as a shipbuilder."

John Mashow, was a ship builder of African-American descent and was a partner in the firm of Matthews, Mashow & Co. (via Mystic Sea Port Museum)

This description accompanied the above drawing as seen on the Wetcanvas website.

Whalers were splendid examples of how self-sufficient sailing vessels could be. Though seldom weighing over 300 tons, they carried as many as 38 men on voyages lasting as long as four years. The distinguishing features of a whaler were the five boats slung over the side of the bulky hull, the sails smoky from the tryworks on deck, and the top-gallant crosstrees crow's-nest on fore and mainmast.

Owen H. Tilton life at sea.

To view a readable version of the data table above click here or on the image above.

The table above contains a list of the voyages on which Owen H. Tilton was aboard as either a crew member or the ship's Master. His earliest voyage was in 1852 at the age of 16 and his last voyage was aboard the Tropic Bird 1876-1878. Owen H. Tilton retired from whaling after the 1876-1878 voyage at the age of 42.

Key to data in the Citation column.
R.H.= Reginald B. Hegarty
Return Of Whaling Vessels Sailing From American Ports. 1876-1928, Reginald B. Hegarty, Published 1959, A Continuation of Alexander Starbuck's "History of the American Whale Fishery" Publisher The Old Dartmouth Historical Society and Whale Museum, New Bedford Massachusetts, 1959, 58 pages. Find "Hegarty" here.

A.S.= Alexander Starbuck
History of the American Whale Fishery, Alexander Starbuck, 1989, 767 pages. Find "Starbuck's" here.

Map of New Bedford waterfront 1851. Including harbor soundings of 1844.

Note the Taber's Wharf in the photo. See the contract below...Note the address of agent Wm Lewis at No.4 Tabers Wharf.



Click on each photo to see a larger more detailed version.


Entire length of waterfront showing all wharfs.

Maps of the New Bedford MA waterfront from a map owned by this website owner. The New Bedford area is an insert in a larger map of Bristol County MA published in 1851.

Contract of Owen H. Tilton to Master the Bark Tropic Bird 1876-1878.

The contract reads......

Office of William Lewis
Commission Merchant
No. 4 Tabers Wharf
New Bedford, March 27, 1876

This is to certify that I Owen H. Tilton of Tisbury have this day agreed to go as Master of Bark Tropic Bird for a two year whaling voyage in the Atlantic Ocean for the one fourteenth Lay. Should I get one thousand barrels of Sperm Oil in thirty months then I am to have the one twelfth lay of the whole cargo and I agree to take one one sixteenth or one eight[inserted] of said ???? at rates ??? as paid(r) I.H. Bartlett & Sons.

William Lewis

Bark Tropic Bird. Built 1851 Dartmouth, Mass. 1885 condemned and sold Bermuda.

Source: Peabody Museum - Salem, Mass.



The Bark Tropic Bird was built in 1851 by Master Shipbuilder John Mashow. Click here or on the image for a larger version.


Above article from: Footsteps: African American History, Vol 1 Issue 3, May 1999 c1999-Page 47. John Mashow, Master Shipbuilder. Wiscat #-STWI-492841

Captain Owen H. Tilton.