The First Adventures of a Veteran Nantucket Whaling Master Captain George W. Gardner, one of the best known of the Nan tucket whaling masters in the early 19th century, was born in Nan tucket on September 13, 1809, and died on October 14, 1896, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Benjamin Russell, in Concord, Mass. The late Judge Gardner W. Russell was a direct descendant of this redoubtable Island shipmaster, and it is through the courtesy of Mrs. Gardner Russell that we are presenting the story of Captain Gardner, as told by the old whaleman in the closing years of his life.
ON THE 10th DAY of July, 1822, I then being 12 years and 10 months old, I commenced my whaling career by shipping aboard the new ship Maria of Nantucket, then building at Haddam, on the Connecticut River. This new whaleship was owned by Christopher Mitchell & Co., whose ship Globe had returned from a Pacific voyage (her third in suc cession) and was in need of repairs, and sailed for Haddam with the provisions needed for the new ship and her crew. And so, I joined the crew and sailed on the Globe for my new berth on the Maria. As the old Globe was light, and with no topmasts up, she looked like a ship in distress; in fact, we were hailed during the passage by one vessel which wanted to know if we needed assistance. When we arrived at Haddam the Maria was still in the stocks at the shipyard. The contractor and builder were ill, and the carpenters had stopped work for fear they would not be paid. But one of the owners be ing on the scene now assured their pay, and work resumed. The officers and crew of the ship assisted in carrying on board the new deck beams. We were then living on board the Globe, moored alongside the river bank, and, according to the custom of the time, received no pay. Final ly, after considerable delay, the new ship was launched and delivered to the owners. I believe the contract price was $9,600, and she was 362 tons burthen. The master, Captain George W. Gardner Sr., (my father) and the officers and part of the crew now took charge of the Maria. Her lower masts were stepped, and she was "hove down" and sheathed and her bottom coppered. Then her topmasts were sent up and she was com pletely rigged. Her ground tier (lower hold) was filled with casks of water from the river for ballast. We took our departure for Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard, as it was too late in the season to go over Nantucket Bar. At Edgartown, we found everything necessary for our whaling voyage had been sent over in sloops or lighters from Nantucket, and we took everything on board. Our outfitting complete, the ship's company was now assembled, with Captain Gardner, the mate, second mate, three boatsteerers (harpooners), and the remainder of the crew sixteen men and a boy, in cluding six black men, making all told twenty-two men.
