Tidbits: A First-Hand Account of a Merchant’s Life at Sea

One of my resources for shipboard life on a merchant vessel was Voyages of Capt. George Coggeshall of Milford, Connecticut by Morris W. Abbott (Bound Manuscript: 1968).

As you might have guessed, I am related to the author—he was my paternal grandfather. He compiled Captain Coggeshall’s journals into a smaller book, which is a treasure trove of details about life at sea. Coggeshall, born in 1784, lived a bit later than the characters in Of Gentlemen and Heroes, but his adventures open a first-hand window into the age of sail.

Grandpa wrote, “The successful sea captain of those days had to be proficient in many things, for he was a seaman, a merchant, a diplomat at times, and sometimes a fighter.” I found this to be an accurate description of Adam de Wynter!

A sad aspect of such a life was the terrible chance of never returning home. Captain Coggeshall came from a seafaring family of ten children, and at least four of his brothers—William, Robert, Charles, and Francis—were lost at sea.

On a lighter note, I was intrigued to learn just how much cargo merchant vessels could carry and that relatively small crews sailed such ships. One 1804 trip from New Haven to Barbados transported “under-deck cargo … of cornmeal, flour, beef, pork, butter, cheese, hams, etc. while on deck were 44 oxen and various other livestock.” Just imagine ship life with all these animals aboard! The vessel was manned by a master, a first mate, five seamen, and a cook.

I enjoyed using many of these colorful, eighteenth-century maritime details in Of Gentlemen and Heroes, Thank you, Grandpa!