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Nelson Cole Haley born 7 March 1832 New Bedford, MA “Nelt” shipped on his first whaling voyage at the age of 12, and except for a winter at school in Maine, spent the next nine years at sea before returning to his mother and step-father’s home in Maine. In his own words, “a capstan-head consultation being held by these different boat-headers, including the Colonel and mother, it was determined that yours truly should abandon the sea and go West to grow up with the country.” He set out for St. Paul by way of Lake Erie and worked variously in a general store, lumbering camp, and sawmill, but couldn't escape the call of the sea. A few more whaling voyages, and Haley settled in Hawaii, married, and started a family. From there he engaged in the local whaling fleet and traded sandalwood and Hawaiian cloth in China and San Francisco. A biography of King Kalakaua mentions "Captain Haley", who was a regular at the king's side. This may or may not be our Haley, but the timing such that it may very well have been. He tried planting sugar, but failed and left for Seattle. Ultimately he endeavored to supply Alaskan miners in the gold rush of 1897. Family fiction says he was robbed and murdered, but the official story is that he died of pneumonia at Sheep Camp Hospital in Alaska late in the winter of 1900. Whenever we kids displayed fits of rebellion, Mom always attributed it to the "Haley" in us. |
Nelson Cole Haley and his
wife, |
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Charles W. Morgan The last survivor of the New Bedford whaling fleet is now part of the permanent exhibit at Mystic Seaport. |
Whaling voyages:
Perhaps his best known voyage was on the Morgan, which is chronicled in Whale Hunt. The manuscript was donated to the museum at Mystic Seaport and published in 1948, and took its place as a whaling classic. A new paperback edition was issued in 1991 corresponding to the 150th anniversary of the launch of the Morgan. |
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