March 9, 2016
Over 40 years ago I found multiple passport applications filed by my cousin George Kemp (1826-1893). In them he stated that he “emigrated to the United States on or about…1834: sailing on board the Hector from Liverpool.”
I was able to locate his arrival in New York City in the Passenger Lists online at FamilySearch.org.
He arrived 29 July 1834 on the ship Hector. The ship was led by Captain William Williams who brought them from Liverpool, England.
New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVPX-RS8H : Geo Kemp, 1834; citing NARA microfilm publication M237, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm.
There, I found it. I had the name of the ship and the date he came over – now what? Is there more to this story?
Because international commerce was “news” back then, it is possible to track ship movements in the 1800s.
Let’s track the ship Hector.
13 May 1834 – Cleared the port of Mobile, Alabama
I searched in GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives and found that the ship Hector had sailed from Charleston, South Carolina, bound for Liverpool, England – and cleared at the port of Mobile, Alabama, on 13 May 1834.
This fits. The captain was William Williams and he was taking the ship from Charleston, South Carolina, to Liverpool, England.
20 June 1834 – Departed from Liverpool, England
Digging deeper into GenealogyBank I found more good information.
The newspaper Evening Star informs us that the ship Hector under the command of William Williams had departed from Liverpool on 20 June 1834, and that the ship held 219 passengers – including eight-year-old George Kemp, who was coming to America with his family.
So the ship made a quick voyage over to Liverpool. It didn’t stay long – loaded the passengers and cargo and departed 20 June 1834.
13 July 1834 – At sea, latitude 42.30 longitude 60
According to the newspaper Columbian Centinel, the ship Lowell, led by Captain Crocker, arrived in Boston 20 July 1834 from Liverpool, England.
They:
Sailed in co[mpany] with ships Hector, [Captain] Williams, [bound for] New York; [ship] Colossus, [Captain] Wylie, [bound for] Philadelphia; [ship] Grace Brown, [Captain] Higgins, [bound for] Baltimore – saw her 18th inst.[ant] [they were last seen 18 July 1834] lat[itude] 42.30, lon[gitude] 60.
This is great. We now know exactly where the ship was as it neared its arrival in New York City.
29 July 1834 – Arrived at port of New York
In a little over one month the ship safely arrived at New York City. The Commercial Advertiser describes the cargo and whom it was being shipped to, and states that it brought “219 passengers.”
1835-1836 Ship Hector Logbook
According to WorldCat:
The logbook of the ship Hector consists of a very brief extract describing a shipping voyage from New York to Mobile, Liverpool, back to Mobile, Saint Joseph Bay (Fla.), returning to New York, Oct. 1835-July 1836. The master was D.R. Post. The logbook mentions passenger traffic aboard this cargo ship and three other vessels – the Junior, Russel, and St. John – all of unknown rigging.
Looking on the Internet I see that the ship’s logbook for 1835-1836 is at the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts. This should give me more insights into the operations of the ship within months of my cousin’s trip to America.
Get more of the details of your family’s history.
GenealogyBank lets you peel back time and document the voyage of the ship that carried your family to America. Find out how long it took – from the date it left for Europe – arrived there – loaded the cargo and passengers – and made the return voyage.
Get the whole story – document it and pass it down for the rising generation.
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