The Last Voyage of Captain Benaiah Titcomb Jr.

by Kristen Fehlhaber

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Did you know Hydrangea comes from the Greek words 'hydor' and 'angos', which mean water vessel? We may wish for a rain-free weekend, but the flowers are soaking it up!

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Burying Ground Tour 2: First Parish and Newburyport's Road to Revolution

Saturday, May 10, 10:00 a.m.

First Parish Burying Ground - Tickets here

Newburyport’s Road to Revolution Part V:

Powder & Shot

Thursday, May 22, 7:00 p.m.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church - Tickets here



Walking Tour: Road to Revolution in downtown Newburyport

Saturday, June 14, 10:00 a.m.

at Museum of Old Newbury - Tickets available May 10



Newburyport’s Road to Revolution Part VI:

Bunker Hill - Heroes & Cowards

Thursday, June 18, 7:00 p.m.

at Firehouse Center for the Arts - Tickets here

Burying Ground Tour 3: Sawyer Hill and Newburyport's Road to Revolution

Sunday, June 29, 6:30 p.m.

at Sawyer Hill Burying Ground - Tickets available May 11



The Last Voyage of Captain Benaiah Titcomb Jr.

by Kristen Fehlhaber

On December 8, 1795, the typesetter at Newburyport’s Political Gazette got some news that he had to fit into the paper. It's not clear which piece of news bumped the other. Did someone insist on the printing of the marriage announcement of Joseph Moulton to Hannah Eaton? Or was it the news of the arrival of a Newburyport schooner that had to make the paper?

Spot the difference? Two versions of the Political Gazette, Newburyport, MA, from Tuesday, Dec 08, 1795, Page 131. Left, from the Newburyport Public Library; right Genealogybank.com. 

The Nymph of Newburyport had finally returned from Port-Au-Prince. Readers would have noticed that no captain was listed with the vessel -- and they would have known why. A week earlier, the town had learned that the captain, Benaiah Titcomb Jr., had died at sea. 

News of his death reached the town before the Nymph arrived, likely coming on a ship from Philadelphia, where the Nymph had stopped to sell its goods before returning home. On December 1, 1795, The Impartial Herald had reported:

Impartial Herald, Newburyport, MA, 1 Dec 1795, page 3; image courtesy Newburyport Public Library.

DIED – On his passage from the West-Indies, Capt. Benaiah Titcomb, of this town. In him is regretted the loss of a valuable citizen, an affectionate husband, a tender parent, a dutiful son and sincere friend.

Benaiah was 36 years old, married with four young children. Born in 1759 in Newburyport to Jonathan Titcomb and Mary Dole, he must have been known by most in the town. He’d been master of the Nymph since it was launched in late 1792, as documented in Ship Registers of Newburyport. The vessel was one of many owned by Moses Brown, a man who made his fortune from the import of sugar and molasses to Newburyport. 

"Ship Registers of the District of Newburyport, Massachusetts, 1789-1870," pages 166-167, composite image, courtesy Hathi Trust.

Local newspapers reported several voyages by Titcomb to Guadeloupe between 1792 and 1794. In August 1794, Benaiah Titcomb brought news of the war there. On one side, the English and French plantation owners; on the other, French Republicans and the formerly enslaved.



Yesterday arrived in this port, schooner Nymph, BENAIAH TITCOMB, master, 27 days from St. Anns. Capt. T. informs that the French are in high spirits at Guadeloupe, and plenty of every thing to make the English dance to the tune of Carmagnole. Capt. T. has favored us with the following patriotic Address, which an obliging correspondent has translated. 

Impartial Herald, Newburyport, MA, 30 Aug 1794, page 3. 



"Capitulation of the English in Guadeloupe before the expeditionary force commanded by Victor Hugues, June 7, 1794." Public domain, image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

In early 1795, the Nymph stopped going to Guadeloupe and instead sailed to Port-au-Prince in Saint-Dominque (soon to be renamed Haiti in 1804).  Perhaps the fighting in Guadeloupe made trading less favorable, but Port-au-Prince itself was in the middle of what is now recognized as the Haitian Revolution, taking place through a number of events between 1791 and 1804. On May 14, 1795, the Political Gazette of Newburyport reported on an outbreak of yellow fever there.

BOSTON, MAY 11. From Leogane we hear that the yellow fever rages with great fatality through the whole island of Hispaniola. A brig arrived here on Wednesday, in 23 days from the Bae. At the time she sailed, there was scarcely a hand on board able to stand on deck; and during her passage, the Captain and first mate died of the distemper.

Just a month after this report, Benaiah Titcomb and his ship were cleared to leave Newburyport for Port-au-Prince. While moored in the waters off Boucassin, Titcomb’s ship was robbed in late September by men from Leogane (the source of the yellow-fever report) and lost both clothes and provisions, though no one was hurt (Impartial Herald, 8 Dec 1795, p. 3). The Nymph remained there to trade, leaving in mid-October.

Locations connected to Capt. Titcomb's last voyage: Leogane, Port au Prince, and Boucassin. “La partie Francoise de l'isle de Saint Domingue,” 1764, Oldmapsonline.com.

Titcomb died on his voyage home on October 25, 1795, his body buried at sea. Thirty years after his death, when a gravestone was erected for his wife, Benaiah was memorialized and  the location of his death given as  Latitude 28’00” North, 74’30” West.  

“A New Map of the Whole Continent of America,” 1783, courtesy davidrumsey.com.

Benaiah Titcomb's stone today at Old Hill Burying Ground. 

Both of Benaiah’s sons followed his footsteps and went to sea. His oldest son, Capt. Paul Titcomb, died on the ship Independence in the Bay of Bengal at age 31. The younger son, John Hancock Titcomb, captained ships to Buenos Aires and lived to be 65.  A remarkable image of this son survives. A copy of Bowditch’s “Practical Navigator” appears on the table beside him. Thought to be taken in the 1840s, he holds a sextant and stares into the distance.

John Hancock Titcomb (1788-1854), daguerrotype, 1840s?, photograph copy made 1865. Private collection.

Kristen Fehlhaber works part-time at the Museum of Old Newbury, and is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.



Thank you to museum member Althea Fejes who asked us to research the ship that took Benaiah Titcomb (her 4x great-grandfather) on his final voyage. Thanks also to Graham McKay for insight on the latitude & longitude measurement, Scott Nason and Monica Reuss for help dating and interpreting the image of John Hancock Titcomb, and Ghlee Woodworth for help finding the gravestone. 

Something Is Always Cooking...

Creamy Asparagus & Potato Soup

This is a perfect recipe for those rainy spring days when the world is green but it is downright chilly out there!

Ingredients

For the soup:

• 2 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil, plus more for finishing and serving
• 1 medium sized yellow onion, roughly diced
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 lb yukon gold potatoes, cut into small, bite-sized cubes
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or stock
• 1 bunch asparagus (about 14-16z oz), ends trimmed off and discarded, stalks sliced into 1-inch pieces
• Kosher salt

For serving:

• Fresh herbs, roughly chopped or torn
• Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
• Flaky salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• Homemade Croutons or crusty toasted bread with butter

‍

Instructions

1. Add olive oil or butter to a heavy bottomed stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat.
2. Add diced onion, stir to coat in olive oil or butter, and season generously with kosher salt.
3. Saute diced onion over medium heat for several minutes until soft, stirring occasionally.
4. Add diced garlic, stir, cook until garlic is fragrant, about a minute or so.
5. Add the cubed potatoes, season with kosher salt, and stir. 
6. Cover with stock. Turn heat up to medium-high to bring stock up to a boil, and once it’s boiling, turn heat down to medium. Simmer, covered with lid, for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender.
7. Add asparagus, season with kosher salt, and stir to incorporate. Simmer for about 5-7 minutes, until the asparagus is just barely cooked and still has a bright flavor.
8. Blend in blender or with an immersion blender until smooth. Transfer back into pot to keep warm until serving.

Serve warm with hearty bread or croutons and enjoy!

Puzzle Me This...

Click the image to do the puzzle

The Carmagnole was a popular dance and song of the French Revolution. In 1794, Capt. Benaiah Titcomb Jr. reported that the French on Guadeloupe had "plenty of every thing to make the English dance to the tune of Carmagnole."