Contributions of Black entrepreneurs to the US whaling industry, abolition, and other civil rights

Mock, Valerie Ellen Article Contributions of Black entrepreneurs to the US whaling industry, abolition, and other civil rights Essays in Economic & Business History (EEBH) Provided in Cooperation with: Economic and Business History Society (EBHS) Suggested Citation: Mock, Valerie Ellen (2023) : Contributions of Black entrepreneurs to the US whaling industry, abolition, and other civil rights, Essays in Economic & Business History (EEBH), ISSN 2376-9459, Economic and Business History Society (EBHS), Rockford, MI, Vol. 41, Iss. 2, pp. 40-62 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/330485 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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Users may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. ISSN 2376-9459 (online) LCC 79-91616 HC12.E2 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 40 Essays in Economic & Business History 2023, 41 (2): 40-62 Published November 27, 2023 Contributions of Black Entrepreneurs to the US Whaling Industry, Abolition, and Other Civil Rights Valerie Ellen Mock, Suffolk University, [email protected] Abstract The history of Black entrepreneurs from colonial times through most of the nineteenth century in the US whaling industry provides an excellent opportunity for insights into how free Blacks and those who freed themselves became entrepreneurs and how they influenced the abolition movement and other civil rights. These industrious people became whaling captains, ship designers and builders, investors, suppliers, outfitters, and producers of whale-based items. This research used Skip Finley’s Whaling Captains of Color: America’s First Meritocracy (2020a) as a dataset of over 50 men who became whaling captains. According to Tom Nicholas in VC: An American History (2020), these men should be considered entrepreneurs. By examining the history of whaling as a commercial industry and these entrepreneurs within it, the results showed that place of birth and date of first captaincy in relationship to the 13th Constitutional Amendment ending slavery (1865) made a difference as to the type of additional entrepreneurial endeavors pursued and whether they were involved in abolition and civic responsibilities. To provide a more complete picture of Black entrepreneurs born in North America who began their business prior to 1865, three significant whaling captains and seven contemporary Black entrepreneurs were chosen and brief biographies are provided. JEL Classifications: J15, N91, N51, M4. Key Words: Black entrepreneurs, US Whaling, family businesses, abolition, civil rights. Mock: Contributions of Black Entrepreneurs to the US Whaling Industry 41 “Before the turn of the 20th century, maritime industries provided the greatest opportunity for Black employment and investment in America.” (Mary Malloy, 1990) Introduction From colonial times and into the mid-nineteenth century, commercial whaling was one of the main drivers of the US economy (Lance E. Davis, Robert Gallman, and Karen Gleiter 1997). At its height, the whaling industry contributed $10 million (in 1880 dollars) to GDP, enough to make it the fifth largest sector of the economy (Eric Jay Dolin 2007, 206). It was an international industry with the procurement of raw materials that were processed in and around the world’s oceans. In voyages lasting up to four years, whalers became customers on nearly every continent as they obtained supplies and rested or replenished crew members (often locals) wherever they could find a port. Its major products, mainly whale oil and whale bone (baleen), were vital to the progress of many nations during the nineteenth century. For example, in Brazil, the world’s largest producer of sugar, whale oil used for illumination allowed the slaves to process sugar cane through the evening hours. In other nations and with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, whale oil became almost essential for providing illumination for factories, developing urban areas, and supplying lubricants necessary for the new machinery. Today, commercial whaling is not typically a topic discussed in history nor business textbooks and most of us cannot name a single person involved in whaling let alone someone who was Black. However, many of us learned about Crispus Attucks and Fredrick Douglass. The former was on leave from a Nantucket whale ship when he became the first person killed in the American Revolution and Douglass found his way to the whaling community of New Bedford via the Underground Railroad where he and his wife were sheltered and received their new names, and where he was eventually employed as a worker in a whale oil refinery before becoming the best known African American abolitionist. The purpose of this paper is to add to our knowledge of Black entrepreneurs by bringing attention to some of them who played an important role in a once-significant industry that helped the US gain its independence from Britain and become a major force in global trade in the 1800s. The Whaling Industry in the United States Whaling in North America began thousands of years before Europeans arrived when the indigenous people harvested whales that were stranded on their beaches for meat as well as blubber. They were also known to use umiaks or dugout canoes to venture away from shore and either herd whales into shallow waters where they would first harpoon them and drag them to shore for harvesting or harpoon them in nearby waters where they would wait for the whale to tire before they would drag them to shore. In the 1500s European whalers (primarily French, English, Spanish, and Dutch) began hunting and processing whales around the rich whale fishery of what is now Newfoundland and Labrador. They came to this continent primarily when whales were migrating from the warmer breeding grounds in the south to the Arctic, usually between April and October. One of the species of whales, called the right whale, was a relatively slow swimmer and preferred shallower waters. This meant that they came close to the outer islands between Maine and New York providing ample opportunity to be caught and harvested. By the mid-1600s, when the Dutch and British settled next to these waters, they too began harvesting whales on the shores and imitating the indigenous tribes’ methods. Eventually, the new white settlers progressed to using inshore whaling boats and relied on Native men to perform the hard labor. Essays in Economic & Business History 41 (2) 2023 42 Commercial whaling increased in the US when the demand for whale oil instead of meat became the primary objective. The cities and ports of New England, especially Nantucket, New Bedford, New London, and other Cape Cod ports were the primary locations of the industry. Whaling voyages leaving these ports typically ranged from a few days to a year, increasing as the availability of close-in whales decreased and as ships were improved to hunt in deeper waters. Later, when the Atlantic whale fisheries were depleted, the whalers were gone for up to four years hunting in the Bering Strait and the South Pacific. Eventually from the 1860s on, whaling was centered more on the west coast from such ports as San Diego, Monterrey, San Francisco, and Seattle, of which San Francisco became the most prominent. Most whalers also used a few ports in Hawaii, where they would re-supply and refurbish, winter over, and connect with cargo ships for transshipment to processors and markets. By the mid-1800s the US was clearly the global leader of the whaling industry. By then “almost 75 percent of the of the 900 whaling ships worldwide were American registered” (Davis et al. 1997, 19). In Davis et al.’s intensive study they suggested this dominance was caused by a mix of factors including technological innovations, entrepreneurial skills, and the lay system of remuneration discussed below. Nantucket Area (including Martha’s Vineyard, New Guinea, and Gay Head) The first major commercial port was Nantucket where right whales passed the islands during the migratory season. The right whale was known as the easiest whale to catch. Between the mid-1700s and the mid-1820s, Nantucket was the whaling capital of the world (Finley 2020b). Most of the early whaling by whites in the Nantucket area used indigenous knowledge and labor because the only prestigious position in this endeavor was as a captain. When their laborers began succumbing to European diseases like measles, smallpox, and diphtheria, the whalers needed to find a replacement labor force (Dolin 2007). Young men who were strong and willing to work hard were attracted to the industry because they wanted an adventure, wanted to escape their home situation, and/or because the early profitability of whaling combined with profit sharing through the lay system (described below) offered them more money than what they could earn elsewhere. Daniel Vickers (1985, 291) reported that 75 percent of the oarsmen and steersmen on Nantucket deep sea whaling voyages were white by the mid-1780s, the rest being persons of color. Blacks, especially those with sailing experience, joined the whaling voyages and found them attractive for the same reasons as the young white men, but also because the remuneration system allowed them to be paid equal to a white man and had a career path based on merit rather than skin color. For some it provided an escape from slavery. The possibility of striking it rich in whaling was a large attraction, especially with legends like that of the Loper. Its voyage in 1830 was hailed by the Nantucket Inquirer as the greatest voyage ever made. They returned from the Pacific with 2280 barrels of sperm oil valued at $1,417,385 (2020 value) from a short 14 1/2 months at sea. Significantly this voyage was partially owned by three Black men and had an entirely Black crew except for the captain (Dolin 2008, 207; Finley 2020a, 47). The Nantucket whaling industry continued to grow and brought unparalleled wealth to the town, making it the first center of commercial whaling in the US. By 1768 it possessed 125 whaling ships and that number multiplied until circumstances changed about 1842. A shift in the sand bar made entering the harbor difficult for these heavier ships and whale ship owners began looking for a new port to accommodate them (Finley 2020a, 162). The Dartmouth area with its deep port and timberlands was chosen and an area was laid out so as to accommodate the industry. It was incorporated in 1847 as New Bedford (Finley 2020a, 59). Mock: Contributions of Black Entrepreneurs to the US Whaling Industry 43 New Bedford Area (including Dartmouth and Westport) With its deeper port and easier access to the ocean, New Bedford could easily accommodate the larger ships and a greater number of them. By incorporation, whaling ships were hunting primarily sperm whales wherever in the world they could find them. Their ships’ size and sturdiness needed to withstand rough seas and voyages that could last up to 4 years. It also needed to be a processor at sea, allowing the whale to be butchered and harvested aboard. Most often at least two cauldrons (called trypots) and their brick wood fireplaces needed to be situated on board and the holds were built to store the cargo of oil and other whale products that were usually kept in large wooden barrels. Whale owners, crewmen, and subsidiary enterprises soon flocked to this new city and New Bedford became known as the “City that Lit the World”. In 1853 the New York Times confidently asserted that New Bedford was probably the wealthiest place in America (Nicholas 2020, 29). By 1855, 7.5 percent of its population was Black, which was higher than that of New York and Philadelphia, and 30 percent of them had been born in the South (US National Park Service 2022). Part of this growth was because there was also a high percentage of Quakers who were abolitionists and whale ship owners. New Bedford was also known for being a prominent stop on the Underground Railway. An enslaved person could escape to sea and be gone for a long period of time; some chose to make a life in ports of call instead of returning home. A decline in New Bedford’s whaling prosperity began in the mid to late 1850s caused by a variety of factors: the sperm whale was getting scarce, cheaper coal oil was replacing whale oil in industrialized nations, other industries like textiles were growing more attractive, and most significantly, the first modern American oil well was drilled in 1859 in nearby Pennsylvania. Whaling Environment The working conditions changed dramatically for the seamen depending on the type of whale that was hunted, the size and condition of the ship, the skill of the captain and the essential crew members, the geographic location of the hunt, the technology employed, weather conditions, and number of days or years at sea. Whaling was an arduous and dangerous job even when all conditions seemed ideal. Sometimes, the whale being hunted was bigger than the actual master ship and significantly bigger than the small whaling boats used as harpooning platforms. Some whales dove when they were harpooned, some flipped their tails trying to loosen the harpoon, and in one instance, a whale actually attacked the mother ship. Once a whale was killed, it had to be butchered and its blubber removed (called “flensing”) and rendered into oil. These tasks involved sharp knives and flensing tools and the use of trypots (big cauldrons) and fires; injuries were not uncommon. Processing whales was also overwhelming to the senses and its stench was often remarked upon; for example, the National Museum of American History reports it “was so strong a whale ship could be smelled over the horizon before it could be seen”. Other than the physical labor involved, the mental was perhaps more demanding. Most of the days on a whaling voyage, depending on its distance from home, were spent in getting to and from the whale fishery(ies). A crew member had to learn to live and work, day after day, in a confined space with others who may have been strangers. If they weren’t a coordinated team, their lives as well as their livelihood was endangered. They had little personal or sleeping space because whaling ships were typically built for storing whale oil and other whale products and not for accommodation. A person had to be able to leave his family behind for the length of a voyage with no guaranteed contact until he returned home. Perhaps most significantly, he needed to endure times when no whales were spotted and the prospect of returning home with little or no pay for this difficult work. Most often a crew member only Essays in Economic & Business History 41 (2) 2023 44 worked one voyage or left the voyage at a convenient port, especially when other opportunities became available on land; however, persons of color were more likely to return to sea. For a Black whaleman, the industry also offered equality in remuneration and job opportunities that could not be found elsewhere. Whaling Career Progression Typically, first-time whalers were young men 14 to 18 years old who were strong and ablebodied and who took an entry level position to perform duties ranging from cabin boy to ordinary seaman. Once the ship set sail, they were rapidly trained in the terminology and operation of the ship. The expectation was that by the time the ship reached the whale fishery, each crew member had an assigned role and could be in position to execute his job correctly and timely; mistakes in this industry were often a matter of life and death. If the boy had previous sailing experience or a special skill set, such as a carpenter, he might advance depending on performance, regardless of his color. Because his future pay was based on the position he held, he might use his downtime to learn one of the skilled trades, such as a navigator, steerer, or harpooner. Sometimes literacy and relevant skills were taught by the captain, the captain's wife, or other officers during the ship's downtime. The next career level would be a position as one of the mates, but that would usually require literacy and possibly accounting skills, and as such, might be a condition of employment. These mates might be required to keep logbooks and account for inventories, for example. Typically, regardless of race, a captain followed the career path described above proving himself at each step. Captains were required to keep logbooks and often kept personal journals. On occasion a man could become a captain when the ship was at sea because the existing captain was either lost or incapacitated. Usually, the first mate was elevated to that position; however, it is unclear whether this happened automatically or was an agreement amongst the crew. What was critical was that the crew trusted the new captain to bring them home safely and profitability. Several of the captains of color in this study first served in the role as a replacement captain. Captains who were successful had a high probability of being successful in the future (Nicholas 2020, 31). However, sometimes successful captains felt that they had enough money to stay at home and operate other less-risky businesses. The Financial System of Remuneration The financial system of American whaling was one of its features that set it apart from other industries. Financial earnings from a whale voyage were based on what was called the “lay” system. From the captain to the lowest crew member, each man’s earnings were based on a percentage or a “lay” of the total profits earned from the voyage. Different percentages or “lays” were established for each voyage based on a contract with the crew member. There was a hierarchy of lays with the captain receiving the greatest portion, somewhere around 5- 12.5 percent (David Moment 1957, 274). The next group included those considered essential to the voyage, the first mate, second mate, and a third mate who received lower percentages than the captain but more than the cook, the cooper, and other skilled tradesmen (Nicholas 2020, 32-33). Next came harpooners and boat steerers who were likely to receive maybe 1 percent, and common seamen were usually paid lower than that. From their earnings, expenses incurred on board such as new clothing, tobacco, and tools were deducted. What this meant for the whaling crew member of color was that his pay was based on the job he performed and agreed to rather than the color of his skin. According to Finley (2020a, 232-233), the top 25 whaling captains of color who began their captaincy between 1784 and 1926, earned a total of $68,731,763 (2019 US currency, 93.1 percent of the 50 listed) with William T. Shorey (1859-1919) of San Francisco earning Mock: Contributions of Black Entrepreneurs to the US Whaling Industry 45 $7,784,721. Shorey’s success was significantly related to his 1) having San Francisco as his home port that allowed for shorter duration per voyage and 2) catching whales with a higher product value (baleen rather than oil). Return on Investment It was the return on investment and the wealth it generated that made whaling so attractive and built the mansions in Nantucket, New Bedford, and other whaling cities of the northeast. Most whaleship owners, according to Tom Nicholas (2020, 29) invested earnings from earlier voyages into future voyages “perpetuating a cycle of wealth accumulation”. They also diversified into other areas, especially locally, making the total effect on the local economy substantial. To determine how the return on investment for whaling related to other opportunities during this time, Barbara Coffey (2021a) analyzed 11,257 whaling voyages on 1,982 ships during the 1800s. The mean return of investment for those voyages was 4.7 percent with a maximum return of 237.1 percent and for voyages in the last half of the century, the mean was 5.9 percent with a maximum of 4,773.6 percent while government bonds returned only 4.6 percent. The returns from 1850-1899 were primarily from those ships sailing out of San Francisco, like Shorey mentioned above (Coffey 2021b). Because the data for whaling profits were based on what the whaling ships brought back to port, she estimated that the actual returns were probably higher because whaling products were often shipped from the West Coast to New England via cargo ships or by rail after the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. Surprisingly, she reports that returns actually increased after the discovery of petroleum in 1859 in Pennsylvania. This was because while both the demand and supply of whale oil declined, the whalebone (baleen) harvest became more important and was more valuable. She reports that by 1899, whalebone accounted for 81.7 percent of whaling returns. Baleen’s use as the “plastic” of the 1800s and early 1900s for such things as parasol ribs, whips, collar stays, carriage springs, hoop skirts, and ladies’ underwear drove the market until it was replaced by metallic components in the early 1900s. Demographics Between the Revolutionary and the American Civil War, more than 100,000 Americans went to sea; 18 percent were men of color and most of them were free and a small group were enslaved people who considered the whaling ship the last stop of the Underground Railway. As Blacks moved into the Martha's Vineyard area, they began to intermarry with the Native American population. In 1820 Native Americans constituted about 12 percent of Nantucket whalemen and mixed genetics of Blacks and native tribes accounted for about 25 percent (Shoemaker 2015, 171). The complex ethnic background of many whalers of color is illustrated by Finley (2020a, 41) when he reports that Captain Joseph G. Belain’s maternal grandfather was 3/4 Native American, 1/8 negro, 1/8 white and his maternal grandmother was 1/2 Native American, 1/4 negro, and 1/4 white. Methodology and Analysis Following Nicholas’s illustration (2020, 22) that equates entrepreneurs in a venture capital structure to that of a captain in the structure of the whaling industry, this study analyzed Finley’s list and descriptions of over 50 entrepreneurs included in his Whaling Captains of Color (2020a). From Finley’s list, all unconfirmed whaling captains of color were removed, and those remaining were separated by geographic origin of birth. Twenty-two of the captains were born in North America and are listed in Table 1. The rest were primarily born in Cape Verde under Portuguese rule and were confirmed by Finley to be of mixed African ancestry; Essays in Economic & Business History 41 (2) 2023 46 these are shown in Table 2. Table 3 lists the four whaling captains born in the Caribbean Islands and the one who was born in New Guinea. All of the men listed in Tables 3 and 4 held their first captaincy after the ratification of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery in 1865, except the two shown in bold. One captain in Table 1, also shown in bold, held his first captaincy after ratification. Over half of Finley’s captains had additional business ventures, especially the Cape Verdeans who turned to the packet shipping business when the whaling industry declined. From Table 1 three well-documented captains from before ratification were chosen for further analysis and discussion. To provide further insight into the times and activities of Black entrepreneurs, seven contemporary people in businesses related to the whaling industry or business owners in the whaling communities were selected. These ten people are summarized in Table 4 and described in more detail under “Some Notable Black Entrepreneurs”. Findings This analysis provided some interesting insights into the environmental and political context as well as the working conditions of the whaling industry and the Black entrepreneurs listed in Finley’s 2020a work. Tables 2-4 provide a summary to date. General observations showed that the captains could be categorized by their place of birth, year of first captaincy (before or after 1865), number of years in the industry, involvement in other enterprises, participation in the abolition movement, civil rights movement, and community involvement. Place of Birth This indicator was used as a surrogate for genetic makeup and revealed other interesting information. The group was divided into three ethnic groups depending on place of birth: 1) those born in North America, 2) those born in the Cape Verde or the Azores, and 3) those born in the Caribbean or Pacific Islands. In all cases, Finley (2020a, 218) verified their status as a person of color according to his criteria and listed several not included in this paper as unconfirmed, but potential. North Americans. These captains were assumed by Finley to be a mixture of African American with either Caucasian or Native American genes or a combination of all three. In this part of North America, the non-Black and non-Native cultural and legal influences were mostly British, and then French and Dutch. One might also assume that of the African Americans from New Bedford, about 30 percent of them were born in the South (U.S. NPS 2022). Analyses of their biographies show some captains, like those in the Cuffe and Wainer families, were born into the whaling profession, and many others engaged in whaling as a part time trade, especially when typical voyages were less than a year. Most invested their whaling profits into other nonrelated entrepreneurial endeavors, like Absalom Boston, discussed later. Of the 22 men who were from North America (Table 1), four of them became captains after the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1865 prohibiting slavery. One focus of this inquiry was to examine the contributions of Black whaling captains to abolition and civil rights; however, most of them in this sample of 50 became captains after 1865, so no statistically valid information was provided. Biographical information for three of the North American captains based primarily in the New England ports is provided later to show how these men contributed to their communities through civic, charitable, and social activities. Portuguese-Africans. Almost half of the entrepreneurs in this study were born in Cape Verde or the Azores (Table 2). If they were designated as “colored”, “mulatto”, or have other such designations in official documents, they are assumed by the author to be of Portuguese- African descent. The islands of Macaronesia were often used by whaling, merchant, and slave ships traveling between the old world and the new. These entrepreneurs were likely controlled Mock: Contributions of Black Entrepreneurs to the US Whaling Industry 47 Table 1 Black Whaling Captains* from Colonial America and the USA Name Year Became Captain Years in Industry /Home Value of Whales Killed (2019 USD) Rank By Value Abolitionist Civil Rights Other Enterprises Belain, Joseph G. 1889 30+ $911,850 24 Boston, Absalom F. 1822 Yes See Table 4 Cook, Pardon pc 1839 20+ $2,487,077 14 Part owner Cuffe Sr., Paul pc 1784 Yes See Table 4 Cuffe, William pc 1837 Green, Peter 1821 4+ free Harris, Samuel W. 1842 18 $1,202,468 20 Owner, Farm Haskins, Amos 1849 $2,824,266 10 Haskins, William 1859 $1,571,792 18 Jeffers Jr., Amos 1847* 11 Lee, Ferdinand 1864 $933,002 23 Lee, William G. 1880 42 Lewis, Henry A. 1833 25 $7,043,367 2 Martin, William A. 1878 $973,424 22 Maste(i)n, John pc 1812 Phelps, Alvan pc 1805 Pompey, Edward J. 1836 Yes See Table 4 Roderick, Joseph 1909 61 Wainer, Jeremiah pc 1805 Wainer, Michael pc 1792 Wainer, Thomas pc 1803 Wainer, Paul pc 1810 Notes: bold indicates captains in the list who held first captain position after 13th Amendment to US Constitution prohibiting slavery; * died before serving as captain; pc related to Paul Cuffe Sr. Source: Finley (2020a, 217-218) and others Essays in Economic & Business History 41 (2) 2023 54 1972, 58). After the war, Cuffe made a final trip to Sierra Leone transporting ten families consisting of 38 people in total who would help the local people become more productive. Paul Cuffe was also a man who contributed part of his wealth to the community of Westport. He was known to contribute his time and half of the costs to a new Quaker meeting house, he helped fund a smallpox hospital, and built an integrated co-educational school on his property, perhaps the first school of its type in America (Paul Cuffe website). Antoine (Antone) DeSant (1815-1886, also known as Antonio De Santo) DeSant was born in Cape Verde in 1815 under Portuguese rule. Because of drought, illnesses, and lack of job opportunities on the islands, he joined one of many whaling vessels headed for the United States that had stopped in the islands to resupply its ship and recruit new crew members. He was about 16 when he arrived in New London, Connecticut in 1830 at the beginning of the whaling boom. He was one of several thousand men who worked more than 80 vessels considering New London their home port; ten percent of these men were colored (Laura Natusch 2021). Ten years after his arrival, through his work on whaling voyages and perhaps some merchant trips, he was able to purchase two houses in New London. In 1860, he opened a grocery store and a barber shop on the same street as his residence and purchased other houses as he profited from his businesses. He is reported to have taken at least a dozen whaling voyages plus other commercial shipping expeditions including serving as an officer on the Portland, a cargo ship in 1850 headed to San Francisco that was likely to be delivering passengers and supplies for the gold rush, which was common that year. His personal logbook from this voyage showed that he was literate (Patricia C. McKissack and Frederick L. McKissack 1999, 62). De Sant married twice. In 1842 he married Diana Maria Gager (Cager) and had four children; in 1856 as a widower, he married Susan Congdon and had eleven children, of whom all but four died before reaching adulthood. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1872 and there is no mention of abolition or other civic activities. The family houses on Bank Street in New London were sold in 1991 by his great-granddaughter. James Forten (1766-1842) Of all of the entrepreneurs in this study, James Forten is the subject of more articles and books than any other. He was a successful businessman, inventor, designer, money lender, property owner, philanthropist, prohibitionist, essayist, and a wealthy family man respected by both Blacks and whites in the city of Philadelphia, perhaps the most significant port during his lifetime. He was born as a third-generation free man to Thomas and Margaret Forten in 1766 in Philadelphia and had an older sister, Abigail. Thomas was a skilled and valued sailmaker in the Robert Bridges’ sail loft in Philadelphia, but died when James was only seven. As a child, James worked various odd jobs, such as chimney sweep, store clerk, and possibly as a helper for Mr. Bridges in the loft. His mother insisted his work did not interfere with his education at the African school founded by Anthony Benezet, a Quaker abolitionist. When James was ten, he heard the first reading of the Declaration of Independence and was impressed by the concept of equality for all (Julie Winch 2002a, 77). Four years later he decided to help fight against the British in the Revolutionary War by joining privateer Stephen Decatur, Sr. as a member of his crew. Unfortunately, the ship was captured by the Royal Navy and James wound up being put in jail on the HMS Jersey in New York harbor. The captain of the ship that captured James was so impressed by the young man that he made sure that he did not receive different treatment than that which was afforded to white men. Seven months later he was paroled on the condition that he would no longer fight the British. James decided he would become a merchant mariner and one of his first voyages was to London where he stayed and worked in the sail lofts along the Thames for a year. Mock: Contributions of Black Entrepreneurs to the US Whaling Industry 55 Upon his return to Philadelphia, he was 19 and apprenticed himself to Robert Bridges as a sail-maker. Because of his skill and his work ethic, Bridges looked at him as the future of his business. He had hated the fact that he had been forced to take over the family business and had spent 20 years there that he did not enjoy. Therefore, he made sure that his children and the spouses of his daughters were educated in a “better” profession (Robert Purvis 1842, 3). After a year of James’s advanced apprenticeship, Robert appointed him foreman of the loft. At the beginning there was some unhappiness among both the Blacks and the whites at the factory and from some of the clients. James’s skill, business acumen, and management style helped him overcome these obstacles and the company prospered. It was perhaps the first time in American history that there was a successful racially integrated business run by a Black man. When Bridges retired in 1798, Forten purchased the Bridges sail-making firm. In 1806 as a widower, Forten married Charlotte Vandine of Philadelphia and together they had four sons and five daughters. The oldest and youngest sons were educated and trained as sailmakers and continued the family business after James’s death. All of the children were educated, many through university studies, and were raised in an ardent abolitionist household that was also concerned about women's rights. It was not unusual to have the notable abolitionists of the day visiting the Forten household (Winch 2002b, 4). Forten’s success was due in part to his apprenticeship and the backing he received from the Bridges family, but also to his innovativeness and managerial demeanor. He has been credited with developing at least two tools, one to assist in maneuvering large sails in smaller lofts during the manufacturing process and another that would help raise the sails more quickly and efficiently once they were on ship. His dealings with employees, clients, suppliers, and business partners were known for being honest and fair. As an abolitionist he helped fund Garrison's Liberator and other anti-slavery newspapers and often contributed essays under his pen name “a colored man of Philadelphia”. His views were sought out and respected by many of the leading abolitionists regardless of their race and his family members continued in that tradition, including the founding of the Philadelphia Female Anti-slavery Society founded by his wife Charlotte and two of their daughters in 1833. Mary (“Polly”) and Nathan Johnson This New Bedford couple were successful businesspeople as well as staunch abolitionists. Nathan and Polly, along with her daughter from a previous marriage, Rhoda Durfee, began their stay in New Bedford in 1820 as domestic servants in the home of prominent whaler Charles W. Morgan. Both Polly and Rhoda’s salaries were placed in Nathan’s account. Several sources indicate that this money was used to purchase up to four properties in New Bedford and that perhaps Morgan helped them with those purchases. One of these purchases was their home at 21 Seventh Street; 23 Seventh Street became their confectionary shop, and another purchase was the Old Quaker Meeting House, next door. Their house was also known as a stop on the Underground Railroad by white abolitionists in the area. Not only did the Johnsons help Black people passing through the community, but they also are credited with providing longer lodging for at least two families who stayed with them prior to emancipation. One of them was the man who became known as Frederick Douglass and his wife, Anna. They lived with the Johnsons beginning in September of 1838 and left in 1839 when Douglass obtained a job and lived elsewhere for five years in New Bedford. Nathan has been credited with helping Frederick Douglass choose his new name. Personal Biography of “Polly” Johnson (1784-1871) Polly was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, as a free Black and became known as an excellent confectioner as well as an active participant in the abolition movement. By 1836, the Charles W. Morgans and other wealthy families of New Bedford were regular customers, not Essays in Economic & Business History 41 (2) 2023 56 only for special candies, but also for confections, cakes, and molded ice cream for parties and weddings, some of which she also catered with her husband. She practiced her abolitionist beliefs by not using any sugar harvested or produced by enslaved labor as others in the international Free Produce Movement were doing at that time. When her husband went to the California gold rush in 1849, she was given his power of attorney for his affairs. In 1852 he was declared an insolvent debtor, possibly because he was overextended on the mortgages for his property, and she had to declare bankruptcy for him. To prevent the property valued at $18,700 in 1849 ($472,300 in 2020 currency) being lost, it was bought by the Rodmans, relatives of their former employers the Morgans. By 1857 Polly had earned enough money to buy them back. Polly’s good business sense and hard work have been credited with the turnaround in their fortune and with the Johnsons becoming known as some of the wealthiest Black citizens of New Bedford. Polly not only practiced her beliefs, but she also remained well informed on the social issues of the time and regularly attended antislavery meetings both in New Bedford and Boston (New Bedford Historical Society). One white abolitionist from New Bedford, Daniel Ricketson, “remembered seeing her [Polly] walking arm in arm with Mrs Maria Weston Chapman down Summer Street in Boston after an anti-slavery meeting a short time before the [American Civil] war while he was escorting the venerable Lucretia Mott” (New Bedford Historical Society 2022). This memory shows how well-respected Polly was to be so accepted by prominent white activists fighting for abolition, women’s rights, and other social reforms. Personal Biography of Nathan Johnson (~1797-1880) Johnson ... lived in a neater house; dined at a better table; took, paid for, and read, more newspapers; better understood the moral, religious, and political character of the nation, —than nine tenths of the slaveholders in Talbot County Maryland. (Frederick Douglass 1845, Chapter XI) It is unclear if Nathan Johnson was born free or enslaved or whether he was born in Philadelphia or Virginia. He claimed he had purchased his freedom, but how he did that is also unclear. It is known that he married Mary J. Mingo Durfree, known as Polly (discussed above), worked for Charles Morgan, purchased property, and became a caterer. Some sources suggest he also participated in other businesses. What seems to be clearly known is his extensive participation in the anti-slavery movement, especially between the years of 1832- 1847. Highlights of his abolitionist experience, besides being a stationmaster for the Underground Railroad, include: 1) Representing Massachusetts from 1832-1835 to the annual American Society of Free Persons of Colour, 2) becoming Vice-President of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery (one of five) in 1840, and 3) becoming president of the National Convention of Colored People in 1847 (US National Park Service 2021). Much of his recorded abolition efforts ended in 1849 when he left for the California Gold Rush and did not return until after Polly died in 1871. Nathan did not appear to have a steady income during his time in the West; this could be why her will included a “maintenance” from her estate until his death if he returned to New Bedford within two years. Richard Johnson (1776-1853) Unrelated to the Johnson family discussed above, Richard Johnson was born either in Pennsylvania or Virginia in 1776. He spent most of his working life at sea in the merchant trade, and often on voyages to act as a supercargo (a person who represented the owner in selling and buying the ship’s cargo) at various ports (Finley 2020a, 167; Martha S. Putney 1982, 469). By 1806, Richard Johnson was living on South Water Street in New Bedford and Mock: Contributions of Black Entrepreneurs to the US Whaling Industry 57 was considered the most prosperous man of color in town until midcentury when Nathan Johnson became the most prosperous. As a trader/supercargo, Richard sometimes acted on behalf of Paul Cuffe buying West Indian goods to be sold in the Cuff & Howard’s store in New Bedford (Paul Cuffe website). Like Cuffe, he was caught at sea and confined by the British during the War of 1812. In 1815 he married Ruth Cuffe Howard, the daughter of Paul Cuffe and the wife of Alexander Howard, Jr., who was Johnson’s deceased business partner, Alexander and his brother, Peter Howard, operated a retail shop/chandlery, called “P.&A.”, Peter Howard was also a son-in-law of Paul Cuffe. When Johnson married Ruth, the store’s name was changed to Howard & Johnson (Finley 2020a, 167). Johnson sold a variety of merchandise in his store including groceries and men's and women's clothes. At one point in his career, he outfitted whaling ships including the on-ship stores for sales to crew members during the voyages. It appears that Richard Johnson may have invested his profits from the store and other activities in real estate and became the primary owner of at least five whaling ships between the years of 1822 and 1842 (Finley 2020a, 167). One of the ships he owned was the Rising States, a brig that was used for whaling. It was a small whaler and was first registered in Boston and then reregistered in New Bedford on November 5, 1836. For its first voyage under the new ownership, an all-Black crew was assembled with Edward Pompey (described later) as master. Johnson spent $4000 on supplies and equipment to provision the ship for a whaling voyage (Finley 2020, 52). Unfortunately, upon return the oil sold for only $2500 and so it was considered a loss. To help Johnson out, nine Black men purchased part ownership in the brig; one of them was Pompey who probably got his share in lieu of wages for the unsuccessful voyage. For the next voyage of the Rising States, Johnson held a quarter share and outfitted the vessel; it also had an all-Black crew. It set sail from New Bedford on July 13th, 1837 for the Atlantic fisheries and elsewhere. This voyage was a disaster, resulting in the deaths of the master and several members of the crew and the confiscation of the ship as being unseaworthy. Upon his death, his sons, Richard C. and Ezra R. Johnson inherited his share of another of Richard Johnson’s vessels, the Washington. Ezra by that time was also operating his chandlery in New Bedford. Besides his business success, Johnson was well-known for his involvement in economic developmental activities for Black sailors, and for his anti-slavery positions such as membership in the Massachusetts Antislavery Society and Treasurer of the New Bedford Union Society, an affiliate of the American Union for the Relief and Improvement of the Colored Race (Putney 1982, 46). He was also a longtime subscriber and store agent of William Lloyd Garrison’s Liberator; William C. Nell (1855, 91) indicated that Johnson “was always ready to extend a hand of relief to his enslaved countrymen, and no one was more ready to assist, according to his ability, the elevation of his People”. John Mashow (1805-1893) John Mashow’s history is different from that of other entrepreneurs in this research. He was born in 1805 of an enslaved mother and her white slave owner (John Mashow) on a rice plantation in Georgetown, South Carolina. By a provision in the will of his father after whom he was named, when John was ten, he was freed from slavery and sent to Padanaram, Massachusetts, to the Thatcher household to learn the trade of a ship’s carpenter because he had expressed a strong interest in construction to his father. The Massachusetts Thatchers were acquaintances and relatives of the Thatchers in Georgetown. It was in Padanaram that its founder, Laban Thatcher, built and successfully operated a shipyard, a wharf, windmill, and magnesia factory. Mashow served his apprenticeship in this shipyard and proved to be very skilled in both construction and design. Essays in Economic & Business History 41 (2) 2023 58 In 1830 John married Hope Amos of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe at the age of 26; they had eight children. A year later, he earned his master carpenter’s certificate and established his own shipbuilding firm. He was so successful that during his lifetime, he designed, constructed, or both more than 100 ships (Sidney Kaplan 1991, 235). Twenty of those built between 1833 and 1858 were whalers that were collectively used on more than 139 whaling voyages. Mashow formed a shipyard in Padaranam in 1845 with Alonzo Mathews, James Madison Babbitt, and Frederick Smally called Mathews, Mashow & Co. Thirty-five vessels of his total output came between 1845 and 1858 under the auspices of this corporation. Finley (2021, 20-21) estimated that the whale harvests from these ships were worth more than $181 million (2020 value). Despite this success, the U.S. Panic of 1857 more than likely caused Mathews, Mashow & Co. to declare bankruptcy in 1858 having built fourteen barks, one brig, nineteen schooners, and one sloop (L.A. Littlefield 1903). A public testimonial for John Mashow at the closure declared him to be “a thorough, practical master ship builder and a most worthy and respected citizen” (Finley 2021, 24). The Mercury of New Bedford said, “the name of John Mashow deserves to be ranked undoubtedly with those of our best naval architects ... [a] true genius” (Finley 2021, 24). Often shipbuilders would take partial ownership in their ships so that their clients could afford them. Mashow did so for at least seven ships, some of which had his sons as crewmen. “For 30 years his ships had a reputation for putting them among the best on the water” (Finley 2021, 22). Many of his clients were white such as Benjamin Cummings for whom he built a whaler “Benjamin Cummings” that included a life-sized figurehead of the owner. During its twenty-one years of whaling, this whaler returned $8.3 million (2021 value) to its owners (Finley, 2021, 22). Edward J. Pompey (1800-1848) Pompey was second generation free Black of Nantucket and was better known for his work as a civic-minded businessman and abolitionist than for his participation in the whaling industry, even though he served as a crew member and a captain on whaling ships and shared ownership of several of them. Only once was he captain of a whaling ship, the Rising States, having been coaxed to do so by Richard Johnson. He was a friend of Absalom Boston (described earlier), interacted with members of the Paul Cuffe family (also described above), and of William Lloyd Garrison with whom he corresponded (Finley 2020a, 51-54). From his store, perhaps in the New Guinea area of Nantucket, he sold subscriptions to Garrison’s The Liberator and Garrison’s book on African Colonization as well as The Colored American, an African American weekly published in New York (NHA, Social Activism). Working with Absalom Boston and other prominent Blacks and whites of Nantucket, Pompey had a role in several significant petitions to the Massachusetts Legislature. He was a signer on Boston’s 1839 petition requesting immediate repeal of all laws that make a distinction “on account of color” (ibid.). Perhaps more significantly in 1844-45, along with over 100 Black people from Nantucket, Pompey became the lead petitioner to amend the Common School Law of Massachusetts to ensure equal rights regardless of color. Three additional petitions signed by both Black and white members of the Nantucket community followed; together they led the Massachusetts Legislature to pass the first law in the United States guaranteeing equality in public education (ibid.). Pompey was considered a prominent abolitionist who attended the New England Anti- Slavery Convention of 1834 and other such conventions as a representative of Nantucket and was President of the Nantucket Colored Temperance Society in 1842. There is no record of his having married nor having children. Mock: Contributions of Black Entrepreneurs to the US Whaling Industry 59 Lewis Temple (~1800-1854) Temple was born enslaved in Richmond, Virginia, around about 1800. He arrived as a freeman in New Bedford in 1829 but the action that freed him is unknown. Though illiterate, he was a skilled blacksmith who set up his shop at Coffin’s Wharf. There he fashioned harpoons and other metal works necessary to the whaling industry. At the time, each whaling voyage often used between 150-200 harpoons, so there was a high demand for his work. He was very successful at his trade and soon established what was known as a whalecraft shop where ship outfitters could purchase the necessary hardware for whaling and cargo voyages. A significant number of his customers purchasing harpoons complained to him about how often the harpoon worked loose from the whale’s flesh after it was impaled. This meant not only that the whale was lost, but also all of the effort to get the whale was wasted, which sometimes included a loss of life or injury. Temple decided he would work on fashioning a better harpoon. The one that he invented had a pivoting barb or a toggle that was secured by a small wooden pin. After the harpoon was embedded in the whale any action by the whale or tension on the line caused the pin to break, sending out a barb 90 degrees from the shaft and embedding it deeper into the flesh (Dolin 2007, 250). This invention, known as “Temple’s Toggle or Temple’s Iron”, became the industry standard helping the harvesting of whales globally create its Golden Age. Clifford Ashley (1926, 86-87), a maritime historian, declared “Temple's harpoon was the single most important invention in the whole history of whaling”. Unfortunately, Temple did not patent this invention (perhaps because of his lack of education) choosing instead to sell it along with other goods in his shop. The whalecraft shop was so profitable that he was in the process of expanding to a new shop when he tripped and fell in a hole on the city sidewalk in front of some construction. He successfully sued the city of New Bedford and was awarded $2000; however, he was not able to collect as he died of his injuries before payment was made. Temple was a family man, marrying Mary Clark of Baltimore shortly after he arrived in New Bedford. They had three children, a son and two daughters (Finley 2020a, 170). He was also known as an abolitionist and was elected Vice President of the New Bedford Union Society in 1834, the city’s first anti-slavery group. No other information about his other abolition or civic activities has been recorded. His son, Lewis Temple Jr., trained as a blacksmith under his father and like him became a well-known businessman in New Bedford (Kaplan 1953, 79; McKissack and McKissack 1999, 57). Conclusions and Future Research Suggestions This paper underscores how the achievements and innovations made by Black entrepreneurs to our nation’s economy have often been neglected, especially prior to 1865 when the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was passed abolishing slavery in the US and its possessions. Similarly, the contribution of the whaling industry to the US economy and abolition is not commonly recognized. The whaling industry offered people of color an unparalleled opportunity to become wealthy based on job performance rather than skin color. Several men, like Paul Cuffe, James Forten, and William T. Shorey, were considered to be among the wealthiest African Americans in the nation during their time. But they were active in more than their occupation; they helped abolish slavery and advance other civil rights like funding schools for both boys and girls, regardless of their race. It also underscores that there is more work to be done to uncover the stories of the everyday entrepreneurs of colors who made vital contributions to their communities. Through the networks these people formed both within their business associations and their private affiliations, more entrepreneurs can be discovered, and a better understanding might be developed. Essays in Economic & Business History 41 (2) 2023 60 Furthermore, these narratives suggest that other aspects of Black entrepreneurship and management, such as family succession and career progression might benefit from a closer and comparative look with white enterprises at the time. Limitations of this Study While there are logbooks, port records, and significant databases describing crew members and whaling activities, the reporting of these are sometimes misleading, in error, or confusing, especially when oral history or personal journals are used as a source. Because of COVID-19 travel restrictions, detailed information about the captains in this study was not complete nor adequate to conduct statistical analysis. Perhaps by increasing the number of entrepreneurs through networks and further research, one could broaden the sample size to provide a data set to examine such areas of study like career progression. Future Research This paper suggests the opportunity to do additional studies both in the fields of business and in the historical context of the time. For example, one could expand the pool of Black entrepreneurs to include those mentioned in the various cited works and those tangentially related to the whaling industry, such as: Peter and Alexander Howard (sons-in-law of Paul Cuffe and who ran a mercantile in Westport, Massachusetts); Ezra Johnson, son of Richard Johnson; and apprentice James Forten, who later ran his father’s store and chandlery (Pacific Appeal 1870); Mary Pleasant, who learned business skills in Nantucket when she lived and worked for a white whaling family and is sometimes considered one of the first Black selfmade millionaires (Tom Huddleston Jr. 2020). In addition, further examination of suppliers, customers, church and society organization membership lists, city directories, and other sources may help develop a statistically significant group for quantitative studies. 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