Nathaniel Webber

Born in Beverly, MA 29 March 1795, Nathaniel Webber enlisted as a boyin the war of 1812 and served in the Massachusetts militia, achievingthe rank of Sargeant. His parents died when he was a boy and he livedwith a cousin who treated him badly, so he ran away to sea, so thelegend goes. He was the captain of or sailed on the ships Tradewind,Washington, President, Mary Melville, Diadem and Triton, brigBrilliant, brig Wishicon, brig Armadillo, Tartar, Osprey traveling allover the world. He served on the privateer Favorite during the War of1812. He captained the Tradewind (designed by Jacob Bell) to a record103 day voyage from New York to San Francisco in the 1850's, competingagainst the famous Donald McKay designed Flying Cloud. When itburned, he found another ship due to seaman's superstition and iteventually sank in years later. His daughter, Jeannie and husbandOliver Ketcham Sammis, were possibly married aboard ship, but haven'tbeen able to substantiate this. His wife, Sarah Frances Mayer, wasborn in England and apparently reportedly christened in WestminsterAbbey, but no record exists. Their marriage certificate says theywere married 16 March 1824 in St. Andrew by the Wardrobe, a part ofLondon. His death certificate says he was born in Beverly,Massachusetts, occupation sea captain, lived in Brooklyn, NY 30 years,living at #48 Hunter St., 7th ward, cause of death chronic diarrhea,existing for 12 months before death.

Name: Nathaniel Webber
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 29 Mar 1795
Birthplace: BEVERLY,ESSEX,MASSACHUSETTS
Father's Name: Samuel Webber
Mother's Name: Betsey
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C50015-1
System Origin: Massachusetts-ODM
Source Film Number: 962871

Essex MA Probate Records
File #: 29104
Name: Nathaniel Webber; Weber
File Date: 15 Jan 1805
Residence: Beverly
Occupation: mariner
Type: intestate

1830 United States Federal Census about Nathenl Webber
Brooklyn Ward 5, Kings, New York
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5: 1
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39: 1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29: 2
Free White Persons - Under 20: 2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: 3
Total Free White Persons: 5

Listed in Brooklyn Directory for the year 1830
Name: Nathaniel Webber
Location: Brooklyn New York
Occupation: ship master marine(a)
Gender: Male
Address: 6, Stanton, Brooklyn, New York
Occupation(s): ship master, marine
Source Date: 1830

1850 Census-Brooklyn, NY, 3rd ward
Nathan Webber-50, male, ship master, born NY
Fanny Webber-50, female, born England

1860 Census-2nd Dist., 7th Ward, Brooklyn, NY, Kings County
Nathaniel Webber, 65 yo, male, sea captain, 1000 value personalestate, born NY (wrong, I think)
Frances Webber, 60 yo, female, born Mass.
Frances S. Webber, 33 yo, female, born New York
Edward W. Webber, 18 yo, male, born Pennsylvania
Nathaniel W. Webber, 18 yo, male born Pennsylvania
Fanny & Jenny Webber, born 9 yo, female, born New York (actually Fanny& Jenny Sammis, daughters of daughter Frances S. Webber Sammis, wifeof Oliver K. Sammis living with her grandparents and mother)

Obituary for wife from the Logansport Pharos from Indiana says:
Born in England and christened in Westminster Abbey. Late husbandNathaniel Webber followed the sea (sea captain) for 50 years and sheaccompanied him on many voyages to different parts of the world. Shewas 94 years old.

Our Fearless Sailors
An Incident of the Old Days Off the Cape of Good Hope
Indiana Evening Gazette-January 28, 1914

American vessels in those days (1833) surpassed the sailing records ofships of every other nation. Once when down nearly to the latitude ofthe Cape of Good Hope, we encountered the most severe gale of ouroutward bound voyage. A mountainous sea was heaving in from thesouth, and the wind, which had originally come from that direction,was now blowing directly from the west and hurricane force. High asthe Washington stood above the water, occasional crests would sweepher main deck and she steered so hard that I had to keep two mencontinually at the wheel and have them relieved every half hour. Thewind, however, was fair, and therefore every man on the ship, fromCaptain L to the cook’s boy, would have felt disgraced had the orderbeen given to leave the ship to under double reef topsails and forecourse she was logging upward of 16 knots and all hands were aspleased as if they had just been granted a week’s shore leave at NewYork. Later in the day, when the wind had moderated somewhat, wesighted a large British bark hove to under short canvas. She wasflying distress signals, so Captain L Ordered the wh?? put up and randown to have a look at her. As soon as our signals could be clearlyseen he asked what she wanted, and the bark replied with a request tostand by. Captain L then ran up flags demanding if the bark wereinjured or anything wrong on board. The Britisher replied again,“Stand by do not like look of weather.”When the second mate read themeaning of this signal out of the code book a great laugh went up inour cabin and Captain L replied with flags reading “See nothing wrongin this weather” and hoisted the American ensign above the signal inorder to give point to his remark. No doubt the British captain said,“Another of those crazy Yankees” when he read our flags, but we werein Batavia a week before he appeared.
—-From “The Journal of Captain Nathaniel Webber” in Outing.

An article written by grandson AE Webber in Long Islander publication:
Captain Nathaniel Webber was an orphan at ten yeas of age, so he wentto sea as cabin boy. Five years later he served in the 1812 war inthe privateer Favorite. During his 56 years at sea he had visitedevery place of prominence in the world, and when he became master hedid not forget the hardships of those in the forcastle. When he tookcommand of the clipper ship Tradewind, the largest vessel afloat in1852, he was please to find on a table iin the cabin a large biblewith the inscription in gilt letters "Ship Trade Wiind, 1852, CaptainN. Webber." The owners had placed it there for the sea parson, so hewas called, for holding services on board ships he commanded. TheTrade Wind, with 70 in officers and crew, also many passengers, sailedfrom New York on its maiden voyage around to San Francisco. On thepassage out she came near being lost by fire. Her next voyage wasaround the world. In June 1854, she was in collision with the shipOlympus off the Grand Banks. The Trade Wind and 22 of her crew werelost. Captain Webber had gone on to another command because ofseaman's superstition about a ship that burned on its maiden voyageand was not aboard for the calamity. Her master, Captain Webber,passed away in 1867, but the Bible is still in my possession (in AEWebber's).

Funeral at the ME Church on Dekalb Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.
De Kalb Avenue M. E. Church, De Kalb avenue, near Franklin. Ministry:1856, Joseph Law; 1857, John S. Inskip; 1858-9, Geo. Dunbar; 1860-1,A. H. Mead; 1862-3, Rufus C. Putney; 1864, G. S. Gilbert; 1865-7, J.W. Leek; 1868, D. 0. Ferris.

M.F. Maury: The Physical Geography of the Sea, 1855.
CHAPTER XVII. ROUTES.
573. This is the great race-course of the ocean; it is fifteenthousand miles in length. Some of the most glorious trials of speedand of prowess that the world ever witnessed have taken place over it.Here the modern clipper ship -- the noblest work that has ever comefrom the hand of man -- has been sent, guided by the lights ofscience, to contend with the elements, to outstrip steam, and astonishthe world.

574. The most celebrated and famous race that has ever been run cameoff upon this course: it was in the autumn of 1852, when navigatorswere beginning fully to reap the benefits of these researches withregard to the winds and currents, and other facts connected with thePhysical Geography of the Sea, that four splendid new clipper shipsput to sea from New York, bound for California. They were ablycommanded, and, as they passed the bar at Sandy Hook, one by one, andat various intervals of time, they presented really a most magnificentspectacle. The names of these ships and their masters were, the WildPigeon, Captain Putnam; the John Gilpin, Captain Doane -- alas! now nomore; the Flying Fish, Captain Nickles, and the Trade Wind, CaptainWebber. Like steeds that know their riders, they were handled with themost exquisite skill and judgment, and in such hands they bounded outupon the "glad waters" most gracefully. Each, being put upon hermettle from the start, was driven, under the seaman's whip and spur,at full speed over a course that it would take them three long monthsto run.

575. The Wild Pigeon sailed October 12; the John Gilpin, October 29;the Flying Fish, November 1; and the Trade Wind, November 14. It wasthe season for the best passages. Each one was provided with the Windand Current Charts. Each one had evidently studied them attentively;and each one was resolved to make the most of them, and do his best.All ran against time; but the John Gilpin and the Flying Fish for thewhole course, and the Wild Pigeon for part of it, ran neck and neck,the one against the other, and each against all. It was a sweepstakewith these ships around Cape Horn and through both hemispheres.

The Trade Wind was an extreme clipper of 2030 tons built at JacobBell's East River shipyard and launched on August 12, 1851. The TradeWind was the longest and largest clipper built up to that datemeasuring in at 265 x 43 x 25 feet with a keel length of 235 feet. Acarved billet took the place of a figurehead, her stern was said to beround and handsome and overall the Trade Wind presented perfectsymmetry afloat. Upon her launching, she was loaded up and was soonoff on her maiden voyage to the Golden Gate. Upon her return to NewYork back around the Horn, her builder added a flush deck to improveher general appearance and carrying capacity.