The Second Era of Hudson Whaling: 1829-1841, Part Two

The tenacious spirit of Hudsonians drove another generation of entrepreneurs to reinvent Hudson, and it became a whaling town once again. Shares of the company were sold for $100 and ships were purchased from outside of Hudson. Although the state did not officially incorporate the company until April 30, 1833, the Alexander Mansfield sailed in June 1830 for the South Atlantic.  It returned in March of 1831 with 123 barrels of sperm oil, 2,200 barrels of whale oil, and 1,600 pounds of whalebone, a value of over $1,000,000. Following that success, America II, owned by Seth Macy, sailed for the Pacific in August of 1830 and returned to Hudson 32 months later with 3,200 barrels of sperm oil, an average of 100 barrels per month while at sea. Between 1830 and 1841 there were 53 whaling voyages out of the port of Hudson. Businesses and industries related to the whale industry flourished again in Hudson. 

With the amount of whale byproducts entering the Hudson market, agents were needed to assist in sale and distribution. The Barnard, Curtiss & Co. was a Hudson-based organization that provided many services for the Hudson Whaling Company, including sale of the sperm and whale oil. They constructed a large sperm oil and candle factory by the waterfront that produced the highly coveted spermaceti candles. The refinement and sale of whaling products during the second era of Hudson whaling were very lucrative, as this chart illustrates:

Although the peak of American whaling did not occur until 1846, the small Hudson port could not compete with its New England counterparts. The golden age of whaling in Hudson which began in earnest in 1830, ended in July 1841 with the final excursion out of Hudson to the Indian Ocean of the ship the Martha.  The financial panic of 1837 and the Fire of 1838 in Hudson contributed to Hudson’s inability to compete and the local whaling industry ultimately collapsed.

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Additional Resources: 

Port of Hudson Whaling Voyages 1830-1845 (PDF)

Research compiled by Richard Bazelow, from whalinghistory.org and other sources, 2018-2025

Nantucket Inquirer, Volume VII, Number 36, September 1, 1827 (links to Nantucket Historical Newspaper site), published on Nantucket continuously since June 1821. This issue includes a Marine Journal section describing activity in and out of the Port of Nantucket. This issue was published between Hudson’s two whaling eras and demonstrates how whaling and maritime activity were still profitable in New England ports.