Researching Solomon Bunker

Richard Bazelow, who did the bulk of the research for the 2025 exhibit Hudson: A History of Whaling & Maritime Commerce, found information on a Revolutionary War veteran, sea captain and early resident of Hudson who has only passing reference in books on Hudson history. Our research led us to many questions that we do not have the answer to. Here is what we found:

• Nantucket: Solomon was born 1750, married in 1771, and sailed the Rose.
• Antigua: He was captured by the British while captain on the Rose in 1777.
• Upstate NY: He next appears, if it is the same Solomon Bunker, as a member of the upstate New York regiment, Pawling Levies, which was active 1779-1781.
• Claverack Landing: According to his descendants two of his daughters were born in Hudson, then Claverack Landing, in 1782 and 1783.
• Nantucket: He is Master of two ships sailing out of Nantucket in 1785 and 1786.
  Hudson: He captains the Columbia in 1786 from the Port of Hudson and, on that voyage, sails Captain Samuel Shaw from the South China Sea up river to Canton.
• Hudson: He is then listed as captain of at least two whaling ships sailing from Hudson: the Prudence, 1791 and the American Hero, 1795-7. He is mentioned in Captain Ellis’s History of Columbia County, New York as being an assessor (1808) and starting a tannery business (no date).

Could Solomon Bunker have ended up in New York after he was released from British capture, enlist with Pawling’s regiment, which was active in Ulster and Orange counties and then make his way upstate to Claverack Landing?

There were other Bunkers in early Hudson who came from Nantucket, including David, Solomon’s brother. In fact, Anna Bradbury in The History of the City of Hudson writes: The first child born after the purchase was Elizabeth Bunker, who died while young. Her parents were natives of Nantucket, who came here from Dutchess county.

Proprietors Thomas and Seth Jenkins were searching for an alternative location for a whaling and maritime community. They nearly purchased land in New York City but, when that fell through, what prompted them to sail up the Hudson River – possibly for days – before settling on Claverack Landing? Did Solomon and other members of the Bunker family know about the Claverack Landing deep water port and pass that information on to the Jenkins?

That, Dear Viewer, is for you to contemplate and perhaps research.