Japan-Nantucket (Rashomon): Episode 4 - Captain Peter Hussey, From whale ships to steamships

07/16/24 • 27 min

Now it is time to meet some of these sea captains that were born in Nantucket, but became part of the Japanese expat community. This episode discusses Captain Peter Hussey.
This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is hosted and edited by Janet Forest. It was researched, fact checked and co-hosted by Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri. Special thanks to the Berkshire Athenaeum for use of their space and Shire Video for production support.
SHOW NOTES:
If something piqued your interest and it isn’t in the Show Notes, please email [email protected]. and include “Podcast Question” in the subject header.

The three captains we profile were atypical in their longevity and financial stability.

Nantucket-born Robert Coleman, who was just a few years younger than Arthur Fisher, had risen to First Officer of the Mitsu-Bishi Steamship Co. However, in 1886 , he died, age 29, during a smallpox outbreak at Nagasaki.
Our subjects were also impacted by the lack of shared information and slow transmission of information that did exist.
- Credit rating agencies and uniform accounting procedures did not yet exist, so even within a firm, serious issues could go undetected.
- Merchants had to rely on an individual’s reputation within their business community or a referral from a trusted party. Better candidates undoubtedly existed, but they were unknown or could not be verified.
- Until the deployment of the telegraph, a round-trip business communication between China and America could take up to a year.
- Even with the construction of the railway across Panama communication between California and the East Coast cities took several weeks, contributing to the glut of goods arriving at San Francisco and the collapse of its markets.
On Nantucket whaleships, a cooper made and assembled the casks, whose liquid contents were measured in barrels (1 barrel = 31 1⁄2 U.S. gallons).
George Bruce Upton, (1804-1874), exemplified how Nantucket’s wealth helped fuel America’s westward expansion.
A successful Nantucket merchant, he held several political offices, and was a member of a firefighting company, skilled using explosives to demolish buildings as a firestop. He supervised the practice demolition of a vacant windmill, and during the Great Fire of 1838 the destruction of four buildings.
After moving to Boston Upton channeled his Nantucket wealth into clipper ships. He also invested in railroads as part of John M. Forbes’ “Boston Group”, becoming Treasurer of their Michigan Central Railroad.
Portraits of George Upton and Anne Upton, now in the NHA, reflect their status. Their son George Jr. would become a regular summer visitor into the 20th century.
The Bark Ly-ee-moon was commissioned for the Asia trade and built in Fairhaven Massachusetts by Moses Delano (distant relative of Warren). It was sold by its American owners to a Hong Kong firm before its launch in 1862.

The three captains we profile were atypical in their longevity and financial stability.

Nantucket-born Robert Coleman, who was just a few years younger than Arthur Fisher, had risen to First Officer of the Mitsu-Bishi Steamship Co. However, in 1886 , he died, age 29, during a smallpox outbreak at Nagasaki.
Our subjects were also impacted by the lack of shared information and slow transmission of information that did exist.
- Credit rating agencies and uniform accounting procedures did not yet exist, so even within a firm, serious issues could go undetected.
- Merchants had to rely on an individual’s reputation within their business community or a referral from a trusted party. Better candidates undoubtedly existed, but they were unknown or could not be verified.
- Until the deployment of the telegraph, a round-trip business communication between China and America could take up to a year.
- Even with the construction of the railway across Panama communication between California and the East Coast cities took several weeks, contributing to the glut of goods arriving at San Francisco and the collapse of its markets.
On Nantucket whaleships, a cooper made and assembled the casks, whose liquid contents were measured in barrels (1 barrel = 31 1⁄2 U.S. gallons).
George Bruce Upton, (1804-1874), exemplified how Nantucket’s wealth helped fuel America’s westward expansion.
A successful Nantucket merchant, he held several political offices, and was a member of a firefighting company, skilled using explosives to demolish buildings as a firestop. He supervised the practice demolition of a vacant windmill, and during the Great Fire of 1838 the destruction of four buildings.
After moving to Boston Upton channeled his Nantucket wealth into clipper ships. He also invested in railroads as part of John M. Forbes’ “Boston Group”, becoming Treasurer of their Michigan Central Railroad.
Portraits of George Upton and Anne Upton, now in the NHA, reflect their status. Their son George Jr. would become a regular summer visitor into the 20th century.
The Bark Ly-ee-moon was commissioned for the Asia trade and built in Fairhaven Massachusetts by Moses Delano (distant relative of Warren). It was sold by its American owners to a Hong Kong firm before its launch in 1862.

Previous Episode

Japan-Nantucket (Rashomon): Episode 3 - Ready or Not, Here We Come!

When we left off, the samurai class was on the brink of revolt because they were tired of being bureaucrats and westerners were circling the shores of Japan itching to get in. It’s 1853 and the situation has reached a boiling point.
This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is hosted and edited by Janet Forest. It was researched, fact checked and co-hosted by Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri. Special thanks to the Berkshire Athenaeum for use of their space and Shire Video for production support.
SHOW NOTES:
If something piqued your interest and it isn’t in the Show Notes, please email [email protected]. and include “Podcast Question” in the subject header.

In 1852, Cmdr. Perry visited New Bedford “for the purpose of obtaining information from our whaling captains in relation to the cost of Japan and securing their cooperation in the enterprise.” [I&M, May 8th, 1852]
Manjuro’s life is featured in Christopher Benfey’s “Great Wave”. His years in New Bedford are detailed in “The Life and Times of John Manjuro,” by D. R. Bernard. Manjuro was lucky to be brought before the ruler of Satsuma, who was particularly unhappy with the Shogunate and already looking to the West for both trade and weapons technology.
Warren Delano’s involvement in the opium trade and the resulting First Opium War is discussed in “Barons of the Sea”. Both Wars and their legacy is covered in Julia Lovell’s “The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams, and the Making of Modern China”.
- Not lost on the Japanese negotiators was that the “Unfair” treaties being imposed on them by the Western Powers were based on those imposed on China after the First Opium War.
- While the West remained intransigent on most of the other terms, they readily agreed to ban importation of opium into Japan, mainly because of Japanese demand for other Western goods.
- The Boshin War and its aftermath are the backdrop to Janice Nimura’s “Daughters of the Samurai”, which we will cover in upcoming episodes.
With Perry ‘s arrival, the Shogunate knew they had to open Japan, but planned to do so only to quickly reach parity and then re-negotiate as equals.
- However, even this was seen as surrender by the already unhappy Samurai, leading to their rebellion.
- Over the next 15 years, the Shogunate was violently disposed, the nobility transitioned to becoming governors of their former domains, and a small group of younger Samurai consolidated their power, ruling in the name of the Emperor (though any decisions made by the monarch had to be obeyed).
Dr. Noelle Wilson gave an excellent presentation about the Japanese whaling apprentice programs and Hakkodate’s brief role as the “Nantucket of the Pacific” as part of the NHA Nantucket University series.

Next Episode

Japan-Nantucket (Rashomon): Episode 5 - Captain Arthur Fisher, A diamond in the rough

In this episode, Jim introduces you to another sea captains that was born in Nantucket, but became part of the Japanese expat community: Captain Arthur Fisher.
This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is hosted and edited by Janet Forest. It was researched, fact checked and co-hosted by Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri. Special thanks to the Berkshire Athenaeum for use of their space and Shire Video for production support.
SHOW NOTES:
If something piqued your interest and it isn’t in the Show Notes, please email [email protected]. and include “Podcast Question” in the subject header.

By the 1860’s American merchant ships and whales increasingly utilized Pacific ports for support. The services at these ports were frequently run by merchants from Nantucket and other sea-trading communities as extensions of their existing businesses along the eastern Atlantic.
- The whaling voyage of the Clara Bell under Capt. Timothy Fisher seems to have been based out of Paita, Peru, which had grown to include a hospital and resident American Counsel. (In 1862, Dr. C. F. Winslow of Nantucket was appointed to that post).
- It’s possible that Arthur Fisher periodically resided at Paita with his mother and sister as part of the American expat community while the Clara Bell followed the pattern of Nantucket whaling from the pre-Pacific era – voyages of week or perhaps months, broken by extended periods at “home”.
- The extreme duration of the Clara Bell’s voyage may have been driven by the American Civil War. Confederate Raiders targeted the American whalers, which were slow moving and poorly defended while carrying a highly desirable cargo. Relatively short trips and the safety of a foreign port, while far from safe, was less risky than long voyages far from shore.
United today by a network of bridges of tunnels, the islands of Japan and the Seto Inland Sea of Japan was previously dependent on ships traveling between coastal ports. After Japan was forced to open its borders, steamships extended routine travel to Korea, China, and other parts of Asia.