Gilbert Jenkins Jr. was a mariner from Hudson, Columbia County, New York. He was the son of Gilbert Jenkins of Hudson, New York (died 1846 in Prairieville, Wisconsin), and the grandson of Thomas Jenkins (1741-1808) of Nantucket, Massachusetts, one of the founders of Hudson. The collection comprises four letters written by Gilbert Jenkins Jr. to family members, dated 1833-1835, while a seaman on the whaling ship America, cruising in the Pacific Ocean. The ship America was owned by the Hudson Whaling Company and commanded by Captain Folger.
Biographical/historical: Gilbert Jenkins Jr. was a mariner from Hudson, Columbia County, New York. He was the son of Gilbert Jenkins of Hudson, New York (died 1846 in Prairieville, Wisconsin), and the grandson of Thomas Jenkins (1741-1808) of Nantucket, Massachusetts, one of the founders of Hudson.
Content: The collection comprises four letters written by Gilbert Jenkins Jr. to family members, dated 1833-1835, while a seaman on the whaling ship America, cruising in the Pacific Ocean. The ship America was owned by the Hudson Whaling Company and commanded by Captain Folger.
One letter is addressed to his brother Alexander Jenkins in Richmond, Virginia, 1833 April 9. Three letters to his parents, 1834 August 8, and 1835 January 18 and October 11, are addressed to his father Gilbert Jenkins in New York City. The letters are written at sea in the Pacific and at the ports of Paita and Callao in Peru. In addition to inquiring about family members, among them sisters Laura and Adeline, he describes Captain Folger's ill treatment of Jenkins and the crew; the poor prospects for whale oil and his career at sea; sailing destinations, including the Galapagos Islands; and ships spoken. A revolutionary outbreak in Callao on January 1, 1835 is mentioned in passing. It appears that Jenkins's letter of April 9, 1833 actually dates from 1834, as the ship was 25 months at sea in October 1835 by his reckoning, and the ship is recorded in published sources as having sailed in September 1833, returning in January 1837.
Content: Formerly part of the Mercantile Collection.
