{"id":104123,"date":"2025-09-05T10:51:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/?p=104123"},"modified":"2025-10-30T14:51:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T18:51:05","slug":"scions-of-salem-merchants-and-mariners-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/scions-of-salem-merchants-and-mariners-part-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Scions of Salem Merchants and Mariners (part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes more about descendants of the merchants and mariners who prospered in Salem, Massachusetts. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today, I continue my series examining the descendants of prominent maritime figures from Salem, Massachusetts, with a particular focus on the Derby and Crowninshield families and related lineages.<\/p>\n

To recap: Part 1<\/a> introduced shipping magnate Elias Hasket \u201cKing\u201d Derby (1739-1799), who in 1761 married Elizabeth Crowninshield (1736-1799), the sister of another shipping magnate, George Crowninshield \u2013 who earlier had married Elias\u2019s sister, Mary Derby. These marriages strengthened the alliance between their families and consolidated their fortunes.<\/p>\n

Here is a portrait of Elias.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: Elias Hasket Derby, by James Frothingham. Credit: Collection of the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And here is a portrait of Elizabeth.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: Elizabeth (Crowninshield) Derby, by Benjamin Blyth, c. 1780. Credit: Salem Maritime National Park Service.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elias and Elizabeth had seven children who all lived to adulthood and left many descendants. Their offspring married into the Coffin, Barton, Pickman, West, Brown, Fitch, and Bomford family lines. For readers tracing these complex family trees and wondering what does once removed mean<\/a> in genealogy, the Derby and Crowninshield connections offer a perfect example of how intergenerational relationships can branch and overlap through time.<\/p>\n

Below is a portrait of one son, Elias Hasket Derby Jr., and his wife Lucy (Brown) Derby, along with four of their children. Elias Jr. followed his father into shipping and trade and left descendants who married into the Catlin, Alden, Strong, Mason, Fuller, and Abbott family lines.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: Elias Hasket Derby Jr. and his wife Lucy (Brown) Derby, along with four of their children. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An article published in the Worcester Telegram<\/em> in 1956 covers Elias Derby\u2019s many successes including his ship the Grand Turk<\/em>, one of America\u2019s greatest privateers and Elias\u2019s answer to the British warships.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Worcester Telegram (Worcester, Massachusetts), 25 March 1956, page 15<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The article notes that the Grand Turk<\/em> and her 22 guns made prizes of no less than 16 British vessels laden with cargoes.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: a painting of the \u201cGrand Turk\u201d on the Grand Turk Punch Bowl, made at Canton in 1786 tor Elias Hasket Derby, who gave it to Captain Ebenezer West. Credit: Salem Public Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Derby Brothers\u2019 Contributions to the American Revolutionary War<\/strong><\/p>\n

Along with Elias, the Worcester Telegram<\/em> article also references his brother, Captain John Derby (1741-1812), who died without issue but nevertheless was an important figure in the Derby dynasty. Like all the Derby men, John played an instrumental role in the American Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n

The article reports:<\/p>\n

It was a Derby ship, the swift little 62-ton schooner Quero commanded by Capt. John Derby, a younger brother of Elias, which the Provincial Congress dispatched to England with their version of the engagement at Lexington, so that the British people would not get a prejudiced view of the action.<\/p>\n

Captain John set sail on April [29], four days after the Royal Express packet Sukey cleared Boston, and 29 days later was in London, [12 days] before the Sukey arrived with General Gage\u2019s dispatches. And to wind up the war in good shape, it was Captain John in the Astrea who brought the first news from Europe to America that a peace treaty had been signed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: Captain John Derby, by James Frothingham, 1809. Credit: National Park Service Museum Collections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Captain John Derby continued to serve his country during the Revolutionary War. He is on record as part-owner of the privateers Rover<\/em> and Oliver Cromwell<\/em>, and master of Patty<\/em> and Astrea<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Derby Home<\/strong><\/p>\n

Elias\u2019s first home in Salem is now part of the Salem Maritime National Historic Site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: the Derby House, Salem, Massachusetts. Credit: Daderot; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Regarding this house, the Worcester Telegram<\/em> article states:<\/p>\n

Still standing in Salem is Derby House, a wedding present in 1762 to Elias from Richard Derby, his crusty, sea dog of a father. It is the oldest brick house in Salem and looks out over Salem Harbor and the now bare expanse of Derby Wharf. Elias lived here with his bride until about 1778, when he sold the house to one of his shipmasters, Capt. Henry Prince<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Elias Derby\u2019s office, Salem, Massachusetts. Credit: Stephen L. Markos for National Park Planner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Paul Revere Relic Made for Elias and Elizabeth Derby<\/strong><\/p>\n

Below is a pair of silver canns<\/a> (mugs) made by Paul Revere for Elias and his wife Elizabeth, whose interlaced script monogram, EHED, is engraved on the front of each.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:
Photos: a pair of silver canns (mugs) made by Paul Revere for Elias and Elizabeth Derby, with their interlaced script monogram, EHED, engraved on the front of each. Credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Derby First to Practice Profit Sharing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is an interesting piece of intel published in the newspaper.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening News (San Jose, California), 17 November 1915, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reads:<\/p>\n

Elias Derby, of Salem, Mass., was the first millionaire in the United States who practiced profit-sharing with the sailors of his merchant ships.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Captain Richard Cleveland<\/a> provides testimony of this claim in his A Narrative of Voyages and Commercial Enterprises<\/em><\/a>, published in1842.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: Captain Richard Cleveland, and a quote on Derby. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One Last Tidbit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Derby acted as a merchant agent on behalf of Captain Joseph White and the crew of the privateer sloop Revenge<\/em><\/a>, who seized the brigantine Anna Maria<\/em> \u2013 a British vessel transporting assorted goods \u2013 as well as the sloop Polly<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Below is the advertisement from the Continental Journal<\/em> announcing a sale of the vessels\u2019 cargo (and the Anna Maria<\/em> itself) conducted by Walter Bartlett<\/a>, auctioneer at Derby Wharf. The cargo items included sugar, cotton, ginger, Barbados rum, and Madeira wine.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Continental Journal and Weekly Advertiser (Boston, Massachusetts), 26 September 1776, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Captain Joseph White<\/a> was murdered in 1803 by a member of the Crowninshield family. For further information, please refer to the links provided below.<\/p>\n

The Order of the Star and Sail, a new lineage society, is making waves! The captain of this new organization is Michael R. Denney<\/a>, the Acting Historian General and Elder General of the Society of Mayflower Descendants.<\/p>\n

Create a free account<\/a> at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.<\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> scene along the Salem, Massachusetts, waterfront, c.\u20091770\u20131780, by Balthasar Friedrich Leizelt. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/p>\n

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